The Floating Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express for Version 7.0

Overview

The Floating Time Axis Feature

A Floating Time Axis is a mirror of the chart's Time Axis Levels positioned within the graph at a location where it occupies special rows. There can be any number of Floating Time Axes inserted into the graph all under your control. Floating Time Axes can be edited, hidden, or deleted as necessary to help you convey your schedule issues and enhance your schedule presentation.

Floating Time Axis - An Example

Below is a sample of an inserted Floating Time Axis:

This is done by right-clicking in the Row to access the empty space right-click context menu where you want the Floating Time Axis Level to appear either ABOVE or BELOW as shown here:

If you select the Insert floating time axis level sub-command options to place Year or Top Level Floating Time Axis ABOVE the selected Row, the chart looks like this:

Repeating the process for Inserting the Quarter or Middle Level Floating Time Axis ABOVE the selected Row creates two levels shown below:

When the action above is completed, all three levels of the Floating Time Axis appear. The same procedure can be used to Insert Floating Time Axis Levels BELOW the selected Row by accessing the empty space right-click context menu in the desired Row and using the alternate set of sub-commands that place Floating Time Axis Levels BELOW the selected Row.

Several individual or sets of Floating Time Axis Levels can be inserted in a chart. Any manual edit made to a Time Axis Level Cell is reflected in the corresponding Floating Time Axis Level Cell with respect to the Cell’s properties. These properties can be edited using the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s three Level sub-tab property setting controls or using the time axis right-click context menu’s Format cell… command. Manual edits made to a Time Axis Level such as editing its height in the Chart Properties form Time Axis Level tabs are not made to the corresponding Floating Time Axis Level. Performing edits on the Row in which a Floating Time Axis Level resides either by using the empty space right-click context menu commands or the Edit Row properties form does not make corresponding edits to the properties of the corresponding Time Axis Level. Only edits to individual or multiple Time Axis Level Cells are mirrored in their corresponding Floating Time Axis Level Cells and vice versa.

Using the Floating Time Axis Feature

The new Floating Time Axis feature is provided so that you can insert one or more Time Axis like levels into a portion of the graph so that task bars, milestone symbols, task links, comment boxes and other decorations can be viewed close to a Time Axis visual representation as illustrated here:

Floating Time Axes are manually inserted individually by Levels. Floating Time Axes can be inserted ABOVE or BELOW any selected Row in the graph. Floating Time Axes occupy a new Row in the graph for each Level. Floating Time Axis Level Cells can be individually selected with a left or right-click, edited, or hidden.

The Rows occupied by Floating Time Axes can be selected in the Text Column Label area with a left or right-click, edited, hidden, or deleted. Row containing a Floating Time Axis Level can be moved up or down in the graph as any other Row in the chart. Edits made to Time Axis Level Cells are mirrored in the corresponding Floating Time Axis Level Cells and vice versa. Floating Time Axes can be particularly helpful when charts are vertically long or the Top or Bottom Time Axes cannot be visible in the output media presentation.

Creating Floating Time Axis Levels

Floating Time Axes can be placed in the graph by right-clicking in the empty space area of the Row ABOVE or BELOW where you want the Floating Time Axis placed. OnePager Express places the initial Floating Time Axis in the nearest full Row ABOVE or BELOW the Row in which you make the right-click. The empty space right-click context menu that appears allows you to select which Level (Top, Middle, or Bottom) of Floating Time Axis you wish to display. For convenience, the sub-commands repeat the Tic Unit for each Level and options for placing the Floating Time Axis Level desired ABOVE or BELOW the selected Row as shown below:

In the illustration above, if the Year (Top Level) in row above sub-command is clicked, a Top Level Floating Time Axis is inserted as an additional Row just ABOVE the Row where you right-clicked:

The placement of this Floating Time Axis occupies a new Row regardless of whether Row and/or swimlane labels are being shown. Repeating the process by right-clicking in the same Row as before and selecting the Middle Level and Bottom Level ABOVE options inserts the complete set of three Time Axis Levels into the chart ABOVE the selected Row as shown here:

Globally Editing Floating Time Axis Levels Using the Chart Properties Form’s Time Axis Tab

Clicking the Time Axis Properties command in the time axis right-click context menu shown below accesses the Chart Properties Time Axis tab for the at the Level corresponding to the Floating Time Axis Level Cell that you right-clicked:

From the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s Top Level sub-tab you can make most chart global edits to both the Floating Time Axis’ Top Level and the Time Axis’ Top Level as shown below:

For example, if you make edits in the Background Colors sub-control group as shown below, you get these results:

As mentioned earlier, you cannot use the global edit for the Level’s height in the Chart Properties form’s Level tabs to edit the height of a Floating Time Axis Level.

