Colouring links in Gantt chart

[PipV]

I am trying to colour the critical links in the gant chart. I know that if I
run the gantt chart wizard it will do so but then removes all my carefully
customised bars. Is there a way of setting the colour without running the
wizard?

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

Links take the color of the predecessor, even when this color is "custom".
HTH

 

[John]

I am trying to colour the critical links in the gant chart. I know that if I
run the gantt chart wizard it will do so but then removes all my carefully
customised bars. Is there a way of setting the colour without running the
wizard?

PipV,
If you customize a view's display, it should be preserved when you save
the file. You may however want to create a copy of the existing view and
then customize that copy. For example, go to View/More Views, select the
view you want to copy and hit "copy". Name your view and then customize
it. Doing it this way preserves the built-in default view while allowing
you to create your own customized version of it.

To answer your question, most if not all of the operations performed by
the Gantt Chart Wizard can be done manually under Format/Bar Styles and
Format/Layout.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[PipV]

Thanks for the prompt response, however my links are all blue even the
critical ones. Chart was formed without using the wizard. I am looking at
just the Gantt chart not the detail or tracking gantts, both of which have
red critical links.

Pipv

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

How did you color the bars? Through Bar or through Bar Styles?
When using Bar Styles the links take the color of the predecessor's style

 

[PipV]

Thanks John for the prompt response.

I had a good response from 'HTH' saying that the link takes the predecessor
colour. However my links are all blue even the critical ones. Chart was
formed without using the wizard. I am looking at just the Gantt chart not the
detail or tracking gantts, both of which have red critical links. I have
tried looking through the Format/Bar Styles and Format/Layout but cannot see
a way to change the links to show criticality. perhaps this is one of those
outside the 'most' items that you can manually change.


Pipv

 

[PipV]

Jan

The bars are formatted using Format/Bar Styles. A task is just a plain blue
bar. Criticality is shown by a thin magenta line along the top (line type 6
from the drop down list). I have a number of custom bars using a Flag column
to set the correct colour. It took some time to get the bars in the right
order so that all displayed correctly & I really dont want to go through the
hassle again.

I am using MSP 2003 standard if that helps.

Pipv

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

HTH simply means Hope this helps

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

This confirms that links take the color of the predecessors... which as you
say is blue
I don't think there is any way to color links different from the predecessor
:-((

 

[John]

Hi,

This confirms that links take the color of the predecessors... which as you
say is blue
I don't think there is any way to color links different from the predecessor
:-((

Jan,Pipv,
I did a quick test on a small file and the links do NOT necessarily take
on the color of the predecessor. Rather, I found that the link lines are
somehow related to where the bar style appears in the bar style list.
For example, if the critical bar style is added to the end of the list,
the bars are colored per the critical criteria but the link lines are
blue like a normal task. However, if the critical bar style is inserted
at the front of the list, both the bars and the links are the same color.

I didn't take the time to figure out why it works this way, but at least
PipV has a place to start.

John
Project MVP

 

[PipV]

John & Jan

A big thank you for the time & effort you have given me & I now have a
solution. Based on Johns last note about the link colour being related to the
order that the bar styles appear in the list. I have created an extra line at
the top of the list for critical items. The link then takes its colour from
this.

Creating custom bars lower down overwrites the bar with each colour so it
then has another critical line to draw a thin magenta line along he top of
the critical items (dont ask why thats how weve ended up showing
criticality). The significance of the order that each bar appears on the list
is something I have come accross before & can be a pain rying to get the
correct order.

And sorry that I missed what hth meant - Wow I learnt 2 things for the price
of 1

Pipv

 

[John]

John & Jan

A big thank you for the time & effort you have given me & I now have a
solution. Based on Johns last note about the link colour being related to the
order that the bar styles appear in the list. I have created an extra line at
the top of the list for critical items. The link then takes its colour from
this.

Creating custom bars lower down overwrites the bar with each colour so it
then has another critical line to draw a thin magenta line along he top of
the critical items (dont ask why thats how weve ended up showing
criticality). The significance of the order that each bar appears on the list
is something I have come accross before & can be a pain rying to get the
correct order.

And sorry that I missed what hth meant - Wow I learnt 2 things for the price
of 1

Pipv

PipV,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback. Every time I need to do
special bar formatting it seems I need to re-learn the priorities and
hierarchies of the list order, so don't feed bad.

John
Project MVP