Sorting "Who Does What" Report by Start Date

[Joseph G.]

I am a beginner to MS Project 2003 given the task of scheduling with it at a
small residential construction company. We manage about 30 to 40 residential
construction projects at a time.

I have created project files for each construction project and linked them
to a resource pool. Now, I need to print schedules for each subcontractor.
The "Who Does What" report seems to be the best suited for us, but I cannot
get the report to sort by start date.

I have attempted to "edit" the report and sort by "start", but it still
places a sorting priority on the Project name, then by date.

I need a report printed by date to show resouces what they are schedule for.
I will greatly appreciate any help.

Joseph G.

 

[John]

I am a beginner to MS Project 2003 given the task of scheduling with it at a
small residential construction company. We manage about 30 to 40 residential
construction projects at a time.

I have created project files for each construction project and linked them
to a resource pool. Now, I need to print schedules for each subcontractor.
The "Who Does What" report seems to be the best suited for us, but I cannot
get the report to sort by start date.

I have attempted to "edit" the report and sort by "start", but it still
places a sorting priority on the Project name, then by date.

I need a report printed by date to show resouces what they are schedule for.
I will greatly appreciate any help.

Joseph G.

Joseph,
Actually sorting the "Who Does What" report by Start day does not sort
by Project name but rather sorts by Assignment. Look carefully at the
sorted view. Since the report is a resource type report, the resource
with the earliest assignment will be shown first, although that
resource's first assignment may not be the first in the list. If there
is more than one resource with the same assignment start date, the
resource with the lowest resource ID will be shown first. Regardless,
that is not what you want.

It has been my experience that the built-in Reports aren't that useful
although perhaps I'm biased because all I see are posts from people like
youself when they have problems getting a report to look like they want.
Nonetheless the built-in Reports don't have a lot of flexibility.

You mentioned that you have a separate file for each construction
project and a resource pool. Depending on how the files are structured,
one or more solutions using grouping, filters, or customized views might
solve your problem. For example, if you want a subcontractor's schedule,
first open the Resource Pool file as a master file (you should see a
pop-up window when you open the pool giving three options. Select the
third option to create a new master file). Then sort the entire master
by Start Date. You may or may not want to retain the outline structure.
Finally apply a filter (perhaps an interactive filter) for the
subcontractor of interest. You should then have a complete schedule for
that subcontractor across all projects sorted by Start Date. By the way,
you might want to include the Project field so the view will show which
project is related to which task.

If the above doesn't work or I misunderstood what you are after, post
again. We'll get you what you need.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Joseph G.]

John,

Thanks for the information; I found your response to be accurate. I had
actually done something similar last night.

I created a new project and inserted all my construction projects into the
one master project file. I then linked the resource pool. I then did some
editing on a To Do list report, which allowed me to create a to do list by
resource and date range, which pretty much accomplished what I need.

However, you method seems to have automated what took me some time to do,
and you method allows me to view the information better within project. I
appreciate your help.

Joseph G.

 

[John]

John,

Thanks for the information; I found your response to be accurate. I had
actually done something similar last night.

I created a new project and inserted all my construction projects into the
one master project file. I then linked the resource pool. I then did some
editing on a To Do list report, which allowed me to create a to do list by
resource and date range, which pretty much accomplished what I need.

However, you method seems to have automated what took me some time to do,
and you method allows me to view the information better within project. I
appreciate your help.

Joseph G.

Joseph,
You're welcome. We are here to help and sometimes our experience can
make this go a little faster.

John

 

[Capitol Mike]

Joseph,

I'm using Project 2000 for about 150-200 homes per year. We may be able to
help each with Project. Please email me at (e-mail address removed).

Thanks,