Use this tab to identify the workflow as one that supports making changes to cost and/or schedule data. When the workflow is used to submit a Budget Change Request or update a forecast, the changed data is entered into the Change Details view. The options on this tab control how the costs for the change are stored and provide control over what data can be added or changed in the Change Details view.
All options are disabled if the Include Change Details on Form option is not selected.
Select this option to add the Change Details button to a workflow form. It allows you to view and enter changes to schedule and cost data. This option is only enabled if the workflow category is Change Management.
Each change management workflow type allows you to identify which class will store the costs associated with a change and how the change should be added to the live project upon completion of the workflow.
Changes to cost data are stored in the Change Class in the sandbox project. There are several settings that are stored in a class including the correct rate file to be used for calculating the derived costs, the level where the costs are stored, if the class is a budget or forecast class, and so on. When you create a change request, a temporary project (called the sandbox) is created to store the change.
When the sandbox project is created, the change class in the template project is added to the sandbox, if it does not already exist. The rate file defined on the change class is used to calculate the costs. If your projects do not share the same resource file and you intend to use the BCR Analysis report, you may need to create different workflow types for each resource file. The report uses the resource file to roll up costs to the element of cost level. If a resource in the snapshot is missing from the resource file, the report will display the template tags instead of the cost element.
The template project is used to create the change class and identify the resource file and calendar for the BCR Analysis report. When you create a change request, the change class defined in the template project is used to determine settings such as the class type (budget or forecast) and the rate file used for the change. If you want to use the rate file selected for the project on the change request, leave the rate file in the change class blank. If you want the change to use a different rate file, select that rate file on the change class in the template project.
The change class must be an unapproved class. In Cobra, an unapproved class is one that does not have the Include in Budget or Include in EAC option selected. The change class cannot use Pending Dates.
Click 
to display the Project
Search Dialog Box to select from the lists of template projects. The
selected template project does not need to be visible in PM Compass, and
only the person editing the workflow type in workflow type configuration
needs access to this project.
The change class is added to the sandbox project and stores the change. The change class attributes such as the level (control account or work package), rate file, class name, and so on are retained when the class is added to the sandbox and is used when entering costs in the Change Details view and during integration.
These options indicate whether the changes will be loaded into the cost system as an additive amount or a replacement of existing costs.
Select this option to indicate that your change is additive. You are adding new data that will be stored in the change class and added to the existing budget or forecast. This option is useful for budget change requests because you can easily identify what has changed and the changed resources can use a different set of rates. When the workflow is complete, the change request is added to the existing time-phased data in the live project.
When you select this option, you will be unable to edit existing resource assignments on the work package or on the activity. To delete a resource assignment, or reduce hours, you must insert a new line and enter a negative value to indicate a change. To increase hours, you must insert a new line and enter a positive value to indicate a change. Upon final approval of the change request, the change amount is added to the final budget.
During the complete step, the data in the change class is added to the existing resource assignments in Cobra and Open Plan.
Selecting this option indicates that the data being entered into PM Compass will become the new budget or forecast. On approval, the existing data in the source project will be deleted and replaced with the data from the change request.
When the workflow is complete, the existing time-phased data in the live project is replaced with the change class. Thus, you should not use this option if you want the changed amount to use a different rate than the original class. The budget or forecast for the entire work package on the workflow will be replaced with the change class in the workflow. In other words, the work package will have the new rates.
If you create two workflows on the same work package at the same time, when you complete the second workflow, it will overwrite the first change request as well as the schedule project baseline with the changes on the second workflow. One solution for long approvals is to reject the unapproved workflow back to the scheduler step after the other workflow is complete. Performing the modeling session again incorporates the changes of the completed workflow.
Initialize Work Package Cost Data with a Copy of Class: Existing work package resource assignments with the specified class are copied to the change class in the sandbox project at the work package level. If you do not have resource assignments on activities below the work package, you will be able to edit the change class costs on the work package. If you do have resource assignments on the activities below the work package, you must edit the resource assignments at the activity level. Resources on an activity are not initialized. You simply edit the existing resource assignments.
