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Agile Product Lifecycle Management Product Portfolio Management User Guide Release 9.3.3 E39293-01 |
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# 4 Creating and Managing Projects

Creating and managing projects in PPM involves using Web Client or Gantt to:

- Create, edit, activate, and baseline a project

- Work with project content

- Assign resources and allocate activities

- Establish dependencies and reschedule activities

- Initiate and respond to discussions

## 4.1 Creating a Project

You can create a project using Web Client or Gantt.

### 4.1.1 Using Gantt Chart

You can create a new Active or Proposed project from the File menu or an existing template in Gantt.

To create a project using the File menu in Gantt:

1. Launch Gantt Chart. See "Launching Gantt."

2. Click File > New. The New Project window opens with the standard duration of one day.

3. To rename the project, double-click the name of the project.

4. Click File > Save. The project is Active by default.

Right-click on the project name in Gantt and click Properties to modify the various properties of the project.

To quickly create a project using data from a spreadsheet:

1. Ensure that the data in the spreadsheet is in the following format:

Activity Type | Name | Schedule Start Date | Schedule End Date
--- | --- | --- | ---
<type of activity> | <name of activity> | <start date in mm/dd/yy format> | <end date in mm/dd/yy format>

Dates should be in the mm/dd/yy format.

1. Copy the required rows from the spreadsheet.

2. Launch Gantt Chart.

3. Click File > New.

4. Select the default row that appears and paste the rows you copied (Press CTRL+V or right-click and select Paste). Errors, if any, are reported at the bottom of the window.

5. The project is copied over. Click File > Save.

To create a project from an existing template in Gantt Chart:

1. Click File > Open to view the Activity window.

2. In the Find From list, select Root Templates.

3. If you know the name of the template, enter the Name, or click Find.

4. Click on a row to select the template.

5. Click OK to view the new project based on the selected template.

6. Click File > Save as File to save the project on the disk.

7. In the Save as File Options dialog, enter the Name and Description for the new project.

8. Select Active or Proposed from the Project State List.

9. Click OK and select the destination folder for the new project.

The new project does not have the Page Two and Page Three attributes copied from the template. The content from the Attachments and Content tabs are not copied when you save a new project from a template using Gantt.

### 4.1.2 Using Web Client

You can create a project from Web Client using the following:

- The Create New menu

- The Save As menu

- An existing project template

In the Web Client, the Create New menu enables you to create a new project.

To create a new project using the Create menu:

1. Launch Agile Web Client.

2. Click the Create New drop-down menu.

3. Select Projects > New.

4. In the Create New dialog, select Project from the Type list.

5. Enter the Name of the project.

6. Enter the Description for the project, if required.

7. From the Delegated Owner list, select the new owner for the project. The default owner of the project is the logged-in user.

8. Select Proposed in the Project State List. You can change the status to Active when you are ready to roll out the project. Your selection here can have implications on the AutoNumber attributes of the new project. For more details, see "Duplicating Deliverables from a Project Template."

9. In the Schedule section, select Duration Type, Schedule Start Date, and Schedule End Date. The Schedule Duration is automatically calculated as the difference between the start and end dates.

10. Click Save.

Note: If Recipe & Material Workspace (RMW) is installed, you are presented the option to create an RMW Project or RMW WorkRequest. In the Type list, these options appear instead of Project. All other steps remain the same.

The Actions > Save As menu enables you to save an existing template as an 'Active' or 'Proposed' project. The default type of the project is Active.

To create a project using the Save As menu:

1. Navigate to the Template or Program which you want to save as a new project.

2. Click the Actions > Save As menu.

3. In the Save As dialog, enter the Name of the project.

4. Enter the Description for the project, if required.

5. Select Proposed in the Project State list. You can change the status to Active when you are ready to roll out the project. Your selection here can have implications on the AutoNumber attributes of the new project. For more details, see "Duplicating Deliverables from a Project Template."

6. Select the optional components of the project or template whose contents you want to copy to the new project.

7. If your template or project has a lot of content to be copied, select the Run As a Background Process check box. You can then continue working on other projects while the new project is being created. A notification is sent to you when the process completes. You can open the project directly from the notification link.

8. If you want to mark this project as the baseline version, select the Kick-off Baseline check box.

9. Click Save.

You can create a new project from an existing template to avoid entering all project-related information afresh.

To create a new project object from an existing template:

1. Launch Agile Web Client.

2. Click the Create New drop-down menu.

3. Select Projects > From Template.

4. In the Create New dialog, from the Templates palette, select Template. The remaining fields appear.

5. Enter the Name of the project.

6. Enter the Description for the project.

7. From the Owner list, select the new owner for the project. The default owner of any activity in the project is the owner specified for that activity in the template.

8. If you want this user to own all the child project-objects, select the Apply as owner for this level and below checkbox.

9. Select the Start Date or End Date option. Use the Calendar palette to select the Schedule date.

10. Select Proposed in the Project State list. You can change the status to Active when you are ready to roll out the project. Your selection here can have implications on the AutoNumber attributes of the new project.

11. Select the optional components of the template whose contents you want to copy to the new project.

12. If your template has a lot of content to be copied, select the Run As a Background Process check box. You can then continue working on other projects while the new project is being created. You receive a notification when the process completes. You can open the project directly from the notification link.

13. If you want to mark this project as the baseline version, select the Kick-off Baseline.

14. Click Save.

When you create a project from a template, the dependencies and content relationship rules in the template are replicated in the new project. For details, see "Dependencies Between Templates and Active Projects."

## 4.2 Editing a Project

You can edit the information in the project page tabs such as General Info, Schedule, Team, Dependency, Content and Collaboration. In multi-user environments, sometimes, more than one user edits the same task in a project. In addition, concurrent users may need to edit multiple tasks in the same project tree.

### 4.2.1 Editing Project Objects Concurrently

The Agile PPM solution is designed to manage large projects with hundreds of activities and numerous team members. It is possible for multiple users to edit the following:

- Multiple tasks in the same project tree structure at the same time.

- The same task at the same time.

### 4.2.2 Editing Multiple Tasks in the Same Project Tree

When multiple tasks in the same project tree are edited at the same time, the edit modifications may have affects on objects higher in the project tree (rollup) or lower in the project tree (rolldown).

### 4.2.3 Editing Tasks with a Predecessor and Successor Relationship

When a parent task is rescheduled to a specific end date, that end date rolls down to the child objects. You can also edit a child object end date, which then extends the bounds of the parent object (by rollup to the parent object). As each user makes and saves his modifications, the necessary rollup or rolldown takes place.

In this scenario, it is possible for a user to enter a specific date on the edit page, yet see a different date upon save, because of the rollup or rolldown caused by another user's edits. However, the schedule remains accurate.

