Working the Gantt Chart

You can use the Gantt chart to work on projects and tasks.

A Gantt is a type of bar chart showing task structure information for a project, project template, or experiment along with a timeline. It illustrates the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of the project, experiment, or project template. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the schedule of the project. Gantt charts are visible to project members (if the project has member visibility) and employees (if the project has company visibility).

Gantt chart options include choosing the timescale for viewing levels of the schedule and the type of task dates. Also available are zoom capability, moving selected activity, resizing activity bars to change start/end dates and duration, and filtering attributes. You can localize the Gantt chart to one of the supported languages. For nonsupported languages, the server OS language is used.

Following are the limitations for Gantt charts:

  • You cannot move tasks (activities) between rows.
  • You can move or resize only leaf-level tasks since the summary tasks start/end/duration is determined by its children.
  • When the actual result of a project exceeds the planned duration, the entire timeline of the project does not display in a single view. In this case, "Zoom to fit" does not show the whole project in a single view.
  • You can edit tasks only in days, not hours. For example, if you are stretching a task that is of one day to a second day until 4 PM, the duration of the task becomes 2 days and not one day, 7 hours.
  • For the following cases, the Gantt chart is read-only for all users: mobile users, project users (member access), canceled projects, and when the project preference for "Duration" is "Hours." Also, deviation values will not be correctly calculated since the deviation calculation is based on days.
  • On mobile, the Gantt has several limitations that include:
    • Dependency creation is not supported.
    • Task reordering does not work properly.
    • The right-mouse button is not available for "Manage Assignee Panel."

For an experiment, the Gantt chart compares the timelines of the experiment and its root project. The Gantt view is based on information loaded in the adjacent Structure tab:

  • If the Structure tab has only the experiment's task structure open, the Gantt tab displays the Gantt view of the experiment. In this view, you can edit the schedule of the experiment.
  • If the Structure tab is loaded with an experiment comparison, the Gantt tab displays the timeline comparison of the experiment and the root project (or another experiment). The Gantt view is only for viewing and comparing, and therefore editing features, such as save and refresh, are not available.
  • In the Gantt comparison view, the experiment and its root schedule are represented with two bars: thick and thin. The thick bar represents the experiment task; the thin bar represents the root task. If two experiments are compared in the Structure tab, the thick bar represents the left-side task; the thin bar represents the right-side task from the structure compare.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: Select or search for a specific project.

View Projects and Tasks

You can navigate the Gantt to work on projects and tasks, change the view, and select objects to work on. The lower-right corner of the Gantt displays the total visible object count and the total selected object count.

  1. In the navigation pane of a project, click Schedule and then the Gantt Chart tab.

    The Gantt chart display is divided into two sides: the left side is a table structure and the right side shows timelines for tasks in the project. The table side shows the project and task structure along with other information. The sheet side graphically represents the timeline and dependencies between individual tasks.

    The following fields display for each row in the table side:

    Name. The name of the task or project.

    (Status). Colored icons indicate whether a project or task is complete or behind schedule.

    • : the project or task is complete.
    • : the project or task is not complete and there are less than 5 days remaining before the estimated finish date.
    • : the project or task is not complete and the current date is after the project/task's estimated finish date.
    • None: the project or task is not complete but there are more than 5 days remaining before the estimated finish date.

    Type. The type of object, for example, Project, Task, or Project Template.

    State. The lifecycle state of the task or project.

    Id. The object ID of the task or project.

    Predecessor. The dependency on the task, expressed as <TaskSeq-ID>:<type of Dependency> +/- <Slack time> or simply <TaskSeq-ID>:<type of Dependency>. For more about dependency syntax and examples, see About Task Dependencies.

    % Complete. The percentage completed. Double-click the column to select another completed value.

    Estimated Duration. The estimated duration in days.

    Estimated Start Date. The estimated start date of the task or project.

    Note: Nonworking days are shown in gray according to the project's calendar. However, a task can have its own calendar independent from the project calendar.

