OnePager Import of Data from Smartsheet for Version 7.1

Introduction

The purpose of this article is to provide you one place with as much information as possible about how OnePager is used to create OnePager charts with data imported from Smartsheet.

In most cases OnePager handles data fields from Smartsheet very much like data coming from Microsoft Excel. This article focuses on two major topics:

1) Connecting to and importing Smartsheet data into OnePager.

2) OnePager’s handling of specific Smartsheet column data once those data are imported.

As a convention, whenever we refer to the OnePager in the context of Smartsheet, we'll just say OnePager when it’s absolutely clear that we are discussing OnePager with Smartsheet. Since only the Standalone edition of OnePager connects to Smartsheet files online, we'll just leave the suffix "Standalone" off.

About Connecting and Importing Smartsheet Data to OnePager

OnePager imports data from Smartsheet by first making the connection from OnePager to your Smartsheet account online. Therefore, you must first have a Smartsheet account and login credentials so OnePager can access your account, your Smartsheet files, and be able to download selected file or files to your computer.

Detailed information on setting up you Smartsheet data for import to OnePager and other topics related to getting started using OnePager Bundle can be found at this article: Getting Started with OnePager Bundle

Data Imports to OnePager

OnePager expects that you created a Smartsheet Project formatted file from one of the many available Smartsheet templates. In most cases, the column headings for the Project formatted file look like this:

Minimum Column Names and Flag Column Definition

The minimum Column names needed by OnePager are the Task Name, Start, and Finish. Additionally, it is strongly advised to add a flag column that can be used to tell OnePager which Smartsheet rows to import and use to create your chart. An example is shown here:

In the example above, the Show It column’s purpose is to instruct OnePager on which rows to process when importing the Smartsheet Project formatted file. OnePager expects to see either “Yes” or “No” appropriately entered in the cells of the Show It column indicating which rows to import (Yes) and which rows not to import (No).

As an alternative you can use a Smartsheet checkbox where the row to import is represented by the box checked ON as shown here:

OnePager recognizes Checkbox columns in Smartsheet as possible flag columns and makes the column available in the flag column selection process discussed later in this article.

Adding Your Own Columns

Smartsheet features the capability for you to add your own User Defined Columns to the Project formatted file which OnePager imports as well. These additional column names can be used to organize your OnePager chart such as for defining Rows and Swimlanes in the chart or for presenting text information to be displayed in the chart as text columns. As a further example, the illustration below shows several User Defined Columns that can provide data for the OnePager chart and enhance your schedule presentation:

OnePager Recognized Data Types

What follows is a short discussion of how OnePager applies it’s built in intelligence functions with respect to Smartsheet’s User Defined Columns. The goal here is to provide an understanding of the process so you know what to expect from OnePager when various column heading names and data (column) types are encountered by OnePager in your Smartsheet source plan. There are four (4) column types that OnePager looks for when importing data from Smartsheet:

• Dates
• Numbers
• Boolean (TRUE or FALSE)
• Text Strings (A through Z, 0-9, special characters)

All data, regardless of data type, are imported from Smartsheet Project formatted files. OnePager begins this analysis from top-left to bottom-right. Once the column headers are located and the data types are analyzed, OnePager associates these columns with specific usages in the OnePager choices (OPC) form as illustrated below. Using the second page of the OPC form shown below, you can change the column usage by selecting another column to serve the function from the dropdown list provided. The dropdown list is built from all the column headers that OnePager found during its analysis pass. An example of a dropdown list of column header names taken from a Smartsheet source plan is shown here:

Highlighted above is the second page of the OnePager choices form showing a dropdown list of Smartsheet available column names along with column names made available by OnePager.

Selecting Tasks for Import into OnePager

Since OnePager is connected to your Smartsheet account, it has access to your Project formatted files. Anyone of these files can be imported into OnePager and a chart created. The benefit derived from OnePager is that you can select the tasks you which to display in your OnePager chart along with other decorations and features that are best for presentation in a schedule discussion.

