Sorting and grouping views

You can sort/group bars and tasks in the project hierarchy, and resource and cost allocations in RBS and CBS views, according to a wide variety of parameters, for example their start date, their amount of work, their cost and their percentage complete. To take a very simple example, you could sort/group the current view to list tasks in order of their start date or cost.

The first illustration below shows a number of tasks with different costs. The tasks are shown in their natural order:

Tasks are shown in their natural order

If these tasks were sorted/grouped in ascending order according to start date, they would be ordered as shown below:

Tasks sorted/grouped in ascending order according to start date

If the tasks were sorted/grouped in ascending order according to cost, they would be ordered as shown below:

Tasks sorted/grouped in ascending order according to cost

You can sort/group items according to more than one sort/group criterion. For bar and tasks sorts/groups - ie those that affect bars and tasks in the project hierarchy - each criterion 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 could specify that bars and tasks are sorted/grouped first by the permanent resource that is assigned to them, then by their start date. For RBS and CBS sorts/groups - ie those that affect resource or cost allocations in RBS and CBS views - each criterion can be based on a different attribute of the allocation, of its associated task, of the bar on which the associated task is located, or of the resource or cost centre that is associated with the allocation - or with other allocations on the associated task. For example, you could specify that allocations are sorted/grouped first by their start date, then by the unique task ID of the associated task. If you specify more than one criterion, items are sorted/grouped by the primary criterion, then by the secondary criterion, and so on.

The first illustration below shows a number of tasks with different permanent resources assigned to them. The tasks are shown in their natural order:

Tasks shown in their natural order

If these tasks were sorted/grouped in ascending order according to a single criterion - the name of the permanent resource that is assigned to them - they would be ordered as shown below:

Tasks sorted/grouped in ascending order according to a single criterion - the name of the permanent resource

If a second criterion were added to the sort/group, sorting/grouping tasks according to their start date, the tasks would be ordered as shown below - sorted/grouped first by permanent resource, then by start date:

Tasks sorted/grouped first by permanent resource, then by start date

You can create as many sorts/groups as you want in a project, each one sorting/grouping items by different criteria. Each sort/group can have a different set of sorting/grouping criteria for each of the following types of view:

  • Bars and tasks in the project hierarchy.
  • RBS views for permanent resources.
  • RBS views for consumable resources.
  • CBS views.

For example, the same sort/group could sort/group tasks in the project hierarchy according to their calendar then their cost, and allocations in a cost breakdown structure according to their finish date. Alternatively, a sort/group may specify sort/group criteria for only one type of view - for example, bars and tasks in the project hierarchy.

You can use sort/group categories to classify the sorts/groups in your project. Categorising sorts/groups in this way makes it easier to find the sort/group you are looking for, for example when selecting a sort/group to apply to the active view.

You cannot sort/group calendar views.

If you edit a bar or task in a way that would alter its position in a sorted/grouped view, for example editing its cost or code library, the tasks are not automatically re-sorted/grouped. The view is re-sorted/grouped when you do any of the following:

  • Press F5 to refresh the view.
  • Display a different chart in the view, or display multiple charts in the view by CTRL-clicking them in the project view.
  • Apply a filter to the view or edit the filter already applied to the view.
  • Open or close a summary bar, which re-sorts/groups the bars and tasks within its summary group.

If you insert a bar in a sorted/grouped view, the position of the new bar in the natural order is determined by the preceding bar in the sorted/grouped view: Asta Powerproject places the new bar after the preceding bar in the natural order. If you insert a new bar at the top of a sorted/grouped view (where there is no preceding bar), the bar is positioned before the succeeding bar in the natural order.

If you insert a task into a sorted/grouped view, the task inherits attributes based on the sort/group criteria of the sorted group of tasks into which the task is inserted. For example, if you insert a task into a view that is sorted/grouped by a particular code library, the task will inherit the specific code that relates to the sorted group of tasks into which the task is inserted. This sort group attribute inheritance is in addition to the attributes that are inherited either from the bar chart default settings or from a neighbouring task.

Related Topics:

Creating, applying and editing sorts/groups

Categorising sorts/groups

Grouping tasks or allocations by day, week, month, quarter or year

Sorting on spreadsheet columns

Specifying where new tasks inherit their attributes from