Creating and Managing Curtains for Version 7.0
Contents
Overview
1) Strategically using Curtains in the chart is a way to highlight periods of time that have special meaning to your audience such as periods with critical schedule constraints, vacation periods, or project reviews.
2) Curtains can be inserted and edited in the chart in several ways:
- a) You can use the OnePager ribbon's Insert tab and the Curtains button in the Annotations section to access the Curtain Properties form.
- b) Additionally, OnePager Pro and Express provides enhanced curtain creation and management capabilities in the chart where you can define and edit Curtains using controls associated with Time Axis Levels and Cells.
3) This article specifically describes the controls for creating, editing, copying, and deleting Curtains in the chart using the OnePager ribbon's Insert tab's Curtains button as the starting point.
4) References to the specific articles describing the capabilities and features for Curtain graphics associated with Time Axis Levels and Cells are provided in table below:
About Curtains
1) A Curtain is a vertical strip, usually in a highlighted color, that identifies a period of time across all rows.
2) The example below shows a Curtain entitled Critical Resource Period that appears from 4/1/2019 to: 9/30/2019.
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3) Curtains can be added to the chart, edited, copied, and deleted as necessary.
4) A Curtain context menu is provided for editing individual Curtains in the chart and for managing the appearance of Curtains in some or all snapshots.
Adding a Curtain
1) To add a new Curtain to a chart, follow the steps below:
2) Go to the OnePager ribbon's Insert tab and click the Curtain button as shown below:
3) This accesses Curtain Properties form that allows you define the Start and End Dates, appearance, and text label for the Curtain:
4) Once you entered the Start and End Dates and other selections, click the OK button to add the Curtain.
5) In charts with multiple snapshots, this method of adding a Curtain puts the Curtain in all snapshots.
Editing a Curtain
1) Editing a Curtain is similar to editing all the other shapes appearing in the chart such as Comment boxes.
2) First, right-click on the Curtain to access the Curtain's context menu shown below:
3) Click the Properties ... command in the Context menu to access the Curtain Properties form shown here:
4) Make your option selections for font text properties, curtain text position and orientation. fill color, curtain border properties, and transparency level.
5) The controls in the Curtain Properties form are identical to the controls in the Shape Properties form associated with the Free box.
6) The exceptions are that the Shape Properties form does not contain a Transparency slider bar and the Maintain aspect ratio checkbox in the Shape Properties form is replaced with the Rotate text 90 degrees checkbox in the Curtain Properties form.
- a) For more information on the Free box's Shape Properties form, please see this link: Changing the Properties of a Free Box. 14.0.1-61
- b) The No Fill feature found on the Font properties form accessed from the Fill color dropdown button on the Curtain Properties form applies to a Curtain's Fill Color. See the referenced sections for more information on the No Fill option: ( Creating and Managing Comment Boxes - Background Color Management) 13.0.1-61.
7) In charts with multiple snapshots, this method of editing a Curtain changes the Curtain’s properties in all snapshots where the Curtain appears.
8) Once you have completed your Curtain editing actions, click the OK button on the Curtain Properties form.
Deleting Curtains
1) Deleting curtains is similar to deleting any other shape in your chart such as a comment box. Just follow the steps below:
2) Right-click the curtain and choose Delete command from the context menu below:
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3) Using the sub-command Delete: From this snapshot deletes the curtain from the current displayed snapshot. Curtains that remain in other snapshots are treated as a single entity with respect to their properties.
4) The sub-command Delete: From all snapshots deletes all curtains from all snapshots.
Ordering Curtains
1) Curtains can be ordered in the chart from front to back using the following the steps:
2) As shown above, right-clicking on a curtain accesses the context menu with several sub-commands including the Order sub-command.
3) This sub-command operates in the same way as the Order sub-command provided for comment boxes, free boxes, and the legend.
4) When the Order sub-command is used, the results with respect to the Z-Level positioning of the curtain is shown in all snapshots where the curtain is shown.