    Estimated End Date. The estimated end date of the task or project.

    Float - Total. The total float used by the task.

    Float - Free. The available float.

    Assignee. The person assigned to the task.

    Notes. Any notes or description about a task. To add or edit a note, double-click inside the cell.

    Description. The description of the task.

    Deviation. The deviation between the start and end dates.

    Note: Quickly scroll through the Gantt chart using your mouse wheel or up/down keys. First click inside the Gantt chart to use quick scrolling.

  2. Click inside one of these fields to edit it: Predecessor, % Complete, Duration, Start Date, and End Date.

    You can also right-click a task or project row and take more actions, as described in one of the steps below.

    After you save schedule changes in the Gantt, the project's lag calendar is applied for date and duration changes.

  3. Use icons and features to change the view:

    Expand. Expands the chart.

    Collapse. Collapses the chart.

    Zoom to fit. Displays the complete timeline of the project. You may need to scroll down to see tasks, if the structure is large. Once you click Zoom to fit, the zoom adjusts automatically after any changes you make to the project start and end dates.

    Note: When the actual result of a project exceeds the planned duration, "Zoom to fit" does not show the whole project in a single view.

    Zoom In/ Zoom Out. Zooms the timescale in and out, respectively.

    Highlight Critical Path. Highlights the critical path of the project. This highlights only tasks that lie in the critical path of the project.

    Note: If you click Highlight Critical Path for the first time, you see an alert stating "Click on Calculate Float and Critical Path to get updated Critical path" that also shows the last updated critical path timestamp in the footer with object counts. This critical path is the same as in the Structured tab's Planning View

    Progress Line. Displays a line showing the progress of the project. See Draw a Progress Line.

    Show/Hide RollupTasks. In the Planned view, this shows rolled-up gates and milestones under summary tasks. You can also hover over a summary task bar to see a tooltip that displays gate and milestone details.

    Estimated vs Forecast. Displays forecast values. Forecast values show for task duration, start dates, and end dates. This icon is not available for a project concept.

    Calculate Float and Critical Path. Calculates the float days and critical path in the schedule.

    Calculate Forecast. Calculates forecasts for task duration, start dates, and end dates. Forecast dates are calculated based on the current progress of tasks.

    Configurations. Configures the left and right bar labels for tasks, milestones, gates, and phases. You can configure different labels for different types by performing the configuration multiple times for each different type. The slide-in has these choices:

    • Select Type (Task, Milestones, Gate, or Phase). You can select multiple types.
    • Left Label. A menu shows Gantt columns (except Status and Predecessor). Select a maximum of two fields as the left label.
    • Right Label. A menu shows the Gantt columns (except Status and Predecessor). Select a maximum of two fields as the right label.
    • Set Default To All Types. All left and right labels of all types are disregarded and only the task name displays in the right label. No left label is shown.
    Note:
    • Labels are applied per project, not per user.
    • For creating a project using "Copy from Project Space or Project Template," configured labels are copied.
    • For "Copy Schedule Full/Partial," configured labels are not copied. Labels configured for the target project are displayed for tasks in the Gantt.
    • The Gantt status report only shows the default task name as the right label.
    • The "Zoom to fit" action does not consider bar labels when adjusting the view.

    Print. You can select these fields: Schedule range, Select columns, Control pagination, DPI, and Show header.

    Refinements. Opens a Refinements tab with all sections collapsed except Status, Type, and State fields. For example, you can filter on Status by selecting On Time, Behind Schedule, or Late. Selecting the arrow icon on the title bar alternately expands and collapses the section to show all available selections for that attribute. You can select multiple attributes among Status, Type, State, %, Estimated Duration, Estimated Start Date, Estimated Finish Date, Assignee, Deviation (minimum and maximum deviation days), Task Color, and Task Pattern. Nondate attributes have a "Select All" option. Click Apply to see that your refinements reflected in the chart. You can also search for a particular string displayed in the Gantt using Ctrl+F.