#### 4.2.3.1 Examples

- Task B (owned by Bob) is a predecessor to task A (owned by Mark). Bob and Mark are editing the schedule dates of their tasks at the same time, and save their edits one right after the other. If the new edited dates of the first saved task cause the dates of the second saved task to change, the person saving the second task is presented with a message explaining that the dates he entered will be changed and he can accept the change or cancel.

- Mary is editing a parent activity and several other users are editing several child activities at the same time. Mary reschedules the specific end date of the parent activity. At the same time, some of the child activities have been modified in such a way that the end date of the parent activity is extended. As each edited activity is saved, the dates for the parent or child activity are updated correctly for schedule accuracy. It is possible that a user may save his activity and see a different date than the one he entered on the edit page, but the schedule is accurate.

- New roll-up data overwrites a common parent or root activity.

Susan owns task C and Fred owns task D. Both task C and task D have a common parent, task M, thus they are both in the same tree structure. Both Susan and Fred are editing their tasks, modifying data that rolls up to parent task M (percent complete, cost, or status data). Fred saves task D and task M is rescheduled according to Fred's edits. Then Susan saves task C, and task M is again rescheduled, this time according to Susan's edits.

### 4.2.4 Multiple Users Editing the Same Task

To keep other users from editing roll-up or roll-down attributes of the object you want to edit, use the feature in Web Client. Locking an object means that only you can edit rollup and rolldown attributes and other users who edit the object are "locked out". Although they can edit attributes that do not rollup and rolldown, they cannot edit roll-up and roll-down attributes until you have finished your edits and you have unlocked the object.

When you use Launch in Microsoft Project or Gantt Chart, Agile automatically locks the project. When you update from Gantt Chart or Microsoft Project, Agile automatically unlocks the project.

In Web Client, when you use Edit on the General Info, you must click Lock before you click Edit, if you want to lock the object. The differences between locked editing and unlocked editing are explained below.

### 4.2.5 Locking Tasks for Editing

When a user (Mary) locks the task before entering edit mode, Agile provides the following safeguards when a second user (Carl) edits the same task:

- Carl sees a message "This activity is currently locked by another user. For this reason some fields will not be editable."

- While in edit mode, Carl can edit only non-rollup attributes on the General Info, Page Two, and Page Three. Carl can save his edits. When Mary saves her edits, Carl's edits may be overwritten. The most recent update of non-rollup attributes overwrites the others.

- The Name attribute on the General Info is an exception. Even though it is not a rollup attribute, when the task is locked, only the lock user may edit this attribute.

When you lock an object, its dependencies (both external and internal) are locked; the successors and their children are locked.

To lock and edit an activity object:

1. Open the object you want to edit.

2. Click Lock.

3. Click Edit on the General Info tab.

4. Edit the fields as required.

5. Click Save on the General Info tab.

6. Click Unlock.

### 4.2.6 Editing Unlocked Tasks

If you do not lock a task before editing it, the same safeguards do not apply.

For example, let's assume we have two users, Joe and Carl. When Joe enters edit mode for a task first, and Carl then enters edit mode, the following applies:

- The second user, Carl, does not see a warning that another user is in edit mode.

- Regardless of who entered edit mode first, the user who saves first will update the Agile database with his modified data. The second user who saves receives the following error message: "The current object has been modified by another user, please try again. If you want to ensure that your changes are saved, please lock the object prior to editing."

- If the unlocked parent object has been rescheduled to a specific end date, and any child objects have been modified in a manner that extends the bounds of the parent, no messages are presented, and each modification is saved. The appropriate roll-up or roll-down date modifications are performed. It is possible that the date information that a user saves might not match the date he entered (due to edits made by a different user), but the schedule information is correct.

- The exception to the above behavior is when two users edit the task status (use the Change Status button) or two users add to the Schedule at the same time. Multiple status changes and schedule additions are accepted and saved when done in parallel.

#### 4.2.6.1 Reviewing Changes

After making changes to a project offline or online, you can review your changes using an HTML report before saving the project. This feature is available only in Gantt Chart.

To review your changes to a project:

1. From the Tools menu of the Gantt Chart, select Show Changes.

A new window opens, showing a comparative view of changes recorded on the server and on the Gantt Chart. Activities that have been modified, added or deleted are indicated by the colors shown in the legend below the table. A gray dot indicates a modified object.

1. To see details of changes made to an activity or gate, click its name. A pop-up window shows Page One, Page Two, Page Three, Schedule and Resource information with old and new values. Scroll down to see all changes.

2. To view details of any modifications made to your project schedule, allocated resources, dependencies, Page One, Page Two or Page Three fields, click the appropriate icon in the respective columns.

#### 4.2.6.2 Undoing Changes

The Gantt Chart allows you to undo any action that you perform, except Save. You can also undo actions such as the opening of a project. The Edit menu displays contextual Undo or Redo options based on the current action.

Only one undo or redo operation is supported per action. You can also use the shortcut key Ctrl+Z to undo an action. Pressing Ctrl+Z a second time will redo the action.

## 4.3 Activating a Project

A project can be in the Proposed state until the requirements such as schedule, team, and content are fixed. When all the project stake holders agree with the key aspects of the project specifications, you can activate the project.

When you change a project to Active, Agile PPM does the following:

- Opens the project to activity by team members

- Places an active load against all resources and resource pools based on team definitions and allocations

- Starts calculating standard budgeted labor costs

- Places assigned activities in the assignment lists of project participants.

Changing a project to Active does not change the status of the project to "In Process".

To activate a project:

1. Navigate to the proposed project or template which you want to activate.

2. In the General Info tab, click Edit.

3. In the Activities Information section, select Active from the Template list.

4. Click Save.

You can change the status and report time against activities, only in an Active project.

## 4.4 Working with Project Content

The Content tab in the project page lists all content specific to the project. This section discusses ways to view and update content in Web Client.

The columns displayed in the Content table can be configured using Agile PLM's Table Personalization feature. Click the Personalize link in the top right corner to select what fields you want displayed. For detailed information on table personalization, see the Getting Started with Agile PLM guide.

### 4.4.1 Viewing Content

You can manipulate the Content tab view in several ways to display the objects you wish to focus on:

- Navigator: Click on this button to display links to all project content (except for external reference objects), within the project tree in the left pane. You can drag and drop selected content, such as file attachments, from the Content tab of one project to the Content tab of another project using this view.

Description of the illustration ch4_001.jpg

If you do not wish to view content in the project tree, you can disable the Display PPM Content in Navigator option in Java Client, under Admin > Server Settings > Preferences.

- Display all Levels: Select this checkbox in the top right corner of the Content tab to ensure that your view displays objects at all levels of the project hierarchy below the current level.

- Views: You can use the options in the Views drop-down list to filter the view by attributes that you configure. By default, the list includes options such as Complete, Pending, and Rule Not Specified. A Pending deliverable is an object which has not yet met the specified rule criteria, and a Completed deliverable is an object that has met the rule criteria.

