Configuring Asta Vision to use global libraries

You use the Global Libraries page to configure Asta Vision to use global libraries. These are calendars, codes, progress periods, quality checks and resources that can be stored in a global library file in Asta Vision and used in any number of individual projects, saving you from having to set up the same libraries in your projects multiple times. If you configure Asta Vision to use global libraries, you use the Global Libraries page to specify which types of library object should be included in the global libraries. For example, you may want to have global libraries for calendars, code libraries and permanent resources, but not for progress periods, quality checks and consumable resources.

To access the Global Libraries page from the Asta Vision Home page, click Admin then click Global Libraries. Only users to whom the 'Manage Global Library Options' security rule has been applied are able to access this page.

If you do not use global libraries, each individual project has its own calendar, code library, progress period, quality check, permanent resource and consumable resource libraries, stored in the Asta Powerproject project file. You maintain these libraries by opening individual projects in Asta Powerproject and using Library Explorer. This way of working may suit you if you manage a disparate range of projects, with each project using different calendars, codes, resources, etc.

If your projects all use the same set of calendars, codes, resources, etc, using global libraries can save you a significant amount of time, as this allows you to maintain a single - 'global' - library that contains the calendars, codes, resources, etc that are used throughout your projects. If you need to add a new permanent resource, edit a calendar or rename a code, using global libraries means that you only need to do this once, rather than having to make the same change in each individual project.

If you enable the use of global libraries, Asta Vision creates a global library file that contains the libraries corresponding to the check boxes you select on this page. For example, if you select the Calendars check box but not the Consumable Resources check box, the global library file will contain a 'calendar' library but will not contain a 'consumable resource' library.

You can specify that the following types of library object should be included in the global library file:

  • Calendars.
  • Code libraries.
  • Progress periods.
  • Quality checks.
  • Permanent resources.
  • Consumable resources.

Calendars, permanent resources and consumable resources depend on other library objects, so if you include any of these library object types, other objects are included automatically in the global library file:

If calendars are included in the global library file, the following library object types are also included:

  • Exceptions.
  • Work patterns.

If you include permanent resources in the global library file, the following library object types are also included:

  • Calendars - which means that exceptions and work patterns are also included.
  • Code library entries.
  • Cost and income rates.
  • Cost centres.
  • Currency units.
  • Milestone appearances.
  • Resource curves.
  • Standard work.
  • Time units.
  • Work units.

If you include consumable resources in the global library file, the following library object types are also included:

  • Calendars - which means that exceptions and work patterns are also included.
  • Code library entries.
  • Cost centres.
  • Currency units.
  • Milestone appearances.
  • Resource curves.
  • Time units.

When you check out or download an Asta Vision programme in Asta Powerproject, or when you start a collaboration session on a programme, Library Explorer is populated with library objects from the global library file, plus any library objects that have been created locally within the programme. Global library objects are identified in Library Explorer with a small blue cloud on the right of their icon: A Library Explorer folder with a small blue cloud over the right side of it.

In checked out programmes and in collaboration sessions, you can assign global library objects and view their properties, but you cannot edit or delete them; you can only edit or delete them within the Global Library Explorer. In downloaded programmes, you can assign global library objects, edit them and delete them, but your changes are not saved as you cannot commit any changes to downloaded programmes.

You can create and edit 'local' library objects - library objects that are specific to the programme in which they are created - within global libraries. For example, if your permanent resources are managed globally, you can still create a 'local' permanent resource. If you do this, the locally-created library objects will be available in that programme only, and will not be added to the global library file. You cannot create 'child' objects of global parents. For example, if there is a global 'Plumbers' permanent resource folder, you cannot create a local resource within that folder.

Note that you cannot set library access rights on global libraries in Asta Powerproject; global libraries do not appear on the Security Group Properties dialog.

Only users to whom the 'Edit Global Library File' security rule has been applied are able to maintain the global library file in Asta Powerproject.

If you use global libraries, you cannot check programmes in or out using the Asta Vision website; you must check them in and out using Asta Powerproject. The only exception to this is if your user role has been assigned to the 'Override Check In/Out Programme Restrictions' security rule, in which case you can check programmes in and out using the Asta Vision website; but you must only do this in exceptional circumstances, for example if a programme has become corrupted. If you download a revision of a programme, a warning appears, informing you that the global library file may be out of date.

