Difference between revisions of "Showing Different Time Units of Time for OnePager Express for Version 7.0"

Latest revision as of 19:55, 21 January 2021

Overview

Every chart has an annotated time axis coordinated with the various start/finish dates of task bars and milestone symbols represented in the graph. OnePager provides the option of displaying from one to three Time Axis Levels under your control. OnePager is distributed with Template Properties forms that typically show three Time Axis Levels : Years, Quarters, and Months, for example.

Time Axis Levels can be scaled into different units of time by using the editing controls provided in the Template Properties form or the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tabs shown below. The timespan of the Time Axis in the chart depends on the Start and Finish dates either that you input or that are calculated by OnePager from your source plan. Once a chart is created, you have the editing controls available to restructure the number of Time Axis Levels displayed, their units of time, the font properties of text contained in each Time Axis cell, and several other attributes as explained in other articles in this series.

For access to the full set of Time Axis articles, click here: Modifying the Time Axis (Portal)

You also have the capability to position the Time Axis on the Top or Bottom of the graph or in both locations under your control.

A new feature, called the Floating Time Axis, provides the capability to insert Time Axis Levels into the body of the graph at any row position.

For more information on the Floating Time Axis, please see the article at: The Floating Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express

There are additional editing capabilities available using Chart Editor editing techniques and convenient editing controls added to the OnePager Express ribbon tool bar. The remainder of this article provides basic examples of how the Time Axis feature in OnePager Express can be used to configure appropriate Time Axis displays.

Using the Chart Properties Form’s Time Axis Tab

As previously mentioned, OnePager Express consolidated all the Time Axis controls into a new Chart Properties form tab called the Time Axis tab. The Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab is almost identical to the same tab on the Template Properties form so the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab and its five (5) sub-tabs are used here for the illustrations and examples that follow. In the following sub-sections below are illustrations showing the various sub-tab subsets for the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab:

Calendar Sub-Tab

The Calendar Sub-Tab looks like this:

Top, Middle, and Bottom Level Sub-Tabs

The Middle Level Sub-Tab, which is typical of the three such sub-tabs, looks like this:

Format Sub-Tab

The Format Sub-Tab looks like this:

More information on editing with the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab and sub-tabs, please see the article at: Editing Time Axes with the Chart Properties Form for OnePager Express

Given the controls shown above, you have significant control over the display of the Time Axis as shown in the topics that follow.

Globally Editing Chart Time Axis Levels and Cells

Global edits are made in the Template Properties form for all charts created with that Template form or with the Chart Properties form for all editable graphic elements with a particular chart covered by that Chart Properties form. The examples that follow can be made in either form but most use the Chart Properties form. Below is a sample chart showing some edits in the three Time Axes for level height, cell text color, background colors, and fill patterns:

Editing the Chart’s Start/Finish Date Boundaries

In previous OnePager versions setting the Start/Finish Date boundaries for the chart was in the Chart Properties form’s Main tab. These controls are now consolidated in the Chart Properties form’s new Time Axis tab at the Calendar sub-tab as shown here:

The Start Date and Finish Date boundaries can be edited by accessing the Date Picker dropdown as shown below:

Making edits to the Start Date and/or Finish Date boundaries resets the Date Boundaries for the chart.

Another way to edit the chart’s Date Boundaries is to use the Start and Finish Date Calendars now available on the OnePager Express View ribbon tool bar tab in the Dates group as shown here:

More information on changing the Start/Finish Date boundaries, please see the article at: Changing the Chart’s Start/Finish Dates for OnePager Express

Showing and Hiding Time Axis Levels and Cells

Time Axis Level Cells and Floating Time Axis Level Cells can be hidden to create timespan gaps in the timeline.

