Select Resource Dialog Box
The Select Resource dialog box features controls that allow you to select a resource to assign to the activity.
The availability levels shown in this dialog box do not include any resource availability reserved for another project. When an activity belongs to an external subproject, the availability shown includes:
- The availability reserved for that subproject
- The availability for any higher-level external subprojects to which it belongs
- The availability of the main project.
Once you have chosen the filter(s) to use for the resource display, click Apply to put them into effect. Clicking Clear removes all the filter choices you made.
Open Plan also displays the Early Start and Early Finish dates of the activity. This information is useful in the event that no suitable resource is available during the specified date range.
For example, assume that the early dates for the activity are as follows:
Early Start: 02Feb02
Early Finish: 15Feb02
Assume, too, that a resource with the required skills is not available until February 23. Under these circumstances, you might want to change either the skills required for the activity or the logic of the project so that the early start date for the activity coincides with the dates when the resource is available.
Resizing
In addition to using the grabber pad in the bottom right corner to resize the dialog box, you can also resize the Skill Filter and Code Filter boxes. When you hover your cursor above "Resource Category Filter," your cursor changes to a slider bar. Click and hold your mouse button and drag left or right to resize the boxes.
Resources
This area displays a hierarchical representation of the resources in the currently assigned resource file. The resources that are displayed here change as you apply or remove a filter.
Resources that have had skills assigned to them can display in this list followed by two numbers in parentheses. For example, a resource appearing as "Bob Johnson (10) (3)" indicates that Bob Johnson has an availability of 10 units (days, hours, or whatever unit is defined on the Preferences tab of the Project Properties dialog box). It further indicates that this resource has a proficiency rating of "3." Proficiencies are assigned to resources on the Skills tab of the Resource Details dialog box.
In general, resource availabilities that are reserved for another project are not displayed in this field. However, when an activity is part of an external subproject, Open Plan includes resources that have been reserved for the following elements of the hierarchical project:
- The subproject to which the activity belongs
- Any higher-level external subprojects
- The master project