Calculations

Calculation

The calculation options in Safran Project provide powerful and user-friendly tools for changing/updating large amounts of information in your project. You may assign various calculations to the entire plan or a selected group within your plan.

Global Change - Assign Fields

The Assign Fields feature is a powerful tool that lets you change data for some or all activities in a single process. The Assign Fields feature can be accessed from the HOME ribbon or by right-clicking in the barchart area. You can do several things with the global Assign Fields option: compute fields, remove item values, replace data, use date arithmetic, and assign or change text and data strings. The 'assign field' specification includes a change statement and selection criteria. The selection criteria are either entered as a filter, or you may specify to run the change and update for selected rows. To globally change the Activity ID, you should use ID Renumbering. Depending on the data type, you may use the arithmetic operators plus (+), minus (-), divide (/), and multiply (*) to compute new values. The integer and decimal field types support all operators. Date time fields support plus (+) and minus (-). The flag fields may only be set to 0 (zero) or 1 (one). Text and string fields support the operator, plus add characters from the item information. The assign fields feature contains similar functionality to the userfields formula described in the Userfields chapter. Using the formula feature may be an alternative if updates are to be set regularly.

Using Date Arithmetic

The Assign Fields feature can perform addition and subtraction operations on dates. Subtracting one date from another results in the number of work periods between the two dates. Adding or subtracting a number to a date results in a new date.

Deleting Data values

To delete data value items, set the item's value equal to a blank.

Assigning String Characters

You can remove, insert, or replace characters or parts of a text string from the beginning or middle by specifying the field start character and the number of characters. Using plus (+), you can also string two or a part of fields together.

Pressing the Preview button will show how you strung the new description together by combining the original Description field and the text you entered on line 2 (ACME ENGINEERING). Assign Fields is a powerful feature. Be careful; you will get what you ask for. If you do not feel comfortable with your expression, press the Preview button to check the result before executing.

Assigning Duration Fields

The Assign Fields function can set or globally update the Safran Project Duration fields. You can specify the duration field display format by selecting options from the Format drop-down list. For example, choose ‘weeks’ to display the duration as a decimal figure formatted for weeks.

Assigning Reference Fields

You can use Assign Fields to enter reference codes for activities. When you specify a reference field, Safran ensures the value is already entered in the reference code list and provides these items as drop-down values in the Update As box. Press the Filter button to select activities to change.

Assigning Outline Codes

If you use Assign Fields to enter or modify outline codes for your activities, Safran ensures the value is already entered in the outline code list and provides these items as drop-down values in the Update As box. Press the Filter button to select activities to change.

Changing Calendar Assignment

Select the activities that have the calendar assignment you want to change. Then, set the “Field to Update” to Calendar. In the Update As field, you will receive a drop-down list of defined calendars for your schedule. Select the new calendar.

To Run the Global Change

Start by selecting the Assign Fields option from the toolbar. Select the field to be updated and specify its new value as an input value or a specification.

Specify a Selection

Safran Project allows you to restrict the data change or update, to apply a change to selected rows only, or to apply only to activities matching specific selection criteria. The Selected Rows option is an easy way to update a range of rows or individual records. Mark the rows in the Barchart Editor before selecting the Assign Fields option.

Press the Filter button to make a selection for the field assignment. This allows you to restrict the update to activities fulfilling the selection criteria. Quite specific/complex expressions may be made by using multiple and logical operators. The filter can be created by modifying a pre-defined filter from the drop-down list or creating a new filter. Press the Preview button to view the result before executing. The Preview option allows you to examine the result without affecting your data. Press the Execute button if you do not need to review the data before running the change.

Storing and Using Assign Fields Expressions

Safran Project lets you build a library of Assign Field statements or formulas. This feature helps save time from reentering formulas before running the Assign Fields or global change. Once your expression is defined, save the formula using the Save As button in the Assign Fields window. The formula name drop-down list will contain all your stored expressions. Use this list to select expressions previously stored with your schedule.

