Viewing Gantt from a Project Record

You can view the following in Gantt format from the project record without opening Gantt:

• Project tasks.
• Project task hierarchy.
• Any dependencies between tasks.
• Project task assignments and the resources or resource roles assigned, including external resources. Avatars enable you to see at a glance who is assigned to a task:
  • Avatars show the profile image of the user referenced in the Salesforce User field of the resource’s contact record, provided you have the required permissions.
  • A is shown if there are more assigned resources than can be displayed.
  • If an avatar is not available for an assigned resource or if the resource is an external resource, the resource's initials are displayed.
  • If there is no resource assigned but there is a role assignment, the initials of the role are displayed. For example, if the role is project manager, PM is displayed.
  • If you hover over an avatar or any initials, the relevant resource names or roles are displayed.

Viewing Project Tasks

To bring a project task into view on the Gantt chart, click the project task name on the relevant row. If you hover over a project task, a tooltip is displayed containing the task name and the start and end dates.

Child tasks are displayed underneath their parent tasks on the Gantt chart. The start and end dates of parent tasks reflect the details within the child tasks. For more information on how the tasks are displayed, including the color-coding, see Gantt Chart Controls.

If a work calendar A calendar that defines the working days, hours and public holidays for a resource, region, practice or group. is associated with the project, any non-working time is shaded gray. For more information about work calendars and holidays, see About Time Periods, Work Calendars, and Holidays and Using Work Calendars in Gantt.

If is selected in the toolbar, days or date ranges when resources are over allocated are shaded in gray with a red outline on the Gantt timeline. For more information, see Identifying Over Allocated Resources.

Warning:

If the time zone used by your operating system is different from your Salesforce user time zone, the dates and times on the project tasks might be inaccurate.

If required, an administrator can add custom columns containing useful details, in addition to the Name and Assigned Resources columns. For more information, see Project Gantt Lightning Component Properties.

Tips:

You can reorder the columns by dragging them into the required position. The column positions are retained whenever you use the same browser on the same device.

You can hide columns if they contain information you don't need. Right-click the column heading and select Hide column. To show a hidden column, right-click any column heading and select the column you want to show from the Columns sub-menu.

To reload the data displayed, click . This is useful if, for example, project tasks or project task assignments were created or updated after you loaded the project record page, or if you have made a change in a different tab. If there are changes in the project tasks or any other records on Gantt, you receive a message to reload the chart.

Viewing Record Details

To view more information about a project task from the Gantt chart on a project record, do one of the following:

• Double-click the task on the Gantt chart.
• Select the task and click .
• Double-click the project task's bar on the Gantt chart.

The information is displayed on the Task tab in a Record Details panel. The fields on the Task tab are controlled by your administrator. Any details you don't have permission to view are omitted.

To view details of resources that are related to the currently selected task, you can switch from the Task tab to the Resources tab in the Record Details panel. Alternatively, you can double-click a resource's avatar or initials that are displayed in the Assigned Resources column to open the Resources tab in the Record Details panel. You cannot view details of external resources or a resource's role.

Tip:

If there are multiple resources assigned to a task, you can delete the currently selected resource from the Search Contacts field on the Resources tab, click the Search Contacts field, and select another resource from the list to view their details.

For information on permissions, see Permissions for the Project Gantt Lightning Component.

For more information about the Record Details panel, see Viewing Record Details.

Expanding or Contracting the Gantt Chart

To expand or contract the Gantt chart:

• Click to expand the Gantt chart to full view.
• Click to return it to its original size.

Changing the View

The default view available is Months but you can change it to Days, Weeks, Quarters, or Years. The option you select is retained between browser sessions.

To center the view on the current date, click Today.

Searching for a Project Task

To search for a project task using the Search field in the toolbar, start typing characters from anywhere in the project task name. PSA searches the tasks on the current project and narrows down the search results as you type.

Notes:

If you click Export after searching, only the tasks returned in the search results are exported.

Lines indicating dependencies between project tasks are only displayed if both project tasks are returned in the search results. For more information on dependencies in Gantt, see Managing Project Task Dependencies.

Parent tasks are always displayed to provide context for child tasks returned in a search.

Identifying Over Allocated Resources

From Gantt on a project record, you can see immediately when a project task has over allocated resources so that you can take action to reduce potential delivery risks on the current project. To show or hide details of over allocation, click in the toolbar. If is not available, contact your administrator.

Warning:

If there are too many schedules and schedule exceptions for Gantt to load for the current project, a message is displayed and you cannot use the over allocation feature. In these circumstances, click to hide over allocation on this project. You might still be able to view over allocation details on other projects that include fewer schedules and schedule exceptions.

Over allocation is indicated in the following ways:

• Days or date ranges when resources are over allocated are shaded in gray with a red outline on the Gantt timeline. If you hover over the header at the top of the shading, a tooltip lists the resources who are over allocated during that day or date range.
• A icon is displayed at the start of a row containing a project task with resources assigned who are over allocated during that task. If you hover over the icon, a tooltip lists the over allocated resources.

