Global Edits (Tools Tab)
With the Global Edits command, you can modify multiple records with a single operation.
You can, for example, increase all the durations in a project by 25% or change all the assignments for a specific resource. Global edit operations can modify all the records in a file or selected records based on a filter expression.
You can modify multiple records in the following tables with a single operation:
- Activity
- Code Data
- Project Directory (Main Project)
- Project Summary Usage
- Relationship
- Resource
- Resource Assignment
- Resource Availability
- Resource Cost
- Resource Escalation
- Resource Usage
- Risk Detail
- Subproject
For example, you can increase all the durations in a project by 10% or increase all the costs by 5%. Global edits can modify all the records in a file or selected records based on a filter. Global edits can be created for either standard or custom fields and can be applied to records matching both standard and custom filters.
You can perform global edits only on files that are open in exclusive mode.
An expression defining a global edit can include the following elements:
- Constants
- Calculated fields
- Mathematical operators
- Logical operators
- Duration operators
- Field names
- Functions
- Relational operators
- Character
When you click Global Edits on the Tools tab, Open Plan displays the Global Edits dialog box. This dialog box displays a list of currently available global edits. Since they change all instances of the data, global edits may be applied regardless of whether or not any specific view is open.
Batch Global Edits
A global edit allows you to modify multiple activities or resources with a single operation.
The Batch Global Edits dialog box allows you to create groups of global edits (batches) that can be applied to a file in a single operation. When you click Batch Global Edits on the Tools tab, Open Plan displays the Batch Global Edits dialog box. This dialog box displays a list of currently available definitions.
When a batch is applied, it is first reconciled to verify all referenced global edits exist. If missing global edits are detected, a message is displayed to let you decide if you want to continue to apply the batch or not. If you choose to continue, the batch is applied and the missing global edits are removed from the definition.
Defining Global Edits
You can define a new global edit at any time. You can define global edits for both project and resource files. By default, Open Plan stores the edit expression with the project or resource file that is open when you define the field. When you define a new global edit, Open Plan displays the Global Edit Definition dialog box. The expression for a global edit can use the same set of functions, operators, and field names that you use when creating calculated fields.
The following table shows some simple examples of operations you can perform on the original durations of activities in a project:
| Expression | Result |
|---|---|
| ORIG_DUR-|1d| | Subtract one day from each duration |
| ORIG_DUR*1.25 | Increase durations by 25% |
| SCHED_DUR | Set original durations to scheduled durations |
You can also specify a filter to limit the effect of the operation to a selected group of records.