Boot Disc 8/boot-disc-1997-04.iso/PDA_Soft/Psion/misc/Plan/Plan2.txt

Text File | 1996-03-24 | 34KB | 689 lines

5. PLAN AND RESOURCE FILES

Plan uses two types of files: resource files, which contain resource
information  such as holidays and work hours; and plan files,  which
contain  task details. Tasks in the plan file reference the resource
information  in the resource file. Plan files have a file  extension
of  PLN, resource files a RES extension. Both of these files  should
be  placed  in  a  \PLN directory either on the  internal  drive  or
external  RAM drives.  Placing these files onto FLASH  SSDs  is  not
recommended unless no changes will be made to the data.  The  reason
for  not  using FLASH SSDs is that when updating a plan or  resource
file  Plan  will  delete and recreate each file when  it  is  saved.
Consequently  saving a file often will rapidly use up space  on  the
FLASH SSD.

When opening a plan file Plan will look for a resource file with the
same  name  in the same directory as the plan file but  with  a  RES
extension.  If such a resource file exists this will be  where  Plan
retrieves and stores resource information. If such a file  does  not
exist then Plan will look for the resource file \PLN\PLAN.RES on the
default  Psion disk. If this file does not exist it will be created,
indicated by a "Building calendar" message when starting Plan.

When  creating  a new plan via the "New" menu option on  the  "File"
menu  from  within  Plan there is an option to specify  whether  the
common  resource file (\PLN\PLAN.RES) or a project specific resource
file should be used.

This  scheme  allows plan specific resources to  be  maintained,  or
shared resources to be stored in the one common file.

Plan  is  a  type three application, which means that any number  of
plans may be opened at any one time. To do this, use shift-enter  to
open additional plan files from the Psion system screen.

Plan  allows 200 tasks to be entered with the following  limits  per
task:

 - 4 assigned resources per task,
 - 8 dependencies per task
 - 255 character description
 - 80 character user text field

Run-time memory is used to store the above information which will be
limited by two factors:

 - The memory available on the internal disk
 - There  is  a 64K memory limit imposed by the Psion  operating
   system.

If  you  receive an error from Plan indicating there is  not  enough
memory then either increase the space available on the internal disk
if  it  is  insufficient or reduce the memory used by Plan  by,  for
example,  using  shorter  description and user  text  values  or  by
reducing the number of tasks.

6. VIEWS

A  number of different views are available within Plan. Pressing the
diamond or shift-diamond key changes the current display to  one  of
the following:

                  Task list
                  Gantt chart
                  PERT chart

                  Resource usage
                  Holidays

The  first set of views show tasks using different display  formats.
The resource usage view shows resource working hours and a histogram
of % usage over a given time period. The holiday view shows resource
holidays.  A view may be selected either using the diamond key, from
the diamond menu, or using psion key shortcuts.

In  the task views many of the same keys have the same function, for
example the up and down cursor keys change the current task and  the
enter key edits the current task. In each of these views the current
task will be highlighted.

6.1 Task based views

In  the  task based views each task will be shown with some  of  the
following fields:

Start on/after    The  entered start date or a date before which the
                  task cannot start.

Start date        The  planned start date and optional time for  the
                  task.

End date          The  planned  end date and optional time  for  the
                  task.

Work              The  planned work for the task in man days, hours,
                  minutes and seconds.

% done            Shows  the amount of work done so far on the  task
                  as a percentage of the work planned.

User value        A user specified floating point number.

User text         A user specified 80 character text field.

Calculate         Displays  which  of the end date,  work,  or  rate
                  fields  are  calculated for the task. For  summary
                  tasks this will display "All" since all fields are
                  calculated.

Saved start       A value copied from the start field using the "Set
                  fields" menu option.

Saved end         A  value copied from the end field using the  "Set
                  fields" menu option.

Saved work        A  value copied from the work field using the "Set
                  fields" menu option.