A way to set up a Smartsheet Project formatted file for import to OnePager is to define a flag column in your source plan and set a text value of “Yes” in the cells for each row in your source plan that you want OnePager to import. For illustration here we’ve define a Smartsheet column called Show It as a text column and have inserted “Yeses” and “Nos” to indicate to OnePager which tasks we wish to import. This is illustrated in the source plan portion below:

When making your first chart, we strongly recommend that you import 50 or fewer Tasks. Please note that OnePager is shipped with a number of fully populated templates that are based on the Smartsheet source plan used in the Tutorial shipped with the product – BlueGrass Project Plan. Three column headings must always be present as a minimum: Task Name, Start Date, and Finish Date.

Once you’ve made the determination which source plan tasks to import you can launch OnePager and create your OnePager chart.

This discussion continues at this link: Launching OnePager Using Smartsheet Source Plans for the First Time

There are three (3) selection options available for controlling OnePager’s import of task data. These are discussed in the subsections that follow:

Task Selection Option (1): Select All Tasks

Smartsheet source plans like the one shown above with many tasks results in a very large OnePager chart usually not suitable for detailed schedule conversations. Accordingly, we do not recommend importing more than 50 tasks so that the resulting chart is a useful one page rendering of the source plan. However, for small projects where the number of tasks falls below the recommended maximum, using the Select all tasks shown in the Task Selection sub-control group of the OnePager choice form below is an easy way to specify this option:

Task Selection Option (2): Select Tasks with ‘Yes’ in field:

As mentioned above, one method for telling OnePager which tasks to import is to use a Flag column. As shown in the previous section, the Smartsheet source plan has a User Defined Column named Show It and the word “Yes” is typed into the contents of the Show It cell for each task imported into OnePager. Here is an illustration of the OnePager choices form where a Flag column is used to select tasks from the source plan:

When this is done for the source plan shown above, and other appropriate settings are made for OnePager, the resulting chart looks like this:

As mentioned earlier, you can also use a Smartsheet checkbox with a unique column header name. OnePager recognizes the checkbox column as a possible flag column and makes it available in the OnePager choices form in the dropdown list for the Select task with ‘Yes’ in field: option as shown below:

When the column heading call OnePager is selected in the form above, OnePager imports rows where the OnePager checkbox is checked ON.

Task Selection Option (3): Select Tasks by custom filter: (Conditional Import Rules)

You can use the Conditional Import feature to fine tune the tasks you want to import. Assuming that you’re familiar with the Conditional Import feature, the Conditional Import Rules form can be accessed by selecting the Select tasks by custom filter: radio button as shown in the illustration below. Using the Conditional Import Rules form as shown here, it is possible to select tasks between specified Start Dates and Finish Dates:

When the above Conditional Import rules are used in the selection process, the resulting chart looks like this:

The illustration created above includes tasks within the Start Dates and Finish Dates included in the Conditional Import Rules form. Additionally, the desire for the chart is to show those tasks within the time frame boundaries set by the first two rules that are currently assessed as Medium Risk. The Conditional Import Rules form with the three rules is shown below:

Any Smartsheet column found in your source plan can be used as a Field in a Conditional Import rule.

For more detailed information on the Conditional Import feature, we recommend that you read the articles on this subject under: Conditional Import Filters (Portal) 7.18.1-71.

Using Other Columns as Flag Columns in Smartsheet

OnePager offers a wide range of Smartsheet column and data types to be used as a flag for controlling the import of rows for making OnePager charts as shown below:

Although the above dropdown list is extensive, OnePager is set to recognize only “Boolean” situations that resolve to either TRUE import to OnePager or FALSE do not import to OnePager. Smartsheet does not have Boolean type columns that can be used for this purpose so you must use text columns, number type columns, or checkboxes for this purpose as explained in the following sub-sections.

Integers Used as Flag Columns in Smartsheet

You can use a Smartsheet number column with an integer as a flag if its contents are 1’s in those cells that are intended to be imported as tasks. Similarly you can use 0’s as flags for those tasks that you do not wish to import.

Decimal Numbers Used as Flag Columns in Smartsheet

Number columns that contain an integer and decimal fraction are eligible to become flag when their contents are either 1.0 or 0.0. However, such fields are not picked up by OnePager as a flag as discussed above for Smartsheet text fields. Therefore, we do not recommend that Number columns be used for the purpose of general task selection. Accordingly, it is still useful to consider number columns for task selection if the values contained in these number column cells need to be used for decision making on which tasks should be imported.