The following example shows the creation of such a timespan gap:

1) Below is the original Time Axis with all Cells shown:

2) You can manually select the months of November 2018 through January 2019 (with a CTL+Left-Click) and hide the cells by a right-click on a selected Cell to get to the context menu and the Hide cell command as shown below:

3) Clicking the Hide cell command results in the chart looking like this:

As the illustration above shows, a three month timespan is hidden in the gap. OnePager retains a record of this in the table found in the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab Format sub-tab’s Curtains and Timespans control group as shown below:

If, in the course of Hiding Time Axis Level Cells, task bars/milestone symbols become hidden, entries are made in the Where’s My Stuff!? form. Select the Quarterly Time Axis Level Cells to be hidden as shown below:

After hiding the two Quarterly Time Axis Level Cells the chart looks like this with the Where’s My Stuff!? form visible:

To restore the Time Axis Level Cells select the five entries by checking each checkbox in the Select column (or clicking the Select All button) in the Where’s My Stuff!? form as is shown in the example below:

Clicking the Fix Selected button updates the Where’s My Stuff!? form to look like this:

The action restores the five selected task bars to visibility along with their associated Quarterly Time Axis Level Cells as shown below:

For more information on the Where’s My Stuff!? form, please see the article at: Managing Hidden Tasks and Milestones Using "Where's My Stuff?!"

Hidden Time Axis Level Cells can be restored by using the controls on the OnePager Express Home ribbon tool bar tab’s Show/Hide dropdown menu by clicking the Show All Time Axis Cells command as seen here:

After clicking the Show All Time Axis Cells command, the five hidden month Time Axis Level Cells become unhidden. The dates used in the Curtains and Timespans Grid to define the hidden timespan include not only the date for From/To Dates but the time of day as well. If you just specify dates, OnePager Express assumes that the From Date starts at midnight on that day and the To Date end a minute before midnight on that day. To completely specify the timespan for a Time Axis Level Cell to be hidden it is important to make sure that the timespan is complete.

As an example, to hide the month of January 2019 the From Date should be 1/1/2019 and the To Date should be 2/1/2019 as shown here:

Hiding Time Axis Level Cells overrides all other settings that you specify by way of Flagging task bars for import or any specified Conditional Import rules you defined. Although the import takes place, hidden Time Axis Level Cells govern what is shown after import.

More information on hiding/showing Time Axis Cells , please see the article at: Showing and Hiding Time Axis Levels and Cells for OnePager Express

Re-Ordering Time Axis Levels

In addition to being able to now easily hide Time Axis Levels, you can also exchange Time Axis Level positions. Given the chart below where the Top, Middle, and Bottom Time Axis Levels in Year, Quarter, and Month are ordered from top to bottom, you can exchange the Middle Level with the Top Level by clicking the up arrow in the Re-Order Levels control group:

When you click the Apply or OK button in the Chart Properties form the Top and Middle Levels are exchanged as shown here:

More information on Re-Ordering Time Axis Levels, please see the article at: Re-Ordering Time Axis Levels for OnePager Express

Using the Labels Control Group on the Top, Middle, and Bottom Sub-Tabs

The controls in the Labels control group of these three sub-tabs, shown in the illustration above, provides the means for you to select the characteristics of the timespans associated with the Time Axis Level being edited.

For more information on the use of the Labels control group and its controls, please see the article at: Labeling Time Axis Levels for OnePager Express

Using the Formatting Control Group on the Top, Middle, and Bottom Sub-Tabs

The Formatting control group on the these three sub-tabs, again, shown in the illustration above, provides the controls for managing the look of the borders associated with the three Time Axis Levels in the chart.

For more information on the use of the Formatting control group and its controls, please see the article at: Changing the Time Axis Borders for OnePager Express

Saving Time Axis Level and Cell Settings in the Template Properties Form

OnePager Express allows you to save the settings for a chart as a new Template Properties form with a Template name of your choosing. This can be done any time after creating or editing a chart by clicking the Copy to Template button on the OnePager Express Home ribbon tool bar tab as shown below:

For more information on the Save as Template function, please see the article at: Managing the Current Template

If your chart contains Hidden Time Axis Level Cells, these settings are copied to the new Template Properties form and saved. When the Template Properties form you previously saved is used to create a NEW chart, that chart reflects the Hidden Time Axis Level Cells you previously created. In the saved Template Properties form, the Hidden Time Axis Level Cells are represented in the Curtains and Timespans Grid as shown in the example below:

When the above Template Properties form is again used, any Time Axis Level Cells that are between the From Date and To Date are treated as Hidden Time Axis Level Cells. You can also edit the Zoom% value in a chart that is copied to become a new Template Properties form. When the saved Template is used again to create a chart, these saved Zoom% values are used on the new chart’s Time Axis Levels. Editing any of the corresponding settings in the Chart Properties form’s Time Axis tab’s Format sub-tab does not change the corresponding settings in the Template Properties form. Settings can be edited in the Template Properties form but the form must be re-saved so that the edited settings are available for subsequent use the next time this Template Properties form is used to represent Hidden Time Axis Level Cells.

