Graphical Indicators

I’ve been looking at this more:



ProjDateAdd([Finish],5,[Project Calendar])



and I have stumbled across that I need to Chane [Project Calendar]to a named calendar like "24 hours" or "standard" which is fine if you have one calendar. I was hoping if I had [Project Calendar] then it would use the selected calendar for that activity.



Any ideas how to over come this?

I googled afterwards and have found how to do things. For instance if you want to create a date that X days (5 in my example below)after finish date then this is the formula.



ProjDateAdd([Finish],5,[Project Calendar])



However, I am having problems using this as it’s not calculating the correct date but is using the calendar! I have more experimanting later.



There are two other functions similar to this and they are ProjDateDiff (for durations)and ProjDateSub.



I hope this helps.

Thanks Mark,



However your formula has some errors in it, and does not seem to work?



And unfortunately Hemanth has not emailed me his sample, so I am still struggling with this one.



Andrew

>Or======================================If You Want >Indicators Based On The Planned Progress Percent

>Use The below given Formula To Get The Planned Progress On >Data Date And Compare With Actual Progress , set formula >and parameters and play with indicators



> IIf([Baseline Start]>[Status Date],0,IIf([Baseline Finish]> <[Status Date],100,projdatediff([Status Date],[Baseline >Start],IIf([Task Calendar]="None",[Project Calendar],[Task > Calendar]))*100/projdatediff([Baseline Finish],[Baseline > Start],IIf([Task Calendar]="None",[Project Calendar],

>Task Calendar]))))



I take the above calculation uses project calendars but I don’t quite understand this.



Is there a way to make a simple calculation using the activity calendar?



For instance (an example):



Planned Start (PS) = 1st September

Planned Finish (PF)= 7th September



planned duration (PDU) = PF-PS + 1



no calendar and PDU = 7 days (default I believe)

5 day week PDU = 5 days

6 day week PDU = 6 days



Typical we use 5 or 6 day weeks.



Thanks in advance,



Mark

Hi Hemanth



I have tried to email, the sample file would be helpfull thanks.



Regards

Andrew

Dear Hemanth, hope your well



I have tested the method you gave me and yes it does work thank you, however there is a slight problem, i hope you can help me with.





Currently the way we have set up the Graphical Indicators is that if a task is either not started or incomplete and the data date has passed, then this will show the “Red” indicator, however what I am looking for is if the task lets say 20% complete, when it should have been 50% complete according to the data date then I would say this task is slipping. So I want to show the “Yellow” indicator as a warning symbol. As we are still doing the task there is a possibility to complete the said task on time.



If the dada date passes the completion date for that task, then the “Red” Indicator is shown



If the task is on target (data date) or ahead of scheduled then “Green” indicator is shown.



Also if the task has not yet started due to it is ahead of the data date then no indicator required.



Hope I have made my self clear and you are able to help, very much appreciated.



Regards

Andrew

Thanks Hemanth



I am using ver 2003 which may be the reasons it’s not working to well.

However i now understand the principle of how it works and will apply it in future projects thank you again



Regards

Andrew

Hi All,



I am very pleased that this topic has come up, however looking at some of the postings it’s very hard to understand the thinking behind the explanation.



If i may ask all i am looking for is a Graphical Indicator the shows tasks which are slipping (Red) and tasks which are on schedule (green).



Can some one give a step by step explanation as to how this is done?



Many thanks

Andrew

Hemanth,



I need more information than you are giving me.



Please post the formula you are currently using with the tests and values for the indicators. I can then attempt to adapt it so it shows the criteria you are after.



Tools > Customize > Fields > (whatever custom field you’re using) > Formula



Tools > Customize > Fields > (whatever custom field you’re using) > Graphical Indicators



If I don’t know the formula you are using, then I would have to write a new one which, going on past performances, probably won’t include all the conditions you are after.



Regards,



Darren

Hemanth,



Firstly, as I don’t want to head down ANOTHER rabbit hole, is the formula in post #3 the one that you’re using currently to get your indicators? If it is what are the tests and values for your Red / Yellow / Amber indicators? If it isn’t what formula / tests / values are you using?



Secondly, do you just want the solution to be formulated in a single set of conditions, or one column for your % criteria and another for your finish criteria?



Thirdly, is this the sort of thing you’re wanting to show for your Finish – Status Date criteria?



IIf([Finish]-[Status Date]<=-5 And [% Complete]<100,"Red",IIf([Finish]-[Status Date]>-5 And [Finish]-[Status Date]<0 And [% Complete]<100,"Yellow",IIf([Finish]-[Status Date]<0 And [% Complete]=100,"Green",IIf([Finish]-[Status Date]>=0,”Green”))))



Lastly, why would you want Red and Yellow indicators if the task Finish value is less than the Status Date? Surely if the tasks haven’t finished by the Status Date they should be rescheduled or just shown as Red.



Regards,



Darren

Hemanth,



I think you already have the basic information you need, are you just after the delta /variance for the Planned and Actual % completes?



I haven’t run it but I’m guessing the formula in post #3 gives you your Planned % Complete, am I correct? You also have your Actual % Complete from the % Complete field.



For a simple graphical indicator why not subtract the Actual % Complete from your Planned % Complete and then use your stoplight criteria?



In this example I’ll use Text1 as the column which has the Planned % Complete (you can substitute whichever column you use) and the Number1 column to show the RAG status.



Customise the Number1 column with this formula [Text1]-[% Complete]



For the graphical indicators, set the test and value criteria to show:



is greater than or equal to 20.00

is greater than or equal to 10.00

is greater than or equal to 0.00

is less than 0.00



You then use a Red indicator for 20.00, Amber / Yellow for 10.00 and Green 0.00.



This should then give you a Green Dot if the difference between Actual and Planned is 10 % or less, a Yellow Dot if the difference is between 10% and 20% and a Red Dot if it is greater then 20%.



Regards,



Darren

Hi Hemanth,



If you just want to show a RAG status (Red / Amber / Green) for overdue tasks, you can use graphical indicators that use a Finish Variance.



First of all you need to have a baselined project, as you’re already tracking planned vs actual progress I’ll assume you already have a baseline.



You then need a spare Duration field (1-10), rename it as something like ‘Date Slippage’ and then customise it with a simple formula. All you add in the formula field is [Finish Variance].



For the graphical indicators, you have to set the tests and value criteria so that they look something like this:



is greater than or equal to 10d

is greater than or equal to 5d

is greater than or equal to 0d



You can then use a Red indicator for 10d, Amber / Yellow for 5d and Green 0d.



Regards,



Darren