What is an Activity View?
An Activity View represents a selection of data content presented in a particular visual layout, or format, on the Projects > Activities page.
I want to
- read more about using Activity Views
- create, modify, or delete a view
- choose and organize the data content of a view
(for example, select data columns, filter, group, sort) - customize the Gantt chart bars in a view
- show non-work time in bars of the Gantt chart
- customize the visual layout of a view on the Activities page
(for example, adjust timescale, hide or show Gantt bars) - read about user access to Activity Views
- read about data security in Activity Views
Using Activity Views
By customizing the Activities page, you can select numerous options to create Activity Views that present the project data you require in a display format that meets your needs. You can view and plan activities in the Gantt chart, schedule activities in the Calendar View, and view relationships between activities in the Activity Table and the Activity Network Diagram.
For each view, you can customize data and content-specific choices such as grouping, sorting, filtering, and selecting columns, applying a progress line and setting other visual layout options, including Gantt bar labeling and timescale increment designations in the Customize Activity View dialog box, which is displayed by clicking Customize Activity Views
in the toolbar of the Activity page.
Note: The Customize Activity View dialog box may be displayed as the Create Activity View dialog box when you create a new activity view from Projects, Manage Activity Views, or as the Detail dialog box when you modify an activity view. For more information, see Manage Activity Views.
The view drop-down list on the Activities toolbar provides quick and easy access to all Activity Views that are available to you. While working with activities, choosing the best view for your needs can facilitate the process of recording project data. For example, to quickly record a range of details for new activities, you might choose a table-only view that maximizes the number of data columns available. Or, to have a particular attribute, such as WBS or activity code, automatically applied to newly added activities, you could choose a view that groups activities based on that attribute.
Create, modify, or delete a view
You can create, modify, or delete a view either from the Manage Activity Views page or the Activities page.
Tip: You must have the required security privilege to create global activity views.
To create a new view from the Activities page
- Open the project or group of projects you want to work with in the Projects section.
- Click
on the Projects toolbar to display the Activities page.
- From the view drop-down list on the Activities toolbar, choose the view you want to use as the basis for the new view. You can base your new view on a Default View, or on any existing custom view.
- In the Activities toolbar, click the Customize Activity Views
menu, and select Save View As or press Ctrl+F11.
- Enter a unique name for the new view and click OK.
Notes:
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See choose and organize the data content of a view for information about selecting the data content and layout of a view.
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To share the new view, select the Access tab in the Customize Activity Views dialog box and select to make the view available to the current user, all users, or a selected list of users. By default, when you create a new view, it is saved only for your personal use, unless you specify other access.
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To save your latest changes to the view, select Customize Activity Views
in the Activities toolbar, and click Save View or press Ctrl+F10.
To create a view from the Manage Activity Views page
- From the Projects action menu in the global navigation bar, choose Manage Activity Views.
- Click Create Activity View. Search for or choose the view you want to use as a template for the new view.
- On the Create Activity View page, type a unique name for the new view, select the data content and layout of the view, and specify user access to the view. Details on choosing content and layout options are described below.
- Click Save.
Note: To modify a view on the Manage Activity Views page, click the name of the view you want to modify. On the Create/Modify Activity View page, choose and organize the view's content and access as necessary, then click Save.
To modify a view
From the Activity page, modify and save changes to a view in the Customize Activity Views dialog box,
To delete a view
To delete a view on the Activities page, choose the view you want to delete from the view drop-down list. When the view displays, from the Activity Views menu (
), choose Delete View.
To delete a view from the Manage Activity Views page, click the view's corresponding Delete link to delete an existing view.
Choose and organize the data content of a view
You can choose or change the content and organization of any Activity View you create. For activity views you can access but did not create, you can review the settings on the Customize View tabs (available from the Activities page), but you cannot make changes. You can also review settings for views you did not create by selecting a view on the Manage Activity Views page. For more information, see Access to Activity Views.
Tip: On the Activities page, to quickly rearrange the columns currently displayed in a view, drag and drop them.
Choosing activity data columns
- Use the Show first column as option to select either activity name or activity ID as the stationary first column.
- In the Available Columns list, select the data fields you want to display, then click the arrow buttons to move them to the Selected Columns list and to specify their order.
- Use the Sort by drop-down list to
select from a wide range of sort fields categorized by type, for example,
units, dates, or general data fields.
- Sort order can be ascending or descending.
- Text fields are sorted alphabetically.
- Numeric and date fields are sorted numerically or in calendar sequence.
- Checkbox fields, for ascending, are sorted as checked followed by unchecked.
- Activity status ascending sort order is Not Started, In Progress, and Completed.
- Indicator UDF fields, for ascending, are sorted
in this sequence:
These are the only fields you can display in the first column. The first item that appears in the Selected Columns list will occupy the second column on the Activities page.
The top-to-bottom order of fields in the Selected Columns list corresponds to the left-to-right display order of the columns in the Activity Table.
Tip: You can display a maximum of 30 columns in the
Activity Table.
Grouping activities
- In the Level drop-down lists, select up to ten fields, or categories, to group activities. You cannot group activities by more than one hierarchical field.
- For each group, select the background color and text color of the group
heading row, or band.
