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Plan
User Guide
Version 4.1
Copyright Andy Clarkson 1995,1996
All rights reserved.
The information within this manual and the associated software are
subject to change without notice.
Some of the names used within this manual and displayed by the
software are registered trademarks. Such names are acknowledged as
trademarks even though they have not been marked with the symbol.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 About this manual
1.2 What is Plan?
1.3 Installation
1.3.1 Installation of Plan from a ready to run SSD
1.3.2 Manual installation of Plan
2. PROJECT PLANNING
2.1 Fundamental concepts
2.2 Example
2.3 Calculation of task start dates
3. FAST START TUTORIAL
3.1 Creating a new plan
3.2 Creating a new resource
3.3 Creating tasks
3.4 Setting dependencies
3.5 Summary tasks
3.6 Updating a task
3.7 Tracking work done
3.8 Reviewing a task when it is underway
3.9 Task end/work/rate calculation
3.10 Views
3.11 Example Plan
4. KEY FEATURES
5. PLAN AND RESOURCE FILES
6. VIEWS
6.1 Task view
6.2 Task list view
6.3 Gantt chart
6.4 PERT chart
6.4.1 Appearance of the PERT chart
6.4.2 Positioning tasks in the PERT chart
6.4.3 Moving around the PERT chart
6.5 Resource usage view
6.5.1 Resource work hours
6.5.2 Resource usage histogram
6.5.3 Over-allocated resources
6.6 Holiday view
7. TASKS
7.1 Standard Tasks
7.2 Summary Tasks
7.3 Deleting tasks
7.4 Masking tasks
8. DEPENDENCIES
9. COST AND USER DATA
10. TASK CALCULATION AND TRACKING
10.1 Calculation (end/work/rate)
10.2 Tracking work done
10.3 Reviewing a task when it is underway
11. MEMOS
12. RESOURCES
13. PREFERENCES
14. PRINTING
15. MODULES
15.1 Microsoft Project MPX module
15.2 Postscript module
15.3 Agenda module
16. COMMAND SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 About this manual
This manual describes how to use Plan for the Psion 3a.
A version of this manual which includes screenshots is available
from my homepage (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/andyc).
The installation instructions within this section of the manual
describe how to install Plan.
The section "Project planning" describes key concepts which are used
throughout this manual and should be read before the rest of the
manual. Plan is easy to use, provided that the fundamental concepts
are understood. This manual should be sufficient in order to use
Plan, however if you are unfamiliar with project planning in general
then you may wish to read one of the many books available on the
subject.
The "Fast start tutorial" section describes the main features of
Plan and provides a quick method of getting up to speed with Plan.
The rest of the manual contains detailed information on all of the
features of Plan.
On-line help is available from the help key within Plan provided
that the on-line help file has been installed.
1.2 What is Plan?
Plan is a project planning tool for the Psion 3a. It allows an
initial project plan to be created and refined and subsequently,
when the project is underway, provides facilities for tracking
progress.
A project consists of a set of resources, (individuals or groups)
who are assigned to specific tasks within the project. The project
is split into a number of separate tasks. Each task has a start and
end date, an amount of work, and a number of assigned resources.
Dependencies may be set between tasks, indicating that one task
cannot start until another finishes. In this way if one task is
updated within Plan, any tasks dependent upon the task will be
recalculated automatically.
Plan may be used as a stand-alone project planning tool or may be
used in conjunction with PC based project planning tools such as
Microsoft Project. When used with Microsoft Project, Plan provides
an ideal means of transporting project plans out of the office. A
project plan may be transferred from Microsoft Project on a PC to
Plan on the Psion and readily updated "on the move". The project may
subsequently be transferred back to the PC upon return to the
office.
1.3 Installation
Plan may be supplied either ready to run on a Psion Solid State Disk
(SSD) or may need to be installed from the distribution media,
(usually a 3.5" MSDOS floppy disk).
Before installing Plan ensure that any previous version of Plan or
Plan Deluxe has been backed up and removed from the Psion.
1.3.1 Installation of Plan from a ready to run SSD
If Plan is supplied ready to run on an SSD then insert the SSD into
one of the SSD drives on the Psion. From the Psion system screen
select the "Install" menu option from the "Apps" menu. Change the
displayed disk item to refer to the drive which contains the Plan
SSD and select the file named "Plan.opa". Press enter to install the
Plan icon onto the Psion system screen.
1.3.2 Manual installation of Plan
If Plan is provided on a floppy disk or you want to install Plan
onto another Psion drive, such as an SSD, then proceed as follows...