  To change the name of any of these views:

  1. Click the Personalize button.

  2. In the Properties tab of the Table dialog that opens, edit the Name.

  3. Click Save.

  Note: A view can be deleted only by the owner of the root project.

  To add objects to a view, select the objects, click More Actions > Add Keyword, and select one of the available keywords.

  Content that you mark with the Important Content keyword will also display in the Project Summary page.

  To add more views, go to Personalize > Save As, enter a name for the new view in the Name field, and click Save. The newly created view appears in the Views list.

  Note: Only the project owner can create a new view. Program team members can add content to existing views.

  To bookmark a selected content object, use the More > Bookmark option.

  To subscribe to notifications on attribute changes for a selected item, use the More > Subscribe option.

  To create a change order for an item, select the item and use the More > Create Change option.

- Preview: Click Quick View on any object to see details of that object in the Quick View window. Within this window, you can take several actions on the object, such as:

  - View a selected revision.

  - View, add, edit, or remove a rule, to ensure hard dependencies.

  - Add, remove, check out, or view a file attachment in multiple formats.

  - Create Change for an item.

  For more navigation tips and shortcuts, see the recorded demos under Tools & Settings > Quick Tours.

### 4.4.2 Updating Content

In the Content tab of the project page, you can do the following:

- Edit rules

- Edit content details

- Change views

- Add mandatory content on template programs

- Assign keywords

In addition, the Quick View dialog also allows these activities.

To edit a rule:

1. Select a content row for which you want to update the rule.

2. Click Edit Rule.

3. In the Relationship palette that appears, select a status of the content folder and a corresponding status of the project.

4. Click Save.

The updated rule appears in the Rule column of the selected content row.

To edit content details:

1. Click the Name in the content row, the details of which you want to modify. The Folder page appears.

2. Edit the details in the Title block as appropriate.

3. Click Save.

You can also remove content (a new URL or file) from the Content tab and post new content.

To change views:

In the Content tab, select a view from the Views list. This displays content specific to the selected view only.

To add mandatory content:

1. In a content row, double-click a cell in the Mandatory column. A drop-down list appears.

2. Select Yes from the list to mark the content mandatory.

When you generate a new 'Active' or 'Proposed' project from a template with defined mandatory deliverables, these deliverables cannot be deleted from the new project.

To assign keywords:

1. Select a content row.

2. Click More > Add keyword and choose a keyword.

3. The Project Keywords in the General Info tab appear in the More > Add Keyword choices.

The keyword you select appears in the Keywords column of the content row. Select a keyword from the Views list in the Content Tab, to view the content relevant to the selected keyword.

Note: The Add Keyword menu is not available if you have not added Project Keywords. To add Project Keywords, edit the Project Keywords field in the General Info tab of the project.

## 4.5 Managing Resources

Resource Management activities for a project in PPM include:

- Adding resources to the project

- Assigning activities to the resources

- Monitoring resource utilization

- Substituting resources

- Delegating ownership of activities based on resource utilization

- Searching for timesheets

- Removing resources

### 4.5.1 Adding Resources

You can add resources to a project using Web Client or Gantt.

#### 4.5.1.1 Adding Resources Using Web Client

In Web Client, you can add resources to a project using the Team or Schedule tab. The Team tab enables you to add a user group or a resource pool to a project.

#### 4.5.1.2 Adding Team Members from Schedule Tab

You can select single or multiple activities and add team members or resources (the default allocation is 100%).

To add team members to an activity from the Schedule tab:

1. Select one or more activities and select Edit > Add Resources.

2. In the Add Resources dialog, launch the New Members palette and select the resources you want to add.

3. In the Team Member type section, specify the resource allocation details.

   To add the selected users as resources (with a specific % allocation), select the Resource with % Allocation option. The default allocation is 100%. You can enter the desired allocation percentage.

   Note: The resource allocation percentage can be a fractional value.

   To add the selected users as team members (with a zero % allocation), select the Add as Team Member only option.

   Launch the Roles palette to select the appropriate roles for the selected resources.

4. Select Apply to this level and below if you want the settings to apply to the current object and child objects.

5. Click Add.

#### 4.5.1.3 Adding Team Members from Team Tab

You can add users or user groups as team members using the Team tab.

To add team members and apply roles:

1. In the Team tab of the project, click Add.

2. In the Add Resources dialog, launch the New Members palette and select resources you want to add.

   Note: Before you select a resource or user group, you can review resource utilization details. To do this, click the Utilization Report button. This opens a window where you can review resource utilization details based on query criteria. You need to have Team.Name as an AppliedTo property within the Modify privilege to be able to assign members from a resource pool or user group.

3. In the Team Member type section, specify the resource allocation details.

   To add the selected users as resources (with a specific % allocation):

   Select the Resource with % Allocation option. The default allocation is 100%. You can enter the desired allocation percentage. The maximum allocation percentage is 400. You can change this setting in Java Client.

   To add the selected users as team members (with a zero % allocation):

   Select the Add as Team Member only option.

   Launch the Roles palette to select the appropriate roles for the selected resources.

   The roles available for selection are roles assigned to you (the login user) that have an associated PPM privilege.

4. Select Apply to this level and below if you want the settings to apply to the current object and child objects.

5. Click Add.

The selected resources and assigned roles are displayed in the Team tab. People added as resources, are also added as team members automatically. When you complete the addition of resources, each of the selected resources receives a notification in their Notifications tab.

If you add a resource pool or user group, the pool owner receives a notification. The request also appears in their My Assignments tab. When the pool owner accepts or rejects the request, the project owner receives a notification.

If you add a user who belongs to a pool, the pool owner receives a notification. The user receives a notification and a request. When the user accepts or rejects the request, the project owner and pool owner both receive notifications.

The % Allocation is divided among the selected users. If there is a fraction of a percent, the percentage is rounded off to the next lowest whole number, discarding the fractions of a percent.

For example, if the resource pool was assigned at 100% allocation, and you select three users, each user will be assigned 33.33%. If you remove the three users and reassign the % Allocation back to the resource pool, the % Allocation for the pool will be 99.99% - the fractions of a percent are discarded. However, you can select the appropriate rows in the table and double-click the % Allocation cell to adjust the percentages for the users assigned from the resource pool, or (if you have assigned allocation back to the resource pool) adjust the percentage for the resource pool.

#### 4.5.1.4 Adding Resources Using Gantt

You can assign resources to your project from within Gantt. Resource Management allows you to allocate resources to various projects and also split resources between projects.

