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Asta Powerproject
Tutorial
Copyright
Copyright 2006 Asta Development plc. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
Asta Powerproject and Asta Powerdraw are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Asta Development plc.
Microsoft, Visual Basic and Windows are with registered
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States or
in other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle
Corporation.
All other trademarks are acknowledged.
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Table of contents
1
Introduction.................................................................7
2.3
2.4
Getting Help................................................................10
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Copying a subchart.....................................................27
4.5
4.6
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
7.7
7.8
Progressing projects................................................71
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
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8.8
8.9
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
10
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Introduction
Introduction
This guide is intended to help you as you work with Asta
Powerproject for the first time. It introduces you to the key
features and enables you to get up and running with Asta
Powerproject quickly. While completing these lessons, you
will learn how to use Asta Powerproject to mirror the complex
array of activities, resources and costs that are involved in a
programme of projects
We recommend that you work through the chapters of this
tutorial in order, which should take between 2-3 hours,
depending on your level of experience in working with project
and programme management software, your familiarity with
project management, etc. However, you can also work
through individual sections of the tutorial on their own. To
enable you to do this, a number of Asta Powerproject project
files are located in the \Tutorial Project Files\ folder on the
Asta Powerproject CD. To start at a particular section of the
tutorial, simply open the appropriate project file from this
folder, then work through the section
This guide contains the following chapters:
and work with direct costs and resource costs within your
programme of projects.
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2.1
R CD-ROM drive.
R Mouse or other pointing device.
To install Asta Powerproject:
1. Run Windows.
2. Insert the Asta Powerproject CD into your computer's CD
drive. After a few moments, the setup program will
appear.
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2.2
2.3
2.4
Getting Help
While you work with Asta Powerproject, Help is just a click
away. You can access Asta Powerprojects online Help in the
following ways:
or
then
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3.1
1. Select the New command from the File menu. You see
the New Project Wizard:
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spreadsheet
bar chart
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project view
spreadsheet
bar chart
3.2
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2. Move the cursor over the first bar in the Name column,
then click. A text insertion line appears, indicating where
the task name will appear when you start typing.
3.3
1. Place the cursor over a tick line (the small red vertical
lines) in the date zone so that the cursor changes to
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the tick line to
the right. The date zone redraws as you drag, so that
you can see the effect of your changes immediately.
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The date zone is configurable: you can choose the lines that
appear in it and reorder their position. Your date zone may
contain different lines to the ones that appear in this guide.
You will now configure the date zone so that it includes the
line that shows the days of the week:
You can hide lines that are currently displayed in the date
zone:
3.4
2. Press and hold down the left mouse button, then drag
the cursor to the right. As you drag, a popup box displays
the start date, end date and duration of the task you are
drawing:
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3.5
3.6
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1. Move the cursor over the task on bar 3 so that the cursor
changes to
2. Press and hold down the left mouse button, then drag
the cursor to the right. As you drag, a popup box displays
the start date, end date and duration of the task you are
editing.
3.7
3.8
1. Move the cursor over the task on bar 4 so that the cursor
changes to
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2. Press and hold down the left mouse button, then drag
the cursor to the right. As you drag, a popup box displays
the start date, end date and duration of the task you are
moving.
3.9
2. Press and hold down the left mouse button, then drag
the cursor to the right to draw another task on the same
bar:
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3.10
Site Planning.
Fabrication.
Construction.
Completion.
Linking tasks
You specify the order in which tasks take place by drawing
links from one task to another. You can draw links starting
and ending anywhere along the length of tasks.
A common link is a Finish-to-Start link, where one task (the
predecessor task) must finish before another task (the
successor task) can start.
To draw a Finish-to-Start link between two tasks:
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor
away. Notice that you now have a line from the end of
the task to the cursor. The line is attached to the cursor
until you release the mouse button.
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3.11
R All tasks now have a thick red border, indicating that they
are critical: if any task overruns or is delayed, the end
date of the project will be affected.
3.12
3.13
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Now click
to reschedule the project again. After the
reschedule, the project should look something like this:
3.14
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3. Clear the Free float, Total float and Critical path check
boxes, then click Apply.
3.15
milestone by changing
the duration of a task
to zero.
