P6 Professional User Guide

If you want the progress line drawn by connecting progress points based on each activity's remaining duration or percent complete, select By Connecting Progress Points Based on Activity's option.

From the list, select % Complete to calculate the progress point based on each activity's percent complete (which is the same as viewing the % Complete bar), or select Remaining Duration to calculate the progress point based on each activity's remaining duration. For Remaining Duration, the progress line is drawn to activities that have started or that should have started (when the project baseline start is earlier than the current data date) relative to the baseline start dates.

6)Click OK.

7)Choose View, Progress line to display the line.

In the Gantt chart, the new progress line is displayed. When the progress line is drawn to the left of the data date, the activity is behind schedule. When the progress line is drawn to the data date, the activity is on schedule. When the progress line is drawn to the right of the data date, the activity is ahead of schedule.

Activity Network

Activity Network

The Activity Network displays your project as a diagram of activities and relationships according to the work breakdown structure (WBS). A red border around an activity box indicates a critical activity. A line connecting activity boxes indicates an activity relationship.

You can control nearly every aspect of the Activity Network, including the appearance of activities, the contents of activity boxes, and the spacing between activities.

The left pane of the Activity Network layout always displays the WBS hierarchy, regardless of the current grouping selection. The right pane displays the selected WBS element’s assigned activities. If you specify a grouping option other than WBS, the right pane of the Activity Network layout groups and displays the selected WBS element’s activities according to the activity data item you specify, for example, grouped by project status or budget at completion.

You can save the Activity Network layout on your computer to email to another project user or to retrieve later.

To display the Activity Network:

With the Activities window active, do one of the following:

Click on the Top Layout toolbar.

Click the Layout bar, choose Show on Top, Activity Network.

From the View menu, choose Show on Top, Activity Network.

You can use an Activity Network layout to

Easily view relationships among activities and the flow of work through a project

Examine and edit an activity and its predecessors and successors

Focus on the driving relationship path

Determine at a glance whether an activity has started or finished

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Customizing Activity Layouts

To make the Activity Network layout more effective, you can

Change the Activity Network template to view different activity information and levels of detail

Right-click anywhere in the Activity Network to access commands that enable you to change the information displayed or format data

Combine the Activity Network with a Trace Logic layout to focus on a specific sequence of activities

Tips

To edit or remove an activity relationship, double-click the line that indicates the relationship you want to change, then enter new details in the dialog box that appears.

To display an activity's ID and name, place your pointer on the activity whose details you want to view.

To zoom in, hold down the Alt key, click anywhere in the Activity Network layout, then drag the pointer down while holding down the mouse button. To zoom out, hold down the Alt key, click anywhere in the Activity Network layout, then drag the pointer up while holding down the mouse button. Right-click anywhere in the Activity Network table to display a menu of additional options.

Display the Activity Network

With the Activities window active, do one of the following:

Choose View, Show on Top, Activity Network.

Click the Layout Options bar and choose Show on Top, Activity Network.

Click on the Top Layout toolbar.

Tip

To hide the left pane and display only the Activity Network, drag the split bar separating the right and left panes all the way to the left.

Apply Activity Network settings from another layout

1)Choose View, Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

You can also click the Layout Options bar, then choose Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

2)Click Copy From.

3)Select the layout containing the Activity Network settings you want to apply, then click Open.

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P6 Professional User Guide

Customize the Activity Network layout

1)Choose View, Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

You can also click the Layout Options bar, then choose Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

2)Click the Activity Network Layout tab.

3)In the Organization Options section, specify how to organize the Activity Network layout:

To align activity boxes towards the top of the Activity Network window in relation to their predecessors/successors, choose Organize Along the Top.

To center activity boxes in relation to their predecessors/successors, choose Organize Centered.

When an activity’s predecessor/successor is not immediately adjacent to the activity in the Activity Network, the relationship line, in some cases, cannot be seen because of other activity boxes. To reposition the activity boxes so that all relationship lines are visible, mark the Adjust to Show All Relationships checkbox.

To automatically zoom in/out each time you reorganize the layout to find the best fit for showing activity boxes in Activity Network, mark the Always Zoom to Best Fit After Reorganize checkbox.

To view whether an activity has started or finished, mark the Show Progress checkbox.

To change the vertical space between activity boxes in Activity Network, specify a vertical spacing factor.

To change the horizontal space between activity boxes in Activity Network, specify a horizontal spacing factor.

4)In the Network Order Options section, specify the order in which activity networks display:

To display the activity networks with the longest path of linked activities on top, choose Longest on Top.

To display the activity networks with the shortest path of linked activities on top, choose Shortest on Top.

5)To preview your changes, click Apply.

Tips

To copy the Activity Network layout from another activity layout, click Copy From, select the layout whose Activity Network layout you want to copy, then click Open.

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Customizing Activity Layouts

To save the Activity Network layout, click the Layout Options bar, then choose Activity Network, Save Network Positions. Type a unique name to identify the layout and click Save.

Customize the activity box layout

1)Display the Activity Network in the Activities window, then choose View, Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

You can also click the Layout Options bar, then choose Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

2)Click the Activity Box Template tab.

3)Click Box Template.

4)To add a field to the activity boxes, click Add.

Click the Field Name column, then select the field you want to display. Double-click the Width column, then specify the width of the field. Double-click the Height column, then specify the height of the field.

See More Detail: Specifying activity box field widths for more information.

5)To position the field within the activity box, click and .

6)To remove a field, select it, then click Delete.

7)Click OK.

Tips

To copy the activity box layout from another activity layout, click Copy From, select the layout whose activity box layout you want to copy, then click Open.

To change the width of the Activity Network activity boxes, specify a new box width in the Total Width field.

Select the activity box layout

1)Choose View, Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

You can also click the Layout Options bar, then choose Activity Network, Activity Network Options.

2)Click the Activity Box Template tab.

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