A typical installation of Plan on the Psion 3a would consist of the
following files:
M:\APP\PLAN.OPA
M:\APP\PLAN\PLAN.MSG
M:\APP\PLAN\PLAN.HLP (optional)
M:\APP\PLAN\PLAN.TTL (optional)
M:\APP\PLAN\AGN.OPO (optional)
M:\APP\PLAN\MPX.OPO (optional)
M:\APP\PLAN\PS.OPO (optional)
M:\OPD\PLAN.REG (optional)
M:\PLN\EXAMPLE.PLN (optional)
M:\PLN\EXAMPLE.RES (optional)
The above example shows Plan installed on the internal drive (M).
Plan may also be installed on a RAM or FLASH SSD in drive A or B.
Plan requires between 90K and 150K of disk space for installation
depending upon whether the optional files are installed. A minimum
of 35K of run-time memory is required in order to start Plan,
additional memory will be required depending upon the size of a
plan.
Start the installation by copying the Plan main application file
PLAN.OPA into a directory called \APP on any drive and install from
the system screen as described in section 1.3.1.
If you are installing Plan from a PC using PsiWin and the message
"Failed to convert file" is displayed when dragging files from the
PC to the Psion, then you will need to turn off automatic conversion
of files. This may be done by selecting the "Conversions" menu item
from the "Setup" menu in PsiWin. Ensure that "Allow convert on Drag
& Drop between Computers" is turned off.
Create a directory called PLAN below the APP directory where the
PLAN.OPA file has been installed. Copy the Plan message file into
the \APP\PLAN directory:
PLAN.MSG
The remaining files which may be installed provide optional
facilites. These files may be omitted from the installation if you
are short of disk space.
If installing Plan via a Mac and you get the message "Incompatible
message file" when first starting Plan then this indicates that the
PLAN.MSG file has been corrupted. The cause of this is often that
the file has been treated as a text file rather than a binary file
when extracting it from the supplied ZIP file. The solution is to
ensure that a file with extension .MSG is extracted with a type of
"BINA" (binary file) by setting the preferences appropriately.
If on-line help is required then also copy the on-line help file
into the \APP\PLAN directory:
PLAN.HLP
If a registration file, PLAN.REG, has been supplied copy this to the
\OPD directory, otherwise you will need to enter a registration code
using the "Registration" menu option on the "Special" menu when you
start Plan.
The PLAN.TTL file provides an optional title screen when Plan starts
and may be copied into the \APP\PLAN directory.
If any of the optional plan modules are required then they also
should be copied into the \APP\PLAN directory. The currently
available Plan modules are AGN.OPO, PS.OPO and MPX.OPO. See the
"Modules" section of this manual for further details on what the
various Plan modules are for.
The plan and resource files used by Plan should be kept in a top
level directory called \PLN on either the internal disk or an
external RAM disk. An example project plan, EXAMPLE.PLN, along with
a resource file, EXAMPLE.RES, are provided which may optionally be
installed into the \PLN directory.
This software is provided as is, without any warranty of any kind.
The author and distributor shall not be liable for any loss of data
or damage arising from the use of this software.
1.4 SHAREWARE REGISTRATION
Plan is shareware, which means that if you continue to use it you
should register with the author. The software may be freely
distributed provided all files in the package are included. A
maximum of 10 tasks may be entered until the program is registered
by entering a special code via the register menu option.
To register send a 15 UK pounds cheque to:
Mr. A. Clarkson,
3 Ashmead Drive,
Hardwick,
Cambridgeshire.
CB3 7XT.
U.K.
When registering please state the version of the program, (which is
4.1), and where you obtained the copy. This allows me to check that
you are using the latest version.
In return for the registration you will receive a password code
which may be entered into Plan. This will remove the 10 task limit
which applies to the unregistered version, enabling up to 200 tasks
to be entered. If you have an email address quote this in order to
receive the registration code via email more quickly.
For members of Compuserve, Plan may be registered electronically via
the SWREG facility (Enter "GO SWREG" and select the file with ID
6310). The charge is US$25 which will be added to your normal
Compuserve bill.
For users outside the UK the following methods of payment can also
be accepted:
Payment in UK pounds 15 UK pounds
(cash, cheque, eurocheque
or money order)
Payment via cash in local equivalent of 17 UK pounds
currency (non-UK pounds) (US$25)
Payment via a cheque in equivalent of 19 UK pounds
local currency (non-UK pounds) (US$30)
The additional charges for non-UK currency is to cover exchange and
bank charges.