To make a change to the height of a Floating Time Axis Level in the graph you must right-click on the text label for the desired Row, access the row right-click context menu and click the Row height … command as discussed below at: Manually Editing the Row Containing a Floating Time Axis Level

Manual Editing of Floating Time Axis Level Cells

Selecting Floating Time Axis Level Cells

Selecting Floating Time Axis Level Cells is accomplished in the same way as selecting Time Axis Level Cells. Floating Time Axis Level Cells can be selected individually with a single left-click, selected in a sequence using the CTL+Left-Click method, or selected in a contiguous set using the SHIFT+Left-Click.

The rules for using the CTL+Left-Click and the SHIFT+Left-Click that apply to using these methods together to select Time Axis Level Cells applies to using these methods for selecting Floating Time Axis Level Cells. Selecting a Time Axis Level Cell does NOT also select the corresponding Floating Time Axis Level Cell or vice versa. You can select Cells in both Floating Time Axis Levels and Time Axis Levels using the various selection methods.

The rules for selecting multiple Cells with the various selection methods apply. Once Cells in the Floating Time Axis Levels and Time Axis Levels are selected you can then edit and stretch or compress them as required. Whatever editing, stretching or compressing is done to the selected Cells by either editing in the Time Axis Levels or the Floating Time Axis Levels is done such that these displayed Levels remain consistent in the chart.

Editing Floating Time Axis Cells

Selecting any Floating Time Axis Level Cell allows you to use the time axis right-click context menu to edit that specific Floating Time Axis Level Cell. The time axis right-click context menu accessed when you right-click a Floating Time Axis Level Cell is shown below with the difference highlighted between it and the context menu for a Time Axis Level Cell.

The top three commands in the context menu above provide the same editing actions for Floating Time Axis Level Cells as they do for Time Axis Level Cells found outside the graph (Top or Bottom of the graph or both). Because the top three commands shown in the context menu above can change the appearance of the Floating Time Axis Level, it is necessary for these commands to also change the appearance of the corresponding Time Axis Level to maintain consistency within the chart and the graph. Accordingly, most edits made to a Floating Time Axis Level Cell are also made to the corresponding Time Axis Level Cell. The exception is in editing the height of a Floating Time Axis Level.

Editing the height of a Floating Time Axis Level does not change the height of the corresponding Time Axis Level and vice versa. With respect to the Unstretch all cells command, the command is enabled only if one or more Cells in a Time Axis or Floating Time Axis Level is stretched or compressed. Otherwise, the command is disabled. If the Unstretch all cells command is exercised on a Floating Time Axis Level Cell, all Time Axis and Floating Time Axis Level Cells are unstretched.

In the context menu above, the Time-axis properties… command accesses the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s Top, Middle, or Bottom Level sub-tab when this command is clicked depending on which Level is selected in the Floating Time Axis. Most edits made in the Chart Properties form are applied globally to both the Time Axis Level and any Floating Time Axis Level if the edit applies to Cells. If the edit made in the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s Level sub-tabs changes a Level related property, such as the height property, that change is only made in the Time Axis Level and NOT to the Floating Time Axis Level. For the Floating Time Axis, the Insert curtain command is enabled.

For more information on the Insert curtain feature, please see the article at: Creating, Editing, and Managing Time Axis Daily Curtains for OnePager Express

The Hide floating time axis level command when clicked hides the Floating Time Axis Level and displays an empty Row in the chart. As an empty Row, it takes on the properties and characteristics of any other empty Row.

For more information on how to restore a Hidden Floating Time Axis Level, please see this section in the article at: Unhiding Floating Time Axes

Making Formatting Edits to Floating Time Axis Level Cells

Making formatting edits to Floating Time Axis Level Cells mavericks both the Floating Time Axis Level Cell and the Time Axis Level Cell as well. For example you can edit the background color for a specific Floating Time Axis Level Cell as shown below:

Clicking the Format cell… command accesses the Time Axis Cell Properties form where you can make edits to the Floating Time Axis Level Cell’s background color as shown here using the OnePager standard Color Chooser:

Making the above edit to the background color in the Floating Time Axis Level Cell also changes the background color for the corresponding Time Axis Level Cell as shown below:

In a similar way, if you edit a property of a Time Axis Level Cell when there is a corresponding Floating Time Axis in the chart, the corresponding Floating Time Axis Level Cell takes on the change made to the Time Axis Level Cell.

