REPLACING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Express for Version 7.0

Overview

The purpose of these articles is to acquaint you with the new Pull features of OnePager Express (OPX) and Pro (OPP). There are eight (8) articles in this series, four (4) providing examples of the Pull feature for OPX and four (4) for OPP Please see the links at the end of this article to access the rest of the series.

What is a Pull Operation?

A Pull operation starts in the Chart Editor. That is, you already have OnePager running and decide to update the open chart or (rarely) create a new chart. In contrast, a Push operation begins in the OnePager Pro Start from which you make a new chart or update an existing chart. We added the Pull operation because we found that OnePager users were often creating a chart, finding something in the source plan that they needed to change. Following that change they are going back to the source plan, making the change, and then re-launching OnePager to update the chart. The Pull operation lets you open a chart and update it repeatedly as you edit its source plan. After each set of changes to the source plan(s), you can quickly see the effect on the screen by using OnePager’s Data tab to Pull the source plan changes into the chart.

For more information on Creating a new chart with the Pull operation, please see the article at: Creating a NEW Chart via Pull Operation - OnePager Express

For more information on Adding a snapshot with the Pull operation, please see the article at: ADDING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Express

The example below illustrates replacing a snapshot.

Example

Let’s suppose you have a Microsoft Excel source plan with an already created a snapshot for a particular date, say, 8/1/2019. However, on 8/13/2019 you receive new information that updates your Microsoft Excel source plan. You now want to update the chart’s snapshot for 8/1/2019 to reflect the new information. Further, let’s suppose that there are two (2) different charts created form this one Microsoft Excel source plan:

1) One for the PMO audience created with the Show It1 column and

2) The second created for the customer audience created with the Show It2 field.

In this example, we’ll do a replacement for the PMO audience first and then do the same replacement for the customer audience. Since the Microsoft Excel source plan was updated and now reflects the latest information for 8/13/2019 we just need to use the Pull operation to bring in the updated Microsoft Excel source plan data and replace the snapshot.

Launching OnePager Express from Microsoft Excel

First, update the Microsoft Excel source plan with the updated data you want to replace in the snapshot. Launch OPX from Microsoft Excel and when the OnePager Express Start form appears click the OPEN button which, in our example, provides a dropdown menu with the name of the chart you wish to update by replacement. In this case it’s BlueGrass Project Plan Report - Express -PMO as shown below:

The OPX Add-in application places the selected chart up in the Chart Editor window. This is the chart and snapshot we want to replace. To proceed with the replacement click the Data tab on the ribbon. The Chart Editor looks like this:

Use the Microsoft Excel Source Plan to Replace a Snapshot

To perform the replacement of the snapshot showing in the Chart Editor window, click the Replace Snapshot button on the Data tab as shown below:

OPX performs this action by accessing the updated Microsoft Excel source plan and using the results to update the snapshot as shown above. For a chart with multiple snapshots it is important to make sure that you have selected the correct snapshot to display in the Chart Editor window before clicking the Replace Snapshot button. OnePager knows which snapshot is being displayed and replaces the visible snapshot with data from the parent Microsoft Excel source plan. Navigating between snapshots in a multiple snapshot chart can be done prior to the above action by using the View tab on the ribbon as shown here:

The replaced snapshot for chart BlueGrass Project Plan Report - Express-PMO is shown below:

Since we are using the OPX Add-in application for this example, it was not necessary to re-launch Microsoft Excel. As long as you’ve properly prepared your Microsoft Excel source plan that is all that is necessary to utilize the new Pull operation. At this point it is recommended that you save this the chart for access later.

Preparing a Second Chart for Snapshot Replacement

There are two (2) ways of updating the second chart from the same Microsoft Excel source plan:

1) After saving the first chart, close the OPX Add-in application and repeat the above process but using Show It2 to select the tasks.

2) Remain in the current OPX Add-in application window and update the second chart from there.

Here we demonstrates the second method as it is more efficient. With the first chart visible in the Chart Editor window, click on the File tab on the ribbon and then click the Open… tab on the page that appears. Then, click the chart for the customer audience as shown below:

When you click the desired chart name as shown above, OnePager displays that chart in a separate Chart Editor window as shown here:

You can expand this Chart Editor window. Now, navigate to the OnePager Data ribbon tool bar tab as shown below:

Clicking the Replace Snapshot button on the Data tab tells OPX to go to the parent Microsoft Excel source plan for this chart, perform the snapshot replacement under the control of the Show It2 field of the plan, and display the results in the current Chart Editor window. The replaced snapshot is shown below:

In this example we used the Pull operation twice to update two charts from the same Microsoft Project source plan but using different Flag fields. Now that the second chart is created, we recommend that it too be saved for future access.

Compare Results, Edit, Copy to PowerPoint

Once you are satisfied with your charts you can save them, copy them into Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, or share time in other ways. The Pull operation is an easy, fast, and convenient way to create multiple charts which makes you more efficient.

Related Links

Creating a NEW Chart via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

Creating a NEW Chart via Pull Operation - OnePager Express

ADDING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

ADDING a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Express

Custom Update (Replacing) of a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Pro

Custom Update (Replacing) of a Snapshot via Pull Operation - OnePager Express

Using the OnePager "Data" Tab's "Selected file(s)" Button

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