For any further information I can be contacted via email at
100661.2440@compuserve.com
2. PROJECT PLANNING
2.1 Fundamental concepts
Plan allows a project plan to be constructed from individual task
components. Task and resource details are entered into the
application along with dependencies between tasks. The application
will then calculate the schedule for each task and the project as a
whole.
Each task within a project plan has the following key values:
- start constraints (given by a specified start date and/or
dependencies upon earlier tasks)
- the amount of work required to complete the task
- a number of assigned resources working at a given rate
- end date and time
Usually three of the above values are entered, with the other value
being calculated by Plan. For example:
- End. A start date and time may be specified (usually in
relation to the end of an earlier task) along with an amount of work
and details about assigned resources. Plan will then calculate the
end date and time for the task. This is the most common calculation
method.
- Work. Given a start and end date and time, and assigned
resources, Plan will calculate the work. This could be used where a
task has been completed, the start and end are known, along with the
average work rates for each assigned resource, but the total amount
of work needs to be calculated.
- Rate. Given a start and end date and time and the work
required, Plan will calculate the average work rates for each
assigned resource. This could be used in order to calculate the
number of people required to complete a task on a given date.
A number of resources may be assigned with given work rates to each
task. The resource work hours, holiday information and work rates
are then taken into consideration when calculating task values, such
as end dates.
2.2 Example
Consider a task which is estimated to take two man days to complete,
(one man day being the time between the start and end of a normal
working day, set to 8.0 hours in this particular example). A
resource is assigned to the task where the resource has the
following attributes:
- Works a standard work day, starting at 9:00am, ending at 5:00pm
- Works a standard week starting on Monday and ending on Friday.
The task start day is set to a Monday at 9:00am and the work set to
two days. Plan calculates the end of the task to be 5:00pm on
Tuesday. Assume now that the resource is only available to work on
the task at a rate of 50% rather than 100%. Plan would now indicate
the end of the task to be Thursday at 5:00pm. Assume also that the
resource takes one day holiday on Tuesday. Plan would calculate the
end to be Friday at 5:00pm. Suppose that the task is completed and
actually finished at 5:00pm on Wednesday rather than 5:00pm on
Friday. Plan will allow the end time to be set to the actual end
time and will then calculate the work given the start, end and
resource details to be one man day rather than two.
Plan works internally down to an accuracy of one second. There is an
option in the preference settings for each project which controls
whether values are entered and displayed in units of days or units
of days, hours, minutes and seconds.
2.3 Calculation of task start dates
The start of any task is controlled either by dependencies defined
on earlier tasks, a specified start on/after date, or a combination
of the two.
Dependencies may be set between tasks so that the start of one task
depends upon the end of another. If the first task is delayed the
second will also be delayed. Dependencies may be set for a number of
reasons, such as:
- If one task cannot logically start until another task finishes.
For example, in a software development project the development may
be dependent upon the requirements phase.
- Resource limitations may impose dependencies, for example if
two tasks need to be carried out by one person, and the person works
on the tasks sequentially, then a dependency should be set between
the tasks.
When creating a task a start on/after date may be set to indicate
either that the task should start on the specified date or cannot
start before the given date. If no dependencies have been defined
then the given date will be used as the start date for the task. If
the task has one or more dependencies upon earlier tasks then the
latest date will be used as the task start date, taking into
consideration all the dependencies and the specified start on/after
date.
For a set of dependent tasks there will be a number of the tasks
that are critical to the end of the project. If any one of these
tasks is late then the end of the project will be delayed. These
tasks are described as being on the critical path. It is important
to know the critical path for two reasons. Firstly, it is useful in
identifying the tasks that may be worth adding extra resource to, in
order to bring the project in sooner. Secondly, it is useful in
highlighting those tasks that will need to be monitored carefully
when the project is in progress in order for the project to be
completed on time. Plan has an option which will calculate the
critical path.
3. FAST START TUTORIAL
This section describes, by way of an example, how to use the main
features within Plan. It includes an example of creating a plan,
adding resources and tasks, and updating tasks.
Plan has many features and it is not possible to describe all of
these features within a short section such as this. This section
includes enough to get started, as you become more familiar you may
want to explore the rest of the manual to find out what else you can
do with Plan.
3.1 Creating a new plan
If Plan has not been installed or is not visible as an icon on the
Psion system screen then refer to the installation section before
proceeding.
When first starting Plan it will create a default resource file
which has a single resource called "General". The work days for this
resource will be set to the work days set within the Psion Time
application. The following tutorial assumes that the work days are
Monday to Friday with Saturday and Sunday as non-working days.
Before proceeding ensure that the work days are set accordingly by
going to the Time application and selecting the "Workdays" menu
option from the "Settings" menu.