Depends on        A list of tasks this task depends upon.

Lab. cost         Labour/resource  costs  calculated  for  the  task
                  using   the   rates  for  the  assigned  resources
                  multiplied  by  either the  planned  work  or  the
                  actual  work  done, whichever is the greater.  The
                  labour  costs may be ignored for a task, i.e.  set
                  to  0  if  required  (see  "Cost  and  user  data"
                  section).

Fixed cost        A fixed cost assigned to the task.

Assigned resourcesLists the resources assigned to the task.

Pressing  the  up  and down arrow keys changes  the  task  which  is
displayed in the task based views.

6.2 Task list view

In  the  task  list view and Gantt chart each task  is  shown  on  a
separate line of the display. One of the tasks on the screen will be
highlighted and is referred to as the current task. Pressing the  up
and  down  arrow keys changes the current task.  If there  are  more
tasks  than will fit onto the screen then when at the top or  bottom
of  the  screen  pressing  the cursor key  will  scroll  the  screen
vertically to display the next task off the screen. Combining the up
and  down  cursor  keys with the psion key (Pg Up and  Pg  Dn)  will
scroll  the display a page at a time. The psion and control modifier
keys  used  in  combination with the up/down keys will position  the
cursor at the top or bottom of the list of tasks.

In  the task list view the task Id and description are displayed  on
the left of the screen. If the task is on the critical path then the
description will be followed by an asterisk (*). If a memo has  been
associated  with  the  task a memo symbol  will  appear  before  the
description (see "Memos" section). The description will be  indented
to indicate the level of a task in the hierarchy of summary and sub-
tasks (see "Tasks, Summary tasks" section of this manual).

Pressing the psion-z and psion-Z keys will alter the font size  used
throughout  Plan to one of 4 scales. Note that psion-z  and  psion-Z
change  the font size in the task list and PERT chart views, in  the
Gantt  and  resource usage views these keys alter the scale  on  the
chart.

The  right  hand  side  of  the  task list  view  shows  the  fields
associated with each task. The left and right arrow keys may be used
to  shift the right hand side of the display to view further  fields
associated with each task. An arrow will appear either at the end or
middle  of the top line to indicate whether the left or right  arrow
key should be used to shift the fields to the left or right.

The ordering of the fields is user-definable using the "Field order"
option on the "View" menu.

6.3 Gantt chart

The Gantt chart shows the task Id and description on the left of the
display  along  with the critical path flag. On  the  right  of  the
display a Gantt chart is shown. This chart shows a time axis at  the
top  of  the  screen  with a bar for each task which  indicates  the
duration  of the task. The current date will be shown as a  vertical
line through the chart.

The  up and down cursor keys may be used, as in the task list  view,
to  change the current task and to scroll the screen up or down. The
psion and control key modifiers alter the amount by which the cursor
moves.

Pressing  the  psion-z key and the psion-Z keys  will  increase  and
decrease (zoom) the scale on the time axis. To alter the font  scale
which  is used in the Gantt chart switch to the task list view,  use
the psion-z and psion-Z keys to alter the font size, and then switch
back  to  the Gantt chart. Depending upon the zoom factor  the  time
axis  may show the month and date for the start of each week or date
for  each  day. There is a maximum and minimum limit  by  which  the
display can be zoomed in or out in this way.

Pressing the left and right cursor keys will shift the time axis  on
the  Gantt chart on the right of the display by half a screen in the
appropriate  direction. Holding down the psion key  whilst  pressing
the  left and right cursor keys will shift the axis by a full screen
in  each  direction. Holding the shift key whilst pressing the  left
and right cursor keys will shift the axis by a quarter of the screen
at  a  time.  Note that there are limits to the amount by which  the
screen may be shifted to the left or right according to the earliest
and latest date in the project.

If  the  space  key is pressed the zoom factor and display  will  be
altered to best display the current task.

