Sorting in Resource Usage View

[SFSailLady]

OK, I feel stupid. I can't seem to get the Resource Usage view to sort the
way I want it to. My columns are: Info, Resource Name, Task Outline Number,
Start, FInish, and Work. I want to sort by 'name' and then by 'start'. I do
sort by 'name' and then sort by 'start'. It only sorts by name. What am I
doing wrong?

Just to be 100% precise, the steps I do are right-click on Resource Name
column, Sort By..., and then in sort dialog choose 'name' and then 'start'.

Help. Thanks.

 

[Rick Roszko]

Do a sort by "Name" by that column only.
(only have sort on "Name", leave the other two blank)

Next do a sort by "Start"
(only have sort on "Start", leave the other two blank)

 

[SFSailLady]

I think you misunderstood the question. Sort by "Start" then rearranges the
"names" even if they were sorted first. I don't want that. I want the names
sorted, then for the tasks under that name, I want the tasks sorted by
"Start". So, the final view should have names sorted and within each name,
tasks sorted by Start.

 

[Catfish Hunter]

Try sorting by resource name then ............

I think you misunderstood the question. Sort by "Start" then rearranges the
"names" even if they were sorted first. I don't want that. I want the names
sorted, then for the tasks under that name, I want the tasks sorted by
"Start". So, the final view should have names sorted and within each name,
tasks sorted by Start.

 

[JulieS]

Hi SFSailLady,

I believe the difficulty you are having is because the "Start" field in the
resource Usage view is the start for the Resource, not the start for the
assignments. See FAQ #51 at:

http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

for additional details.

You may have better luck using grouping than sorting as grouping would allow
you to group by Name (resource field) then Start date (assignment field).

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[SFSailLady]

Please read my original post. I did that. I am beginning to think that I
cannot get the result I would like to achieve. I want a view that has BOTH
'Name" sorted AND then within each name, their tasks sorted by "Start". Not
individually.

If you sort by Name, you get Name sorted, but not Start sorted. Even if in
the Sort dialog you sort by Name and then in the next sort line sort by
Start, the view ONLY sorts by the name. Conversely, if you sort by Start and
then in the same sort dialogue, sort by Start, you get a sort by Start but
NOT by name. Obviously, if you do the sorts independently, you get only Name
or Start sorted, but not both.

It is pretty lame I'm afraid in my humble opinion that I cannot get the
result that I want except through a report.

 

[SFSailLady]

Hi JulieS,

Thanks for trying again. By default, the Resource Usage view appears to
already be grouped by "resource name", so it is already grouped. Or, perhaps
I grouped it awhile ago and don't remember. In any event, it is grouped by
Resource Name. In the fields that are presented for inclusion in the view,
there is "Start", but no "Start date" or "assignment start date". Only
"start", start1, start2, etc., the latter of which are likely not relevant.
It just seems like there is no way to do what I need, but thank you for
trying.

Anyone else ever been able to do this? It is pretty annoying. Though the
workaround that I use is to obviously sort by Start, but then I have to
export in order to send it around to others because there are many resources.

 

[John]

Hi SFSailLady,

I believe the difficulty you are having is because the "Start" field in the
resource Usage view is the start for the Resource, not the start for the
assignments. See FAQ #51 at:

http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

for additional details.

You may have better luck using grouping than sorting as grouping would allow
you to group by Name (resource field) then Start date (assignment field).

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

Julie,
Actually I didn't address sorting in combination views when I wrote FAQ
51 but I sounds like a good idea. I need to do a little research and
then maybe we can update the FAQ.

John

 

[John]

Hi JulieS,

Thanks for trying again. By default, the Resource Usage view appears to
already be grouped by "resource name", so it is already grouped. Or, perhaps
I grouped it awhile ago and don't remember. In any event, it is grouped by
Resource Name. In the fields that are presented for inclusion in the view,
there is "Start", but no "Start date" or "assignment start date". Only
"start", start1, start2, etc., the latter of which are likely not relevant.
It just seems like there is no way to do what I need, but thank you for
trying.

Anyone else ever been able to do this? It is pretty annoying. Though the
workaround that I use is to obviously sort by Start, but then I have to
export in order to send it around to others because there are many resources.

SFSailLady,
The fact that combination views (i.e. Resource Usage and Task Usage)
contain two types of Project object data not only causes much confusion
with users but also isn't handled very well (in my opinion) by some of
Project's features (sorting being one of them).

If for some reason you really need the Resource Usage view, then Julie's
suggestion to use grouping is the only option. Even with VBA the only
method I can think of is to export to Excel and sort the data there.

On the other hand, if you really don't need the Resource Usage view, you
can apply a sort for Resource Names and then Start in a task view (e.g.
Gantt Chart). If there is only one resource assigned to each task, this
method will work fine.

John
Project MVP

 

[SFSailLady]

Hi John,

Thank you very much. I think you've nailed the coffin for me. Based
on everything you said here and wrote in the FAQ, to get what I want, I'll
export to Excel and deal with it there. I was pretty much resigned to that
by now anyway.

I do have multiple resources assigned to tasks. My goal was to make it easy
for people to find themselves in the Resource Usage view and be able to see
their tasks directly under them sorted by start date. Most of the developers
on the project aren't fans of .mpp so I was trying to make it easier on
myself as well as them. But, Excel is definitely the way to go here, based
on what I know now. I'll just export.

Thanks for yours and everyone's time plodding through this with me.
Cheers,
SFSailLady.

 

[JulieS]

Hi SFSailLady,

I see that John has given you an answer to your question, but to clarify my
earlier response a bit.

Yes, the Resource Usage view is by default "grouped" by resource name. I
was referring to the Project > Group > More Groups option. That option
allows you to define Groups for both the [Name] field (resource) as well as
the [Start] field resource.
Anyway, if the export to Excel works, then that is terrific.

Julie

 

[JulieS]

Hi John,

I agree. FAQ #51 does a great job discussing the Task, Resource, Assignment
fields and does mention grouping in a Usage view, but perhaps adding some
information about Sorting might help.

Julie

 

[John]

Hi John,

Thank you very much. I think you've nailed the coffin for me. Based
on everything you said here and wrote in the FAQ, to get what I want, I'll
export to Excel and deal with it there. I was pretty much resigned to that
by now anyway.

I do have multiple resources assigned to tasks. My goal was to make it easy
for people to find themselves in the Resource Usage view and be able to see
their tasks directly under them sorted by start date. Most of the developers
on the project aren't fans of .mpp so I was trying to make it easier on
myself as well as them. But, Excel is definitely the way to go here, based
on what I know now. I'll just export.

Thanks for yours and everyone's time plodding through this with me.
Cheers,
SFSailLady.

SFSailLady,
You're welcome.

John