This month we’ll have a look at printing reports and views. Project defines printing a report as a listing of selected scheduling data and is purely textural in format with alphanumeric characters, whereas printing a view refers mainly to printing data in a graphical form as seen on the active window.

Reports

Reports are a series of built-in layouts that can be edited, or new ones created. To print a report, go to View > Reports and select accordingly. Use the preview facility before printing to check the output.

Selecting Custom will give a pick list of all the built-in reports. 

Note the New and Edit buttons. If Edit is chosen, then be sure to give the report a new name so that the original report remains available. Note also the Organizer button that will allow the edited report to be deleted or made available in other projects.

Views

To print a View, set up the view required, adjusting the graphics to meet needs, and printing will reproduce that screen. Starting from a View table, insert or delete columns as required. Select the appropriate Fonts, Filters and Sort. Views with calendars might need adjustment to the timescale. Always use File > Print Preview or click the Print Preview tool button, as it is easy to print out many pages if the timescale is unnecessarily detailed.

Formats

In the Format menu, there are options to select Bar... or Bar Styles..., and Font... or Text Styles.... The difference is that the Styles options change the way whole projects appear, whereas Bar and Font change the way selected data appears.

Fonts

To change fonts from Text Styles..., first select the drop-down arrow to choose the categories of Items To Change:, then select the font details. For Font... first select All, individual Rows, Columns or Fields, then click on the Font... and select the changes needed.

Bars

To change bar styles, click on Bar Styles... select the bar type to change and then the details. To change the style of selected bars, click on Bar... and then the details required.

Timescales

Zoom

To zoom in or out to show a greater or lesser timescale, select View > Zoom..., or right-click on the timescale and select Zoom.... From the Zoom dialog box, select the scale desired.

Alternatively, click on the + or - Zoom tool button to see more or less detail. 

Working Time

If greater control is required, double-click on the timescale, or right-click and select Timescale... or select Format > Timescale.... A Timescale dialog box will open allowing changes to the representation of the calendar.

To change the field criteria, click on the down arrow next to the appropriate field and select from the pick list the new criteria needed. To compress or expand the timescale, type a new percentage in the Size: field.

Nonworking Time

To change the way Nonworking time is shown, click the Nonworking Time tab.

Bars can be shown in front of or behind nonworking time shading, or none can be selected. Note how the representation changes in the Prieview section. Different calendars can also be applied, including resource calendars.

Printing

When the view is ready, if certain of the output, select File > Print or select the Print tool button.

However, if unsure always select File > Print Preview, or select the Print Preview tool button.

In the status bar, you can see how many pages will be printed. To view the way multiple pages will appear, click the Multiple Pages tool button.

If the preview is not right, click on the Close button and re-edit the view criteria. When the preview is satisfactory, select the Page Setup button. All settings apply to the active view. The name of the active view appears in the Page Setup title bar.

When the project is saved, all page setup settings are also saved. Choose the appropriate tab for the kind of information wanted or to be specified. Use the Print Preview button to check any changes made. When satisfied with the preview settings, click the Print button.

• Page - Specifies page orientation and scaling. Scaling recognizes the actual space requirements at each end of the project to allow for text on the Gantt chart and will proportion vertically to minimize white space at the bottom of the project.

• Margins - Specifies margins and borders.

• Header Footer - Specifies and formats page headers and footers.

• Legend - Specifies and formats a legend for the Gantt Chart, PERT Chart, and Calendar.

• View - Specifies options for printing views that contain sheets, such as the Gantt Chart and Resource Usage view.

• View (Calendar) - If printing a Calendar view, additional options are available to specify time units and other calendar specific options.

Next Month

Well, we have now covered the very basics of getting a project up and running. Next month we'll begin looking into more detailed stuff, beginning with ways of manipulating tasks to meet specific requirements. But before I finish, I'd like to remind you that you can get help from the Microsoft Project newsgroups that have just been re-organized. We have listed them in FAQ number 24 - Project Newsgroups, to be found on the MVP Project web site at: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm. Also, if you have specific areas in the operation of Project at a basic level (i.e., not networking or server questions) email Tech Trax an I'll try to incorporate answers in future editions.