    Searches for tasks that have the entered text in any column value. Finds all possible visible matches. Tasks that are excluded already from the Gantt Refinement Panel or Name Column Filter are not considered during the string match. You can traverse the previous or next matching tasks by clicking the up or down arrows. You can clear the text field value by pressing the "Esc" button (when the focus is on the text field) or using delete/backspace. Once the text is cleared, any selected task is unselected and the Gantt chart redisplays from the root node.

    Undo. Undoes the last action.

    Redo. Redoes the last undone action.

    Save. Saves any edits you made.

    Cancel. Cancels any changes before the last save action.

    (Column Sort and Show/Hide). Hover over any column header, and an arrow displays on that header. Click the arrow for options. To sort the column's contents, click Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. Click Columns to select the columns to display in the Gantt. Uncheck column names to hide them.

  4. Right-click a task or project to take these actions:

    • Open in Collaborative Tasks Only for the Project Gantt widget. This generates a new instance of the Collaborative Tasks app in the dashboard, opening the task in edit mode. If you do not have access to the task, this opens the properties panel in read-only mode. This option is disabled for the root node (for example, Project Space or Project Concept), summary tasks, gates, milestones, and phases. The project context is not set as the scope in the Collaborative Tasks app.
    • Open in new tab
    • Create Task . A Create form displays with these fields:
      • Task. A list shows all task subtypes: Task, Phase, Gate, and Milestone. The form label changes to the type you select.
      • Number. The number of tasks you want to create, between 1 and 100.
      • Name. Enter a name or click autoname.
      • Description. The task description.
      • Insert. Choose to insert the task as "Above" or "Sub Level" to the selected task.
      • Duration. The duration of the task or phase. To create a duration in hours, enter "‘h"; for days, enter "d." For a gate or milestone, this is zero and read-only.
      • Policy. The policy of the selected type. Includes custom types.
      • Task Requirement. Choose "Optional" or "Mandatory."
      • Constraint Type. The type of constraint. For more information, see About Task Constraints.
      • Constraint Date. The constraint date. For more information, see About Task Constraints.
      • Needs Approval. Whether this task type needs approval.
    • Left Indent. Disconnects the task from its current parent and becomes the sibling of it.
    • Right Indent. Disconnects the selected task from its current parent and becomes a child of the immediate sibling above it.
    • Delete/Remove. Deletes or removes the task.
    • Change Color. For information, see Assign Color and Pattern to Task Lines.
    • Change Pattern. For information, see Assign Color and Pattern to Task Lines.
    • Manage Assignees. For information, see Manage Assignees.
    • Expand All. Expands to show all levels under the task.
    • Expand n levels. Expands to displays the number of levels you specify.
    Note:

    Behaviors for left and right indentation:

    • You can select multiple tasks by pressing Ctrl + right mouse.
    • Indenting a summary task also indents its children.
    • You cannot indent a task under a gate or milestone.
    • You cannot indent tasks that are in the "In Review" or "Complete" state or under a task that is 100 percent completed.
    • If you indent a task having a circular dependency, the dependency is removed and the task is indented. However, a circular dependency alert displays in these cases:
      • Indirect circular dependency
      • Circular dependency on a hidden task
    • For any subproject, if you select the root project’s task that is below the subproject and perform a right indent, the selected task gets indented and becomes a child of the root project’s task above the subproject.

  5. To perform actions on multiple rows, select the rows with Ctrl + mouse left and right-click to display the menu of actions. For example, you can perform multiple Create actions or Delete/Remove actions on selected rows.
  6. Move tasks up or down by dragging them.