There  are  a  number  of  preference  settings  which  control  the
appearance  of the Gantt chart. One option controls whether  one  or
two bars are displayed for each task. If two bars are displayed then
the  lower  bar  indicates the start and end dates  from  the  saved
fields. The saved start, end and work fields should normally be  set
when  the original project plan has been established and may be used
to  compare  the  original planned dates with the latest  calculated
dates.

Depending upon the preference setting "Shading control" the holidays
associated with each resource may or may not be shown on  the  Gantt
chart at various scales. For fast shading ensure that the preference
setting  "Holiday  shading"  is set to  "Use  general"  rather  than
"Resource specific".

A  task field (resource, start, end,...) may optionally be displayed
at  the  end  of each task bar in the Gantt chart. The field  to  be
displayed  is  controlled from the "Task bar  text"  option  in  the
preferences dialog.

6.4 PERT chart

6.4.1 Appearance of the PERT chart

The PERT chart view is useful when viewing and altering dependencies
between  tasks. Within this view each task is represented as  a  box
surrounding the task Id. Dependencies between tasks are indicated by
lines between the tasks. Any lag time will appear half way along the
dependency  line.   The  critical path tasks  are  identified  using
thicker  boxes  (select the "Critical path"  menu  option  from  the
"Plan"  menu  to  calculate the critical path). If  the  grey  plane
option is set within preferences then summary tasks are shaded grey.
Various task attributes may be shown above and below each task  box.
The   values  which  appear  in  these  locations  depend  upon  the
preference settings. Typically the start date for the task  will  be
shown  above  the  task box and the end date or  assigned  resources
below the box.

6.4.2 Positioning tasks in the PERT chart

When  first  entering tasks, perhaps using the task list view,  each
new task will not have an associated x and y co-ordinate position in
the  PERT  chart.  This position must be set before  the  task  will
appear in the PERT chart. There are various methods of accomplishing
this:

 - The  quickest  option is to let Plan layout  the  PERT  chart
   automatically.
 - You  can  dynamically position a task using the  cursor  keys
   whilst in a dynamic move mode.
 - You can manually set the x, y co-ordinates for a task using a
   dialog.

To  automatically layout the PERT chart use the "Layout  PERT"  menu
option  on  the  "View" menu when the PERT chart is displayed.  This
will  display a dialog with two options. The "X mag" option controls
how  tasks  are spread out horizontally. The "Y shift"  enables  the
layout  to be moved vertically up or down. When using "Layout  PERT"
for  the first time it is simplest to leave the values set at 1  and
to  press  the enter key to layout the PERT chart. This action  will
automatically set the x, y co-ordinates for each task  in  the  PERT
chart.  Generally each tasks x co-ordinate will be set according  to
its start time. Due to space limits and dependency settings this may
not be possible for all tasks. In this case Plan will try to fit the
tasks in as best it can.

Once  the  results of the layout option have been viewed the  layout
option  may be used again with the "X mag" and "Y shift" values  set
to  more  appropriate  values to produce a  better  layout.  If  for
example  most of the tasks appear at the top of the display, setting
the  "Y shift" to a positive value will generally move all the tasks
towards  the bottom of the display. The "Y shift" may be  set  to  a
value between 1 and 10. The "X mag" value may be used to spread  the
tasks out more along the x axis. A value of 1 will force Plan to try
to fit all tasks onto one screen at the smallest zoom scale, a value
of 2 would force Plan to use 2 full screens and so on.

The "Pert move" menu option on the "Task" menu switches Plan into  a
dynamic move mode where the cursor keys dynamically move the current
task  in  the appropriate direction. Combining the cursor keys  with
the  psion  key  will move the task more rapidly. Pressing  any  key
other than the cursor keys will take Plan out the dynamic move mode.
The  current  tasks x and y co-ordinates may also  be  manually  set
using the "Pert X/Y" menu option on the "Task" menu.