Checkboxes Used as Flag Columns in Smartsheet

As an alternative you can use a Smartsheet checkbox where the row to import is represented by the box checked ON as shown here:

OnePager recognizes Checkbox columns in Smartsheet as possible flag columns and makes the column available in the flag column selection process discussed later in this article.

Intelligent Changes Made to OnePager Current Template Properties Forms

OnePager is shipped to you with a predefined set of Template Properties forms. This means that all column usage settings within these shipped Template Properties forms are based upon a typical Smartsheet source plan. Since the flexibility of Smartsheet is considered in the design of OnePager, it is necessary to update the current Template Properties form based upon your Smartsheet source plan. Accordingly, OnePager uses the analysis techniques discussed above to modify the current Template Properties form. This is necessary because, unlike Microsoft Project, where the columns have predefined meanings, the Smartsheet source plan column assignments and meaning are totally determined by you. OnePager, therefore, makes intelligent choices and recommendations on Smartsheet source plan column usage based on the findings of the intelligent engine.

You can change or override these findings as follows:

1) You can click the Edit current Template… button on the second page of the OnePager choices (OPC) form shown here:

2) Clicking this button accesses the Template Properties form so you can navigate to the Rows and Swimlanes tab.

3) The settings found in the Row & Swimlanes tab are determined by the current Template Properties form and by the intelligent analysis described above.

4) If your Smartsheet source plan contains a column heading that exists in the Template Properties form, OnePager uses that column.

5) Otherwise, it makes an intelligent recommendation from the column headings it discovers.

The illustration below shows that several of the settings in the Template Properties form’s Rows & Swimlanes tab reflect the decisions that OnePager made concerning column usage. These settings are consistent with the selections displayed in the OPC form.

The illustration above shows that the Lempth column from the Smartsheet source plan is selected as the text column to appear in the chart. The Lempth column is indicated in the Template Properties form's Rows/Swimlanes tab for text column Left#1. We purposely misspelled Length to illustrate that OnePager has the intelligence to pick columns even though their headings are can be misspelled. You can change the Row & Swimlanes tab settings as well as settings in any of the other tabs. When you are ready, click Save and use button to make these changes part of the current Template Properties form.

In other tabs of the Template Properties form, OnePager has adjusted settings in a similar way to be consistent with its intelligent engine’s analysis of the Smartsheet source plan column headers and data types. If OnePager cannot find a column header name in the Smartsheet source plan that can be correlated with a specific OnePager purpose, it makes as intelligent a choice as possible and you are then able to make any change necessary. You are cautioned that all current Template Properties forms are altered when used in this way. We recommend that unique Template Properties form names be subsequently given to such modified Template Properties form for future reference and for sharing these modified Template Properties form with others.

For more information on the management of Template Properties forms, please see the article at: Managing Templates (Portal)

Missing Columns, Column Headers, or Misspelled Column Headings

OnePager also checks column headings when importing data in UPDATE mode. If the column was used in previous snapshots for any purpose, OnePager checks to assure that the new import for the snapshot has those same columns. When OnePager cannot find the expected columns, one or more column heading names are missing or blank, the column heading is recognizably misspelled, or the data type is different from the previous snapshot, OnePager provides a warning message as shown in the example below:

This can occur when you inadvertently attempt to update a chart from the incorrect Smartsheet source plan or the desired Smartsheet source plan was altered to the extent that OnePager cannot find the columns needed to accomplish the UPDATE functions. You are given two choices when the message above is displayed:

Continue with missing field(s)

By selecting the Continue… button, the import proceeds. OnePager blanks some values that it cannot find. Note: The results can be unexpected.

Go back and fix field(s)

Selecting the Go back… button tells OnePager to stop the import process and return control to Smartsheet. You can now correct the Smartsheet source plan or select another one and start the UPDATE process again.

Missing Task Start/Finish Dates

OnePager requires that, at a minimum, a row from Smartsheet needs to have a task name, a start date, and a finish date. The row is ignored if the task name is not provided even if start and finish dates are present. When a row is missing either a start date and/or finish date is missing, even if the task name is provided, OnePager provides the warning message shown below:

OnePager Chart Representation of User Defined Columns and Virtual Columns

OnePager imports all Smartsheet columns at the beginning of the chart building process and analyzes them for data type and how they may be used in charts. Smartsheet has a minimum number of defined columns and Smartsheet users add User Defined Columns as needed to suit their scheduling goals. The OnePager intelligent preprocessor imports all available columns and analyzes them to set up dropdown lists of imported columns that are available within OnePager’s control scheme.

