Date Zone Properties dialog - Shading tab

You use the Shading tab of the Date Zone Properties dialog to specify one or more ranges of dates between which you want to shade the bar chart. You may want to shade the bar chart between a range of dates for a variety of reasons - for example, to highlight crucial periods in a project. This date range shading is completely separate to the non-working time shading that may appear on the bar chart.

You can shade the bar chart between more than one range of dates and apply a different style of shading to each date range shading selection. If one range of dates overlaps with another, the shading is drawn on the bar chart in the order in which the date range shading selections appear in the dialog, so the shading of the first date range will be overlaid by the shading of any date range below that overlaps.

You can copy date range shading selections from one view to another - in the same project, or in a different project if required. Copying shading selections between views enables you to set up shading selections in one view and apply them to other views easily.

To access the Date Zone Properties dialog, right click the date zone and select Properties.

The dialog displays the following information about each date range shading selection:

Field Description
Enabled Select this check box to display this date range shading selection in the bar chart, or clear the check box to omit the shading selection from the bar chart.
Start

Specify the date on which you want the bar chart shading to start.

 

You can specify that the bar chart shading starts and finishes on a variable date - for example 'Today', 'Month start' and 'Year end' - rather than on a specific date. You might want to do this in order to set up bar chart shading that always shades the current month or the current quarter.

 

Using variable dates such as 'Today' or 'Tomorrow'

Finish Specify the date on which you want the bar chart shading to finish.
Foreground fill colour Select a foreground colour with which to shade the bar chart.
Background fill colour Select a background colour with which to shade the bar chart.
Pattern Select a pattern to apply to the bar chart shading selection.

The dialog displays the following buttons:

Button Description
Add Click this button to add a new date range shading selection to the current view.
Remove Click this button to delete the selected date range shading selection.
Up Click this button to move the selected date range shading selection up one position in the drawing order. The first shading selection in the list is drawn first and may be obscured by shading selections lower down the list that are drawn later.
Down Click this button to move the selected date range shading selection down one position in the drawing order.

How do I...

  1. Click Add. A new line appears in the dialog.
  2. Click the Start column and enter the date from which you want the shading to begin.
  3. Click the Finish column and enter the date at which you want the shading to finish.
  4. Specify the style of shading in the remaining columns.

To remove a date range shading selection from the bar chart permanently:

  1. Select the date range shading selection you want to remove.
  2. Click Remove.

To remove a date range shading selection from the bar chart temporarily, clear its Enabled check box. You can redisplay a shading selection that is currently disabled by reselecting its Enabled check box.

  1. Select the date range shading selection you want to configure.
  2. Click Up to move the date range shading selection towards the top of the list, or click Down to move it towards the bottom. Shading selections at the top of the list are drawn first, so may be obscured by ones drawn subsequently on top of them.

To copy a date range shading selection from a view:

  1. Access the view from which you want to copy the date range shading selections.
  2. Access the Shading tab of the Date Zone Properties dialog.
  3. Right-click the shading selection in the grid and select Copy shading to clipboard.

To copy more than one date range shading selection at the same time:

  1. CTRL-select the date range shading selections you want to copy.
  2. Right-click one of them and select Copy shading to clipboard.

To paste one or more date range shading selections that you have copied from one view into another view - in another project, if required:

  1. Access the view into which you want to paste the date range shading selections. This can be a view in the same project, or a view in a different project.
  2. Access the Shading tab of the Date Zone Properties dialog in this view.
  3. Right-click the grid and select Paste shading from clipboard.

Related Topics:

Working with dialogs

Using the date zone

Shading the bar chart between two dates

Using variable dates such as 'Today' or 'Tomorrow'