6.4.3 Moving around the PERT chart

Pressing  the left and right cursor keys whilst in the  normal  PERT
chart  mode will shift the display to the left or right  by  half  a
screen. The psion and shift key may be used in conjunction with  the
cursor  keys  to  shift the display by a full screen  or  a  quarter
screen  at  a time.  Allowing tasks to be placed off-screen  enables
PERT  charts  to  be constructed for plans with a  large  number  of
tasks.

Pressing  psion-up arrow (Pg Up) and psion-down arrow (Pg  Dn)  will
scroll the display in the vertical direction by a screen at a  time.
Combine  these keys with the shift modifier key to shift the display
by half a screen at a time.

If  the  space  key  is pressed the display will  be  re-centred  to
display the current task.

Pressing the psion-z and psion-Z keys will alter the font size  used
throughout Plan to one of 4 scales and has the affect of zooming the
PERT chart in and out.

6.5 Resource usage view

The  resource usage view shows when the current resource starts  and
ends  work  for  the seven days of the week along with  a  histogram
indicating the allocation of the resource to tasks.

6.5.1 Resource work hours

The resource settings may be edited using the "Settings" menu option
on  the  "Resource"  menu. This will display a dialog  allowing  the
maximum units, charge rate and the start and end times for each  day
of the week to be edited.

Note  that for non-working days (usually Saturday and Sunday) it  is
best  to set the start and end time to the start and end time  of  a
normal working day. The resources holidays should be used to control
non-working  days  rather than the start and end  times.  This  then
allows  specific non-working days to be overridden in  the  resource
holiday view if the resource works the occasional non-work day.

If  a resources work hours and/or holidays are changed then the  Tab
key  or  "Recalculate all" menu option should be  used  to  force  a
recalculation of all tasks.  Plan will not automatically recalculate
tasks  if  any changes are made to resource holidays or  work  hours
even if automatic calculation is enabled in the preference settings.

6.5.2 Resource usage histogram

The  histogram on the right of the resource usage view indicates the
total  percentage the resource is occupied over a given time period.
The  display is similar to the Gantt chart in that it shows  a  time
axis  at the top of the display. The left and right cursor keys  and
zoom keys affect the display in the same way as the Gantt chart.

Pressing  the  up and down cursor keys whilst in the resource  usage
view  will  scale the y-axis in increments and can be  used  if  the
maximum percentage exceeds the top of the display.

6.5.3 Over-allocated resources

If  a  resource is assigned to two tasks 100% of the time  for  each
task  over  a  given time period then this would  be  shown  on  the
histogram as a total of 200% over the given period. If the  resource
represents  a single person then this would imply that the  resource
was over-allocated.

The  "Over-allocated?" menu option on the "Resource" menu also helps
to  find  any  over-allocations. This scans all  the  tasks  in  the
current  plan  for cases where the total resource rate  exceeds  the
value  given in the maximum units field for each resource. When  the
analysis is complete any tasks involved in the over-allocation  will
be  displayed, with any other tasks masked out. The display  in  the
Gantt and resource usage views will also be adjusted to display  the
range  of  dates during which the over-allocation occurs. Reset  the
mask to "None" using the "Mask tasks" menu option on the "View" menu
to redisplay the other tasks.

There are various ways of resolving the problem of an over-allocated
resource, for example:

 - Reschedule  one of the tasks, usually by making it  dependent
   upon the other.
 - Assign another unused resource to one of the tasks.
 - Change the rates on one or both tasks.

If for example you have a task which takes 10 days at a rate of 100%
and  another short task has to carried out for one day in the middle
of the task then either divide the long task into two separate tasks
separated  by the short task or set the rate for the first  task  to
90% which would extend it by the one extra day taken up by the short
task.  The  disadvantage in this latter case is  that  the  resource
usage  histogram  would still indicate that the resource  was  over-
allocated at 190% for the one day. The advantage is however that the
long task would not need to be broken up.