To add resources to your project:

1. Select an activity and click the Task Assignment View icon on the left pane. The Manage Resources dialog opens.

Description of the illustration ch4_002.png

1. In the Manage Resources dialog:

   1. To add a resource, click the Add button. This creates a new row in the table. To enter a value in the new row under the Name column, double-click the cell and choose a resource name from the list of values that appears.

   2. To add resources from a resource address book, click the Address Book icon. Click Find to view all the resources from the selected resource list. Use the Find From drop-down list to select a resource list from your existing resource sheets, for example, an existing resource pool or resource sheet list. Resources or resource pools that have already been added do not appear in the search results.

   3. Depending upon your selection, more options become available. Click Options to perform a parametric search to find resources. For more information on Parametric Search, see the Agile PLM Getting Started Guide.

   4. Click OK. Selected resources appear in the Manage Resources table.

   5. In the Roles column, specify the role for each resource. To change cell values, double-click the cell and click the ... symbol. In the dialog that opens, select a role from the Available Roles column, move it to the Selected Roles column, and click OK.

   6. In the % Allocation column, enter the percentage of the resource's time that you want to allocate for this activity. If the resource rejects the activity assignment, you will see an icon with an X mark in the Rejected column.

      Note: The percentage (%) allocation for a full-time resource who is assigned to only one activity is 100%. If the resource is being shared across multiple projects, the percentage allocated would vary depending on the time allocation towards each project or activity.

2. To assign a resource, select the row and click Apply.

Before you assign resources, you can confirm availability of each resource. See "Viewing Resource Utilization."

### 4.5.2 Viewing Resource Utilization

Resource utilization information is required to make informed decisions during the allocation of tasks to resources. PPM provides the following resource utilization reports:

- Project Resource Utilization Chart

- Resource Utilization Report

#### 4.5.2.1 Viewing Project Resource Utilization Chart

Project Resource Utilization chart enables you to view the overall resource utilization for the project in a given period of time.

To view the Project Resource Utilization Chart in the Web Client:

1. In the program or project page, click Actions > Reports and Analytics > Project Resource Utilization menu.

2. In the Project Resource Utilization window, the Resource Utilization chart appears as per the default filter criteria.

You can modify the fields such as Report Type, Start Date, End Date, Reporting Intervals, Display Values by, Pool, and Chart Type to view resource utilization specific to the modified filter criteria.

1. Click Print to view the Project Resource Utilization report in a different window and print the report.

2. Click Export to csv to view the Resource Utilization report in Microsoft Excel.

#### 4.5.2.2 Viewing Resource Utilization Reports

The Resource Utilization chart helps you to view resource availability, before you assign a resource to a particular activity. You can view resource utilization reports in both Web Client and Gantt.

#### 4.5.2.3 Viewing Resource Utilization Reports using Web Client

In Web Client, you can view the Resource Utilization reports from the following:

- Dashboard

- Team tab

To view the resource utilization report for a resource pool from the Dashboard:

1. In the Resources widget, click in the row. The User Group Utilization window appears with the resource pool utilization chart and fields to specify filter criteria.

2. You can specify filter criteria as required, to view the User Group Utilization report.

To view the resource utilization for a particular resource or resource pool from the Team tab:

1. In the Team tab, select a row in the table.

2. Click Utilization to view the percentage utilization of the resource or resource pool in a graphical chart.

The results in the chart are based on the filter criteria. You can modify the filter criteria to view resource utilization according to your need.

#### 4.5.2.4 Viewing Resource Utilization Reports using Gantt

Gantt users can view the Resource Utilization Reports from the Task Assignment menu on the left Navigation pane.

To view the resource utilization for a particular resource or resource pool in Gantt Chart:

1. Select an activity.

2. Click Task Assignment in the left Navigation pane or click to view the Manage Resources and Resource Utilization windows.

3. Select a resource row in the Manage Resources window and see the corresponding Resource Utilization report in the Resource Utilization window.

### 4.5.3 Editing Team Member Attributes

In the Web Client, you can edit the team member attributes such as resource pool, role and allocated percentage of effort.

To edit a team member's resource pool, roles, and % allocation:

1. In the Team tab, select the rows that you want to modify.

2. Double-click in the Assigned From cell.

3. Launch the Assigned From palette to select a different Resource pool, if required.

4. Double-click the Roles cell.

5. Launch the Roles palette to select a different Role, if required.

6. Double-click the % Allocation cell.

7. Enter a different % Allocation, if required.

8. Click anywhere outside the Team table to exit the edit mode and save the entries.

9. Click Utilization to view the User Group Utilization report. This report provides information on the time utilized by the resource based on the percentage of the allocated time.

The team member attributes in the Team table are:

Field | Description
--- | ---
Name | Name of team member or group.
Assigned From | The name of the pool from which the resource is assigned. If the resource is assigned to multiple pools, the appropriate pool can be selected. For best results in managing resource utilization, Agile recommends that a user be assigned as a member of only one resource pool.
Roles | Program-specific roles assigned to team member for this activity.
Days Effort | Days effort corresponds to the total sum for the resource or group.
Is Resource | Identifies the user as a resource or just a team member with no time allocated to the activity. This Information is dependent on % allocation of Resource/Team Member / User Group. If % allocation is greater than 0, it is Yes, otherwise No.
Rejected flag | This indicates that the resource or pool has rejected the request.
% Allocation | For both Fixed and Effort Driven duration type, this value determines utilization of a resource or group. This field accepts fractional values.
Pool Owner | Name of the resource pool owner, if there is one.
Actual Hours | The number of actual hours (duration) the team member has worked. Reported Actual Hours are rolled up and compared to Estimated Duration and Scheduled Duration. Actual hours are also used to determine the labor cost per activity. Actual hours are multiplied by the resource rate to determine the current applied cost of each resource. These totals by resource are added up to determine the applied cost per activity, and are then rolled up to the top to create labor costs for all parent objects.

### 4.5.4 Assigning Tasks to Resources

You can choose to assign more than one task to multiple resources or split one task among multiple resources, based on your knowledge of the resource pool utilization. For information on resource utilization reports see "Viewing Resource Utilization."

#### 4.5.4.1 Bulk Assigning Tasks to a Resource

You can bulk assign several tasks to a single resource if necessary. For example, a project manager can bulk assign a set of tasks to a particular resource pool owner. This resource pool owner can then assign these tasks to members of the resource pool.

To bulk assign tasks to a resource:

1. In Web Client, click the name of the resource pool to view resource details. You can use the Search options to search for a particular user group by name.

You can also find the name of the resource pool in the Dashboard > Resources widget, My Settings > User Group page, and the project page Team tab.

1. In the User Group page, click the Assignments tab to view all the assignments and percentage allocation for the user group.

2. Use the Personalize menu to filter table display.

3. Select the assignments that you want to bulk assign to a resource.

4. Click Assign.

5. In the Activity Assignments dialog that opens, select the option button on the Allocate cell of a user to assign the selected assignments. The selected user becomes the owner of the selected assignments. The allocation percentage for this user is the sum of allocation percentages of all the assignments.