To configure Asta Vision to use global libraries:

  1. On the Global Libraries page, select the Global Library Support check box.
  2. Select the check boxes to the left of the library object types that you want to include in the global libraries; clear a check box to omit a library object type from the global libraries.

    Permanent and consumable resources depend on calendars and code libraries, so if you select the Permanent Resources or Consumable Resources check box, the Calendars and Code Libraries check boxes are selected automatically and ghosted, so that you cannot clear them.

    If you omit a library object type that has previously been included in the global libraries, any library objects of this type are not deleted from the global library file; they are retained so that they can be used again in the future if you decide to re-enable their use.
  3. Click Save to save your settings and return to the Admin page.

You edit the global library file in Asta Powerproject.

Before attempting to edit the global library file, make sure that it is not checked out to another user, as if it is, you will not be able to access it.

To edit the global library file in Asta Powerproject:

  1. Click the File tab, then click Open.
  2. Click Vision. If you are not already logged in, a button appears for you to log into Asta Vision.
  3. Log into Asta Vision.
  4. Click Manage Global Libraries. This button appears only if your user role has been assigned to the 'Edit Global Library File' security rule in Asta Vision. The global library file is checked out and downloaded from Asta Vision and appears in the Global Library Explorer, where you can edit it.

    If the global library file is currently checked out to a different user, you are informed of this and the Global Library Explorer does not appear.
  5. If this is the first time the global library file has been accessed, it will contain only a small number of default objects and you will need to populate it with library objects. You can do this by creating them from scratch; by opening one or more other projects in Asta Powerproject and copying and pasting library objects from Library Explorer into the Global Library Explorer; or by a combination of both these things.
  6. Once you have finished editing the global library file in the Global Library Explorer, you should check it in, using the Check-In control, in the Vision group, on the Home tab of the Ribbon. Any changes you have made to the global library file are checked in and will be available in projects when they are checked out.

    If you want to cancel your changes to the global library file, click Cancel Check-Out in the Vision group instead. If you do this, any changes you have made to the global library file since you last checked it out are lost.

After you have checked in the global library file, you should update your Business Intelligence schema to reflect any changes you have made.

If you have an Asta Vision programme checked out or under collaboration at the same time as the global library file, the global library file is checked in at the same time if you check in or submit the programme. If you try to close a programme without checking it back in and you have checked out the global library file, a warning appears telling you that you must check in the global library file. This is to prevent you from leaving it checked out to your computer, which would prevent other users from being able to access it.

Once Asta Vision is configured to use global libraries, the first time a user checks out a programme or starts a collaboration session, the library objects in that programme are synchronised with the objects in the global library file.

When the global library file is subsequently changed, synchronisation takes place the next time a user checks out a programme or starts a collaboration session.

During synchronisation:

  • Library objects that have been added to the global library file are added to the appropriate library in the programme that is being checked out or collaborated on.
  • Edits to library objects in the global library file are made to the library objects in the programme that is being checked out or collaborated on.
  • Library objects that have been deleted from the global library file are not deleted from the appropriate library in the programme that is being checked out or collaborated on; instead, such objects are flagged as being a 'Deleted global library'. They are no longer controlled by Asta Vision but cannot be edited.

    You may wish to delete these objects from individual programmes, or convert them into local objects. To convert an object - and any 'child' objects, if the object is a folder - into a local object, right-click the library object in the Global Library Explorer and select Make Local Library. Note that it is not possible to convert individual code library entries into local objects; instead, you must convert the entire code library into a local object.

If you download a programme from Asta Vision, global library synchronisation takes place to ensure that the downloaded programme has the latest global library changes, and you are able to edit and delete global library objects in the downloaded programme.

If you disable the use of global libraries, the global library file is no longer checked out along with programmes, and each individual project reverts to having its own individual libraries, stored in the Asta Powerproject project file.

If you disable the use of global libraries, the global library file is not deleted; it is retained, with all the global library objects it contains, so that it can be used again in the future if you decide to re-enable its use.

To disable the use of global libraries:

  1. On the Global Libraries page, clear the Global Library Support check box.
  2. Click Save to save your settings and return to the Admin page.

Related Topics:

Configuring security rules

Using Asta Vision Live to enable users to collaborate on projects