6.6 Holiday view

The  resource holiday view displays a full year view indicating  the
holidays  for the current resource. The view is similar to the  year
view  in the Psion Agenda application. Holidays are indicated  by  a
black or grey filled square.

The  cursor keys may be used to move the cursor from one day to  the
next.   Combining the left and right cursor keys with the psion  key
will move the cursor to the start and end of the month respectively.
Combining the up and down cursor keys with the psion key (Pg Up  and
Pg Dn) will move to the previous or next year.

Pressing  the enter key will toggle the day on which the  cursor  is
positioned from a holiday to a work day and vice versa.

A  three year calendar is available for each resource, within  which
holidays  may  be set. When calculating task end times  or  work,  a
resources holidays will be taken into consideration. If a task falls
outside a resources three year calendar the resources holidays  will
be  assumed  to match the rest days set in the standard  Psion  Time
application.

The  start year for the three year calendar period for all resources
will  be  the  same. It may be changed for all resources  using  the
"Start  year" menu option on the "Resource" menu. This  will  prompt
for   a  new  start  year.  All  the  resource  calendars  will   be
reconstructed to start on the specified year. Existing holidays will
be  copied  if  the new three year calendar range overlaps  the  old
calendar  range.  For years outside the old calendar  range  default
holidays  will  be set according to the settings in the  Psion  Time
application.  If a large number of resources have been created  this
operation may take a few minutes.

The  start  year for the calendars should not be changed unless  all
tasks  in  all  plans which reference the resource file  within  the
period  of  the calendar which is to be removed have been marked  as
complete (see section on "Plan and resource files"). If this is  not
true then the given tasks may subsequently be incorrectly calculated
if the resource had non-standard holidays in the given period.

7. TASKS

7.1  Standard Tasks

To  create a new task position the highlighted area at the bottom of
the  task  list or Gantt chart view and press enter, or  use  shift-
enter to insert a new task above the current position in any of  the
task  based views. Pressing enter with the cursor positioned  on  an
existing  task allows the given tasks details to be altered.  It  is
important to note that setting Caps lock on will have the affect  of
inserting  a  new  task when the enter key is  pressed  rather  than
editing the current task.

When entering or editing tasks a dialog box will appear which allows
the following items to be set:

Task Id           Each task has a unique four letter identifier used
                  to  identify  the task within the PERT  chart  and
                  when  setting task dependencies. The entered  text
                  should  be  something which is easily recognisable
                  for each task.

Description       A  description  of the task, up to 255  characters
                  long.

Start on/after    Either the date and time the task starts or a date
                  and  time after which the task should start.  Note
                  that  a  task has two start dates, the  calculated
                  start  date  for  the task and the  entered  start
                  on/after  date. The start on/after  date  is  used
                  when  calculating the task start date. If the task
                  has  no  dependencies the calculated start of  the
                  task will be equal to the start on/after date  and
                  time. If the task has one or more dependencies the
                  start  on/after date will only be used  if  it  is
                  later   than   the  dates  calculated   from   the
                  dependencies. This field is used either  when  you
                  know exactly when the task will start or there  is
                  a  dependency on an outside factor (e.g. machinery
                  will not be delivered until a given date). For new
                  tasks  the  default value for this  field  is  the
                  current date at 9am.

Task end          The  end date and optional time for the task. This
                  item  may  or  may  not appear  according  to  the
                  calculation method for the task. Three options are
                  available for calculating the schedule for a task;
                  either to calculate the end of the task, the  work
                  required  or the rate. For new tasks a  preference
                  setting  controls which of the end, work and  rate
                  items    appear,    for   existing    tasks    the
                  "End/work/rate" menu option on the "Task" menu  is
                  used.

Work              The work for the task is specified in days, hours,
                  minutes  and seconds, (the length of one work  day
                  is  given  in the preference settings). This  item
                  may or may not appear according to the calculation
                  method for the task.

