The ability to switch from one view to another, to switch tables in a sheet view, and to add or remove fields in a view gives you tremendous versatility in how you see your project information. You can take it a step further by sorting, grouping, and filtering the information in a view.
By sorting information in a table, you can arrange it in alphabetical or numerical order by a particular field. For example, you might sort your tasks by start date so you can see tasks that are due to start next week. Or you might sort your tasks by duration so you can see the tasks with the longest durations and how you might break them up and bring in the project finish date.
You can also sort resources. For example, in the Resource Sheet, you might have originally entered all resources as they came on board, but they might be easier for you to manage if they were in alphabetical order. You can easily sort by the resource name. Better yet, you can sort by department or group name, and then by resource name.
To sort items in a sheet view, do the following:
Display the sheet view whose information you want to sort.
Click Project, Sort.
In the submenu that appears, commonly used sort fields are presented. For example, if you’re working in the Gantt Chart, you can quickly sort by Start Date, Finish Date, Priority, Cost, or ID. If you’re working in the Resource Sheet, you can quickly sort by Cost, Name, or ID.
If you want to sort by a different field than what’s presented in the submenu, click Sort By. The Sort dialog box appears (see Figure 4-19).
Under Sort By, click the name of the field you want to sort by and then specify whether you want the sort to be ascending (lowest to highest) or descending (highest to lowest). If you want to sort within the sort, add another field in one or both of the Then By boxes.
Make sure that the Permanently Renumber check box is cleared. You will likely want to clear this check box in the majority of the cases. However, if you really want this sort to be permanent, and you’re certain that you won’t ever want to return to the original order of the tasks or resources, go ahead and select this check box. The ID numbers for the tasks or resources are changed, and the tasks or resources will be sorted by order of the ID numbers when you don’t have any other sort order applied.
Click Sort.
To return a sorted sheet view to its original order, click Project, Sort and then click By ID.
Think of grouping as a more sophisticated kind of sorting, in which a graphical layout is applied to the sheet to segregate the groupings you’ve chosen. For example, suppose you group your task sheet by complete and incomplete tasks. Tasks that are 0 percent complete (not started yet) are grouped first and marked by a yellow band (see Figure 4-20). Tasks that are 1–99 percent complete (in progress) are grouped next, bounded by another yellow band. Tasks that are 100 percent complete are grouped last.
The grouping band shows the title of the group, for example, Percent Complete: 0% or 100% Complete. Where appropriate, the grouping band also rolls up information summarized from the group, such as the total duration for the grouping, the earliest start date for all tasks in the grouping, the latest finish date for all tasks in the grouping, and so on.
You can also group resources in a resource sheet. For example, you might want to group resources by their department or code or by resource type (work or material).
You can also group nodes in the Network Diagram view (see Figure 4-21). To group task or resource information in a sheet view or Network Diagram, follow these steps:
Display the view whose information you want to group.
Click Project, Group By.
In the submenu that appears, click the grouping you want.
To remove a grouping, click Project, Group By and then click No Group.
Note
You can also use the Group By tool on the Standard toolbar. With a sheet view displayed, click the grouping you want to apply. To restore the view to its original order, click the arrow in the Group By tool again and select No Group.
You can customize built-in groups and create entirely new groups as well. You can group by fields, including custom outline codes that you create.
Note
For more information about groups, see the section titled Customizing Groups in Chapter 25.
When you filter a view, you’re excluding information you don’t need to see so you can focus on what you do need to see. For example, if you want to see only tasks that use a particular resource so you can more closely analyze the workload, you can apply the Using Resource filter. Or if you’re about to attend a status meeting and you want to discuss tasks that are either in progress or not started, you can apply the Incomplete Tasks filter to a task sheet.
To filter information in a view, follow these steps:
Display the view whose information you want to filter. You can filter information in all views.
Click Project, Filtered For.
If the filter you want is listed on the submenu, click it. If the filter is not in the submenu, click More Filters and then find and click it in the More Filters dialog box (see Figure 4-22). Click Apply.
Some filters require you to enter more information. For example, if you choose the Should Start/Finish filter, you need to enter start and finish dates and click OK.
Note
By default, a filter excludes tasks or resources that do not meet the conditions of that filter. If you prefer, you can instead have the filter highlight tasks or resources that do meet the filter conditions. Click Project, Filtered For, More Filters. Click the filter you want and then click the Highlight button instead of the Apply button.
To remove a filter and show all tasks or all resources again, click Project, Filtered For and then click All Tasks.
Note
You can also use the Filter tool on the Formatting toolbar. Display the view you want to filter; then use the tool to click the filter you want to apply. When finished, click the arrow in the Filter tool and select All Tasks (or All Resources).
Using AutoFilter, you can quickly filter by a value in a particular field. To do this, follow these steps:
Display the sheet view whose information you want to autofilter.
On the Formatting toolbar, click AutoFilter. The AutoFilter arrows appear in each column heading in the sheet view.
Click the arrow in the column whose information you want to filter by and then click the value you want to filter by.
For example, suppose you are displaying the Gantt Chart with the Entry table applied. If you want to filter for all tasks scheduled to start next month, click the AutoFilter arrow in the Start column and then click Next Month.
When AutoFilter is applied, the text of the column heading changes color.
To show all tasks or resources again, click the AutoFilter arrow in the applied column heading and then click All.
Note
To show all tasks or resources again, you can also simply click the AutoFilter tool on the Formatting toolbar to turn it off. The AutoFilter arrows disappear and any filtered data is unfiltered again, that is, all data shows.
The AutoFilter arrows remain handy in the column headings for all views throughout your project plan until you turn AutoFilter off. With AutoFilter on, you can always quickly filter tasks or resources in a sheet. If you want to turn AutoFilter off, click the AutoFilter button again.
Note
You can customize built-in filters and create entirely new filters as well. You can also create custom AutoFilters. For more information, see the section titled Customizing Filters in Chapter 25.