To create a milestone:
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3.16
1. Click
away from the box to finish typing. The box resizes itself
to fit around the annotation:
3.17
3.18
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4.1
Multi-user environment
If you use Asta Powerproject in a multi-user environment by
connecting to an Enterprise server, you can save a project
locally, as with Asta Powerproject standalone, or to a servermounted database. Each database holds one or more group
projects, each of which can contain one or more projects.
Each project can then be subdivided into subprojects.
Objects such as resources, calendars and codes are shared
across group projects.
4.2
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4.3
2. Hold down SHIFT and click bar 5 in the Line column. All
the bars in the project are now selected.
5. Enter Site A in the Bar Title and Task Title fields, then
click OK.
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4.4
Copying a subchart
In many situations, you will want to maintain a programme of
projects that have similarities. For example, if you follow the
same methodology for the production of a range of items,
you may want to create a single project for each product. A
simple way of creating a programme of similar projects is to
copy an existing project and edit it.
To copy a subchart:
4.5
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Note also that the icon of the root chart has changed to .
This indicates that the chart contains one or more projects.
You have now created a simple programme of projects.
Having more than one project within the same file enables
you to manage your projects as a portfolio. All the projects
share common items such as the resource pool, codes and
calendars. You can also report on the projects individually, or
together as a portfolio.
In addition, for each individual project, you can record the
likelihood, in percentage terms, of the project actually going
ahead, and reflect this likelihood in histograms. This is useful
during the early stages of project and resource planning.
4.6
1. Click
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2. Select User from the tree view. You see the default user
folder, Admin, that is defined initially in the list view in the
right-hand pane. This is the top-level user, with full
access rights to the entire programme. You will turn this
user into a folder, so that it can contain subusers.
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Now that you have created the users, you can define their
access rights. By default, users have full access rights to the
entire programme, from the root chart downwards. As this
level of access is appropriate for the Admin user, you do not
need to edit this user's access rights.
To define access rights:
You use this tab to specify the rights that the user has to
each subchart in your programme of projects. The
project hierarchy is displayed in an expandable tree on
the left.
7. Click OK.
8. Double-click the Admin Assistant user. The User
Properties dialog appears.
10. With Root chart selected, click Select All, then click
None. All access rights are removed from the root chart
and from all its subcharts.
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11. Select the check boxes in the Read column to give the
Admin Assistant read-only access to the programme of
projects.
6. Click OK.
7. Select the Passwords command from the Tools menu
to display the Passwords dialog again.
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11. Enter Projman in the New password for user field. The
password does not appear on the screen as you type it,
for security reasons.
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5.1
5.2
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5.3
1. Click
Notice that each code currently has the same colour and
pattern. You will now change the foreground colours to
differentiate between the codes:
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1. Click
London magenta.
Preston white.
5.4
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5. Click and drag the Medium risk factor code from the
project view and drop it onto one of the selected tasks.
You may see a dialog asking if you want to display the
Risk Factor code library in the current view. If you do see
the dialog, select the Do not show this alert again
check box and click No.
6. Click and drag the Low risk factor code from the project
view and drop it onto the Inspection task.
5.5
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5.6
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10. This screen lists the available code libraries. You want to
filter by the Preston location code, so click the + symbol
next to the Location code library to view the location
codes, then select the check box next to the Preston
code:
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5.7
4. Click the Filter Criteria tab and click Edit. The first
screen of the Filter Wizard appears.
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. Progress appears in
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5. Click Close.
The annotation disappears, as the milestone to which it is
attached is not yet complete, so does not match the filter
criteria.
Later on, you will progress your project. When you progress
the final task in the project (the Completion milestone), the
annotation will appear automatically.
5.8
R A spreadsheet table.
R A filter.
R A sort order.
You can define as many views as you want within a project,
to be accessed by all users. Each user can also define their
own custom views.
Now that you have colour-coded your tasks, you will create a
resource pool for use throughout your programme of
projects.
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6.1
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6.2
6.3
1. Click
1. Click
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1. Click
2. Click the
resource.
3. Hold down CTRL and SHIFT, then click and drag the
icon over the Approver permanent resource folder in the
tree view:
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6.4
consumable resources
to tasks in the same
way.
6.5
Notice that two new rows are inserted into the spreadsheet
and bar chart under the Construction and Completion tasks,
indicating the permanent resources that are assigned to
them:
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You use this tab to define the graphs you want to include
in the histogram. The Allocation graph appears by
default. In this lesson you will change this to Capped
Allocation and add the Over Allocation graph.