When  the  enter  key is pressed a second set of dialog  boxes  will
appear  providing control over the resources assigned to  the  task.
These dialog screens will contain some of the following fields:

Resource          The  name  of the resource assigned to  the  task.
                  This  is chosen from a list of existing resources.
                  Pressing  the  tab key will display the  available
                  resources.

Rate              The rate of work for the given resource. This item
                  may or may not appear according to the calculation
                  method  for  the task. The value is  a  percentage
                  from  1%  to  10000%.  100%  would  indicate,  for
                  example, one resource working on the task 100%  of
                  the   time,   200%  could  indicate   a   resource
                  consisting of two people each working 100% of  the
                  time on the task.

Work              The  amount  of  work carried  out  by  the  given
                  resource.   This  item  may  or  may  not   appear
                  according to the calculation method for the task.


7.2 Summary Tasks

A  summary task is a task which provides an overview of a number  of
sub-tasks.   The  majority of the data associated with  the  summary
task  is calculated by Plan from the data associated with each  sub-
task.  The  summary task Id, description, user value and  user  text
fields should be entered manually.

The start of the summary task will be equal to the earliest sub-task
start  date  and  the end will be equal to the latest  sub-task  end
date.  The work and cost fields will be the sum of the corresponding
sub-task fields. The % done field will be the % of the work done  so
far on all the tasks.

Summary tasks may be nested so that a summary task may also be a sub-
task  of  a  higher level summary task.  There may be  up  to  eight
levels from the outer most summary task to the lowest sub-task.  The
level  of  a task is indicated using indentation and bullets  within
the task list and Gantt chart views.

To  alter  a  tasks  level  use the left and  right  arrow  keys  in
conjunction with the control key, e.g. press control-right arrow  to
make  the task a sub-task of the task immediately above it. It is  a
good  idea  to  turn  automatic calculation off  in  the  preference
settings  before  making major changes to task levels.  It  is  also
recommended that the basic structure of a project is established  in
terms of summary tasks and sub-tasks before assigning dependencies.
In  the  example  plan supplied, the tasks have  been  grouped  into
various phases using summary tasks.

7.3 Deleting tasks

To  delete the current task press the delete key. This will copy the
deleted  tasks details into an internal buffer. Pressing the psion-i
key will re-insert the task immediately above the current task. Note
that  any tasks which were dependent upon the deleted task will  no-
longer be dependent upon the task.

7.4 Masking tasks

The  tasks  which  are  displayed in the task  based  views  may  be
controlled  from  the "Mask tasks" menu option on the  "View"  menu.
Setting  a  mask will "mask" out those tasks not meeting a specified
criterion.  For  example  only those tasks  which  include  a  given
resource  may be displayed. A number of masks may be combined  using
the  "Add  field mask" option on the mask task dialog. Alternatively
all  masks may be turned off using the "None" option. The "New field
mask" option will discard any existing mask before applying the  new
mask condition.

If  the  current task is a summary task then two additional  options
will  be  available  on the mask task dialog. The  "Mask  sub-tasks"
option  will  mask  out all sub-tasks of the current  summary  task.
"Unmask sub-tasks" will make all sub-tasks visible.

8. DEPENDENCIES

Making  a task dependent upon another task implies the start of  the
task  is associated with the end of the task which it depends  upon.
Using a lag time with the dependency allows the start of the task to
be offset from the end of the task by a given duration.

Select the "Dependencies" menu option from the "Task" menu to  alter
the  current tasks dependency settings. This will display  a  dialog
allowing  up  to eight task dependencies to be set. Each  dependency
implies that the current task should start after the end of the task
which it depends upon. The latest of all the end dates will be  used
when  calculating the start date for the task. Note that this latest
date which is calculated from the dependencies is combined with  the
date specified in the start on/after field in order to calculate the
task start date.