    • You cannot drag a task that is 100% completed or under a task that is 100 percent completed.
    • Dragging a summary task also moves its children.
    • If you move a task having a circular dependency, the dependency is removed. However, a circular dependency alert displays in these cases:
      • Indirect circular dependency
      • Circular dependency on a hidden task
    • You cannot drag a task from the root project to a subproject and vice versa.
    • You cannot drag a root project task between two consecutive subprojects. In addition, you cannot drag a root project task below or above a subproject if the sub- is at the end of the structure or at the beginning (id=1) respectively.
    • If you drag the last child having some percent complete of any task T1 to another task, the T1 task’s percent complete is retained and is not reset to 0.
    • If a task has child tasks in "Draft" and "In Work," after you drag out an "In Work" task the parent task remains "In Work" and is not reset to "Draft."
    • Dragging multiple tasks is not allowed.

  7. Double-click a project/task bar to view its information that includes the applied calendar. After you save date/duration changes, the project's lag calendar is applied to the schedule in the Gantt.

Manage Assignees

You can add assignees to a task and assign their percent of allocation to work on the task.

  1. To manage assignees on a task, right-click a task row and click Manage Assignees.
    A two-sided panel displays all existing assignments of the select task.

    The left side shows these columns:

    Name: The assignee name. Expanding the assignee node displays all task assignments associated with the assignee. You can right-click a row for an assignee or task and select options for Open in new tab (shows the assignee properties) or Remove. For Remove: If an assignee is selected, the person is unassigned from the task; if a task is selected, the task is removed as well as the assignees for that task.

    Use the search field under the Name label to add new people as assignees. Type the assignee's user name, first name, or last name. The persons resulting from the search are listed and you can select them to add as assignees.

    % Allocation: The percent of allocation units assigned to the person on each task. This is modifiable, and any changes display in the time grid on the right side.

    Worktime: The standard work hours per day of the assignee. This is taken from the location calendar for the assignee. If no location calendar exists, a calendar of 8-hour work days is used.

    The right side is a time grid that shows the allocated hours based on the % of allocation units and assignee work time. Over-allocation shows in red; optimal allocation shows in green; and under-allocation shows in gray.

    Note: The Manage Assignees action is not available when:
    • The view is template, baseline, or experiment.
    • A task is 100 percent complete.
    • A task is a child of an In Hold or Canceled project.
  2. Click to close the Assignees panel.

Change the Duration of a Task

Duration is the length of time it takes to complete a task.

  1. Increase or decrease the duration of a leaf task by resizing the task bar in the Gantt chart. Select either the start or finish date side of the task and stretch it. When done, click Save All.

    Stretching a task bar is not allowed in the Gantt for projects based on a forecast schedule.

    • For a project scheduled from the start date, the start date is not stretchable, but you can change the duration by entering in the Duration column or by stretching the end date. For a project scheduled from the finish date, the finish date is not stretchable, but you change the duration by entering in the Duration column or by stretching the start date.
    • When stretching the task bar, you can edit the task duration in days only (hourly is not supported). For example, if you are stretching a task that is of one day to a second day until 4 PM, the duration of the task becomes 2 days and not one day, 7 hours.
    • If you change the duration in hours from the Duration column, the task bar spans an entire day even if the duration covers 1 hour of that day. For example, if you set the duration to 9 hours, the task bar spans 2 complete days (1st day for 8 hours and 2nd day for the remaining 1 hour).

    Once the duration is changed, one of the dates gets updated according to the new duration. The duration of the task gets changed according to the project schedule constraints. The impacted date cells in the structure view to the left are highlighted by a small red icon at the upper left of each impacted cell.

    Changing the duration may also impact the constraints on the task.

  2. Change the duration of a project template by stretching either end of the bar.

Work with Dependencies

You can create these types of dependencies between tasks: Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, or Start-to-Finish.

  1. Create a dependency by clicking any task.

    Dependency handles appear on both sides of the task to create the dependency. (You can create a dependency on any side of the task.) Stretch an arrow from one of the ends of the selected task to another task to connect them.

    In the example below, an arrow is stretched from the "Finish" side of "Supply Lot Sale Agreement" to the "‘Start" side of "Supply Construction Agreement" to create a "Finish to Start" dependency.



