august 2018 oracle primavera p6 viewing multiple p6...

Thesetechtipsareofferedfreeofchargeinthespiritofsharingknowledgewithothers.Theydonotincludetechnicalsupport,shouldyouhaveaproblemwiththem.Wearealwaysinterestedinhowtheycanbeimproved,pleasedonothesitatetoemailusyourcomments.Thesetipshavebeenthoroughlytestedbyourconsultantsinavarietyofenvironments.Pleasereadthesetechtipsthoroughlyandbe

surethatyouunderstandthembeforetryingtousethem.Wecannotberesponsibleforissuesthatdevelopbecauseoftheconfigurationofyourhardware,technicalenvironmentorapplicationofthetechmemos.Ifyouarenotsure,thenweurgeyoutocontactOracletechnicalsupportoryourlocalsupportconsultantforassistance.

Overview:GraphicfunctionalityinP6allowsformultiplebaselinestobedisplayedintheGanttchart.ThiseditionofTechTipswilllookatthestepsrequiredtoenablethisfeature.Commonstickingpointswillbediscussedandsomesuggestedmethodsforworkarounds.ThegoalofthispaperistoequipthereaderwithtechniquesprovidingvisibilityofmultipleP6baselinesintheGanttChart.Definition:“Abaselineislikeacamerathattakesasnapshot,notlikeavideocamthattakesfootageastheplanisupdated.”[1]AP6baselineisacopyoftheprojectatanypointintime,attachedtotheproject.Itcanserveasatargetcomparisonformeasurementandtrackingofplannedversusactualprogress.Eachprojectcanhavemultiplebaselines,butonlyone“ProjectBaseline,”isassigned.Baselinewillremainstaticascurrentscheduleprogresses.

1. Zocher,MarcandThompson,Gary,CostandScheduleBaselineDevelopment,1992AACETransactions,H.3.1,AACEInternational,Morgantown,WV,1992

CreatingBaselinesinP6:Listedunderthe“ProjectMenu,”accessthe“MaintainBaselines”window.Click“Add,”tocreateabaselinefortheschedule.Thiswillbringupadialogboxaskingtoselectbetweenconvertinganexistingscheduleintoabaselineforthisproject,orsavingacopyofthecurrentprojectasthebaseline.Renamethebaselinebydoubleclickingunderneaththeprojectorinsidethedetailsfield“BaselineName.”*Forlargeprograms,generallyspeaking,itisnotrecommendedtocreatebaselinesformorethan50projectsatonetime.Frompersonalexperience,thepotentialefficiencyenmasseisn’tworthallthereworkduetoerrorsorduplicates.

AUGUST 2018 ORACLE PRIMAVERA P6

VIEWING MULTIPLE P6 BASELINES IN A GANTT CHART

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AssigningMultipleBaselinesinP6:Nextstep,returntothe“ProjectMenu,”thistimechoosingthe“AssignBaselines”window.Inthisexample,twodifferentbaselineswillbeassignedtotheproject.Oneforthe“ProjectBaseline,”andoneforthe“Primary”baseline.Usethemousetoselectassignments,ortabthroughthefieldsandnavigatechoiceswithup&downarrows.Click“OK,”whencorrectBaselineshavebeenassigned.

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BarSpecificationsinGanttChart:

NowthescheduleisreadytodisplaymultipleBaselinesintheGanttChart.WewillbeworkingintheBarSpecificationswindow.Foramorethoroughanddetailedanalysis,pleaseseethisTechTip:“UNDERSTANDINGTHEP6BARSPECIFICATION,”availablehere:http://drmcnatty.com/understanding-p6-bar-specification/

1. OpentheBarSpecificationsWindowinP6byrightclickingintheGanttChartandselecting“Bars,”icon.Alternatively,“Bars,”canbeselectedfromthe“View,”menuaswell.

2. Next,you’llwanttochecktheboxestodisplayboththe“ProjectBaselineBar”andthe“Primary

BaselineBar.”Ifdesired,there’salsoBaselineMilestoneswhichcanbechosenaswell.Thenclick“OK.”

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3. BackintheGanttChart,bothBaselineBarsshouldappearunderneaththeactivities.Often,oneBaselineBarwillbewholeandintact.Belowthatonlyasinglelinemaybevisible(highlightedbytheredarrowsintheimagebelow).ThisisactuallythesecondBaselineBar,inthenextstepwewillworktomakeitfullyrecognizable.

4. Fromthe“View,”menu,scrolldownandselect“TableFontandRow.”YoucanalsohoverovertheActivityTableinP6,rightclick,andaccessthesame“TableFontandRow.”

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5. ForTableFontandRowoptions,thedefaultRowHeightissetat18.ThisisnottallenoughtoseebothBaselineBarsinthepreviousstep.IncreasetheRowHeightto40whileworkingtomakealltheBarsvisible.Withproperediting,twothinbarsshouldbeabletofitunderneathathickbaratrowheightof25.Startingoutbigwillallowyoutoseewhatyou’remissingandworkwiththematerialuntilyougettothefinessestage.Thenbringtherowheightdown,butnottoomuch,otherwiseitlooksclutteredandthegraphicsmightbetoobusyfornon-schedulers.

6. Finally,theremightbeoneotherpotentialissue.Sometimeswhenselectingcolors,thebarwillremainwhiteintheGanttChart.GobackintotheBarSpecificationswindow(Step1)andmakesurethatthepatternselectedissolidblack.Thiswillallowforasolidfillofthebar,withanycolorofyourchoosing.

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Reports:Whenproducingreports,eitherprintedpaperorelectronicPDF,besuretoallowenoughroomfortheGanttChartLegendtobefullydisplayedandnotcut-off.Thismightrequiregoinginto“PageSetup,”inthe“FileMenu”andincreasingthesectiondividerline(illustratedbelow).Anotheroptionismovinguptoalargerpapersizeforexample“Letter,”to“11x17.”ThemultiplebaselineswillatleastdoublethenumberofitemslistedintheGanttChartLegendanditmaygetconfusingfortheaudienceifthere’snoclearidentificationastowhateachbarrepresents.

Summary:P6hasthegraphiccapabilityofdisplayingmultiplebaselinesintheGanttChart.ThiseditionofTechTipsoutlinedafewsimplestepstoactivatethisfunctionality.AfewcommonchallengesintheprocesshavebeenidentifiedandworkaroundsprovidedtoensuretheP6UserisabletosuccessfullydisplaymultiplebaselinesintheGanttChart.