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6.6
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6.7
1. Create a new task on the first spare row of the bar chart
called Electrics. Give it a duration approximately half that
of the Construction task.
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Delaying tasks.
Delaying resource allocations on tasks.
Splitting resource allocations.
Stretching tasks to increase their duration and decrease
their resource allocation.
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Click
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6.8
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Managing costs
Managing costs
This chapter explains how to set up cost centres and work
with direct costs and resource costs within your programme
of projects.
This chapter includes the following information:
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7.1
Introduction to costs.
Creating a cost centre library.
Setting up your cost centres.
Assigning direct costs to tasks.
Assigning costs to permanent resources.
Assigning costs to consumable resources.
Viewing cost information.
Introduction to costs
Asta Powerproject deals with two kinds of costs:
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7.2
7.3
1. Click
1. Click
7.4
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Managing costs
R Fixed costs these are for costs that you know will not
change, regardless of the time taken or the amount of
work undertaken.
R Fixed date the start or end date of the cost bar is set to
a specific date, which does not change even if the task
date changes.
1. Double-click the
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5. Click Close.
Now set up the other cost centres you have created, entering
the following information into the Default Assignment tab for
each cost centre:
Construction costs
Field
Enter/Select
Calculation type
Time Based
Start type
Start delay
1d
End type
End delay
1d
Cost
Completion costs
Field
Enter/Select
Calculation type
Fixed
Start type
Start delay
1w
Point spend
Selected
Cost
500.00
Planning costs
Field
Enter/Select
Calculation type
Time Based
Start type
Start delay
0h
End type
End delay
0h
Cost
When you have set up the cost centres, select the View
submenu from the View menu, then select Close to close
Library Explorer.
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Managing costs
7.5
4. Click and drag the Planning costs cost centre from the
project view and drop it onto the second task on the Site
Planning bar.
Notice that a new row is inserted into the spreadsheet and
bar chart under the Site Planning bar, indicating the cost
centre that is assigned to the second task:
This cost is time-based, with its start and end directly related
to the start and end of the second Site Planning task.
Therefore the duration of the task mirrors that of the task
precisely. If you were to move the second Site Planning task
to a later date, or increase its duration, the associated cost
changes accordingly. Try this now to see the effect on the
cost, then click
to return the second Site Planning task to
its original dates and duration.
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Managing costs
7.6
1. Click
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5. Double-click the
8. Click Close.
9. Follow the steps above to create a new cost rate called
Builder Rate, with a rate of 30.00 per hour and
associated with the Construction costs cost centre.
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Managing costs
8. Click Close.
9. Select the View submenu from the View menu, then
select Close to close Library Explorer.
Now that you have assigned cost rates to Martin Webb, you
will assign him to a number of tasks:
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7.7
1. Click
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Managing costs
9. Click Close.
Follow the steps above to specify default costs for the Steel
and Wood consumable resources as follows:
Steel
Field
Enter/Select
10.00
0.50
Construction costs
Wood
Field
Enter/Select
15.00
1.00
Construction costs
When you have set up the default costs, select the View
submenu from the View menu, then select Close to close
Library Explorer. You will now assign the three consumable
resources to the Fabrication task in the Site A project:
2. Click and drag each resource in turn and drop them onto
the Fabrication task.
Notice that the cost of each allocation is displayed in the
Cost column of the spreadsheet:
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7.8
R View the cost of a bar or task using the Bar and Task
Properties dialog.
To view the total cost or income for a particular resource or
cost centre, rather than for individual allocations, display the
Roll-ups tab of the Properties dialog for that resource or
cost centre within Library Explorer. A resource's costs are
shown as follows:
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Progressing projects
Progressing projects
This chapter explains how to record the progress of your
programme of projects in Asta Powerproject. Progressing
projects on a regular basis is essential in order to keep your
project information up to date.
This chapter includes the following information:
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8.2
8.3
1. Click
2. Select Progress Period from the tree view. You see the
default progress period displayed in the list view. The
report date of this progress period is the date on which
you started to create your programme of projects. You
will edit this progress period and create some more.
3. Double-click the
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Progressing projects
5. Click Close.
You will now create six more progress periods:
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5. Click Close.