Adding Another Curtain
1) Also shown in the context menu above is the Add another… sub-command. To add another curtain, follow the steps below:
2) Click the Add another… sub-command to access the Curtain Properties form and use the form to set the properties of the new added curtain as shown below:
-12032018.png)
3) Click the OK button when finished and the updated chart looks like this:
-12032018.png)
4) As with all uses of the Curtain Properties form, when you click the OK button the additional curtain is shown in all snapshots.
Putting A Curtain in Some Snapshots
1) The Curtain Properties form used to create a curtain puts the curtain in all snapshots.
Procedure for Displaying Curtains in Some Snapshots
2) There is no Attach to all snapshots checkbox in the Curtain Properties form as there is in the Create or edit comment box form.
3) The recommend way to display a curtain in one or a select set of snapshots is to use this two step procedure:
- (1) First create the curtain with its desired properties which makes the curtain shown in all snapshots.
- (2) Then use the context menu's Delete command to individually delete the undesired curtains from snapshots where the curtain should not be shown.
Reinstating Curtains in the Future
4) Subsequent project demands can require you to later put the curtain in back all snapshots. To do this, just follow the steps below:
- (1) To put a curtain in all snapshots, use the Put at all snapshots command found in the right-click context menu for existing curtains as shown below:
-12032018.png)
- (2) After clicking the Put at all snapshots command, the selected curtain is shown in all snapshots.
5) By using the first procedure above, you can now selectively remove curtains from snapshots where the selected curtains is not desired.
A Note on The Grid
1) The Grid is mentioned in the Overview section above as the location of a list of curtains appearing in a chart and it's snapshots.
2) Below is an illustration of the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab's Format sub-tab showing The Grid in the Curtains and Timespans control group with the two curtains created through the illustrations above:
-12032018.png)
3) For more information on The Grid, the Chart Properties form's Time Axis tab, and other curtain features in OnePager version 7.0, please see the section referenced here: Creating and Managing Curtains - Related Links. 16.0.1-70
Resizing a Curtain
1) As described above, the width of a curtain in terms of its start and end dates can be edited through the Curtain Properties form.
2) The width of the curtain can also be manually edited in the chart. To do this follow the steps described below:
- (1) Select the curtain by left-clicking within the curtain area. This selects the curtain and shows a left and right grab box on the left and right border of the selected curtain.
- (2) Changes to the start and end dates for selected curtains can be done by using the curtain grab boxes on the left and right borders to drag these these grab boxes to change the curtain start and or end boundaries as shown below:
-12032018.png)
3) Dragging the mouse to the left or right moves the curtain’s border as desired.
4) In the example above, the right border is dragged to the right to increase the width of the curtain as shown below:
-12032018.png)
Selecting a Very Narrow Curtain in the Chart
1)You can find it difficult to select a curtain with the mouse click that is very narrow. To select such a curtain we recommend the following:
2) Position the mouse at the bottom of the screen (in the footer area) to the left of the curtain.
3) Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse upward and to the right until the lasso completely encloses the curtain.
4) When you release the left mouse button, the curtain is selected.
5) You can now widen the curtain by dragging the grab bar cursor to the left or right as shown below:
-12032018.png)
Related Links
Creating and Managing Comment Boxes 13.0.1-70
Creating and Managing Free Boxes 14.0.1-70
Creating, Editing, and Managing Time Axis Daily Curtains for OnePager Pro 22.5.5-70
Creating, Editing, and Managing Time Axis Daily Curtains for OnePager Express 22.5.6-70
Managing Inserted Curtains for OnePager Pro 22.5.7-70
Managing Inserted Curtains for OnePager Express 22.5.8-70
Managing Working Hours and Non-Working Hours for OnePager Pro 22.5.3-70
Managing Working Hours and Non-Working Hours for OnePager Express 22.5.4-70
Editing Time Axes with the Chart Properties Form for OnePager Pro 22.4.1-70
Editing Time Axes with the Chart Properties Form for OnePager Express 22.4.2-70
Manual Editing the Time Axis for OnePager Pro 22.4.3-70
Manual Editing the Time Axis for OnePager Express 22.4.4-70
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