The Non-Linear Time Axis Feature

Below is a sample chart with a Non-Linear Time Axis representation for the bottom level Time Axis. First the original Bottom Level Time Axis representation with the Cell to be stretched selected with a left-click:

After stretching the January 2019 Time Axis Level Cell to the right with a drag and drop action the chart looks like this:

Note that the stretching of the bottom level Time Axis is accompanied by a stretching of the Middle Level and Top Level as shown in the example above. Additionally, any task bars/milestone symbols within the timespan stretched also appear to be stretched. You can select multiple Time Axis Level Cells using the CTL+Left-Click method in a single or in multiple Time Axis Levels. Selecting a single Time Axis Level Cell in any Time Axis Level allows you to further right-click on the selected Cell, access the Time Axis Level’s context menu, and use any of the commands in the context menu as shown below:

Selecting multiple Time Axis Level Cells in any Time Axis Level and right-clicking on any selected Cells also accesses the context menu where most of the context menu’s command can be used. Selecting multiple Time Axis Level Cells in different Time Axis Levels with the intent of stretching all the selected Cells is not supported. If this is attempted, OnePager only stretches those selected Time Axis Level Cells in the Time Axis Level where you used the mouse to stretch one of the selected Cells. Time Axis Level Cells in other Time Axis Levels are de-selected before the stretch drag and drop operation is started.

More information on the new Non-Linear Time Axis feature, please see the article at: The Non-Linear Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express

The Floating Time Axis Feature

Below is a sample of an inserted Floating Time Axis:

Inserting a Floating Time Axis is done by right-clicking in the Row to access the 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 to place the Top Level Time Axis ABOVE the selected row, the chart looks like this:

Repeating the process for Inserting the 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 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. If you are not sure which Time Axis Level was inserted as a Floating Time Axis, you can always do the following to double-check. Right-click on any Time Axis Level Cell in the Floating Time Axis in question which accesses the context menu. Then click the Chart properties command as shown in the above illustration. When you do this, the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab appears at the Time Axis Level sub-tab belonging to the Floating Time Axis Level you originally right-clicked.

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 properties that can be edited using the Chart Properties form Time Axis tab’s three Level sub-tab property setting controls and using the 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 Row’s 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.

More information on the new Floating Time Axis feature, please see the article at: The Floating Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express

Enhanced Manual Editing of Timespans (Time Axis Level Cells)

By right-clicking on a Time Axis Level Cell it can be edited by using the commands in the context menu as shown here:

Right-click in the text label column of a Floating Time Axis Level to edit the Floating Time Axis Level using the commands in the context menu as shown below:

Right-clicking in a Floating Time Axis Level Cell selects the Cell and accesses the context menu to edit the Cell as shown below:

More information on manual editing of Timespans, please see the article at: Manual Editing the Time Axis for OnePager Express

Other Time Axis Related Capabilities Provide in OnePager Express

In addition to the new features and capabilities discussed above, OnePager Express includes additional capabilities:

1) The Custom Date Format Feature

2) Managing Working Hours and Non-Working Hours

3) Managing Manually Inserted Curtains

4) Creating and Editing Daily Curtains

5) Managing Timespans in the chart

The topics above are new and advanced capabilities added to OnePager Express.

More information on these topics can be found at the links in the table below:

Related Links

Modifying the Time Axis (Portal)

Labeling Time Axis Levels for OnePager Express

Changing the Time Axis Borders for OnePager Express

The Floating Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express

Editing Time Axes with the Chart Properties Form for OnePager Express

Changing the Chart’s Start/Finish Dates for OnePager Express

Managing Hidden Tasks and Milestones Using "Where's My Stuff?!"

Showing and Hiding Time Axis Levels and Cells for OnePager Express

Switching Time Axis Levels for OnePager Express

Managing the Current Template

The Non-Linear Time Axis Feature for OnePager Express

Manual Editing the Time Axis for OnePager Express

The Custom Date Format Feature for OnePager Express

Managing Working Hours and Non-Working Hours for OnePager Express

Creating, Editing, and Managing Time Axis Daily Curtains for OnePager Express

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