customizing task bars

[TD]

Hi

I'm quite inexperienced with the use of MS Project 2003 but I have a problem
that I hope someone can help me with. I want to make a customized field where
I can choose between 2 different values e.g. yes/no. The other thing I want
to do is that if I choose value 1 in the field, the gantt bar should have one
colour and if I choose value 2 the gant bar should have another colour. Any
help would be appriciated. I have been to the website
http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm and looked at question 31 but can't really
get it to work in relation to my problem.

 

[Manmeet Chaudhari]

Hi
to create a custom field with drop down options kindly follow these steps
1. From tools menu select- customize- fields
2. Under type select flag1 and give it a relevant name
3. Click on value list and enter all options under value. in our case yes/ no
4. Click on ok
Click ok once again and come out

Now in the Gantt chart view if you insert this field it will have yes, no as
drop down values.

To format the bars with different colors based on the flag value follow
these steps
1. From the format menu select bar styles
2. Add a new row and give it some desirable name
3. Select some appreance and change its color
4. Under show task for select flag1
5. Under row select 1
6. Under from select start and under to select finish
Let us know if this works


Manmeet Chaudhari
Technical Trainer
Maestros Mediline Systems Ltd
Mumbai

 

[TD]

Thank you very much this has helped me a lot.

Hi
to create a custom field with drop down options kindly follow these steps
1. From tools menu select- customize- fields
2. Under type select flag1 and give it a relevant name
3. Click on value list and enter all options under value. in our case yes/ no
4. Click on ok
Click ok once again and come out

Now in the Gantt chart view if you insert this field it will have yes, no as
drop down values.

To format the bars with different colors based on the flag value follow
these steps
1. From the format menu select bar styles
2. Add a new row and give it some desirable name
3. Select some appreance and change its color
4. Under show task for select flag1
5. Under row select 1
6. Under from select start and under to select finish
Let us know if this works


Manmeet Chaudhari
Technical Trainer
Maestros Mediline Systems Ltd
Mumbai

 

[van der Linden]

Hello!

I have a question relying to this one.
I would like to change the color and shape of a (summary) Gantt-bar when
applying a self-made filter.
In my case: I made a filter in which, for some tasks, only the summary task
is shown. Because I work with several colors for different departments, you
can't see for which department the task is. I can change the color of the
summary task Gant-bar, but the problem is that, in normal view, when all
tasks are shown, it looks like if this summary task is a single task, which
is quite inconvenient.

Can you help me?

Greetings, Sophia

 

[John]

Hello!

I have a question relying to this one.
I would like to change the color and shape of a (summary) Gantt-bar when
applying a self-made filter.
In my case: I made a filter in which, for some tasks, only the summary task
is shown. Because I work with several colors for different departments, you
can't see for which department the task is. I can change the color of the
summary task Gant-bar, but the problem is that, in normal view, when all
tasks are shown, it looks like if this summary task is a single task, which
is quite inconvenient.

Can you help me?

Greetings, Sophia

Sophia,
I guess I'm a little confused. If there are several colors for different
departments, doesn't the color then identify the department? And how can
the color of a summary line make it look like the summary is a single
task - a summary is a summary (i.e. not a task) regardless of what color
it is. I think we need a clearer explanation of exactly what you need
before we can give specific help.

Generally though, making the Gantt bar format track a filter is fairly
easy. One method is to apply the filter and then use a spare flag field
to identify the tasks (and summary lines) that result. Set up the Bar
Styles format "Show For...Tasks" to respond to the flag.

John
Project MVP

 

[van der Linden]

Hi John,
Thanks for the answer! I'm sorry, I tried to make my problem clear, but
unfortunately it's quite difficult to explain...

Because I have a very large project, I apply a filter.
Some tasks are split, for example the task 'painting' is split in 'painting
fore' and 'painting back'. The painting department has a pink color, so the
Gantt-bars are pink (I used flagfields). The summarytask 'painting' has the
normal summary-bar look, black. Without the filter I would like to keep the
shape and colour of the summary task the same, but: when apllying the filter,
only the summarytask 'painting' is shown. In this view I see 'painting' as a
1 task, not like a summary task. But I still see this task as a summarytask,
so black, but I want to show here that it is a painting-department task, so
pink ans a normal shape.
Can I change the shape and colour of a summary task when aplying a filter?
Important is that in normal view I don't want the summary-task painting
shown as a normal task, it looks like an extra task in that case.
I tried to do something wih a rolled up task, but it didn't really work out.

Hope this is clearer,
Thanks in advance,
Sophia

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Sophia,

I don't think you can do this via a filter. I'm pretty sure vba could
provide what you want. However, in Format Bar, you could change the colour
of the Start and End shapes of the Summary task to pink, or the Middle pink
and the ends black.

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP
See http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc for Project Tutorials

 

[John]

Hi John,
Thanks for the answer! I'm sorry, I tried to make my problem clear, but
unfortunately it's quite difficult to explain...

Because I have a very large project, I apply a filter.
Some tasks are split, for example the task 'painting' is split in 'painting
fore' and 'painting back'. The painting department has a pink color, so the
Gantt-bars are pink (I used flagfields). The summarytask 'painting' has the
normal summary-bar look, black. Without the filter I would like to keep the
shape and colour of the summary task the same, but: when apllying the filter,
only the summarytask 'painting' is shown. In this view I see 'painting' as a
1 task, not like a summary task. But I still see this task as a summarytask,
so black, but I want to show here that it is a painting-department task, so
pink ans a normal shape.
Can I change the shape and colour of a summary task when aplying a filter?
Important is that in normal view I don't want the summary-task painting
shown as a normal task, it looks like an extra task in that case.
I tried to do something wih a rolled up task, but it didn't really work out.

Hope this is clearer,
Thanks in advance,
Sophia

Sophia,
Yes, that is much clearer and now I understand what you want. As Mike
indicated in his response what you want cannot be done with a filter
alone but it can be done with a VBA macro. Do you know how to write
macros? If so, I would first apply the filter (via the macro) and then
apply font characteristics (e.g. color) to the result. If you do not
know, VBA, we can help. The code is really rather simple.

John
Project MVP

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

I would do this by creating a separar-te view with the pink summaries and
the filter as default.
Then istead of filtering you call the view.
But of course, a VBA macro will do as well.
HTH