The selected class must be in the cost set selected on the Cost Details on Form tab. In addition, the Budget Details grid on the change request form is easier to understand if you select the same class for both Initialize Work Package Cost Data with a Copy of Class and When Workflow is Complete, Move to Class.
This option is useful for updating an existing forecast at the work package level because the forecast is usually all calculated using the same rates.
If this option is selected for a forecast class change, the data in the Time Phased columns on the Change Details Costs tab will include actual costs.
When the workflow is completed, the change class is added to the live project into the selected class. If the class does not already exist in the live project, it will be added automatically.
When you select the Create, Edit, or Delete Activities option,
Cobra’s Integration Wizard uses a saved configuration file to load data
from the Open Plan schedule into Cobra after a modeling session and during
the complete step. Click to display the Configuration
Search Dialog Box and select a Cobra schedule integration configuration
file. The dialog displays configurations created using Cobra’s Integration
Wizard and is filtered to display project data configurations for which
you have view access rights.
If you have projects that use a different number of fields to identify the control account or have the control account stored in different fields on the schedule project, you need to create different workflow types with the corresponding integration configuration. To help reduce confusion, use the Access Control tab in Workflow Type Configuration to provide access only to groups whose projects have the same (correct) configuration. This will reduce the likelihood of a user selecting the wrong change request type.
Use this field to select the classes that should remain within the work package dates when the change request moves the work package dates. Under most circumstances, this will be all budget classes when the change class is a budget class and all forecast classes when the change class is a forecast class.
If you configure the change request type change class as A New or Change Amount, then you must select the same class in this respread field as is displayed in the Add the Change to Class field. If the same class is not selected, the existing data will not move within the new work package dates that result from the change request.
If you configure the change request type change class as A Replacement of Existing Time Phased Data, the class being changed should not be respread since the entire class will be removed and replaced with the change amount.
For both change class types, if you have other budget/forecast classes and want that data moved within the new work package dates, you need to select those classes to be respread.
If you have other classes, such as original budget or funding, whose time-phased data can remain outside the work package dates, you do not need to select those classes. These types of classes are typically marked as Prevent editing from Time Phased Grid in Cobra.
Click 
to select a class. To select more than one class, select the first class,
hold down CTRL, and select
the other classes. If you select multiple classes, the field displays
<Multiple Classes Selected>. Click
to view the selected classes.
The list of available classes is filtered to the classes that use the same date sets as the change class. For example, the respread lookup for a budget change class will list budget classes except for budget classes that use pending date sets.
Use this option to define the default setting for the PMC Include in Baseline field in Open Plan during a modeling session. If you select this option and the activity change caused an activity date change (for example, adding a target date, or changing a duration), the baseline dates of the activity and all associated activities linked to a work package are updated. During the Modeling session, you will see a Yes or Y in the PMC Update Baseline Dates field in Open Plan for the changed activity. When the workflow is approved (or submitted for review), PM Compass will automatically update the baseline dates for all activities linked to the same work package.
Use this option to set the default for the Significant Change field on the Advanced tab for the selected change request type. When the class is a budget class, changes flagged as significant are broken out and shown as individual entries on the IPMR CPR Format 3 report while non-significant changes are grouped together and displayed as Others. This option is cleared by default.
The Change Number Prefix is a three-character acronym used to identify change request. The default prefix for a Budget Change Request is BCR. The default prefix for a Forecast Change Request is FCR. This prefix is used in conjunction with the auto-generated number used to create the system-generated change number.
The system-generated change number is a 10-character number that cannot be edited in the form designer. The change number is used to name the cost sandbox project and the schedule baseline.
If your Cobra project is validates the change number with a code file, the display change number is placed on top of the system-generated change number on the General tab of the change request form. Use the Form Designer to change the display change number on the change request form. There are two different controls that link to the same field: txtDisplayChangeNumber and txtluDisplayChangeNumber. These fields are placed directly on top of each other in the Form designer. If the project selected on the form validates the change number with a code file, the text field becomes hidden and the lookup field is displayed. This control allows you to select a code from a code file to use as the change number. .
Select the options to display the Change Details view.