On the Psion, go to the system screen and position the cursor below
the Plan icon. From the "File" menu on the system screen select "New
file". In the dialog which appears enter a file name such as "Test"
and press Enter.
Plan will start up and display a screen with a top line reading TASK
DESCRIPTION WORK,... Under the top line there will be a highlighted
line or cursor. This is one of the many different views available
within Plan.
3.2 Creating a new resource
Start by creating a new resource. To do this, select the "Make" menu
option from the "Resource" menu. Enter the name for the resource as
"Res1". A second dialog will appear. In this dialog set the maximum
units value to 1 which indicates that this resource represents a
single person. A resource may be used to represent a group by
setting the maximum units to a value greater than 1. Set the cost
per hour to 5. Plan will calculate the cost of the project using the
resource charge rates as entered here.
Two more dialogs will appear prompting for the work hours for the
resource. The first dialog shows the start times for each day of the
week and the second dialog shows the end times. Leave these at the
default of 9am to 5pm throughout the whole week. Press enter and the
resource will be created.
From the diamond menu select the "Holiday view" option. This will
display the holidays for the newly created resource. These will
default to the same holidays as the General resource which in turn
will initially have been set using the rest days set in the Psion
Time application. The cursor keys may be used to move from one day
to the next and the enter key will toggle a holiday on and off.
Leave all the holidays unchanged for the time being.
3.3 Creating tasks
Now enter a new task. From the diamond menu select the "Task List"
menu option.
In the task list view each task is shown on one line of the display.
Each task has a number of associated fields. The left and right
cursor keys will shift the right hand side of the task list view to
display the various fields for each task.
First ensure that Caps lock is turned off and then press the enter
key. A dialog will appear prompting for the task details. Enter the
values as shown:
Id T1
Description Task 1
Start on/after 1 Apr 1996, 09:00am
Work 3 days
When the enter key is used a second dialog will appear prompting for
the details of the resources to be assigned to the task. Update the
dialog as follows and press enter:
Resource Res1
Rate (%) 100
The new task will be created and the screen will update to show the
entered and calculated values. Note that the end date for the task
has been calculated by Plan using the start on/after date and the
work. The end should be displayed as 5pm on 3 Apr 1996. The labour
cost is also calculated and displayed as 120.
From the diamond menu select the Gantt chart. Press the space bar
which will refresh the display on the right hand side to display the
current task. This shows the task on one line with a graphical
representation of the task on the right hand side of the screen.
Press the down arrow to move the highlighted line, or cursor, to
below task T1. Note how the graphical bar extends from the start of
the task to the end, with the holidays shaded.
Now enter a second task by pressing enter with the cursor below task
T1. Create a new task with the following values:
Id T2
Description Task 2
Start on/after 1 Apr 1996, 09:00am
Work 1 day
Resource Res1
Rate (%) 100
The new task will be shown below task T1 and will be shown as
starting on the 1 Apr 1996 and ending at the end of the same day.
3.4 Setting dependencies
Now set the start of task T2 to depend upon the end of task T1. With
task T2 current, i.e. highlighted, select the "Dependencies" menu
option from the "Task" menu. Set the first task Id to T1 by pressing
the tab key and selecting T1. When the second dialog appears leave
the "Lag-T1" field set to "None" meaning that task T2 will follow
straight after task T1. When the enter key is pressed task T2 will
be recalculated to start after task T1.
3.5 Summary tasks
Now enter a summary task for task T1 and T2. Ensure that task T1 is
current and press shift-enter to insert a new task. The enter key
edits the current task, or creates a new task if no task is current,
and shift-enter inserts a new task immediately above the current
task. Set the Id to S1 and the description to "Summary task". Leave
all the other fields unchanged. A new task will be inserted at the
top of the list.
At the moment all the tasks are normal tasks and we need to make T1
and T2 sub-tasks of the new task. To do this, make T1 current and
press control-right arrow. This will indent T1 and place a bullet
next to the description. T1 is now a sub-task and S1 has been
changed from a normal task into a summary task. Repeat this so that
T2 is also a sub-task.
3.6 Updating a task
To demonstrate how Plan automatically recalculates tasks, edit task
T1 so that the start on/after date is 2 Apr 1996 at 09:00am. This is
done by making task T1 current and pressing enter. When edited, task
T1, T2 and the summary task will be recalculated automatically.
3.7 Tracking work done
Imagine that task T1 is underway and that it is now the morning of
the 4 Apr 1996. From the "Task" menu select "Set work done" and
choose the option "Set by time...". This dialog allows the work done
on a task so far to be set. Enter the work done as 2 days and set
the "Done up to start of" value to 4 Apr 1996. The bar on the Gantt
chart representing the task will be shaded to indicate the % of the
work done so far.