6. Click Finish.

View the existing assignment list and user group utilization details before you assign tasks to a resource. Use Actions > Reports and Analytics > Assignments List Report to view the list of assignments for all resources in the user group. Use Actions > Reports and Analytics > User Group Utilization Report to view a report of the resource utilization for the user group.

Important: It is recommended to verify your allocations using the same reports after you finish assigning tasks to the resources.

#### 4.5.4.2 Splitting a Task Among Several Resources

As a resource pool owner, you have more visibility into the utilization status of each resource in your pool. Once a task has been assigned to your resource pool, you can split the % allocation of the task across several resources.

To split a task across several resources:

1. Navigate to My Settings> Address Book > User Groups.

2. In the Assignments tab, select the task and click Assign.

3. In the Activity Assignments dialog that opens, double-click the Allocate cell in the resource row to make it editable.

4. Enter the percentage allocation for all resources that share the assignment.

The resource allocation percentage can be a fractional value.

1. Click Finish.

#### 4.5.4.3 Changing Ownership of Tasks in Projects Created from Templates

When you create a project from a template, if the owner of any activity except the root activity is defined in the template as a resource pool, the owner of the newly created (duplicated) activity will also be that resource pool. To change the owner of any activity or gate from a resource pool to an individual user, the owner of the resource pool must assign a user to the task owned by the pool.

To change ownership of a task to a resource pool member:

1. Navigate to My Settings> Address Book > User Groups.

2. Click on the resource pool name to view assignments.

3. In the Assignments tab, select the task you want to reassign, and click Assign.

4. In the Activity Assignments dialog, select the option button in the Change Ownership column for the new owner of the task.

5. Click Finish.

The task can also be split between several users within a pool, from the Assignments tab of the user group. See "Splitting a Task Among Several Resources."

#### 4.5.4.4 Removing Resources

If your resource utilization report shows excess allocation for a resource, or if a resource is not available for the project, you can remove the resource from the project using Gantt or Web Client.

To remove assigned resources in Gantt Chart:

1. In the Manage Resources dialog, select a resource or multiple resources to delete.

2. Click the Delete icon. A message prompts you to confirm deletion.

3. Click Yes to confirm.

4. In the dialog that opens, select either of the following:

   - Delete resource and re-assign % allocation to pools (if applicable) - Select this option if you want to delete the resource and re-assign the resource allocation percentage to other resources in the project resource pool.

   - Delete resource and discard % allocation - Select this option if you do not want to re-assign the resource allocation percentage.

The selected resources are removed as per your specification.

In the Manage Resources dialog, a black check mark next to the resource name indicates that the resource is allocated to all selected tasks. If the resource is allocated to at least one task, but not all tasks, the check mark will be gray.

To remove assigned resources in Web Client:

1. In the Team tab, select one or multiple resources to delete.

2. Click Remove.

3. In the Remove Team Members dialog, select either of the following options:

   - Remove only resources without a percent allocation - Select this option if you want to delete the resources without the resource allocation percentage.

   - Remove resources and assign their percent allocation to their resource pool if applicable - Select this option if you want to delete the resource and re-assign the resource allocation percentage to other resources in the project resource pool.

   - Remove resources and discard their percent allocation - Select this option if you do not want to re-assign the resource allocation percentage.

4. Click OK.

The selected resources are removed according to your specification.

#### 4.5.4.5 Delegating Ownership

When you create a project element, by default, you are the owner. The Delegate command enables you to change ownership of a project element.

An owner of a higher-level project element retains ownership of lower level items reporting to it, even when ownership of the lower level is delegated to another team member.

You can delegate ownership of an activity to a selected resource. In this way, you can assign an owner to each task in your project. When you delegate an owner to a task, a request is sent to the owner for approval. See also: "My Assignments."

Once the delegated owner accepts the request, that resource owns the task and the delegated field becomes blank.

To delegate ownership of a project element from Web Client:

1. Open the project object you want to assign to a new owner.

2. Choose Actions > Delegate.

3. In the Delegate dialog:

   1. You can optionally specify the reason for this action, for later use (Filtering data for reports, for example.).

      In the Reason Code field, select an option from the list.

      In the Comments field, enter comments as appropriate.

   2. Select a new owner from the table. If the intended new owner is not listed, click Add.

   3. In the Users field, enter the first few letters of the user's name and then select the name from the list that pops up. Or click the Address Book icon to launch the address book and select the user.

   4. In the Roles field, use the palette to select a role and click Save.

   5. Click Delegate to assign ownership to the new owner.

A gray dot appears beside the General Info tab link. In the Delegated Owner field, the ? icon appears next to the delegated user's name.

In the delegated user's Home page, there is a delegation notification in the Notifications tab, and a corresponding request in the My Assignments tab. Once the delegation is accepted, the gray dot is cleared and the Delegated Owner field is blank as the delegated owner has become the owner of the activity.

If the delegated owner has not yet accepted the delegation, you can use Actions > Delegate to choose a different user as the delegated owner.

To cancel the delegation, use Actions > Delegate and select the original owner as the delegate.

Action or condition | Results or consequences
The activity is locked. To unlock an activity, click the Unlock button. | The Delegate menu appears inactive when you click Actions menu.
The project is not active (the Template field setting on the General Info tab is not equal to Active). Or The project is active, but its status is Not Started. To start a project (move it to the In Process status), change the status of one of its leaf activities. You cannot directly change the status of an activity if it has subordinate activities. | No delegations are sent to the delegated owners. Delegations are sent only when the project is Active.
A current team member is selected as the new owner, but has not yet accepted. | The new owner's name appears in the Delegated Owner field on the General Info tab. The gray dot appears beside the General Info tab name indicating that the project has been delegated, but the delegation has not been accepted.
A user who is not a current team member is selected as the new owner, but has not yet accepted. | The new owner's name appears in the Delegated Owner field on the General Info tab. The gray dot appears beside the General Info tab name indicating that the project has been delegated, but the delegation has not been accepted. Because the delegation has not yet been accepted, the new owner does not appear on the Team tab.
The delegated user accepts the delegation in the My Assignments tab. | The gray dot beside the General Info tab name is removed. If the delegated owner was not a current team member, he is added as a team member on the Team tab. On the Team tab, the Agile PPM default owner role is automatically added to the delegated owner's assigned roles. By default, the default owner role is the Program Manager role, however, your Agile administrator may set a different role. For more information, see the Agile PLM Administrator Guide.
The delegated user rejects the delegation. | The gray dot beside the General Info tab name is removed. The Delegated Owner field on the General Info tab is empty.

