Scheduled Task Packaging Window

For a given project, you can use the Scheduled Task Packaging window to review all of the tasks that have been proposed to be performed at fixed intervals (based either on item age or calendar time), choose which ones to incorporate in the final maintenance plan and, if desired, group tasks into task packages for the most efficient allocation of resources.

To open this window, choose System Hierarchy > Tools > Task Packaging.

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:

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:

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.

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

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.

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.

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:

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