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PROJECT MANAGER SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION ==============>> (Press ESCape to return to the Main Menu) <<=============== Thank you for using the Project Manager System !! If you have questions, need help or would like to make suggestions about the Project Manager System please contact: Ron Byxbe & Associates P. O. Box 1844 Dublin, Georgia 31040 (912) 272-1714 (9am - 4pm, EST) ============================================================================ 1. General System Concepts 2. Definitions / Glossary 3. What Happens On Each Screen 4. DOS Information & Usage 5. Problems & Solutions 6. Registration & Upgrade -------------------------------------------------------- *NOTE* *NOTE* *NOTE* *NOTE* *NOTE* *NOTE* *NOTE* If you want to print this documentation, just choose Print Documentation from the Documentation/Product Information menu. If you want to modify the documentation, use any editor or word processor to change the README.PM file on the Project Manager sub-directory. (Be sure to leave the file as an ASCII text file!) ******************************************************** 1. General System Concepts The Project Manager system (PM) is designed to help you keep track of a project's progress and costs. Within the Project Manager, a project is divided up into PHASES. A phase of a project is a gross grouping of the more descrete Project Steps that will be individually accounted for during the life of the project. For Example, if you were setting up a new business, some "Phases" might be Incorporation, Production, Distribution, and Marketing. A Phase is then divided up into PROJECT STEPS. So, the Incorporation phase might be made up of Project Steps like "Organize Board of Directors", "Register with State", "Establish Accounting", etc. At the beginning of the project, each Project Step is assigned a dollar budget and a completion date. "Review the Project" will show you a list of all Project Steps, and allow you to add new ones, and change the information about the existing ones. Progress on a Project Step is recorded as a series of ACTIVITIES. Each Activity includes a time and a cost. So, the Project Step "Establish Accounting" might involve meeting with accountants, review accounting software, hire personnel, establish bill paying procedures, etc... Each of these Activities that contributes to the completion of the "Establish Accounting" Project Step is recorded at the time it occurs. Who did it, how much time it took, and what that time cost is recorded as part of that Project Step. "Review a Project Step" will show you a summary of the Activities and expenses for that step, as well as allow you to enter new Activities and modify existing ones. When a Project Step is completed, it is marked FINISHED, and the date of the last ACTIVITY is considered to be the Project Step completion date. Reports of various kinds help you keep track of the current progress of the overall project and each Project Step. See details about available reports in section 3 below. ******************************************************** 2. Definitions / Glossary Activity - Anything done in the process of completing a Project Step. Usually, Activities involve an expense of time and/or money. Usually, Activities occur on a specific date, and are done by someone (the SOURCE - see Source description below). <> Each Activity also has a MEMO field so the person This <> entering the Activity can leave behind a "note" about Feature <> the charge. When a Project Step is being reviewed, Not <> any Activities that have active Memo's are displayed Available <> in a different color. The general intention is Yet ! <> that eventually a supervisor will read and clear <> the memo. NOTE: Currently, the "Memo" command from the Activity window will allow you to view and modify the Project Memo. Budget - Amount of money allocated to a Project Step. (see CHARGE) Charge - The cost of an Activity. It is calculated by multiplying the number of Hours times the Rate. It is then subtracted from the Budget to determine the remaining allocation. Changes - Any information can be changed at any time during the life of a project. Finished Project Steps can be re-activated. Budget allocations can be modified. Activity Charges can be recalculated. You have complete control over all information maintained by the Project Manager. (see DELETIONS) Completion - Date the Project Step is scheduled to be completed. Deletions - Any information can be deleted at any time, with one exception (see Posting below). Note that if you delete a Project Step, all it's associated Activities will also be automatically deleted. Hours - Amount of time required to complete an Activity. Hours are multiplied by Rate to calculate the Charge for each Activity in a Project Step. NOTE: If the Activity is a fixed price purchase, enter a value of 1.0. Finished - Flag that indicates whether or not a Project Step has been completed. The date of the last Activity is considered to be the Actual Project Step Completion Date. When reviewing the Project Steps, "Finished" Project Steps are shown in "Light Red" on Blue. LineItem - This is an index given to each Project Step so they may be kept in some logical order. Any string of up to 7 characters can be used. Standard numeric notation (1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, etc.) can be used successfully as long as the levels do not require 2 digit numbers. (For example, the Project Step 1.10 will be indexed between Steps 1.1 and 1.2, not after Step 1.9.) An alphabetical notation (A.a, A.b, B.a, B.b, etc.) will give more flexibality, as will a mixed notation (1.a, 1.b, 2.a, 2.b, etc.) NOTE: It is not necessary to use any of the above notations. Any 7 characters may be used that result in the desired Project Step ordering. If nothing is entered in this field, then the records will be maintained in the order that they were entered ("Natural" order). Memos - There are 2 places in the system where "Memos" can be used - at the Project Step level, and the Activity level. Project Step Memos are meant to be information about the project step - perhaps an algorithm description that needs to be coded, or a list of equipment that must be purchased, etc. They are setup at the time the Project Step description is created, and perhaps updated as the Project Step development progresses. When reviewing the Project Steps, Project Steps that have Memo fields are shown in "Light Green" on Blue. Also, when editing a Project Step, if the Project Step Memo field contains the word MEMO (in all caps) that means there is an active Memo field. <> Activity Memos are meant to be short term communica- <> tions between personnel working on a Project Step. <> For example, when someone logs some Activity, and <> wishes to let their Supervisor know that something <> still needs to be done, or there was some problem, This <> they would create a Memo for that Activity. Since Feature <> Memos are shown in a different color, the Supervisor Not <> can easily see that there is something that requires Available <> their attention when viewing the Project Step's Yet ! <> Activities. After the Memo has been dealt with, <> it should be cleared so that it doesn't continue <> to appear to be in need of action. (This is not <> necessary however. A Memo can survive for the life <> of the Project without causing any problem other <> than taking up disk space.) NOTE: Currently, the "Memo" command from the Activity window will allow you to view and modify the Project Memo. Phase - When entering or editing a Project Step, the term "PHASE" is a general term for that portion of the project that includes the specific Project Step being entered. For example, if a project had three general areas (Setup, Distribution, Collections) and each area had some number of Project Steps, (Hire Personnel, Organize Office Space, etc...), then the data might be entered as follows: PHASE: 2. Distribution LINEITEM: 2.A DESCRIPTION: Hire Personnel PHASE: 2. Distribution LINEITEM: 2.B DESCRIPTION: Organize Office Space If you include a value in the PHASE that is related to the LINEITEM (ie - "2." in the above example), you can control the order that PHASEs will be reported. Some reports (like the BUDGET report) are "sorted" alphabetically on PHASE, so adding some leading value will ensure the desired order of the output. Posting - As you enter Activities for a Project Step, they are kept in a temporary area. As long as you have not changed screens, any of the Activities you enter may be modified or deleted. Once you "leave" the Activities area, the newly added Activities are "Posted" and become part of the permanent Project Step record. Subsequently, you can alter the Activity's information, (so it's net charge is 0), but you cannot delete the Activity. If you delete an entire Project Step, all of it's associated Activities will also be deleted. That is the only way to delete a "Posted" Activity. Project - The overall "Project" is some task that has been broken down into more discrete "Project Steps". Typically, Project Steps are organized in some logical order that leads to the completion of the Project, but this is not always the case. All information about a single project is maintained together in the PM files in a one DOS directory. Separate projects are NOT mixed together in the same set of files. Project Step - An area or unit of work that must be completed in order to finish the project. Project Steps have Supervisors, Budgets and Completion Dates, and either are or are not Finished. A Project Step also has a Memo area, so descriptions can be created regarding the various aspects of the Project Step. For example: Project Step Date Field Sample Data --------------- ------------------------------- Phase Advertising Line Item 3.b Description Prepare Media Cost Report Supervisor Fred Smith Starting Budget $1500.00 Completion Date 03/24/90 Finished No Memo Contact all local newspapers Contact National Mags on list Get their Media Kits Prepare summary for Exec Review Include cost per 1000 figures and target audience coverage When you choose "Review The Project" from the Main Menu, you will be presented with a list of all the currently defined Project Steps. From this list, you can modify existing Steps, add new ones, or "Review" a Step. Reviewing a Project Step shows you the Activities that have been completed and allows you to log new Activity. Project Title- When the Project Manager is first run from a directory, the user will be asked for a Project Title. This title is then used on subsequent screens and reports to identify the project currently being viewed/reported. If you decide to change the title that you initially entered, simply delete the DOS file named PMTITLE.