OnePager also builds additional “virtual” columns for use in your charts that are constructed based upon data imported from your Smartsheet Project formatted file. These virtual columns are provided in OnePager so that you can use all the features of OnePager when designing your charts.

Smartsheet User Define Columns

For example, the chart shown below has three User Defined Columns (Project, Phase, and Category):

These User Defined Columns are imported by OnePager and can be used to control rows and swimlanes as shown below:

In Smartsheet you can create as many User Defined Columns as needed, specify their data type, and populate data for each task. OnePager imports all columns defined and makes them available for use in your chart.

OnePager Virtual Columns for Smartsheet, an Example

OnePager Pro and OnePager Express users have found it beneficial to use many of the OnePager virtual columns in their charts as shortcuts. For example, take the Smartsheet source plan below that has indented task names that establishes a Work Breakdown Structure:

Creating the OnePager chart from the Smartsheet source plan above, we get this:

This is just one example of the use of OnePager virtual columns.

The OnePager virtual columns used in the example above represent only three of the virtual columns available for use in charts. OnePager can represent up to ten (10) levels for Summary name and Summary ID. The list of Level “x” Summary name and Level “x” Summary ID is shown in this illustration of a Swimlane Group by dropdown list:

For more information on the use of Rows and Swimlanes, please see the article at: Creating and Editing Rows and Swimlanes (Portal) and Rows/Swimlane Tab

More OnePager Virtual Columns for Smartsheet

As mentioned above, OnePager adds virtual columns, and in most cases populates these virtual column cells with data imported from your Smartsheet source plan as illustrated above.

The following virtual columns available in OnePager charts built with Smartsheet source plans are discussed in the sub-sections below:

• PartentID
• SmartsheetTaskID
• SmartsheetRowNumber
• Summary
• Outline level
• Level “x” summary ID/name
• OnCriticalPath

ParentID and SmartsheetTaskID Columns

The ParentID column cells contain the identification number of the task’s parent task in the WBS. The SmartsheetTaskID, created from the Smartsheet source plan’s data and maintained by OnePager, is the Smartsheet task’s internal Smartsheet identification number. OnePager uses the SmartsheetTaskID values and the relationships between parent and subordinate tasks in the project’s WBS to calculate the individual ParentID value for each task bar shown in the chart. Where a task bar does not have a parent task bar, the value of the ParentID is set to zero (0).

To illustrate ParentID and SmartsheetTaskID consider the source plan as shown below:

When this source plan segment above is imported to OnePager and a chart is created, the portion of the chart containing the above parent and subordinate tasks looks like this with the corresponding values for ParentID and SmartsheetTaskID:

Using the ParentID and SmartsheetTaskID column cells shown above it is possible to see the subordinate/parent relationship between the two sets of task shown in the two illustrations above.

SmartsheetRowNumber Column

When OnePager imports a Smartsheet source plan it also imports the row number for each task or milestone. OnePager assures that the values for SmartsheetRowNumber are sequential as shown in the original Smartsheet task listing regardless of how tasks were subsequently inserted into Smartsheet. This information is made available in the SmartsheetRowNumber virtual column as illustrated in the source plan below:

The SmartsheetRowNumber column can be displayed in the chart as a text column as shown here:

The SmartsheetRowNumber column is useful when editing the chart, for example, when determining additional tasks to add to the chart.

Summary Column

The Summary column is a Boolean column taking on the value of TRUE if the associated task is a summary task, that is, with subordinate-tasks organized below it and FALSE if the associated task does not have subordinate-tasks organized below it. In the Smartsheet source plan shown below, Summary and Non-Summary tasks are highlighted:

Using the above Smartsheet source plan to create the OnePager chart, we can show the values from the Summary column in a text column along with the SmartsheetRowNumber as shown below:

The above chart shows which displayed task bars are Summary tasks (TRUE) and which are Non-Summary tasks (FALSE). These can be correlated back to the original Smartsheet source plan using the corresponding SmartsheetRowNumber.