For additional information on how tasks are displayed in Gantt on a project record, including color-coding, see Gantt Chart Controls.

Viewing Project Status and Performance

You can view a project’s status and performance on the Gantt chart by comparing the start and end dates of the project tasks in the baseline version with those of the project task:

1. Click and select Baseline.
2. The baseline bar appears on the Gantt. You can compare the project task dates in the baseline with that of the existing project task from the tooltip details displayed when you hover over the bars.  

The following details are displayed in the baseline bar tooltip:

• Baseline (Version Name)
• Project Task Name
• Start Date
• End Date
• A warning if the project task has a delayed start or has overrun

The following color-coding is used on the baseline bar:

• Blue: the project task is in the neutral status and running on time.
• Green: the project task is running ahead of time.
• Orange: the project task is delayed or has overrun.

You can also compare the actual dates of the project tasks with their planned dates and analyze the status of the project task:

1. Click and select Actual Dates.
2. The actual dates bar displays on Gantt. You can compare the actual dates of the project task with its planned dates from the tooltip details displayed when you hover over the bars.

The following details are displayed in the actual dates bar tooltip:

• Actual Dates
• Project Task Name
• Start Date
• End Date
• A warning if the project task has a delayed start or has overrun

The following color-coding is used on the actual dates bar:

• Blue: the project task is in the neutral status and running on time.
• Green: the project task is running ahead of time.
• Orange: the project task is delayed or has overrun.

You can also select both the Baseline and Actual Dates options together to compare them with the project task.

Notes:

• If the button or the Baseline, or Actual Dates options are not visible in the Gantt toolbar, contact your administrator.
• If there is no baseline data or no actual dates available for the tasks and you select that option, the option's bar is not displayed and you get an information message.
• If the project task has an actual start date but no actual end date, then the task is in progress. You can hover over the actual dates bar to view the task status.

Viewing the Critical Path

To show or hide the critical path The longest path of planned activities to the end of the project. This shows the earliest and latest each task can start and finish without making the project longer. This is the shortest time in which the project can be completed. of the current project in Gantt, click . If the button is not available, contact your administrator.

When the critical path is displayed, tasks that end on or after the project end date and any dependent tasks are highlighted.

Notes: Changing the end date or duration of any task in the critical path might affect the end date of the project.

When using the critical path, we recommend that you select Adjust This Project's End Date in Gantt Preferences. For more information, see Gantt Preferences and Using Critical Path in Gantt.

For more information on the critical path and dependencies, see Using Critical Path in Gantt and Managing Project Task Dependencies.

Exporting Data to Microsoft Project

To export the data to a file in XML format, click Export. You can then open the XML file in Microsoft Project 2013 or later. The following data is exported:

• Project details
• Project tasks
• Project task assignments and the resources or resource roles assigned, including external resources
• Project task dependencies
• Project work calendar
• Data in custom columns

Notes:

If you have used the Search field to narrow down the tasks displayed, only the tasks returned in the search results are exported.

Project tasks are exported with a 24/7 work calendar.

If Export is not visible, contact your administrator.

Exporting Data in Custom Columns

Data in custom columns is mapped from Salesforce data types to Microsoft Project custom field types as shown in the table below.

Mappings Used for Custom Columns

Salesforce Data Type	Microsoft Project Custom Field Type	Notes
Address	Text
Boolean	Flag
Date	Date
Datetime	Date
Double	Number
Email	Text
Integer	Number
Location	Text
Long	Number
Lookup	Text	Lookup fields are exported using the lookup record’s name. For example, a lookup to a milestone called 50% Complete would export with the value 50% Complete.
Phone	Text
Picklist	Text	Picklists are exported using the label of the picklist value. This means the same value might be exported differently depending on the label translation. Multi picklists are not currently supported.
String	Text
Textarea	Text
Time	Text
URL	Text

There is a limit to the number of custom columns you can export for each Microsoft Project custom field type.

Warning:

Any custom columns that exceed the maximum limit for each custom field type are excluded from the export. Columns that are within the limits are still exported.

Maximum Number of Fields Available Per Custom Field Type

Microsoft Project Custom Field Type	Maximum Number of Fields Available
Date	10
Flag	20
Number	20
Text	30

To view the data in an exported custom column in Microsoft Project, click the Add New Column column heading when viewing the exported data and select the relevant entry from the column selection list displayed.

Notes:

If the time zone used by your operating system is different from your Salesforce user time zone, the dates and times on the project tasks might be inaccurate.

The character limit on fields exported as text is 255.

Microsoft Project does not support exported numbers with more than 14 digits.

You can't currently export Currency and Percent data types.

Data is exported in the order shown on the grid. If you exceed the maximum number of custom columns for a Microsoft Project custom field type, you can hide any columns you don't need as hidden columns are excluded from the export. To prioritize columns, drag and drop them toward the left of the grid so they appear earlier in the export.

Custom fields are aliased in the Microsoft Project export and appear twice in the column selection list in the following formats:

• Type: Column Name (Aliased Field)
• Aliased Field: (Type: Column Name)