$$$, and the next time you run the system, you will be asked to enter a new Project Title. Rate - Hourly charge for an Activity. The Rate is multiplied by the Hours to determine the Charge for each Activity in a Project Step. Source - The source of the charge of the current Activity. In the case of personnel charges, the person who incurred the charge. The Source Activity report will summarize all Activities logged for each SOURCE, so if you stick to the Source = Personnel convention, this will be a handy way to review all the Activity for each person working on the project. Supervisor - Person responsible for completing the Project Step. ******************************************************** 3. What Happens On Each Screen. a. Main Menu Screen The Main Menu Screen allows you to choose one of the following 5 options: 1. Review The Project You will be presented with a list of all the Project Steps that have been defined for the entire project, and allowed to modify the list. (See details below.) 2. Review A Project Step You will be asked to choose a specific Project Step, and then be presented a list of all the Activities that have been entered for that Project Step, and allowed to modify the list. (See details below.) If this is a new Project Step, you will be asked to enter the Starting Budget. 3. Generate Reports You will be shown the "Reports Menu" and asked to select which report you wish to generate. You will be given the option of viewing the report on the screen, sending it to a file or to the printer. (See details below.) 4. Documentation / Product Information You will be shown the "Documentation Menu" and asked to select what information you want. The View Documentation selection will show you this information on the screen. When finished viewing the Documentation, press ESCape to return to the Main Menu. b. Review The Project The screen will display the list of Project Steps that have been defined. The 'H' key or the '?' key can be used to get brief information about each command. The top area of the screen displays the "Phase" of each Project Step as you move the cursor through the list of Steps. Project Steps may be displayed in any of three colors, as follows: When first entered, Steps are shown White on Blue. Project Steps with an active MEMO field are shown Light Green on Blue. Project Steps that are marked FINISHED are shown Light Red on Blue. The following commands are recognized: Add - Create a new Project Step record. Clear - Delete the Memo field associated with the currently highlighted Project Step. Once "Cleared", a Memo must be re-entered to be restored - there is no "Unclearing" option. Delete - Mark the currently highlighted Project Step for later deletion by the Pack command. To UN-delete a Project Step, simply "Delete" it again. Edit - Modify the currently highlighted Project Step. Help - Display a screen of command descriptions. Memo - Create/Modify the Memo for the currently highlighted Project Step. Pack - Remove all Project Steps that were marked for marked for deletion with the "Delete" command. NOTE: All related Activities will also be deleted. Quit - Return to the Main Menu. Review - Review the Activities associated with the currently highlighted Project Step. This is the same as: Returning to the Main Menu Selecting "Review A Project Step" Selecting the current Project Step It is just a quicker way to begin the Project Step review process. NOTE: If you use this method to begin the Project Step Review process, you will be returned to this display when you are finished reviewing the project step, so you can select another step. c. Review A Project Step After choosing a Project Step you wish to review, the screen will display the list of Activities that have been recorded for that Project Step. The 'H' key or the '?' key can be used to get brief information about each command. After you are finished entering Activities, and leave this screen, the new Activities are considered to by "Posted", and cannot be deleted. They can be changed, but not deleted, unless you delete the entire Project Step. The following commands are recognized: Add - Add a new Activity entry. Delete - Delete the highlighted Activity. Once an Activity has been "Posted", it cannot be deleted. It can be altered so that it's net charge is 0, but it cannot be removed. The only way to Delete an Activity is to do so prior to "Posting", or to delete the entire Project Step. NOTE: Unlike with Project Steps, this command actually Deletes the Activity ... it does NOT simply mark the Activity for deletion. Once an Activity is deleted, it is gone, and must be re-entered if deleted by mistake. Edit - Modify the currently highlighted Activity. Help - Display a screen of command descriptions. Memo - Create/Modify the Memo for the current Project. Memo fields for specific Activities are not implemented yet. Print - Print the Project Step's Activities. Before printing, you will be given the opportunity to select a range of dates. All Activities on or between those two dates will be printed. Quit - Return to the Main Menu, or, if you began the Review A Project Step process from the Review The Project display, you will be returned to that display. d. Generate Reports You will be presented with a menu listing the various reports available. The following reports can be generated from the data maintained by the Project Manager System: All reports will allow you to choose a "Destination" for the report. You may "send" the report to the Printer, to any file of your choice, or to the screen. Reports that go to a file will (currently) write over that file. You will be asked if you are sure you want to destroy the contents of an existing file if you specify a file that is found on the current directory. Overall Project Report - A report of Activities on each Project Step. You will be asked to select a range of dates for the Activities to be included in the report. You will also be asked to tag a list of Project Steps to be reported. Source Activity Report - A report of all Activities for each SOURCE. You will be asked to specify a range of dates to limit the Activities included in the report. You will also be asked to tag a list of "Sources" to be reported. This report is a handy way to summarize the work of each person during a given time period, if a "Source" is a person working on the Project Step. Budget Report - A report summarizing the expenditures and budget status on all Project Steps. The Project Steps are sorted and grouped by Project Phase. There is an Over-Budget/Under-Budget summary at the end of the Project Step summary. Completion Report - A report summarizing the "Finished" status, completion dates and last Activity on all Project Steps (sorted and grouped by Project Phase). Activity History Report - A report of all Activities that have occurred since the last Activity History Report was printed. This is a quick way to review all recent activity on all Project Steps in a project. If you choose to view this report on the Screen, you will be given the option of maintaining the "Unreported" status of the Activities, so that you can also print the report if desired. e. Documentation / Product Information You will be presented with a menu allowing you to select what information you would like to see. View the Documentation - You will see this information on the screen. When you are finished viewing the Documentation, press ESCape to return to the Main Menu. Print the Documentation - This documentation will be sent to your printer. Print the Registration - The Project Manager registration form will be sent to your printer. Topaz Information - You will see information about Software Science's Turbo Pascal programmer's toolkit, Topaz. Saywhat?! Information - You will see information about Software Science's screen generation and display program, Saywhat?! ******************************************************** 4. Dos Information & Usage. The Project Manager is designed to reside in it's own Directory on your Hard Disk. It doesn't matter what the name of the directory is, as long as it is on the current DOS Path - but it MUST BE ON THE CURRENT PATH so that the executing program can locate its screen library and report formats from another directory. The system is accessed with the command: PM When you begin the system, you should be in the sub directory that contains the working files for whatever project you are managing. PM will work on whatever files are in the current directory when you start the program. If there are no files present, PM will create empty files so you can start working on a new project. It is important to remember that each project has it's own set of files maintained in separate directories. Here is a list of the files that PM creates and uses to manage each of your projects. Note that these Database and Index files are maintained on each directory that contains a Project being managed. A separate set of these files exists for each Project. $ACTVTY$.dbf Contains the Activity records for each Project Step. $ACTVTY$.ind Indexes the $ACTVTY$.dbf file on Project Step code, so Activities can be connected to their associated Projects. $ACTEDT$.dbf Contains the Activity records for the Project Step currently being reviewed or modified. This is a temporary file and is deleted at the end of each run. $ACTEDT$.ind Indexes the Activity records on date. This is a temporary file and is deleted at the end of each run. $PRJECT$.dbf Contains the Project Step Descriptions. $PRJECT$.dbt Contains the Project Step Memo fields. $PRJECT$.ind Indexes the $PRJECT$.dbf file on OUTLINE. $PRJECT$.