With each task dependency there is an option to set the current task
to  start  before or after the end of the task. A second dialog  box
will  appear after the Id's have been set which allows a lag or lead
to  be  set. If a lag or lead needs to be entered subsequent  dialog
boxes will appear prompting for the precise interval before or after
the task, in days and optional hours and minutes.

The  holidays and work hours of the "General" resource are used when
calculating  the time between the end of the previous task  and  the
start  of  the current task. For example, if a lag of  one  week  is
specified,  and  during  this  period  holidays  for  the  "General"
resource indicate a one week holiday (e.g. at Christmas), then  this
will translate to a two week delay before the second task starts.

9. COST AND USER DATA

The  cost and user data fields for a task may be edited by selecting
the  "Cost & data" option from the "Task" menu. This will display  a
dialog allowing the following items to be set for the current task:

Fixed cost        Fixed cost assigned to the task.

Include labour costs    Either  "Yes" or "No". If set to "Yes"  then
                  the  task  and plan total costs will  include  any
                  labour  costs associated with the task. If set  to
                  "No"  then  the labour cost will be  shown  as  0,
                  regardless  of  the  amount of  work  or  resource
                  charge rate. In this case the task and plan  total
                  costs  will exclude any labour costs for the task.
                  Use  "No"  when a task has no labour cost  impact,
                  e.g.  for a fixed price task where only the  fixed
                  cost field is used.

User value        A user specified floating point number.

User text         A user specified 80 character text field.

Note the currency symbol used throughout Plan is controlled from the
"Number formats" menu option on the "Control" menu accessed from the
Psion system screen.

10. TASK CALCULATION AND TRACKING

10.1 Calculation (end/work/rate)

For  each task one of three values may initially be calculated: end,
work  or  rate. To control which is calculated for the current  task
use  the  "End/work/rate"  menu  option  on  the  "Task"  menu.  The
calculation setting controls whether the work, rate or the end  date
and  time are calculated for a task. If the work is to be calculated
then  the end date and the rate for each assigned resource will need
to be specified, and so on. Note that this setting only controls the
initial  calculation for the task, if the task  depends  upon  other
tasks which subsequently move then the task may shift along with the
other  tasks.  So  even  if the end date is specified  in  order  to
calculate  the rate initially, this does not mean the  end  date  is
permanently tied to this value, if the task is dependent upon  other
tasks  which  change  the end date may change. When  new  tasks  are
created  the initial calculation setting is governed by a preference
setting.

10.2 Tracking work done

The  "Set  work  done"  menu option on the "Task"  menu  allows  the
progress  on the current task to be recorded. This progress  may  be
set in one of three ways:

Set by %...       Selecting  this  option and  pressing  enter  will
                  display a dialog which allows the work done to  be
                  set to a value indicating the actual work done  as
                  a percentage of work planned.

Set by time...    This  option  displays a dialog which  allows  the
                  work  done to be set to a specific value in  terms
                  of days, hours, minutes and seconds.

Add time to existing... This displays a dialog which allows the work
                  done  to  be set by adding a given time  in  days,
                  hours,  minutes and seconds to the  existing  work
                  done  value.  This  is  useful  when  periodically
                  updating the work done, for example with data from
                  weekly time sheets.

When  setting work done a date is shown which indicates the date  on
which  work  done  was  last recorded. So if  the  work  done  value
includes all work prior to the 2 Jan 96 then this date should be set
to  2 Jan 96. If the work done is changed then before pressing enter
set  the date field appropriately. This date is important when using
the  "Review  calculation"  menu option  (discussed  later  in  this
section).

To  assist with the setting of work done the dialogs will  show  the
targeted  work done. This indicates how much work should  have  been
done  up to the current date and time if the task is to be completed
on schedule.

A task is assumed to be complete if the work done is greater than or
equal  to the planned work. In the Gantt chart view tasks which  are
complete are shown using a solid black bar. Tasks currently underway
are  shown  with a black bar indicating the percentage completed  so
far, whilst planned tasks are shown with a clear bar.