Saved Settings may be selected from the formula drop-down list. By marking the “Include settings from other users” checkbox, you can choose valuable expressions saved by other users.

The X (known as 'Cancel') does only apply to changes performed in this area of the window:

Assign Field Packages

Assign field statements are often executed individually; however, using an Assign Field package, any number of Assign Fields statements may be collected and performed in a single operation.

To create an Assign Fields Package, start by pressing the New button, giving the package a name, and pressing OK. A list of all Assign Fields statements in your database will be presented in the Assign Fields panel to the right. Statements may be included in your package using a Drag n Drop technique to move them to the left in the Assign Fields Included panel. Once your list is established, you may change the order of execution of the statements by focusing on a statement and pressing the relevant Move Up/Move Down button.

When working on larger projects or organizations, the list of available statements may be extended, making finding the required statement increasingly tricky. The list of statements may be limited by pressing the button in the lower-left corner of the available panel and entering a selection statement. The Assign Fields Selection panel allows you to select by either Name or Owner of the Assign Fields statement.

When satisfied with your package, press the Save button to store it for later use.

To execute the package, press the Run Package button. Once you have run the package, Safran Project will present how many activities are updated for the various statements executed.

Clicking on the header of any column in the panels above, i.e.... Active, Formula Name, Activities Updated, or Assign Fields Name will invoke the Assign Fields Statement list according to the heading clicked.

Assign Link Fields

Select the Assign Link Fields function to globally change link fields for all or a selected set of activities. This feature allows you to apply changes or modifications through a single operation.

Please see the ‘To Automatically Link Activities’ section for details on Assign Link Fields and various types of links.

Date Calculator

How often have you tried to figure out what date is 45 days from today, or which date is 37 days after October 12th, or even how many working days are there between May 1st, 2016, and September 25th, 2017?

In Safran Project, we have implemented a neat little feature to assist you in finding the answer to such questions. By choosing ‘Date Calculator’ in the HOME toolbar, you will be presented with the date calculator shown below:

The calculator considers the calendar assigned to your current project, while you are allowed to switch between the different work patterns by using the scroll keys.

After entering two of the three available fields, Safran Project calculates the remaining field. Enter a start and an end date to find the number of days between, enter a start date and duration to arrive at the end date, and so forth. You may switch between automatic and manual operation of the date calculator. In addition to this, the date calculator has the following two calculation modes:

ID Renumbering

Each Activity ID in a Safran Project must be unique. Enter your IDs or use the IDs provided by Safran Project. You may want to structure your IDs to reflect the type of work, codes, references, sub-projects, or similar activity information. Activity IDs can consist of up to 50 alphanumeric characters. Safran automatically generates activity IDs in increments of 10 starting with 00010. You can change the activity ID by typing over the original ID. Safran Project automatically changes the ID everywhere it occurs in the project. For example, if the activity is assigned as a successor to another activity, Safran changes the ID for the logic.

You may want to build intelligence into your activity IDs by assigning letters, numbers, or codes that reflect areas, systems, departments, types of activities, and more. The Barchart Editor provides a “Permanent Renumber” feature that allows you to define the activity ID string and sequence count. Select ID Renumbering in the HOME toolbar.

To use this feature, you must be logged on with exclusive access to the project. If you group your layout according to the same structure, Safran adds/inserts new activities using the following “count” for activity ID. You can also identify an activity with a description of up to 255 characters.

Schedule Juggler

You may want to update your current schedule with data from one of the alternative schedule sets or set data for one alternative set from another alternative set. The Schedule Juggler can assist you in this process. The schedule juggler lets you set duration, calendar, and the analysis existence option for all filtered or preselected activities. The alternative to using the schedule juggler is to manually update or use the Assign Fields function to update the duration, calendar, and activity existence options. The Schedule Juggler is implemented to help you save time and work. You can find the Schedule Juggler in the HOME ribbon.

Note: To use the Schedule Juggler, you must first define a minimum of one Alternative Schedule.