    Click Save All to save the newly created dependency in the database and in the scheduling:



  2. To change a dependency, double-click the link (arrow) that indicates the dependency.

    A pop-up dialog appears with editable fields for the dependency type and lag information, as shown below:



    Change the dependency Type and Lag. Then click OK in the dialog and Save All on the toolbar.

  3. To delete a dependency, double-click the link (arrow) you want to delete. A pop-up dialog appears. Click Delete in the dialog. Then click Save All on the toolbar.

Draw a Progress Line

You can draw a progress line that shows the progress of the project from a particular starting date.

  1. Click the Progress Line on the toolbar.
  2. Select a date as the starting point from where the progress line is drawn.

    Choose a date after the project start date or click Today to select the current date.

    Below is an example of a drawn progress line.



    For incomplete tasks: the line drags to the left for tasks that are falling behind the status date, and the line drags to the right for tasks that fall ahead of the status date.

    For completed tasks: Typically the progress line remains straight when a task is completed. But, if the status date falls before the task start, the progress line tends to drag on the right side.

    Note:
    • The Clear command disables the progress line without a page refresh.
    • The progress Line is available only in the Planned view.
    • You can edit the Gantt chart when the progress line is displayed. The progress line aligns according to saved changes. The percent complete bars are not editable.
    • You can zoom the view, but it might displace the progress line. Expand functionality works as well.

Assign Color and Pattern to Task Lines

You can assign colors and patterns to tasks to identify them for different purposes. You can also create your own colors.

  1. Select one or more tasks you want to work with.
  2. Right-click and select Change Color or Change Pattern from the list.

    If you select Change Color you can create your own color by clicking More Colors. This option lets you select the values to create a color, which becomes available in the palette.

  3. Select the color or pattern you want from the palette and click Save.
  4. To unselect a color or pattern, first select the tasks you want to change. Then right-click and select Change Color > Clear Color or Change Pattern > Clear Pattern. Then click Save.

    Note: You can filter the display of tasks by color or pattern in the Refinements tool. These filter options are available when there are assigned colors or patterns. If you select "No Color" in the refinements, tasks without color are filtered.
    Note:

    Task pattern and color are not retained when a task reaches 100 % complete. Such tasks show as gray to indicate read-only.

    To customize patterns for tasks, see "Customizing Patterns for Tasks in the Gantt Chart" in the Project Management Administration Guide.

Handle Constraint Violations Involving Dates and Dependencies

When changing a task's duration, start date, or end date, you might break a constraint applied to a task. In such cases, a constraint violations message appears with options for resolving the problem. This section describes the options you have for fixing different constraint violations.

  1. If a date change causes a Constraint Violation message, choose one of these options:
    • Cancel the change and do nothing. This reverts your changes and the constraint remains the same.
    • Remove the constraint. This removes the constraint and applies a new constraint type and date to the task.

    For more information about date constraints, see About Task Constraints and About Start, Finish, and Duration.

  2. If a change breaks a single incoming dependency, choose one of these options:
    • Cancel the change and do nothing. This reverts your changes and the dependency remains the same.
    • Remove the dependency. This removes the dependency and applies the appropriate constraint.

    If multiple dependencies break, the Gantt tries to resolve this automatically:

    • If the task has shifted away from its predecessors, the task has a "Start-No-Earlier-Than" constraint.
    • If the task has shifted back from its predecessors, the task is shifted forward to satisfy its incoming dependencies.

    For more information about dependencies, see About Task Dependencies.

  3. If a change causes a potential dependency conflict, choose an option:
    • Cancel the change and do nothing. This reverts your changes and the dependency remains the same.
    • Remove the dependency. This removes the dependency and applies the appropriate constraint.
    • Keep the dependency and move the task to. This keeps the dependency and also moves the task to the suggested date.

    A potential conflict on a task that has incoming dependencies might be caused by setting one of these constraints: "Start No Later Than," "Finish No Later Than," "Must Start On," or "Must Finish On." This can happen by dragging/dropping a task or setting a date. For more information about dependencies, see About Task Dependencies.