$$$ This is a temporary file that is created during the Memo packing process at the end of each run (if necessary). The file is deleted when the packing process is completed. $REPORT$.dbf This database is created during the Budget and Completion reports process. It contains information extracted from the Project and Activities databases, and is deleted as soon as the report is finished. $REPORT$.ind An index for the $REPORT$.dbf. $SOURCE$.ind When the Source Activity Report is generated, the $ACTVTY$.dbf is temporarily re- indexed on Activity Source. This file is used for that index, and is deleted when the report is finished. PMTITLE.$$$ Contains the ProjectTitle string. In order to change the title, simply delete this file, and run Project Manager again. The following files make up the Project Manager system. They exist in the Project Manager directory. That directory must be on the current DOS Path in order for the system to function correctly. Miscellaneous System Files: PM.exe This is the Project Manager program. PM.lib This file contains the Project Manager screens. README.pm The system documentation is contained in this file (what you are looking at now!). In order to change the documentation, simply modify this file in any (ASCII file) editor. The next time you run the Project Manager, your documentation will be updated. REGISTER.ME The Project Manager registration form. See below, "6. REGISTRATION & UPGRADE" for more information about how to become a Registered user and receive the UPGRADE and SOURCE CODE. $SAYWHT$.DOC The Saywhat?! product information. $TOPAZ$.DOC The Topaz product information. Report Format Files: ACTHIST.rpt The format for the Activity History report. ACTIVITY.rpt The format for the Activity report and the Overall Project report. BUDGET.rpt The format for the Budget report. COMPLETE.rpt The format for the Completion report. SOURCE.rpt The format for the Source Activity report. ******************************************************** 5. Problems & Solutions. 1. ACTIVITY FILE BUSY...TRY AGAIN LATER. Since the Shareware version of Project Manager System is not "multi user", it guards against the possibility that more than one person may attempt to work with a project's files at the same time. This is accomplished by checking the status of the DBF files when the system initially opens them. If they are in use, this message is issued, and the program terminates. 2. The Project Title is wrong, or you want to change the title. Delete the DOS file named PMTITLE.$$$, and run Project manager again. You will be asked to enter a new Project Title. ******************************************************** 6. Registration & Upgrade The Shareware version of the Project Manager System is a single user version that is designed to let you easily manage single projects. When you register your copy of Project Manager, you will receive the current version of Project Manager and the accompanying source code. Included in the price of registration is free technical support, in the event you would like help using the system, or help in modifying it for your own situation. In addition, customized systems are available from the developer. If you have some specific requirements that are not met by the system, the developer will modify the system to meet your needs. Current upgrades in progress include: Enhanced reporting capability. Data & calendar functions. A multi user system that is designed to let you easily manage larger teams of people and more projects: Multi user access to datasets. One more data level (PROJECTS) to maintain multiple projects. Associated enhancements in reporting capability. ** IF YOU WANT TO REGISTER YOUR COPY OF PROJECT MANAGER ** ** HERE'S WHAT TO DO ** ... --- either --- ... 1. From the Main Menu, choose Documentation / Product Information. 2. From the Documentation menu, choose Print Documentation. ... --- or --- ... 1. From DOS, move to the directory that contains the Project Manager files. 2. Copy the file named: REGISTER.ME to your printer. (ie.... COPY REGISTER.ME PRN ....for example) (or, use your word processor) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>... --- then --- ...<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 3. Fill out the form and send it (with $49.00) to: Ron Byxbe & Associates P. O. Box 1844 Dublin, Georgia 31040 (912) 272-1714 (9am - 4pm, EST) The Project Manager System is written in Borland's Turbo Pascal, and makes extensive use of Software Science's TOPAZ library of Pascal support routines. This is important, because if you plan to recompile the system, you will need to have Topaz available. All of the Project Manager menus, data entry screens and displays were designed with Software Science's SAYWHAT?! program, and are maintained in a Library of screens. It is possible to modify and maintain the software without using SAYWHAT?! (if you aren't modifying existing screens), but screen design will be so much faster and easier with it! For more information about Saywhat?! and Topaz, choose the menu options from the Documentation Menu. TOPAZ and SAYWHAT?! are available from: Software Science, Inc. 100 Valley Drive Brisbane, CA 94005 (800) 468-9273 (National) (800) 231-7849 (California) (or, from your local software retail or mail order outlet!) ********************************************************