Outline level Column

The Outline level column provides an integer value counting the level of indentation of task bars starting at level one (level 1).

The Outline level is shown in the source plan below:

In the Smartsheet source plan above, Planning Phase is at the highest level with Assemble Resources and Create Working Plans at the next level down. Additionally, Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, and System Engineers are at one more subordinate level below Assemble Resources. Finally, Phase 1 Estimation is at a subordinate level below Create Working Plans. There are three levels represented in the source plan shown above and when it is imported to OnePager, the chart portion looks like this with the Outline level column containing the level values in each cell:

The Outline level values shown above represent the WBS levels for the displayed portion of the source plan.

Level “x” summary ID/name Fields

OnePager provides a feature that allows you to conveniently display levels of indention based upon the source plan’s Work Breakdown Structure. OnePager supports ten (10) levels of indention which can be based on the ID or the Name of the WBS Element.

As an example, take the portion of the Smartsheet BlueGrass Project Plan shown below and note how OnePager interprets the WBS:

When the OnePager chart is created using the Show It=Yes to control the import of data and the Left#1 swimlane is set to Level 1 summary name and the Left#2 swimlane is set to Level 2 summary name, the chart looks like this for the portion of the source plan above:

OnCriticalPath Column

Smartsheet shows the critical path in the Gantt bar display highlighted in red as shown below:

The OnCriticalPath column is a Boolean value column whose cells either contain the word “True” or “False” depending on whether the individual task is ON or Not ON the critical path. These values are shown in the chart below in the OnCriticalPath column:

In the illustration above, all task bars that have “True” in their OnCriticalPath column cells are on the critical path as calculated by Smartsheet.

Representing Percent Complete (% Complete) from Smartsheet Project Formatted Files

Smartsheet has an available column called % Complete which can be populated with data that indicates the extent to which a task is progressing. The % Complete column’s cells are automatically populated with your numeric value followed by a percent sign (%). A sample portion of a Smartsheet source plan looks like this with the % Complete column highlighted:

The OnePager chart created from the above Smartsheet source plan looks like this:

Since Smartsheet has a defined column called % Complete, it is our recommendation that you use this Smartsheet defined column in your charts to represent percent complete for tasks and milestones.

For more information on using the percent complete feature, please see the article at: Percent complete for OnePager

Representing Multiple Resources from Smartsheet Project Formatted Files

OnePager can represent as many resources in the chart as are assigned to a task in Smartsheet. For example, the Smartsheet spreadsheet below show three tasks with two resources assigned to each task:

OnePager imports the data in the Assign to column and places each resource into the chart separated by a comma as shown below:

Representing Baseline Data from Smartsheet Import Source Plans

When the Smartsheet source plan is configured with baseline start/finish dates, OnePager can represent them in the chart when the Chart Properties form’s Task Bars and/or Milestones tabs are configured to do so as shown below:

When the Baselines function is enabled and the Baseline start/finish dates are displaced to the right of the baseline shape, the chart looks like this:

For more information on Baseline representation, please see the article: Baselines for OnePager

Representing Critical Path Segments from Smartsheet Project Formatted File

When the Smartsheet source plan is configured to produce critical-path segments, OnePager can represent them in the chart when the Chart Properties form’s Task Bars and/or Milestones tabs are configured to do so as shown below:

OnePager can represent critical-path segments in the chart as calculated by Smartsheet and as shown in the source plan. As a sample, the Smartsheet spreadsheet below shows several sample tasks highlighted with a narrow red bar across the top of the task bar which indicates that the task bar is on a critical-path segment:

OnePager imports the data from a checkbox column named Critical as shown below:

As an alternative and as shown in the Set critical-path properties form, you can use the column called OnCriticalPath to control the display of the critical-path segments in the chart.

For more information on Critical-Path Segments, please see the article: Critical path for OnePager

Using the OnePager Deadline Representation Feature with Smartsheet

OnePager has a feature that lets you display a deadline symbol in the chart that represents the latest finish date for the task or when the milestone must be met. A portion of a chart with deadline symbols looks like this:

When deadlines are turned ON, they appear (by default) as down-arrow symbols in each task bar's row at the deadline date position with respect to the time axis. Above, deadline symbols that are not contained within their respective task bar are shown with black dash-dot connecting lines to illustrate the capability.