3.8 Reviewing a task when it is underway
Suppose that whilst task T1 is underway you receive information from
resource "Res1" that there are still 2 more days work left to do
rather than the 1 day which is currently planned. Plan can
recalculate the end using the work done so far and information about
the remaining work. From the "Task" menu select "Review
calculation". Set the remaining work to 2 days and leave the
remaining work rate set to 100%. The task will be recalculated to
end on the 5 Apr 1996. To display all the tasks press psion-Z to
zoom the view out. In the Gantt chart the psion-Z and psion-z keys
zoom in and out and the left and right arrow keys move the display
left and right. The space bar may be used to recenter the display to
show the current task.
3.9 Task end/work/rate calculation
Imagine now that task T1 has been completed and actually finished at
5pm on Monday 8 Apr 1996. So you know when the task started and
ended, plus the fact that Res1 worked on the task 100%. Normally it
is the end date for a task that needs to be calculated, but in this
case it is more appropriate to calculate the work from the start,
end and rate. To get Plan to do this for you, ensure T1 is current
and select the "End/work/rate" menu option from the "Task" menu. Set
the calculate value to "Work". Now edit the task by pressing enter.
Note how previously the start date and work fields were shown. Now
it is the start and end dates that need to be entered. Update the
end to 5pm on 8 Apr 1996. The task will be adjusted accordingly and
the work recalculated as 5 days.
To mark the task T1 as complete set the work done to 100% using "Set
by %..." from the "Set work done_" menu option on the "Task" menu.
3.10 Views
To save the plan select "Save" from the "File" menu.
Now look at the other views available in Plan using either the
diamond key or the diamond menu. In all the task based views the up
and down arrow keys change the current task.
The task list view shows one task on each line of the display. Press
the left and right arrow keys to shift the fields shown on the right
hand side of the screen left and right.
The Gantt screen has already been seen during the tutorial.
The PERT screen will initially appear blank. To layout the PERT
chart select the PERT view and choose the "Layout pert" menu option
from the "View" menu. Leave the "X mag" and "Y shift" values set to
1. In the PERT chart each task is shown as a box with dependencies
indicated by lines between tasks. The left and right arrow keys
shift the PERT chart left and right and the Pg Up and Pg Dn keys
shift the display up and down. The zoom menu options may be used to
alter the scale.
The resource usage view shows the working hours for a resource as
well as the allocation of the resource to tasks.
3.11 Example Plan
An example plan and resource file are supplied which may be used to
further experiment with Plan.
4. KEY FEATURES
Plan has the following key features:
- A separate file for each project plan with either plan specific
or a shared resource file.
- Up to 200 tasks may be entered, each having the following
details:
- Id
- description
- work
- up to four assigned resources per task
- rate of work for each assigned resource
- start on/after date and time
- start date and time
- end date and time
- calculation method (end, work or rate)
- work done
- labour and fixed costs
- saved work, start and end dates and times for future reference
- user floating point value and text fields
- Calculation of end date and time, work, or work rates for each
task.
- A start constraint may be specified, i.e. the task must start
on/after the given date.
- A task may be dependent upon up to eight other tasks, with
specified lag times with each dependency. Plan will automatically
calculate the start of each task from the dependency and start
on/after date.
- Task tracking. The actual work done may be input and
incrementally changed as work progresses.
- A task may be re-estimated taking into account the work already
done and the work remaining.
- Calculation of critical path.
- Accuracy down to the second with an option which controls
whether dates or dates and times are entered and displayed.
- Tasks may be grouped under a summary task whose fields are
calculated automatically from the sub-tasks. Tasks may be nested up
to eight levels deep.
- The labour costs are calculated automatically for a task along
with the total cost for the project.
- A memo may be attached to each task. Memos are edited using the
Psion Word application which is started via Plan.
- Any number of resources may be input, (subject to memory limits
imposed by the Psion operating system). Each resource has the
following properties:
- name
- maximum units available
- labour charge per hour
- a three year holiday calendar
- times for the start and end of work for each week day
- Plan can check and highlight any over-allocated resources.
- Plan will count resource holidays in a given period.
- A Gantt chart view.
- A PERT chart view.
- A resource allocation histogram view.
- Auto layout of tasks in the PERT chart.
- Sorting of tasks by a number of attributes.
- Export data to the Psion Agenda application.
- Print Gantt and PERT charts on a postscript printer.
- Transfer projects between Plan and Microsoft Project.