Field |
Description |
Create or Delete Work Packages |
Select this option to allow creating and deleting of work packages in the Change Details view. If your workflow type is importing from a file to load a forecast, make sure you also select the Cobra integration option Create Work Packages that do not exist when loading forecast (located on the Change Control page of the Integration Wizard. Selecting this option in the configuration file will override the workflow type configuration option. |
Select this option when you have an Open Plan schedule associated with your Cobra project and you want to allow creating, editing, and deleting activities in the Change Details view or during a modeling session.
For information on how to change the workflow when you clear this option, see "Create a Workflow Type for Cobra-Only Changes". |
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If the change class is a forecast class and the workflow type indicates you cannot Create, Edit, or Delete Activities, you have the option to allow editing of the work package dates. To keep cost and schedule in sync when you create a Forecast Change Request, the default is to not let you change the work package dates. However, if you select this option, you can change the work package dates when a work package is linked to activities in the Change Details view. If the work package is linked to one or more activities:
If the work package is not linked to an activity, the dates may be edited, regardless of whether or not this option is selected. This option does not affect the editing rules based on the status. For example, if the work package is In Approval or not assigned to you, you will not be able to edit the forecast start date. This option is cleared and disabled if the Create, Edit, or Delete Activities option (above) is selected. |
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Select a project-based, saved, or shared Cobra report to use as the .xls report format when you export sandbox project data from the Change Details view by clicking Export on the toolbar. The Cobra report template must be in a location that PM Compass can access. For information about how to set the report location, see "Report Template Error".For more information about configuring the export report that you need to use, see "Step 2: Configure the Cobra Export Report in Cobra". |
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Select the import file configuration to use when importing the data back into PM Compass. This file must contain the same fields as in the configuration. For example:
For more information about how this file should be configured, see "Step 3: Configure an Import File Integration Configuration in Cobra". |
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When you select this option, the assignee on the next step of the workflow can edit the data on the workflow form and in the Change Details view. The benefit of doing this is that you can condense the time it takes to approve a workflow by having multiple people edit it at the same time. For more information, see Next Step Assignee Can Edit Current Step. |
Select this option to update the forecast by the amount of the budget change. If the workflow type is configured with a change class of a New or Change Amount, the change amount is added to the forecast. If the workflow type is configured with replacement of existing time-phased data, the existing forecast is removed and replaced with the budget amount.
If the work package is linked to an activity in the schedule, the budget change amount is spread across the forecast dates and loaded into the cost system using Cobra's Integration Wizard. When you select this option, the remaining quantity is updated on the resource assignments in Open Plan.
The forecast is only updated on the final step of the workflow when the change is completed; therefore, the forecast that will be applied is not visible in the Change Details view.
This field is enabled when you select a budget change class and the Create, Edit, or Delete Activities option.
Forecast Class:
This is a required field if you select the Update
the Forecast with the Budget Change option. Click
to display the Class Search Dialog
Box and select the forecast class to be updated. The dialog box is
filtered to display the forecast type classes for which you have view
access rights.
When using this option, the Cobra's Integrated Wizard configuration file settings should use the exception settings. On the Resource Assignments page in the Forecast group box, select:
Add to existing forecast: If the workflow type is configured to use A New or Change Amount
Replace existing forecast: If the workflow type is configured to use A Replacement of Existing Timephased Data
Select the Open Plan Forecast Baseline options to be modified when the Change Baseline is created or updated.
On the Schedule Integration tab of the Projects Form view, you have the option to select a forecast baseline to display time-phased forecast data in Open Plan. If the forecast baseline is not selected for the for the project selected on the workflow form, the Forecast Baseline options are ignored.
Field |
Description |
Ignore Progress |
When selected, this option ignores any actual start dates and progress values (for example, percent complete, elapsed duration) for activities and creates baseline dates by analyzing from the project start date. If this option is not selected, the analysis dates for the baseline are based on the current project date and status. |
Use Remaining Quantity |
When selected, this option creates baseline activity resource usage values from the remaining resource requirement on the resource assignment for planned activities. If this option is not selected, the baseline resource usage values for planned activity resource assignments are generated from the original quantity on the assignment. |
Add Multiple Control Accounts to a Change Request
Create a Budget Change Request
Create a Forecast Change Request
Create a Contract Change Request
Update the Forecast with the Budget Change
Select a schedule integration configuration