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I hope you experimented with a couple of tasks and a few
resources, adding and removing their assignment and thus beginning
to have a feel for how Project handles resources.
This month, we’ll have a
look at some of the main Views provided with Project so that you can get
a feel for some of the ways you can view the data to help you manage the
plan.
Views are used to enter, change, and display information about the
tasks and resources in the project. By using a variety of
views, the same project information can be seen in different ways as the
project is organised, tasks and resources scheduled, and changes
managed.
 There
are three basic types of views to display project information:
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A sheet resembles a spreadsheet or table
of information.
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A
chart or graph displays information graphically.
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A
form facilitates the entry of information about specific tasks and resources.
 The most commonly used views are
accessed through the icons on the View bar or from the View
menu. Further views are available from View > More Views… or by
clicking the bottom-most icon in the view bar. Note the New,
Edit and Copy buttons, used for the modification or
creation of views to display different information from that
provided by Project.
Project
can display project information in task views or in
resource views. Use
a task view to enter, change, or display task information. Use a
resource view to enter, change, or display resource information.
 The Calendar view shows the Gantt bars on
a desktop calendar. Tasks can be created, resources assigned, tasks
linked, tasks edited, etc., in the same way as in the Gantt View. Refine
the view by using filters to select a particular resource or type
of activity. Select View > Calendar or click the
Calendar icon on the View Bar. To change
the active day: click on the date, or use the large up or down arrows
to scroll through the dates.
The Network Diagram is a logic chart showing all tasks
and task dependencies — the logical relationship between tasks. Use this
task view to create and fine-tune the schedule in a flowchart format.
Tasks can be created, resources assigned, tasks linked, tasks edited,
etc., in the same way as in the Gantt View. Select View >
Network Diagram
or click the Network Diagram icon on the
View bar.
Task Usage
The Task Usage view is a list of tasks showing
assigned resources grouped under each task. Use this task view
to see which resources are assigned to specific tasks and to set resource
work contours.
 Use the view to work with task and resource information
side by side. With the Task Usage view, useful, real-world reports
can easily be created about when a resource is scheduled to work
on a task over a period of time. Seeing clearly which resources
are working on a task, and when work is occurring, can help make better decisions
about the project. Select View >
Task Usage or click the Task Usage icon on the
View bar
Tracking Gantt
 The Tracking Gantt view provides a list of
tasks and related information, and a chart showing baseline and scheduled
Gantt bars for each task. To create a baseline plan, go to
Tools > Tracking > Save
Baseline….
The baseline can be used to compare the original
plan for the project with the actual
 course of the project.
The Tracking Gantt view shows which tasks started earlier or later than
planned, exceeded their original budget, took longer than planned,
and so on. Select View > Tracking
Gantt or click the Tracking Gantt icon on the View bar.
Resource Sheet
A Resource Sheet is a list of resources and
related information. Use this resource view to enter and edit
resource information in a spreadsheet-like format.
 Use the Resource Sheet
view to review, add or edit data about resources and to copy
or paste information from one resource to another. Different tables can be
applied to see resource information from a different perspective
or a filter can be applied to display only the information wanted.
Select View > Resource
Sheet or click the Resource Sheet icon on the
View bar.
Resource Usage
The Resource Usage view is used to work with resource
and task information side by side. It is a list of resources showing
allocation, cost, or work information for each resource over time.
 Use this resource view to show cost or work
allocation information for each resource and to set resource contours.
This view is a valuable management tool for tracking a resource’s work
or cost allocation, seeing how costs change over time, and creating
timesheets. Select View > Resource Usage or click the Resource
Usage icon on the View bar.
Tables
A sheet view, which contains a list of tasks
or resources, is defined further by a table, which is a group of
related columns or fields. The columns seen in a sheet depend on the
table applied. Commonly
used Tables can be selected from View >
Table: Entry. Further tables
can be accessed through View > Table: Entry > More Tables, from the
selection menu after right-clicking the select all button or the
view bar. Note
the New, Edit and Copy buttons that allow tables to be created, edited
or copied.
To make a view fit needs, Project allows the display of a subset of
the tasks or resources in a project, highlight specific information, or
determine what information is displayed. A filter contains instructions,
called criteria, that specify the conditions under which a task or
resource appears.
 Filters applied to a view can be
changed or created to show different information in the current format.
 To apply a filter, click the drop-down
arrow in the filter selection toolbox and then select the filter, or
Project > Filtered For: All Tasks > More
Filters…, then select the filter needed, Apply or
Highlight. Note that
filters can be for Tasks or Resources and can be
Copied, Edited or
Created.
 The AutoFilter facility can be invoked in any
sheet view from the AutoFilter
tool button or Project > Filtered For: All Tasks > AutoFilter
that
puts a drop-down arrow in the column headings. Use of the drop-down
arrow gives a filter pick list based on that field.
Sorting changes the order of tasks or resources
in the active view according to the fields specified. Sorting does
not change the contents or scheduling of the project, it simply changes
the display in the active view. Project sorts only tasks or resources
that are displayed. It does not sort tasks or resources that are
filtered out or collapsed in an outline. Select Project > Sort > Sort
By…. and
a drop-down menu will allow selection of the appropriate sort criteria.
Note that it is possible to Permanently renumber tasks in their new
sort order (and
Permanently does mean that!).
Next Month
Well, that covers the main ways of viewing your project. In
later lessons we’ll have a look at modifying or creating new ways of examining
the data in your project. Meanwhile, next month we’ll have a look at the
more detailed information contained in Task and Resource Information dialogs,
Working Hours and Calendars.
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