It is highly recommended that if you want to use the deadlines feature that you define a Deadlines column in your Smartsheet source plan and populate it with appropriate dates. When OnePager imports your source plan the intelligent engine recognizes “Deadline” as containing the dates for this purpose and populates the appropriate dropdown lists.

Controls for displaying deadline symbols are provided in the Template Properties and Chart Properties form’s Task Bars and Milestones tabs where you can specify the Smartsheet source plan column to represent deadline dates and specify their graphical representation in the chart.

For convenience, OnePager assumes that the Smartsheet Project formatted file’s Deadline date column is the default column that OnePager uses to represent deadline symbols in the chart. This setting is established in all Smartsheet distributed Template Properties forms.

The deadline setting is established in all Smartsheet distributed Template Properties form’s Field Mappings tab as shown below:

As shown above, the Deadline date column name can be changed before the chart is created by using the Template Properties form’s Field Mappings tab to select another preferred Project formatted date column. Changing the Deadline date column name after the chart is created requires using the Field Mappings tab in the Chart Properties form.

For more information on using Deadline symbols, please see the article at: Deadlines for OnePager

Using the OnePager Endpoints Representation Feature with Smartsheet

OnePager also has a feature that lets you display a multiple endpoint symbols in the chart that represent potentially important dates for a task. A portion of a chart with four (4) endpoint symbols associated with each task bar looks like this:

When one or more endpoints are turned ON, they appear (by default) as down-arrow symbols in each task bar's row at the endpoint’s date position. Above, endpoint symbols that are not contained within their respective task bar are shown with black dash-dot connecting lines to illustrate the capability.

Controls for displaying endpoint symbols are provided in the Template Properties and Chart Properties form’s Task Bars and Milestones tabs where you can specify the Smartsheet source plan column to represent endpoint dates and specify their graphical representation in the chart.

For convenience, OnePager assumes that the following Smartsheet Project formatted date columns are the default columns that OnePager uses to represent endpoint symbols in the chart:

• Endpoint 1: Start Date
• Endpoint 2: Finish Date
• Endpoint 3: Baseline Start
• Endpoint 4: Baseline Finish

These setting are established in all Smartsheet distributed Template Properties form’s Task Bars tab in the Task Bar Decorations sub-control group at the Endpoints button. (Milestones do not display Endpoint symbols.) Checking the Endpoints checkbox ON and clicking the Endpoints Properties… button accesses the Set endpoint properties form where the default endpoint dates can be changed before the chart is created. Following the same path in the Chart Properties form to the Set endpoint properties form can accomplish the same result after the chart is created.

For more information on using Endpoint symbols, please see the article at: Endpoints for OnePager

Representing Task Links from Smartsheet Project Formatted Files

OnePager displays Task Links in the chart when the “master switch” for Task Links in the Template Properties form’s Task Link tab is checked ON as shown below:

When the “master switch” is checked ON, Task Links are enabled and can be shown in the chart after the Show data-driven links checkbox is checked ON in the Chart Properties form’s Task Link tab and the source plan column containing the task link predecessor data is set in the from window as shown below:

You can use the above form to change the properties of the Task Links to meet your schedule discussion needs. When the chart is created, the Task Links look like this:

In the chart shown above, the Predecessor column is shown as a Left#1 text column to indicate the task bar that is the predecessor for the task link. The SmartsheetRowNumber column is shown as the Left#2 text column to identify the successor task bar.

For more information on Task Links, please see the articles at: Linking Task and Milestone Using Manual and Data-Driven Task Links (Portal)

Related Link

Getting Started with OnePager Bundle

Using Smartsheet Source Plans with OnePager

Basic Workflows (Portal)

Conditional Import Filters (Portal)

Merging the Wrong Tasks into a Chart - OnePager Bundle - Smartsheet

Percent complete for OnePager

Baselines for OnePager

Deadlines for OnePager

Endpoints for OnePager

Creating and Editing Rows and Swimlanes (Portal)

Linking Task and Milestone Using Manual and Data-Driven Task Links (Portal)

Data-Driven Task Links for Smartsheet

Rows/Swimlane Tab

Managing Templates (Portal)

(4.0.1.7-71)