Deltek Open Plan Help

Using the Help Search
Using the Help Search
  • Phrase:Returns all topics that contain the exact phrase in the search criteria. Use quotation marks around the phrase.
    Ex."system administration"
  • And:Returns all topics that contain all the words in the search criteria, in any combination. Insert a plus sign between all words in the search criteria.
    Ex.system + administration
  • Or:Returns all topics with any combination of words in the search criteria. This is the default.
    Ex.system administration
For more information:Searching Online Help

Calculated Fields Overview

The data fields displayed in an Open Plan view are typically one of three types:

  • Normal data entry fields: For example, an activity ID or description that can be updated by the user at any time.
  • Fields generated by Open Plan processes: For example, the Early Start and Early Finish dates calculated by Time Analysis.
  • Calculated fields defined by the user

User defined calculated fields allow you to calculate data not stored in the standard versions of the project database tables. With this powerful reporting feature, you can extend the flexibility of any view by displaying data that is a result of a custom calculation.

After you have defined a calculated field, you can choose that field as a column in a spreadsheet view or display it in an activity box just as you can with any standard field. You can also include calculated fields in custom filter and sort expressions.

In addition to being able to name and save these calculated fields, Open Plans allows you to create and use temporary calculated fields in the following circumstances:

  • Export scripts (as a filter)
  • Spreadsheet Add Column dialog box
  • Spreadsheet Insert Column dialog box
  • Spreadsheet Edit Column dialog box
  • Multi-table link grids
  • When defining the box layouts for the network and hierarchy views
  • When defining box attributes for the network view (as a filter)
  • OLE automation

Open Plan does not allow you to delete a permanent calculated field upon which another calculated field, sort, filter, or global edit expression depends, even if the dependent is a temporary item. Temporary items remain in memory while the project is open. For this reason, even if you remove the temporary item from the current view, a permanent calculated field referring to that temporary item cannot be deleted until the project has been closed and re-opened.

Open Plan does not store the results of calculated fields in the project database. Only the definition of the calculation is saved; the results are re-calculated each time the field is required for display. Therefore, third-party applications that query the database cannot access the results of calculated fields.