how do i assign custom gnatt bars to normal tasks?

[Paul]

i wish to use project to plan out activities in different stages, stage 1
through to stage 9. I want to be able to make each task under stage 3 red for
example, then when i change to stage 4 i choose bar style 4 and have the next
bar in a differnet colour. at the moment you have to try and change each bar
manually, but there must be a way of creating tasks that have differnet bar
colours without going through this process. a long winded question i know.

 

[JulieS]

Hi Paul.

See FAQ #31 "Customizing Task Bars" at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

The FAQ uses Resource Names to create the custom task bars but you could
modify the formula(s) in the Flag fields to look for Stage1 etc. either in
the Task name or in a custom text formula in another field.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.
Julie

 

[Paul]

Thanks Julie,

i think this will help but i can't get the formula to work because it "
contains a syntax error or contains a reference to an unreconised field or
function name". i copied the formula directly and it highlights the comma
after yes/no and all of the ok's. i'm almost there! i'll keep on trying
though, thanks for your help.

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Paul,

The formula should be only this:
IIf ([Resource Names]="Fred",Yes,No)
The OKs were to go back through the dialogs to accept the formula. Try
again.

Hope this helps )

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

 

[JKHouston]

Thought I'd jump in here because I am setting up the custom flag system as
suggested but I am stumbling at one point and could use some advice.

We are defining resources thru percentages. Which is to say, 3 people = 300%
resource available. So, once I assign 3 people to a task the "resource names"
looks like this; PROD(300%) which returns a value of no in my formula. If I
assign one person then the resource names correctly reads PROD and the task
bar uses the custom colour.

Is there any way to assign placeholders for characters? Or a way to solve my
problem? I'm afraid that I haven't looked very hard so I hope you don't hold
that against me!

Thanks in advance for any help!
John

Hi Paul,

The formula should be only this:
IIf ([Resource Names]="Fred",Yes,No)
The OKs were to go back through the dialogs to accept the formula. Try
again.

Hope this helps )

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

Thanks Julie,

i think this will help but i can't get the formula to work because it
" contains a syntax error or contains a reference to an unreconised
field or function name". i copied the formula directly and it
highlights the comma after yes/no and all of the ok's. i'm almost
there! i'll keep on trying though, thanks for your help.

 

[John]

Thought I'd jump in here because I am setting up the custom flag system as
suggested but I am stumbling at one point and could use some advice.

We are defining resources thru percentages. Which is to say, 3 people = 300%
resource available. So, once I assign 3 people to a task the "resource names"
looks like this; PROD(300%) which returns a value of no in my formula. If I
assign one person then the resource names correctly reads PROD and the task
bar uses the custom colour.

Is there any way to assign placeholders for characters? Or a way to solve my
problem? I'm afraid that I haven't looked very hard so I hope you don't hold
that against me!

Thanks in advance for any help!
John

John,
How about you help us out here and tell us what you are trying to do
specifically instead of how you are trying to do it. Based on the
partial thread from someone else's post, I gather you want to color the
Gantt bars differently based on some criteria, but more information
would help us help you.

John
Project MVP

 

[JKHouston]

Sorry about that, wasn't trying to be vague, guess it just happened that way!


I appreciate the help!

I am trying to show a different colour for each of the resources we use.
Engineering, Design, Production and Field Crew. We are assigning resources
based on percentage which is to say, we have 20 people who work in the shop
so the resource percentage is 2000%. So when assigning a task I would state
perhaps, 600% for 6 men and so on...

So, what's happening is if I use the Flag1, Flag2, Flag3 and Flag4 to
identify the 'resource names', the if statement does not recognize the
resource because it doesn't say "PROD". If I assign 2 or more people the
resource name changes to "PROD(200%)" and the formula returns 'no' and
therefore the bar stays the default colour. My resource names are; ENG, DESN,
PROD and FLDCREW.

So, what would my options be? Can I turn off the percentage at the end of
the resource name? Or could I change the formula somehow to allow the various
percentages to be included? Or...?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
John

 

[John]

Sorry about that, wasn't trying to be vague, guess it just happened that way!


I appreciate the help!

I am trying to show a different colour for each of the resources we use.
Engineering, Design, Production and Field Crew. We are assigning resources
based on percentage which is to say, we have 20 people who work in the shop
so the resource percentage is 2000%. So when assigning a task I would state
perhaps, 600% for 6 men and so on...

So, what's happening is if I use the Flag1, Flag2, Flag3 and Flag4 to
identify the 'resource names', the if statement does not recognize the
resource because it doesn't say "PROD". If I assign 2 or more people the
resource name changes to "PROD(200%)" and the formula returns 'no' and
therefore the bar stays the default colour. My resource names are; ENG, DESN,
PROD and FLDCREW.

So, what would my options be? Can I turn off the percentage at the end of
the resource name? Or could I change the formula somehow to allow the various
percentages to be included? Or...?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
John

John,
I'm a real detail oriented type of guy. You did supply more information
on what you are trying to do but it still left some holes. For example,
show a different color for each resource where, on the Gantt graphic?
You mention a formula but you didn't show the formula you are using.
I'll make some assumptions.

No, the assignment level cannot be turned off in the Resource Names
field. You could include more complexity in the formula to strip off the
assignment information but there are better approaches. For example, the
Resource Initials field does not contain assignment information and as
long as there are no duplicate initials, why not use that field in your
formula? Another approach would be to use VBA, it would offer greater
flexibility but it may be overkill for what you want to do. I can't tell.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[JKHouston]

D'oh!

Thanks John, I'll take your suggestion to use the resource initials (or
another field). I got too focused on following the instructions to change the
colour of the bars on the gantt chart that I didn't think outside the box!

Thanks so much for sticking with me, I appreciate your advise.

 

[John]

D'oh!

Thanks John, I'll take your suggestion to use the resource initials (or
another field). I got too focused on following the instructions to change the
colour of the bars on the gantt chart that I didn't think outside the box!

Thanks so much for sticking with me, I appreciate your advise.

John,
Homer sees the light again! I know how easy it is to get focused on one
method for doing something only to find out in a clearer moment or on
consultation from someone else, that a easier, better solution exists.
That's what we are here for.

John
Project MVP