Scheduled Task Packaging Window

This window consists of two tabs: the Tasks tab and the Plot tab. The Tasks tab allows you to group tasks according to a variety of criteria, and the Plot tab provides a graphical view of how the tasks are currently grouped. You can move tasks into and out of groups as many times as needed, until you come up with a configuration that meets your needs. None of the changes that you make in this window are permanent until you click one of the following:

• Apply Changes accepts all changes that you have made in the Scheduled Task Packaging window and commits them to the database.

• Create Selected Packages takes the groups that are currently selected in the window and commits them to the database as task packages.

You can tell the difference between a group (which is a proposed task package that has not yet been committed to the database) and a task package (which exists as a resource in the database) by looking at their icons.

Group

Package

To use the Scheduled Task Packaging window, first decide whether you want to view only unpackaged tasks, only packaged tasks or all tasks proposed to be performed at fixed intervals, and make the appropriate selection in the Filter Tasks field.

Grouping Tasks

You can select any group (including Unpackaged) or package and group the tasks that are in it. Tasks can be automatically grouped by:

•   Task type
•   Zone, provided this property is enabled for tasks in the interface style.
•   Access, provided this property is enabled for tasks in the interface style.
• Time, in three ways:
  • Clusters of time, based on Euclidean distance:
    •   Click Time - Bisect to divide the tasks into two groups.
    •   In the Time - Clusters field, specify the number of time clusters to group the tasks into and then click the button.
  •   Click Time - Fixed Interval to create a group scheduled to be performed at a specified interval.

In the window that appears:

• In the Perform every field, enter the length of the interval at which the tasks will be performed. You must specify time units for this value.
• The Packaging Intervals fields allow you to specify a range of scheduled intervals that will automatically be incorporated into the task package. The time units for these fields are the same as those specified for the Perform every field. For example, if you enter 150 hours in the Start Time field and 200 hours in the End Time field, then tasks that are scheduled to be performed at fixed intervals from 150 to 200 hours can automatically be included in the group to be performed at the scheduled time rather than at their individually scheduled times.

The groups that are created by automatic grouping are named according to the way in which they were created, but you can double-click a group to change its name.

You can also drag any task into a group or package. Note that you can do this regardless of whether the task meets any criteria that may have been used to create the group or package; it is the user's responsibility to determine whether or not the move is appropriate.

Managing Groups and Packages

The following commands are available for working with the groups and packages shown in the Scheduled Task Packaging window.

• To move all tasks out of a group or package and into the Unpackaged group, click Ungroup Selected. Note that if you move all tasks out of a group, the group is deleted. If you move all tasks out of a package, the package is not deleted but is empty. While groups may occasionally appear empty, such groups are automatically deleted the next time you perform any operation that refreshes the Tasks tab.

• To remove all empty packages, click Delete Empty Packages.

If you want to delete a single package, you can do so through the Resource Manager.

• You can delete a group level by clicking Remove Level.

The effect of this command varies depending on what is selected.

• If you have selected a group that has subgroups, the selected level will be deleted, leaving all tasks within the subgroups that they are currently assigned to.
• If you have selected a group that has tasks assigned to it, the group and all of its "sibling" groups (i.e., all groups of that level that share the same parent group) will be deleted and the tasks will be moved up into the parent group. If there is no parent group (i.e., if the selected group is at the top level), the tasks will be moved into the Unpackaged group.

The reason for this behavior is that a group can contain tasks or it can contain subgroups; no group can ever contain both tasks and subgroups. Thus, if you delete one group and move its tasks into its parent group, the same operation must be performed for all of its sibling groups.

• You can return to the packaging state saved in the database by clicking Start Over. As mentioned above, no changes that you make in the Scheduled Task Packaging window are saved in the database until you click either Apply Changes (to accept all changes) or Create Selected Packages (to create only the package(s) currently selected).

• To mark groups and/or packages as complete or incomplete, select the groups and/or packages and then click Complete or Incomplete. A flag will appear in the Flag column for each selected group or package. You can remove the flag by selecting the group or package and clicking Clear.

Complete

Incomplete

Clear

Display Options

In addition to the Filter drop-down list, which allows you to specify whether you want to view only packaged tasks, only unpackaged tasks or all tasks, there are several other tools to help you control how information is displayed in the Tasks tab.

• You can use the Time Units drop-down list to change the units displayed in the window.
• The Color Code drop-down list allows you to apply a color-coding gradient to the tasks shown in the window, based on their assigned intervals, from green (shortest interval) to red (longest interval). Choose Overall to apply a single gradient to all tasks, regardless of their package. Choose Within Packages to apply a separate gradient to the tasks within each package. Remove all color-coding by choosing None.
• Click Expand All to show all levels of the hierarchy in the window, or Collapse All to show only the top level. Clicking Collapse Tasks collapses the tasks within each group or package, so that you see only the hierarchical structure of the groups/packages without seeing any of the associated tasks. This command is a toggle; if it is selected, you can expand a group or package, and the next time you perform an action that refreshes the Tasks tab, the tasks will be collapsed again.

Expand All

Collapse All

Collapse Tasks

Additional Tools

You can click Send View to Excel to send the current contents of the Tasks tab to a new Excel file. The file will then open automatically if the software is installed on your computer.

The Plot tab provides a graphical view of the task grouping/packaging, as it currently stands within the Task tab. Note that this is not a reflection of changes that have been committed to the database, but of the current proposed grouping. The following plot types are available for the Scheduled Task Packaging window:

• Packages displays the groups and packages with vertical lines demarcating their start and end intervals. Tasks assigned to each group are shown with a +, while unpackaged tasks are shown with an X. Note that tasks that share an assigned interval are plotted in the exact same location, so only one is visible. You can select Include Interval to display the interval at which each group is scheduled to be performed as an additional vertical line.
• Packages - Horizontal displays the groups and packages as horizontal lines with points demarcating their start and end intervals. Tasks assigned to each group are shown with a +. Note that tasks that share an assigned interval are plotted in the exact same location, so only one is visible. Unpackaged tasks are not shown in this plot. You can select Include Interval to display the interval at which each group is scheduled to be performed as an additional point on the group line.