2. Gantt project creation

When you create a project, the Plan Start date is required but the Plan End date is not required. On the General tab, the Date, Name, and Currency are required. Depending on the project form, the Schedule tab or the Tasks tab contains several more required fields, Time Zone and Calculate Project From. The Date field auto-populates with the date that you create the project.

If you do not add a Plan Start date for the project, it defaults to the date that you created the project. All other fields must also contain the previously saved values. The fields in the Summary section can be changed as required except for Plan Start.

The default Constraint Type for new tasks is As Soon As Possible. The Gantt scheduler handles As Soon as Possible constraints on your tasks in two different ways, whether Gantt Strict mode is enabled or disabled.

If your application administrator has enabled Gantt Strict mode, the project Plan Start date determines the placement of your tasks. With Gantt Strict mode, all first tasks are required to start directly on the project Plan Start date or end directly on the project Plan End date depending on the value that you select for the project Calculate Project From field. First tasks are tasks that do not have incoming dependencies or constraints specified. All next tasks are moved left or right to be as close as possible to their ancestors and to not violate any dependencies or constraints.

By default, the as-shipped IBM TRIRIGA applications do not use Gantt Strict mode. When you create tasks, the tasks maintain the start date that you specify. The next tasks are moved left only to correct dependencies, and do not need to be close to their ancestors. Your application administrator can enable Gantt Strict mode by setting GANTT_STRICT_MODE=TRUE in the TRIRIGAWEB.properties file on the IBM TRIRIGA server. This setting is system-wide, so it must be consistent across all servers.

In addition, IBM TRIRIGA provides a "minimal" Gantt Strict mode. When you create tasks, the tasks maintain the start date that you specify. All next tasks are moved left or right to be as close as possible to their ancestors and to not violate any dependencies or constraints. Your application administrator can enable "minimal" mode by setting GANTT_STRICT_MODE=MINIMAL in the TRIRIGAWEB.properties file on the IBM TRIRIGA server. This setting is system-wide, so it must be consistent across all servers.

When a project is created, the required Calculate Project From field in the Summary section of the project defaults to Start. This option means that the project begins on a particular Plan Start date and runs through to completion. The purpose of this option is to manage the project from its beginning.

When Calculate Project From is set to End, then the project is tracked from the Plan End date of the project. This option is used when the project must be completed on a certain date and the start date might or might not be important. The Plan End date must be set for this setting to function properly.

As a result, the Calculate Project From field influences the critical path calculations and constraint violations.

The project and the tasks can contain a calendar that defines how hours in the task are distributed throughout the days in the project. If no calendar is selected, then the project is assumed to run on a 24-hour schedule. You can set a calendar for the entire project and you can also set calendars for individual tasks in the project if wanted. When a calendar is set, the tasks on the Gantt chart display a background that represents available time to work. Working hours are displayed as "white" and non-working hours are displayed as "gray".

The purpose of the calendar is to apply real-world availability to plan time for the project. For example, if no calendar is associated to the project or a task, and it takes 40 hours to complete that task, then the task displays in just under two days on the Gantt scheduler. If a calendar is specified with the standard working hours of 8AM-12PM and 1PM-5PM from Monday to Friday, then the task takes five working days to complete. So, depending on how the company carries out projects, planning for the completion of the task can be considered.

If all or most of the tasks within the project require a defined calendar, you can define an overall calendar for the project. To add a project calendar, open the project and go to the Calendar Details tab. In the Availability Calendar section, select a calendar. A calendar that is named DEFAULT with working hours of 8AM-12PM and 1PM-5PM from Monday to Friday, can be selected. Otherwise, you can add a calendar and define it based on the project requirements. The Find action allows the calendar to be selected or a new calendar to be added.

If most of your project tasks require the same calendar, you can set a default project level calendar as described, and then create your tasks. Then, for tasks that do not follow the project level calendar, you can set a different calendar. For example, say that some tasks must be done Monday through Friday, and others can be done only on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The calendars that you specify for tasks do not need to be the same calendar. The task calendars can be set individually, based on need. They are independent of each other.

To specify a calendar for an individual task, open the task, and go to the Calendar Details tab. Click Find in the Availability Calendar section, select the preferred calendar, and click OK. If a task already contains a calendar, such as the default project calendar, and you want to change it, select the calendar in the Availability Calendar section and click Remove. Then, add the preferred calendar.

If you do not see a calendar that fits the requirements of the task, you can create a calendar by clicking Add and specifying the required schedule. After you set the scheduling assumptions, working hours, and so on, click Create Draft, then click Activate. Make sure to select that calendar for the task and click Activate or Save.

Another case where you might want to specify calendars at the individual-task level is if you created tasks before you specify a project calendar. Those tasks do not have the project calendar that is automatically assigned to them. You can specify a calendar for those tasks, whether it is the calendar that you chose for the project or a different calendar.

The time zone for a project must be set based on where the project takes place. Note that if the profile of the user who is creating the project is set to a particular time zone, the project defaults to that user's time zone. Accordingly, change the time zone.

When a calendar is applied to the project or tasks, the users from different time zones view the tasks in their own time zone in the Gantt scheduler project. The times of the tasks shift based on the user's time zone.

If no calendar is in place, then the tasks use the 24-hour calendar. All tasks that are created in the Gantt section default to the current time. Of course, relationships and dependencies with other tasks in the project, and constraints on tasks, can affect some of the task start times.

For example, let's say that a project is created in the Pacific time zone (GMT -08) and a user from the Athens time zone (GMT +02) logs in and views the project. Instead of tasks that start at 8am or 08:00, like they do in the US Pacific time zone, the tasks start at 6pm or 18:00, which is the time in Athens, Greece.

If the same project is intended to be run multiple times, then it might be easier to create a project template. You create a template by selecting Projects > Project Set Up > Project Templates.

The project template contains all of the tasks and relationships that are necessary for the project to be completed. The template can then be imported into each new project with the same tasks required. When the tasks and dependencies are imported, they are automatically set to the Plan Start date of the new project. Of course, tasks can be added or deleted, and relationships can be modified.

To apply the project template, perform the following steps.

Step 1. Create a project and populate the required fields at minimum.

Step 2. Select Save Draft.

Step 3. Click More > Apply Template.

Step 4. Select the project template and click Continue.