To delegate ownership of a project element from Gantt Chart:

1. Select the activity or task. The Delegate Owner icon is enabled.

2. Click the Delegate Owner icon. A list of default resources is displayed.

3. Select the resource from the list, or click the Address Book icon to select resources from the Address Book.

4. Click OK to delegate ownership.

5. You can optionally enter a reason for the delegation and comments in the Reason for Delegation column. Double-click within the column row to open a dialog where you can enter these details.

When you save the current updates to the Gantt chart, the Reason for Delegation field appears blank. The information you entered is recorded in the History tab.

#### 4.5.4.6 Changing Ownership Directly

You can also directly edit the Owner field in the General Info tab of projects that are in Active or Proposed state, if you have the necessary privileges.Ownership can be changed to a user, but not to a user group. The new owner is added to the Team tab of the project, if not present already. When the ownership change is complete, any pending delegation is removed automatically.

#### 4.5.4.7 Substituting Resources

You can use the Actions > Substitute Resource command to substitute one resource for another.

To substitute one resource for another:

1. Choose Actions > Substitute Resource.

   Alternatively,

2. In the Substitute Resource dialog, select a Resource to Remove from the list. The list contains all team members including those assigned to child activities.

   Click the Substitute button in the Team tab.

3. In the Substitute To Resource palette, select a Replacement Resource.

4. If you want to substitute the resource in all the child activities, select the Apply to Children checkbox.

5. Click Substitute. The replaced resource's role is assigned to the substituted resource.

   Note: You can substitute a resource on a completed activity only if the % allocation is zero. For information on working with the Address Book Palette, see "Address Book Palette." In the Substitute To Resource palette, the user groups that are already added to the team table are not available for selection, in the drop-down menu. Similarly, the Search within a User Group option in the drop down menu does not display the user groups already added to the team table.

### 4.5.5 Searching for Timesheets

You can search for timesheets only if you have the Update All Timesheets privilege and you log in as Administrator.

To search for timesheets:

1. On the Timesheet tab, click More >Timesheet Search.

You can search for timesheets by one or more of the following attributes:

- User(s) -Launch the User(s) palette to select a resource, or several resources. This displays timesheets of the selected resources.

- Project(s) - Launch the Project(s) palette to select a project, or several projects.You can choose to include Canceled and Soft-Deleted Activities. This displays timesheets belonging to the selected projects.

- Date Between - Launch the Calendar to choose the From and To dates. This displays the timesheets that fall within a particular period.

A blank search, where you do not choose any attributes as criteria, will return all timesheets recorded in the system.

1. Click Search. The search results display in a table.

2. To sort the results by a listed attribute, click on the relevant column heading. By default, the list is sorted by Name.

3. To export selected rows to another project for analysis or computing in the Comma Separated Values format, click Export(csv). To export selected rows to another project for analysis or computing in the Microsoft Excel format, click Export(xls). You can then download the results to a local drive on your computer.

4. To print search results, click Print.

### 4.5.6 Defining Timesheet Views

To view and change timesheet data recorded for selected users, you require a personalized view of selected timesheets.

To define a timesheet view:

1. In the Timesheet tab, click Views > My TimeSheet View.

2. In the Personalize list, select Save As. The Table Personalization palette appears.

   To name the view, select the Properties tab.

   - Enter the custom view name and select the view type.

   - Click Apply, then click Save.

   To choose users, select the Filter tab.

   - Use the filter criteria to add timesheets of selected users to the view. For example, you may select all members of a project team or resource pool.

   - Click Apply, then click Save.

   To choose which fields to display in the table, click the Format tab.

   - Move fields to the Hidden Fields column as required. The Name and Team Member fields must be displayed.

   - Click Apply, then click Save.

3. Click Close to return to the Timesheet tab.

The new view displays the timesheets of the selected users. You can now view and edit the timesheets.

## 4.6 Managing Schedules

Managing schedules in PPM involves:

- Creating dependencies between activities or projects

- Rescheduling project dates

- Creating baselines

You can establish dependencies between activities within your project schedule. A dependency between activities mandates that one activity's schedule is driven by the predecessor's schedule. You can also establish and change dependencies using the Gantt Chart.

### 4.6.1 Creating and Editing Dependencies

Dependencies in Agile PPM control the schedule timing of any two tasks in a project time line linked through a dependency. Dependencies do not control the activity in those tasks. To control the activity between two activities and/or gates, you can use content relationships and rules.

Dependencies can be offset positively or negatively through the use of a time buffer.

#### 4.6.1.1 Creating and Editing Dependencies in Web Client

The Dependencies tab in the Agile Web Client displays a list of all the predecessor (Dependent Upon) and successor (Required for) activities in the project. The Web Client also allows you to create external dependencies to other projects and tasks not in the current project timeline. If you establish such external dependencies, links to these also appear.

This tab page has the following buttons:

- Add - Enables you to add a dependency to the selected activity. Dependencies can be made between activities in the same project or other projects. You can also create dependencies between a template project and an active project.

- Remove - Deletes the selected object. The Remove button affects only the selected activities in the current page.

Navigate to the activity for which you want to create dependency.

To create dependencies:

1. Click the Dependencies Tab.

2. Click Add. The Add Dependency dialog appears.

3. In the Root Project palette, select the Root Project which has the predecessor activity.

4. In the next dialog, if you want to view a filtered list of Activities, select the Type of the predecessor activity. The default selection is 'All'.

5. Click Continue.

6. In the Activities palette, select the predecessor activity.

7. In the Type list, select a dependency relationship.

8. Enter the Time Buffer between the finish of the Predecessor activity and the beginning of the successor activity, if required.

9. Click Finish.

For quick editing of dependencies, use the Gantt Chart view.

You can create external dependencies only in Web Client.

For information on types of dependency relationships and time buffers, see "Types of Dependencies."

#### 4.6.1.2 Creating and Editing Dependencies in Gantt

You can create a dependency between two activities in the Gantt Chart. By default, all project schedules begin on the start date of the first task and finish based on the date of the last task to complete. When dependencies are created, the Gantt Chart adjusts the schedule appropriately. Dependencies can change the project's finish date.

To create a dependency:

1. Click the Create Dependency icon on the toolbar. The cursor turns into a cross-hair pointer.

2. Drag the cross-hair pointer from the start point of the task to its end point. The direction you drag and the start point or end point of the task you select determines the dependency Type.

If you need to create a dependency between two tasks that are not close to each other, you can type the dependency directly into the predecessor column. Type the predecessor's task ID no. (shown on the right-hand side of the tabular view) in the Predecessor column in the tabular view pane.

You can also create a Dependency using the Edit >Create Dependency menu command.