Notice that coloured lines are displayed on the bar chart,
indicating the report date of each progress period:
8.4
individual objects
within a project by
selecting them before
you create the
baseline.
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Progressing projects
8.5
Recording progress
There are two methods of working when assigning progress:
you can report progress using estimates of the completed
duration or percentage complete of a task, or using estimates
of the amount of a resource or cost allocation that has been
completed:
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Progressing projects
4. Click OK.
The project is rescheduled. As the progress line of the Week
2 progress period was already straight ie progress was
exactly on track there is no change to the project.
You can also assign a progress period to a task or allocation
by dragging the progress period from Library Explorer onto
the task:
1. Click
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progress period to
more than one task at
a time by selecting
multiple tasks.
to apply progress to
tasks and allocations in
a variety of ways.
3. Enter 50% in the first row of the Current column and click
outside the field. The progress information is updated to
show the 50% of the task remains to be completed.
4. Click Close.
Notice that the task is now split into two. Progress is
displayed on the first portion of the task in green, the colour
of the Week 3 progress period and no progress is shown on
the second half of the task:
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Progressing projects
Let us now assume that you have reached the end of the
Week 3 progress period. Reschedule your project as
described above, but this time select Week 3 in the
Straighten progress line to period field, to indicate that you
want to straighten the progress line of the Week 3 progress
period, pushing all uncompleted tasks to the right of it.
After the project is rescheduled, note how all uncompleted
tasks are pushed to the right of the Week 3 progress line,
indicating that the tasks have yet to be completed and that
the project is starting to run behind schedule:
1. Click
Mode.
3. Click and drag the Progress Entry Mode cursor over the
task from left to right. Notice that a popup window
displays the amount of progress you are entering as you
drag:
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Progressing projects
5. Let us now assume that you have reached the end of the
Week 5 progress period. Reschedule your project again,
but this time straighten the progress line to Week 5. The
Construction task is split, progress is recorded on the
first portion of it, and the second portion of it is moved
beyond the Week 5 progress line:
8.6
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5. Clear the two check boxes that you had selected in the
Format Bar Chart dialog and click Close to remove the
baseline from the bar chart.
As well as comparing projects with baselines, you can use
baselines to experiment with 'what if' scenarios: baseline a
project and try out your ideas by editing the baseline. If you
are happy with the result, you can revert to your baseline,
meaning that the baseline becomes the actual project.
8.7
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Progressing projects
You will now record that the final task in the project, the
Completion milestone, is complete. Once the milestone is
complete, the Project Complete annotation will be displayed:
8.8
8.9
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9.1
9.2
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Within each border is a chart area, in which the view that you
print from Asta Powerproject is placed.
In this tutorial you will use one of the default borders that is
supplied with Asta Powerproject.
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9.3
9.4
Preparing to print
Before you print, you must ensure that the active view
displays the information that you want. For example, you
could print the spreadsheet without the bar chart by turning
off the bar chart, or turn off some display features to avoid
including too much information in the printout.
In this example, prepare the Site A project for printing by
selecting the Histogram View command from the View
menu to display the histogram that you defined earlier.
The view should look something like this:
9.5
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2. When you move the cursor over the preview, the cursor
shape changes to
. Click and drag the cursor over a
section of the previewed page to zoom in and view the
selection in more detail. The cursor shape then changes
to
. Click to zoom out.
3. Click
9.6
. A pictogram
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3. Click
9.7
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Producing reports
10
Producing reports
This chapter explains how to produce reports from within
Asta Powerproject.
This chapter includes the following information:
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10.1
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10.2
10.3
1. Click
You can now create a tabular report within the category you
have created.
10.4
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Producing reports
4. When you have entered all the report settings, the wizard
displays a screen that enables you to review the settings
you have selected. click Finish to create the report once
you have reviewed your selections.
The report appears within the tabular report category in
Library Explorer:
10.5
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You can use the Print Preview toolbar to configure the way in
which the report will be printed, then click
report.
10.6
to print the
Conclusion
This completes the Asta Powerproject tutorial. You now have
the knowledge you need to create and maintain programmes
of projects within Asta Powerproject.
This tutorial has taught you the basics. For more detailed
information on how to make the most of Asta Powerprojects
powerful features, refer to Asta Powerprojects
comprehensive online Help.
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