Hiding A Floating Time Axis Level

The bottom command in the time axis right-click context menu for a Floating Time Axis Level Cell is the Hide floating time axis level command. Clicking this command immediately hides the Floating Time Axis Level regardless of what Cell in the Floating Time Axis was selected.

However, this command hides only the content of the Floating Time Axis Level but leaves the Row visible where the selected Floating Time Axis Level resided as shown illustrated below:

This behavior is a bit different from that of hiding rows. Normally Rows in the chart are automatically hidden in the graph at the end of the hide rows operation. With Floating Time Axis Levels, hiding the Level converts the area of the graph to a normal Row in the chart that appears as empty space. The Row remaining after the Hide floating time axis level command is completed retains all the properties of a normal Row. It can have text columns and all their properties remain editable. This approach is thought to provide you with greater flexibility when making further edits to the chart containing Floating Time Axis Levels. These normal Rows can be edited like any other Row in the chart. Once a Floating Time Axis Level is hidden and the Row it occupied appears empty, there is no command available to unhide a Floating Time Axis Level.

Removing Empty Rows Previously Occupied by a Floating Time Axis

When Floating Time Axis Levels are hidden, as shown above, the empty Row that replaces the hidden Floating Time Axis Level can be removed from the Graph by using the Hide rows button on the OnePager Home ribbon tool bar tab as shown here:

Performing the Hide row operation using the Row hiding choices form hides the previously hidden Floating Time Axis Level in the Graph as shown here:

An alternative approach to hiding any Floating Time Axis Level is to select the Row’s Text Column Label area with a right-click and click the Hide row command in the context menu as shown below:

When you do this, the chart again looks like this:

Unhiding Floating Time Axes

At this point if you want to make the previously Hidden Floating Time Axis Level visible again, our recommendation is to reinsert the Floating Time Axis Level using the right-click in empty space context menu to do the function as described above.

Manually Editing the Row Containing a Floating Time Axis Level

As a Row, the Floating Time Axis can be manipulated as any Row can in the chart. The Row occupied by a Floating Time Axis Level can be configured with Text columns, its row height can be edited, its Row Properties can be edited, and it can be moved manually anywhere in the chart if its Text column(s) are shown in the chart. When a Floating Time Axis Level is present and associated Text columns are shown, the Text columns can be selected separately from the Floating Time Axis Level Cells as illustrated here:

Selected Floating Time Axis Levels, like Rows in the chart, display handlebars for editing their row height when selected by a left-click in a Text Column Label. Once selected, you can edit the height of the Floating Time Axis Level manually:

Editing the height of a Floating Time Axis Level does not change the height of the corresponding Time Axis Level or vice versa. Selecting the Properties… command from the row right-click context menu accessed by right-clicking in a Text Column Label accesses the Row/Column Properties form at the Row sub-tab:

The commands provided in the time axis right-click context menu accessed by right-clicking in the Floating Time Axis Level’s Text Column Label, work the same as other Rows in the chart with Text columns being shown. In the illustration above, making edits in the Row/Column Properties form for a Floating Time Axis Level only edits the properties of the selected Text Column Label; the Time Floating Time Axis Level Cells are not changed. However, other commands in the row right-click context menu accessed by right-clicking in the Text Column Label occupied by a Floating Time Axis Level do have an impact on the Floating Time Axis Level as follows:

For reference, the row right-click context menu accessed by right-clicking in the Text Column Label looks like this:

Also mentioned above, clicking the Properties … command accesses the Row/Column Properties form at the Row sub-tab.

Clicking the Edit text command accesses the Enter text form where you can provide text in the Text Column Label.

Clicking the context menu’s Hide row command, the Add row command, and the Split swimlane command all operate on a Floating Time Axis Level as they operate on any other Row in the chart. Clicking the Row height … command accesses the Row height form where you can manually set the value of the row height with greater precision than with the handlebars on a selected Floating Time Axis Level.

For more information on editing Rows please see the articles at:

Creating and Editing Rows and Swimlanes (Portal)
Editing Row Properties
Hiding and Unhiding Rows and Swimlanes
Resizing the Height of Rows

Floating Time Axes and the OnePager Template Properties Form

There are No corresponding Floating Time Axis Level or Cell controls in the OnePager Template Properties form. Accordingly, Floating Time Axis Level representations are within the individual chart although some Floating Time Axis Cell properties can be edited globally along with their Time Axis Levels and Cells in the Chart Properties form. Individual Floating Time Axis Levels and Cells can always be manually edited.

The Floating Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express for Version 7.0

Contents

Overview