To edit a dependency:

1. Double-click the dependency arrow link on the graphical view of the Gantt Chart or select Edit > Edit Dependency.

2. Select the Type of dependency from the Types drop-down menu.

#### 4.6.1.3 Types of Dependencies

There are four types of Dependencies:

- Finish to Start (FS)

- Start to Start (SS)

- Finish to Finish (FF)

- Start to Finish (SF)

Description of the illustration ch4_003.gif

For example, if the Predecessor task is Task A and the Successor task is Task B:

- Finish to Start: In an FS scenario, the Schedule Finish date of Task A determines the Schedule Start date of Task B.

- Start to Start: In an SS scenario, the Schedule Start date of Task A determines the Schedule Start date of Task B.

If you want to maintain a schedule which enforces the parallel scheduling of tasks, use the SS dependency type.

- Finish to Finish: In an FF scenario, the Schedule Finish date of Task A determines the Schedule Finish date of Task B.

- Start to Finish: In an SF scenario, the Schedule Start date of Task A determines the Schedule Finish date of Task B.

#### 4.6.1.4 Dependency Time Buffer

A buffer can be inserted to maintain a gap between a predecessor and its successors. Positive or negative values are accepted for the buffer.

When creating or editing a dependency, you can enter a value in the Time Buffer field that represents "slack time" between the control dates of the predecessor and successor activities or gates.

You can also create and change dependencies from the Gantt Chart view. See "Creating and Editing Dependencies in Gantt."

#### 4.6.1.5 Dependencies Between Templates and Active Projects

You can create dependencies between a project and a project template. For example, you could create dependencies between Release Project A and a Feature Release Project Template.

When you do this, be aware that this can impact other projects that are subsequently created from the same template, as described below.

Let's assume Release Project B is created from the same Feature Release Project Template which has dependencies with Release Project A.

- Slack defined in the template project is not copied over to the new project.

- If internal and external dependencies conflict, the external dependencies are maintained and conflicting internal dependencies are removed.

- If there are conflicting external dependencies, all dependencies are maintained, but dates are aligned to the last date of the dependency, adding slack to any earlier dependencies.

- If there is a dependency to a parent activity in the template, the start date of the parent activity is moved. Slack is not removed from the child activities.

Note: A template activity or gate cannot be a predecessor. Only an active or proposed activity or gate can be a predecessor. You cannot create a dependency between two template projects

#### 4.6.1.6 Editing Display Order

You can change the order in which tasks or phases appear on the Schedule tab.

To edit the sequence of the Program elements on the Schedule tab:

1. On the Schedule tab, select More > Change Display Order. The Change Display Order dialog appears.

2. In the boxes in the Order column, enter a number that represents the order in which you want the corresponding project elements to appear on the Schedule tab.

3. Click Save.

#### 4.6.1.7 Rescheduling a Program

While other Schedule tab edit functions allow you to select and modify rows in the schedule table, the More > Move Schedule menu acts on the currently displayed object only, not on the rows in the schedule table.

To reschedule your Program:

1. From the Schedule tab, select More > Move Schedule. The Move Schedule Dates dialog opens.

2. To move the scheduled dates of a project element, do one of the following:

- Select the Start Date or End Date options and use the calendar to select new dates.

- Select the Forward or Back options, as appropriate, and specify the number of days by which the schedule needs to move.

1. Click Save to reschedule the project.

When you move the end date of a project to reschedule it, errors occur if there is slack between the activities. To avoid this, you can do either of the following:

- Quantify the slack in the Time Buffer field. See "Dependency Time Buffer."

- Remove slack. The quickest way to do this is to launch the Gantt Chart for the project and use the Edit > Remove Slack command. This action adjusts project dates to give you a 'best fit' schedule.

This error can also occur if you reschedule a parent project by moving the end date and the end dates of any child activities fall on weekend dates.

#### 4.6.1.8 Creating a Baseline

You can create Baselines to capture schedule and resource snapshots of a project at regular intervals of time, for project tracking. Baselines are permanent reference points against which you can compare the updated task structure and changes to schedule, budgeted costs, and resource allocations. To be able to create baselines, your Agile administrator must assign you Modify privilege on the Schedule.Name attribute.

Baselines can be created only on the root project object. If you want to take snapshots of extensive project data during the planning phase, you need to save multiple baselines. For example, you may want to do this at major planning milestones.

When you open the project, all saved baselines for that project appear in the Version list on the Schedule tab. Baselines are versioned for easy identification.

To compare the current project against a saved baseline, select it in the Version list. The details of the selected baseline are displayed next to the Version field.

Note: If the baseline description exceeds 15 characters, it appears truncated. To view the complete description, place the cursor over the truncated description. A tool tip displays the complete baseline description.

You can create two types of special baselines:

- Kickoff Baseline: This is the very first baseline of a project. The kickoff baseline can be used as the preliminary version, against which you can compare the subsequently created baselines. Agile PPM provides you the option to mark the current version of a project as a kickoff baseline when you perform any of the following actions:

  - Create a new baseline from the Schedule tab.

  - Create a new project from a template.

  - Change the Template setting on the General Info tab of a project to Active.

  - Save a project using the Save As command on the Actions menu.

- Plan Of Record: This is a special type of baseline which you may want to create at major milestones during the execution of the project.

The version number of a kickoff baseline and/or a plan of record baseline appears suffixed with an asterisk ('* ').

To create a baseline:

1. From the Schedule tab of a root project, click Create Baseline on the drop-down menu adjacent to the Baseline list.

2. In the Create Baseline dialog:

   1. Enter a Description for the baseline. This description appears in the Baseline list.

   2. To mark it as your Kickoff Baseline, select the Kickoff Baseline check box.

   3. To mark it as a Plan of Record baseline, select the Plan of Record check box.

   4. Click Save to save the baseline.

To remove a baseline:

1. Select the baseline in the Version list.

2. Click Remove Baseline on the drop-down menu adjacent to the Baseline list.

When you remove a baseline, the references to the baseline for all objects in the tree are also removed.

##### 4.6.1.8.1 Comparing Baselines

Baseline comparison can be done using either of the following:

- Using the Compare Baselines feature.

- Using the Baseline Comparison report.

To compare baselines using the Compare Baselines feature:

1. From the Actions menu of a project, click Compare Baselines. A new window displays all the baselines created for the project.

2. Select a baseline. A list of baselines against which you can compare the selected baseline appears to the right.

3. Select a baseline from this list for comparison. You can compare the selected baseline only against the current project, or against a baseline that was created after the selected baseline.

4. Click Compare. A new window opens, showing a comparative view of the selected baselines. Activities that have been modified, added or deleted are indicated by the colors shown in the legend below the table. A gray dot indicates a modified object.

   - To see details of changes made to an activity or gate, click its name. A pop-up window shows General Info, Schedule and Resource information with old and new values. Scroll down to see all changes.

   - To view details of any modifications made to your project schedule, allocated resources, or General Info fields, click the appropriate icon in the respective column.

