Specifying sort/group criteria for the project hierarchy

You use the Bars/Tasks tab of the Sort/Group Properties dialog to specify the sort/group criteria with which to sort/group bars and tasks in the project hierarchy when this sort/group is applied. Use the other tabs of the dialog to specify sort/group criteria for RBS and CBS views.

In the Identification group of fields, enter a name for the sort/group in the Name field, specify a category to assign to it if required and select the Display on menu check box if you want the sort/group to appear on the Sort/Group dropdown in the View Data group on the View tab, making it easier to apply the sort/group.

You use the Detail group of fields to specify the criteria by which bars and tasks should be sorted/grouped. Each criterion is displayed as a row in the grid on the left side of the dialog. You can specify more than one sort/group criterion, each one of which can be based on a different attribute of the bar or the task, or of the resources or cost centres that are assigned to tasks. For example, you can specify that bars and tasks are sorted/grouped first by the permanent resource that is assigned to them, then by their start date. If you specify more than one criterion, the bars and tasks are sorted/grouped by the primary criterion, then by the secondary criterion, and so on.

Specifying whether to retain the hierarchy of charts and summary groups

You can choose whether to retain the hierarchy of charts and summary groups when you define sort/group criteria. If you retain the hierarchy, bars and tasks are sorted/grouped within the confines of their charts (and optionally their summary groups) so that the hierarchy of the project is preserved. If you ignore the hierarchy, bars and tasks are sorted/grouped purely on a bar-by-bar or task-by-task basis, regardless of the charts or summary groups in which tasks are located. Whether or not the project hierarchy is preserved is determined by the first sort/group criteria you specify.

To specify whether to retain the hierarchy of charts and summary groups when the sort/group is applied:

Click the Type column in the first row of the grid. Select Project hierarchy (the default) if you want to retain the project hierarchy and sort/group bars and tasks within the confines of their charts or summary groups, or select a different type of sort criterion (see below for details of each) if you want to ignore the project hierarchy and sort/group bars and tasks purely on a bar-by-bar or task-by-task basis - regardless of the charts or summary groups in which they are located.

If you have selected Project hierarchy in the Type column, specify whether you want to retain the hierarchy of charts and summary groups, or of charts only, in the Attribute column. If you have selected a different type of sort/group criterion, specify the attribute on which you want to sort/group (see below for details).

You can now specify the criteria by which bars and tasks should be sorted/grouped.

Specifying individual sort/group criteria

To specify individual sort/group criteria:

Click Add. A new sort/group criterion appears in the grid.
Click the Type column and select the type of sorting/grouping you want to carry out.

Click the Attribute column and select the parameter by which bars or tasks are sorted/grouped under this sort/group criterion. The available attributes differ depending on the type of sort/group criterion.
Use the fields on the upper right side of the dialog to specify the way in which you want each sort/group criterion to be used. The fields that appear depend on the type of sort/group criterion that is selected in the grid on the left side of the dialog.

Available sort/group criteria fields

Direction - specify whether items should be sorted/grouped according to the sort/group criterion in ascending or descending order.
Insert page breaks - select this check box to insert a page break each time a sort/group criterion changes. For example, if you are sorting/grouping on calendar and you select this check box, printouts start on a new page for each group of bars or tasks that have a different calendar applied.
Retain natural order for charts and summaries - select this check box to maintain the natural order of charts and summary groups and to sort/group only their contents; clear this check box to include the expanded tasks and summary tasks that represent charts and summary groups in the sort/group.

Note that this check box only appears for 'project hierarchy' sort/group criteria.
Group by - select a time period to group items according to the criterion by day, week, month, quarter or year. If you select a time period in this field and display subheadings for the criterion, the date or duration of each time period appears in the subheadings.

If a date or duration-based sort/group displays an undesirably large number of sort bands, grouping items in this way enables you to reduce the number of sort bands that are displayed.

Note that this check box only appears for sort/group criteria that relate to dates or durations.
Show duplicate items for multiple assignments - select this check box to specify that tasks with multiple code, cost or resource allocations (or bars with multiple code allocations) appear multiple times in a sorted/grouped view: once for each unique allocation value or assigned code; clear this check box to specify that bars and tasks with multiple allocations appear once only in a sorted/grouped view, according to the first relevant allocation that corresponds to the sort/group criteria.

Note that this check box only appears for sort/group criteria that relate to assignments of one kind or another - for example, code library assignments to tasks or bars, or cost or resource assignments to tasks.
Retain hierarchy - select this check box to sort/group items according to the code library or WBS codes that have been assigned to them, with the codes listed according to their positions in the code library or WBS hierarchy; clear this check box to sort/group items according to the codes that have been assigned to them, regardless of the positions of the codes in the code library or WBS hierarchy.

Note that this check box only appears for sort/group criteria that relate to code library assignments or to the WBS, and for sort/group criteria that relate to the resource or cost centre hierarchy (it is permanently selected for the latter type of criteria).

You can also specify the levels within the hierarchy by which you want to sort/group items using the Limit hierarchy from and to fields.

Use the Appearance group of fields to specify the way in which you want the breaks in between each group of sorted bars or tasks to be highlighted.

Follow the instructions above to define as many sort/group criteria as you need to construct the sort/group. You can change the priority of each criterion by selecting it and clicking Up and Down to alter its position in the grid. Select a criterion and click Remove to delete it from the sort/group.

The Sort/Group Properties dialog may or may not display three tabs that you can use to specify how the sort/group sorts tasks in other types of view: Permanent RBS, Consumable RBS and CBS. If these three tabs are not currently displayed, you can click More >> to display them. If they are currently displayed, you can click Less << to hide them from view.