- Specify
the sort order for each group. Sort order for groups follows
the same rules as described above for the sorting
of activities. However, when grouping by a hierarchical field, an additional sort order option, Hierarchy, is available.
The Hierarchy option sorts groups based on the sequence defined for the hierarchical item, rather than using alphabetical or numerical sequencing. For example, with Hierarchy sort order, three WBS elements defined in the hierarchy as WBS a, WBS c and WBS b, would appear in bands replicating that sequence, but for Ascending sort order would appear as WBS a, WBS b, and WBS c.
- To display the group field name, followed by the field value in group heading rows, in the Bar Options section, choose Show field title.
- To display group totals in heading rows for all cost, numeric, integer, start date, and finish date fields, in the Band Options section, choose Show field rollups.
When you choose to group by a hierarchical field, such as WBS or activity code, the To Level drop-down list is available so you can choose the number of hierarchy levels you want to group by.
For example, if you select to group activities by Early Start, the field name Early Start appears to the left of the date value for the group. If you do not choose this option, only the date value for the group appears in the band.
Tip: Start date rollups reflect the earliest date for the group and finish date rollups reflect the latest date for the group. Unit and cost rollups are a total of the values for each activity in the group.
- To hide empty rows when the Activity Table is grouped by WBS, activity code, or primary resource, choose Hide if empty in the Band Options section. For example, if you select this option, a WBS element that does not have any activities assigned to it will not display.
- Use the For WBS, Project, Activity Codes, or Primary Resource, include option to determine the text that displays on the grouping band. To display the ID or Code value on the grouping band, choose ID/Code. To display the Name or Description on the grouping band, choose Name/Description. To display the ID/Code and Name/Description, choose ID/Code and Name/Description.
Note: Unexpected display results can occur when hours per time period settings are stored per calendar in the Project Management module and you group activities by a duration field, such as original or planned duration. If an unexpected display results when grouping activities by a duration field, set your preference for duration format to hours. You can change your preference for duration format in Global Preferences. See Specify formats for time units, dates, and currency in Global Preferences for details.
Filtering activities
- Select a filter type.
Choose Standard to select from predefined filters, such as Critical activities behind schedule or Milestones only.
Choose Custom to create a filter based on activity data fields and values you specify.
- Choose or create the filter.
If you choose Standard, select a predefined filter from the drop-down list.
For Activities Finishing Within Specified Days, be sure to specify a number of days.
The My Activities filter displays all project activities you are either assigned to as a resource or designated as the activity owner.
Tips: The Critical Activities Behind Schedule filter uses the project baseline to determine variance, identifying activities behind schedule. If no project baseline is assigned, the current project is used as the baseline, so no activities are displayed.
If you have Team Member module access, either assigned as a resource or activity Owner, applying the My Activities filter will have no affect on the activity list display because your access is already restricted to your assigned and Owner activities.If you choose Custom
In the Select Filter Criteria drop-down list, choose to display activities that meet all or any of the specified criteria. If you select Any of the following, any activity that meets at least one of the filtering conditions will display in the Activity View.
To create a filter criteria statement, in the Parameter drop-down list, select a field. Next, select an operator from the Is drop-down list. In the Value field, type or select a value to complete the filtering criteria statement.
Note: Project Activity codes and EPS codes parameters are not available on the Create Activity View page.
You can create up to 10 criteria statements for a custom filter. Click the appropriate icon to add or delete
a criteria statement.
Customize the visual layout of a view on the Activities page
Tip: For detailed information about all icons in the Activities toolbar, see Activities toolbar.
User Access to Activity Views
When you create or modify a view, you can use the Customize View Access tab to specify who has access to the view.
Three classes of access apply to Activity Views
- Personal - all users can create Activity Views for their own use
- Multi-user - all users can create Activity Views to share with other users they specify. Although any user designated to share a multi-user view can display the view, only the creator can edit or delete it.
- Global - users who have the required security privilege can create Activity Views to share with all P6 Web Access users. Although any user can display a global view, only the creator and users with the required security privilege can edit or delete it.
Data security in Activity Views
Your ability to perform certain actions in a view depends on the view's access class, your role as either creator or user of the view, and your security profile.
If a multi-user or global view includes data elements that are affected by security profile privileges, the data is not available to users who do not have the required privileges. For example, if a view is grouped by secure codes, users who do not have the required privilege will see the activities arranged in a flat list, the secure code grouping is not applied. If the secure code is used for sorting, it is ignored and the default sort field and sort order are applied: Start Date and Ascending. Similarly, if a view includes financial data columns, users who do not have the required privileges will see dashes in these columns instead of the values stored in the database.
Grouping and sorting activities
Grouping lists together, or categorizes, all activities that contain the same value for a specific data field. For example, if you choose to group by Project then by Primary Resource, the Activities page groups activities in project groupings. Then, within each project group, activities are further categorized according to primary resource. Finally, within each primary resource group, activities are sorted based upon the sort field and sort order you specify, for example start date.
In the Gantt chart, when you group activities, a summary bar appears for each group. You can expand and collapse the group as needed to focus only on the project Summary Schedule or on the Detailed Schedule.
In the Activity Table, when you group activities, each grouping level is identified and separated by a colored band or background. You can elect to show rollups, or summary totals, for each group.