General Tab of the Classes Tab

This tab displays general information about the selected class.

Contents

Field	Description
Description	This field contains a description of the selected class. Cobra displays this field for all classes. You can modify the class description.
Type	This field describes the type of class. There are four types of classes: Budget Actual Earned Forecast Cobra displays this field for all classes. You cannot modify the class type.
Level	This field describes the level at which costs are entered for the class. There are two levels: Control Account Work Package Cobra displays this field for all classes. You cannot modify this field once the class has been created. It is good practice to enter costs for the forecast and actual class types at the same level at which actual costs are captured for the project. Earned class types can only be defined at the work package level since earned value is taken at the work package level.
Calendar Set	This field displays the calendar set used in spreading the costs associated with the class. You can change the calendar set by clicking and selecting another calendar set on the Calendar Set Lookup dialog box. A calendar set assigned to a budget class must contain at least one flagged period prior to the first period of the project, and at least one flagged period after the latest control account or work package finish date. All periods must have fixed ($) flags. Cobra displays this field only for the forecast and budget classes.
Rate File	Use this field to assign an alternate rate file when calculating costs for the class. Actual and budget classes use the rate file assigned to the project, but if a rate file is specified in this field, the class uses that file instead of the project rate file when calculating costs. You can change the rate file by clicking and selecting another rate file in the Rate File lookup dialog box. The Rate File Lookup dialog box displays only the rate files that the user has permission to access. Cobra displays this field only for forecast, actual, and budget classes. This is a required field for forecast classes.
Forecast Dates	Use this field to specify whether the forecast spread will be based on early, forecast, or late dates. You can choose from the following options: Early Forecast Late Cobra displays this field only for the forecast class.
Forecast Method	Use this field to select the method that will be used to calculate forecasts for the forecast class. You can choose from the following forecast methods: PF=1 PF=1/CPI Cum to date PF=1/CPI for current period PF=1/CPI for last 3 periods PF=1/CPI for last 6 periods PF=User input PF=1/(a*CPI+b*SPI) PF=1/(CPI*SPI) Manual Forecast (Retain ETC) Manual Forecast (Retain EAC) Percent Complete Ranges Frozen Forecast Coded Ranges Cobra displays this field only for the forecast class.
Performance Factor Level	Use this field to specify the level at which calculations of SPI (Schedule Performance Index) and CPI (Cost Performance Index) should be made. Your options are Levels 1 to 20, Control Account, Project, and Work Package. This field is only available if you selected any of the following in the Forecast Method field: PF=1/CPI Cum to date PF=1/CPI for current period PF=1/CPI for last 3 periods PF=1/CPI for last 6 periods PF=User input PF=1/(a*CPI+b*SPI) PF=1/(CPI*SPI) Percent Complete Ranges Cobra displays this field only for the Forecast class. Note: This field displays if you select a statistical forecast method in the Forecast Method field or Coded Ranges in the Forecast Method field and one of the rows in the Coded Ranges grid is mapped to a statistical forecast method.
Obtain Budget From	Use this field to specify the source of the budget. Your options are: Management Reserve Undistributed Budget Over Target Baseline Cobra displays this field only for the Budget class. This is a required field if the Budget class is included in totals.
Budget Dates	Use this field to specify alternative budget dates for the project. Your options are: Baseline Pending Cobra only displays this field for the budget class and if the Include in Budget option is not selected. This field defaults to Baseline unless you specify pending dates on the Class Settings page of the New Class Wizard.
Prevent Editing Time Phased Grid	Select this checkbox to prevent users from making changes to the selected class in the Time-phase Detail pane of the Project view.
Include in Totals	This checkbox indicates if the selected class is included in the project’s actual, budget, forecast, or earned totals. You cannot change the setting of this field for the actual and budget classes after the class has been created. The setting for earned classes is determined by the classes included in the earned cost reporting set. The setting for forecast classes is determined by the classes included in the EAC cost reporting set.
Suppress Calculation of Source Results	Select this checkbox to instruct Cobra not to recalculate source results when a derived result is changed on budget and forecast classes. For example, if this checkbox is selected, Cobra will not recalculate Hours if FTE is updated. By default, this checkbox is not selected; Cobra calculates all source and derived results.
Coded Ranges	This pane, where you can map a code or progress technique to an existing forecast method, is displayed when you select Coded Ranges in the Forecast Method field. Code Field: Use this field to select a code to which you want to map an existing forecast method. This field only displays saved control account or work package codes. Your options are: Control Account Codes Work Package Codes Progress Technique Your selection in this field are based on the value specified in the Level field. If the Level field is set to Control Account, this field displays the control account codes defined in the project. If the Level field is set to Work Package, this field displays the work package codes defined in the project and the list of progress techniques. Coded Ranges grid: Use this grid to select a code and assign a forecast method to it. Code Value: Use this column to assign a value to the selected code. You can define up to three values for the selected code. Forecast Method: Use this column to assign a forecast method to the code value or other. Your options are: Manual Forecast (Retain EAC) Manual Forecast (Retain ETC) PF=1 PF=1/(a*CPI+b*SPI) PF=1/(CPI*SPI) PF=1/CPI Cum to date PF=1/CPI Cum to date PF=1/CPI for current period PF=1/CPI for last 3 periods PF=1/CPI for last 6 periods You must also assign a forecast method to the Other row. Code values that are not mapped will use this forecast method.
Defined Relative Weighing	These fields only displays if you select Weighted Indexes in the Forecast Method field or Coded Ranges in the Forecast Method field and one of the rows in the Coded Ranges grid is mapped to weighted Indexes. You must enter the values for the a and b parameters in the PF=1/(a*CPI+b*SPI) method. By specifying the a and b factors, you can define a performance factor that reflects the cumulative CPI/SPI, where the relative weights of CPI and SPI are user defined. The combined relative weights of both fields must be equal to 1.