F
Frank Cox, PMP
I am interested in custom fields and functions for them, so I began to search
for information on applications for the fields and for function development.
The information I obtained from MVP articles, Project Help files, user
groups, etc., is very limited. So I started experimenting. Turns out that
creating functions in Project 2003 is not terribly difficult but is
rewarding. I recently built one for the Text3 field that looks at two
adjacent fields in each record in the default view to determine whether
projects in my IS unit's portfolio are or are not aligned to strategic goals
and other key criteria. The output in Text3 for each record appears as one
of six dual purpose status conditions. I use a custom filter to view
projects that meet a selected condition, for example the one that reveals
projects that are not mapped to strategy or to technology steering committee
priorities or my unit's mission statement. It gives me the ability to filter
for example the condition that reveals contents that need to be aligned. I
use the same filter to identify "kill" targets -- projects and other elements
in the portfolio (the total unit workload) that do not or have not been
aligned by unit management to strategy, priorities, or mission. This enables
unit management to see such projects in a single view and ask hard questons
about each such as, "If it isn't aligned and we cannot legitimately align it
to what is important then why are we doing it?" If the the best answer is a
poor justification then we can flag the affected effort for termination. (I
plan to include the formula for the function above in a work that I intend to
submit for commerical publication. Right now the formula is 289 characters
without spaces, not as elegant or concise as it might be, but it works and
does not degrade performance within Project.)
for information on applications for the fields and for function development.
The information I obtained from MVP articles, Project Help files, user
groups, etc., is very limited. So I started experimenting. Turns out that
creating functions in Project 2003 is not terribly difficult but is
rewarding. I recently built one for the Text3 field that looks at two
adjacent fields in each record in the default view to determine whether
projects in my IS unit's portfolio are or are not aligned to strategic goals
and other key criteria. The output in Text3 for each record appears as one
of six dual purpose status conditions. I use a custom filter to view
projects that meet a selected condition, for example the one that reveals
projects that are not mapped to strategy or to technology steering committee
priorities or my unit's mission statement. It gives me the ability to filter
for example the condition that reveals contents that need to be aligned. I
use the same filter to identify "kill" targets -- projects and other elements
in the portfolio (the total unit workload) that do not or have not been
aligned by unit management to strategy, priorities, or mission. This enables
unit management to see such projects in a single view and ask hard questons
about each such as, "If it isn't aligned and we cannot legitimately align it
to what is important then why are we doing it?" If the the best answer is a
poor justification then we can flag the affected effort for termination. (I
plan to include the formula for the function above in a work that I intend to
submit for commerical publication. Right now the formula is 289 characters
without spaces, not as elegant or concise as it might be, but it works and
does not degrade performance within Project.)