To compare baselines using the Baseline Comparison Report:

1. In the left navigation pane, choose Analytics and Reports.

2. Under Standard Reports, navigate to Program & Portfolio Reports > Program Reports, and choose Baseline Comparison Report.

3. Execute this report to compare selected baselines. For more information on running reports, see related documentation in Getting Started with Agile PLM.

## 4.7 Managing Discussions

Managing Discussions in PPM involves:

- Adding, viewing, and joining a discussion

- Replying to discussions

- Viewing action items that were assigned during a discussion

### 4.7.1 Discussions Table

The Discussions table in Collaboration > Discussions tab displays important information about each discussion. The column heading with the Action Item icon appears on the rows which have action items associated with the Discussion. Click the gray dot or click the Subject of the discussion to open it.

### 4.7.2 Adding Discussions

You can add a new discussion or reply to an existing discussion from the Web Client.

To add a new discussion:

1. Open the activity, and click Collaboration > Discussions tab.

2. Click Add and choose the Create New icon.

3. In the Create New dialog, select Discussion from the Type drop-down list.

4. Enter a Subject for the discussion.

5. Type the Message you want to send.

6. From the Priority drop-down list, set the discussion priority.

7. In the Notify List palette, select the users who need to receive notification of this discussion.

8. Click Add.

To search and add an existing discussion:

1. Open the activity, and click the Collaboration > Discussions tab.

2. Click Add and choose the Search option.

3. In the Discussions Search palette, search for one or more existing discussions.

4. In the search results, double-click on the discussions you want to add to the activity.

You can run multiple searches to find and select additional discussions.

### 4.7.3 Replying to Discussions

You or your team members or notified users can reply to discussions.

To reply to discussions:

1. Open the activity, and click the Collaboration >Discussions tab.

2. Click the discussion name to open it.

In the Schedule tab of the root project object, the discussions column indicated by the Discussions icon, displays the symbol for all activities that have discussions.

1. On the Discussions tab, select the discussion you want to reply to.

You can view the discussion thread in the preview pane just below the Discussion table on the Collaboration > Discussions tab.

1. Click the Reply button in the preview pane. Enter your message and the list of people to notify, and click Send.

To add a comment to an existing reply:

1. Open the activity, and click the Collaboration >Discussions tab.

2. Click the symbol in the discussion row for which you want to add a comment. In the discussion page, the Discussion tab displays the reply thread.

3. Click Reply to add a comment to the existing response.

4. Modify the subject, type a Message, and select the users to notify, if required.

5. Click Send.

Your reply is added as the latest response in the ongoing discussion thread.

#### 4.7.3.1 Replying to Discussions from your Home Page

When a discussion appears in your Notifications tab on the home page, you can open the discussion object and either add a reply or add a comment to an existing reply.

To reply to Discussions from your Home page:

1. In your Notifications tab, click the link in the Regarding cell on a discussion row to open the discussion item.

The Discussions icon identifies the discussions in the Notification table.

1. In the Discussion tab of the Discussion page, click Reply.

2. Add the reply message and the list of people to notify, and click Save.

#### 4.7.3.2 Replying to Discussions from the Project Summary Page

A list of recent discussions specific to the project appears in the Summary page of a project.

To reply to a discussion from the Project Summary page:

1. Navigate to the Summary page of a project.

2. In the Recent Discussions widget, select a discussion row to view the discussion thread within the widget.

3. Click Reply to respond to the discussion.

4. Modify the subject, type a message, and select users to notify in the Reply to Discussion window.

5. Click Send.

6. Click Cancel to exit from the Reply to Discussion window without sending the response.

### 4.7.4 Viewing Discussion Replies

In the Web Client, navigate to the program or project page to view the replies to a discussion.

To see a list of replies to a discussion

1. Click Summary.

2. In the Recent Discussions widget, click a discussion to view the reply thread.

Alternatively:

1. Within the Collaboration tab, open the Discussion view.

2. Click the Discussions icon or the subject of discussion on any row. The discussion page appears with the reply thread.

   Or

   Click a discussion row to view the reply thread in the preview pane below the Discussion table.

### 4.7.5 Removing Discussions

After you finish all your discussions, you can remove the discussion objects.

To remove discussions:

1. Open the activity, and click the Collaboration > Discussions tab.

2. Select the discussion row you want to remove.

3. Click Remove.

The discussion object is removed from the activity.

To delete discussions from the Actions menu:

1. Open the activity, and click the Collaboration > Discussions tab.

2. Click the Subject of discussion. The discussion page appears.

3. Click Actions > Delete menu.

4. Click OK on the Confirmation message box.

The discussion is deleted from Agile PLM database, if this discussion is not active in any other PPM activity.

### 4.7.6 Viewing Action Items

In the Web Client, you can access action item details from theCollaboration > Action Items by clicking the name of the action item.

- The list of action items in the table is a combined list of the action items associated with the project and the action items associated with the listed discussions.

- The Belongs To column and Discussions icon indicate whether the action item is associated with a discussion object or with a project object. Click the link in the Belongs To column to open the object.

Click the name of the action item in the Subject column to open the action item.

To add an Action Item:

1. Open the activity and click the Collaboration > Discussions tab.

2. Click Add.

3. In the Create Action Item dialog, enter the action item information. Fields that are in boldface are required.

4. Click Create.

The action item will appear in the Notifications and My Assignments tabs of the user to whom it is assigned.

The Action Items tab displays all action items related to the current activity, including those action items created on the associated discussion objects. If you have configured flex fields for the activity class, ensure that the same configuration is done for the Gates and Discussions classes as well. The list values that display in the flex fields columns of the Action Items table will be the values you configured for the activity class.

## 4.8 Archiving Projects

Projects are archived by changing the root-level project's archive status.

You can change the archive status of a root-level project from the Actions menu. Archiving old data can improve system performance. The archived project's data remains searchable.

Archiving requires the Projects.Generalinfo.Archived attribute enabled for the Modify All Projects, Programs, Phases, Tasks and Gates privilege in Java Client.

To change the archive status:

1. Select a root-level object.

2. Select Actions > Archive.

3. You can optionally specify the reason for this action, for later use (Filtering data for reports, for example.). This information is stored in the History tab of the object.

   - In the Reason Code field, select an option from the list.

   - In the Comments field, enter comments as appropriate.

This option becomes available only if the corresponding SmartRule is enabled in Java Client. For details, see the Agile PLM Administrator Guide.

When a project is archived, it is removed from all active project lists and from the project navigation tree. All buttons and Actions menu choices are grayed out, except for Actions > Unarchive. You can select this option to remove the archive status.

An archived program is automatically removed from the PLM Reference field of programs that reference it, but is retained on the Content tab. You must manually remove it from the Content tab if you do not want it to be visible there.

You can also change the archive status for Completed and Canceled projects.