Spreadsheet View Overview
Spreadsheet views display information for multiple records in a tabular format.
When you select a cell, the data is displayed in an edit box above the table. This makes these views well-suited for reports designed to show detail information at a relatively low level. Since they are fully interactive, spreadsheet views are also useful for data entry purposes, particularly in cases where large numbers of records are involved.
Open Plan comes with two types of spreadsheets, each of which is identified with a special icon:
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
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Single-table Spreadsheets
Open Plan uses a single-table spreadsheet to display information about activities. The spreadsheet can be based on any table. For example, to view resource assignments, you would base the spreadsheet on the resource table. You can also set up groups or use outlining to display the appropriate level of information. |
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Multi-table Spreadsheets
Open Plan provides standard versions of multi-table spreadsheet views that can display information stored in different data tables. |
You can navigate around a spreadsheet using either a mouse or keyboard shortcuts.
You can enter both activity and relationship information using standard Open Plan spreadsheet views. Spreadsheet views are particularly useful in cases where you want to display information for many activities at the same time.
You can customize all spreadsheets by adding columns, deleting columns, and changing the width of any column. You can also set up groups with summaries and totals, or use outlining to display the appropriate level of information.
You can also specify conditional format overrides by right-clicking a spreadsheet view and selecting Conditional Formatting.
You can copy data directly from Open Plan to other applications such as Excel by copying the row, cell, or range and pasting it into the target application. You can also use a Fill Column Down command to replicate data from the top of one or more columns down through a selected range.
By default, you can select the data in a spreadsheet by clicking or control-clicking one or more column headings. You can also select multiple adjacent rows or columns by holding down the Shift key as you make your selections. And, by using the Ctrl key, you can select non-adjacent rows or columns.
By right-clicking a column heading, you can select the Click to Sort option on the shortcut menu. With this option selected, you can sort the data in the spreadsheet based on the selected column by clicking its heading.
In addition, you can split the spreadsheet into two panes. Each pane features a horizontal scroll bar allowing you to adjust the amount of data displayed in each pane.
You can display the column header field name when you hover your mouse over the column header. This is particularly useful when you want to view newly inserted columns into a view.
Activity Spreadsheet Views
You can enter, display, and edit any activity-related information in an activity spreadsheet view, including information stored in user-defined fields.
You can create, edit, delete, copy and paste activity steps into a Spreadsheet View of a project provided that the required key fields (such as Activity ID and Name) exist. Moreover, the displayed details in the Spreadsheet View and in the grid on the Steps tab of both the Activity Details and Activity Progress dialog boxes are in sync with one another other.
- When you select an activity in the spreadsheet, the steps associated with that activity display in the grid. Selecting another activity in the spreadsheet updates the displayed steps in the grid accordingly.
- When you update an activity step in the spreadsheet, the displayed data in the grid also updates, and vice versa. For example, adding a step in the spreadsheet also adds the step in the grid or updating the % Complete value and applying the change in the grid also updates its corresponding column in the spreadsheet.
Relationship Spreadsheet Views
For displaying relationship information, Open Plan supplies two types of spreadsheet views:
- Relationship spreadsheets
- Predecessor/successor spreadsheets
Relationship spreadsheet views resemble activity spreadsheet views but display information about each activity relationship on a single row.
Predecessor/successor spreadsheets display multiple relationships for each activity using an outlining format. In this view, Open Plan displays a plus sign (+) or a minus sign (-) on the outlining button to the left of the row to control the display of relationship information. If the outlining button displays a plus sign, you can expand the activity to see its relationships. If the outlining button displays a minus sign, the activity is already expanded — clicking the outlining button will collapse the display of relationships. If the outlining button is blank, the activity does not have any relationships.
Although you can use either a relationship spreadsheet or a predecessor/successor spreadsheet view to display information about activity relationships, Open Plan does not allow you to change relationship information in a predecessor/successor spreadsheet. You must use a relationship spreadsheet to add or update relationship information. The same keyboard shortcuts available in activity spreadsheets are available in relationship spreadsheets as well.
Progress Spreadsheet View
To facilitate the entry of progress information for multiple activities, Open Plan provides a standard progress spreadsheet view that you can use to enter any progress information. When entering progress information using this view, note that the setting of the Progress Type field determines how Open Plan interprets the Progress Value field. For example, if you entered Percent Complete for the Progress Type field, Open Plan interprets the Progress Value field as a percentage. You cannot modify the Accomplished Duration and Remaining Duration fields as they are calculated by Open Plan.
Conditional Formatting
Use the Conditional Formatting Dialog Box dialog box to override default settings by specifying the conditions under which the attributes of rows or an individual column or row will change. For example, you may want key figures that exceed a particular criterion to appear in bold red text, show a symbol, or display in a different background color.