The Optsee® Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that displays each project schedule, major tasks associated with each project or choice, and the resources assigned to those tasks.

At the top of the form are fields showing the time interval displayed in the Gantt chart, drop-down menus showing the displayed units (years, quarters, months, weeks) and displayed data (projects, projects/tasks, projects/resources, resources, resources/projects/tasks). There are also buttons for shifting the display interval, expanding and collapsing all projects, toggling the display of links, toggling the display of weekends, toggling the display of the date and duration columns, and toggling the display of non-working periods. Finally, there are buttons for opening and adding tasks, opening and adding portfolio resources, and editing non-working periods.

The Gantt chart displays a red line at the current date.

At the bottom of the form are buttons for printing or exporting the chart and closing the form.

Adding Tasks and Task Links

You can add tasks to projects in the "Projects/Tasks" display mode by clicking on a project to select it and then clicking on the [New Task] button. This will open the Task form that can be used to enter the start date, finish date, duration, resources, and links to other tasks.

You can add links between tasks in a project by clicking on the "start" task and dragging the cursor to the "end" task. This will open the Task Link form that can be used to assign the type of link (finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-finish, or soft).

You can change the start and end dates of projects and tasks when you are in the "Projects/Tasks" display mode by placing the cursor on the end of the project or task bar and dragging it to the date that you want.

Double-clicking on a project, task, or resource in the first column on the left will open the corresponding form for that object. Note that you can only open tasks and task links in the "Projects/Tasks" display mode.

Modifying Links

Double-clicking on a link will open the Link form:

You can change the Start Task, End Task, and Link Type using this form. The link types are:

• Finish to Start (FS): The task cannot start before its predecessor ends, although it may start later. This is the most common type of relationship, and it is the default task link type.

• Start to Start (SS): The task cannot start until the predecessor starts, although it may start later. This can be useful if you have a task whose start date depends on the start date of another task.

• Finish to Finish (FF): The task cannot end before the predecessor ends, although it may end later.

• Start to Finish (SF): The task cannot end before the predecessor starts, although it may end later.

• Soft: The tasks are linked, but moving either the start task or the end task does not effect other tasks

Gantt Chart Fields:

Display Period fields: These define the period displayed in the chart. You can use the scroll bar at the bottom of the chart to scroll the entire period. When you click on the field, it opens a small calendar that you can use to select the date that you would like. The left-field is the starting date and the right-field is the ending date. When the form is opened, the default display is six months from the current date.

When you change the start date or end date, the duration changes. When you change the duration, the end date is calculated automatically from the start date.

Gantt Chart Drop-Down Menus:

Display Units drop-down menu:

The Display Units drop-down menu lets you select the units that will be displayed. You can select "Years," "Quarters," "Months," or "Weeks." The units are displayed in the top two rows with the selected unit on the top row and the subunit on the row below it. For example, if you select "Quarters" the top row will display the quarters and the row below it will display the corresponding months in the quarter. The default display is "Months." Note that you can only toggle the display of weekends in the "Weeks" display, otherwise the [Display Weekends] button is disabled.

Display Mode drop-down menu:

The Display Mode drop-down menu lets you select the project data and view that will be displayed in the chart as follows:

"Projects": displays each project in a separate row

"Projects/Tasks": displays each project in a separate row. Expanding the project will show any individual tasks associated with the project. (This is the default display mode.)

"Projects/Resources": displays each project in a separate row. Expanding the project will show any resources assigned to tasks associated with the project. The bars in the chart will display the tasks that the resource has been assigned to for that project, including the percentage of time that has been assigned.

"Resources": displays the portfolio resources with assigned tasks in separate rows. The bars display the name of the tasks assigned to the resource and the percentage of time assigned.

"Resources/Projects/Tasks": displays the portfolio resources with assigned tasks.

Expanding the resource in the "Resources/Projects/Tasks" mode will show the individual projects that have been assigned to that resource, and the bars in the chart will display the corresponding project tasks assigned to that resource, including the percentage of time that has been assigned.