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Plan User Manual
Plan for Nokia 9XXX
User Guide
Version 3.00
Copyright © Twiddlebit Software 2004
All rights reserved.
Some of the names used within this manual and displayed by the software are registered
trademarks. Such names are acknowledged as trademarks even though they have not been
marked with the ® symbol.
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Plan User Manual INTRODUCTION About this manual This manual describes how to use the Twiddlebit Plan project planning tool. This manual is specific to Plan running on the Nokia Series 9XXX Communicator (9210, 9210i, 9300 or 9500). The section “Project planning” describes key concepts used throughout this manual and should be read before the rest of the manual. Plan is easy to use, provided that the fundamental concepts are understood. This manual should be sufficient in order to use Plan
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Plan User Manual Installation Plan may be supplied in various forms: 1. Pre-installed on an MMC. In this case simply insert the MMC into the Communicator and Plan should appear as a new application. It will appear as an icon either in the Extras or Desk group. 2. As a SIS file. Use the standard mechanism for installing the SIS file, i.e. one of the following techniques: · With the Communicator connected to your PC, use the software provided you’re your Communicator to install the SIS fi
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Plan User Manual Purchase Options Plan is shareware, which means that if you continue to use it you should register with Twiddlebit. The software may be freely distributed provided all files in the package are included. The freely available trial version is fully functional but will be limited in one of two ways: 1. A maximum of 10 tasks may be entered until the software is registered by entering a special code via the register menu option. 2. If the version of Plan provided is integrate
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Plan User Manual Twiddlebit Software, 23 Worcester Avenue, Hardwick, Cambridgeshire. CB3 7XG. U.K. We cannot accept non-UK cheques at the above address. If necessary, we can accept cash via post (£15 or US$25). When registering via post it is important to state the following: · Which product you are registering, i.e. “Plan for Nokia 9XXX”. · If you have an e-mail address please quote this in order to receive the registration code via e-mail more quickly. Page 5 of 5
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Plan User Manual PROJECT PLANNING Fundamental concepts Plan allows a project plan to be constructed from individual task components. Task and resource details are entered into the application along with dependencies between tasks. The application will then calculate the schedule for each task and the project as a whole. Each task within a project plan has the following key values: · start date and time, · end date and time, · the amount of work required to complete the task, · a number
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Plan User Manual Example Consider a task which is estimated to take two man days to complete, (one man day being the time between the start and end of a normal working day, set to 8.0 hours in this particular example). A resource is assigned to the task where the resource has the following attributes: · Works from 8:00am until 5:00pm with an hour for lunch at noon. · Works a standard week starting on Monday and ending on Friday. The task start day is set to a Monday at 9:00am and the work
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Plan User Manual FAST START TUTORIAL This section describes, by way of an example, how to use the main features within Plan. It includes an example of creating a plan, adding resources and tasks, and updating tasks. Plan has many features and it is not possible to describe all of these features within a short section such as this. This section includes enough to get you started, as you become more familiar you may want to explore the rest of the manual to find out what else you can do with
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Plan User Manual Creating tasks Now enter a new task. From the “View > Change view” menu select the “Task List” menu option. Press the enter key, or select the “New Task” key next to the screen. A dialog will appear prompting for the task details. Enter the values as shown: · Description: Task 1 · Total Work: 3 days With the “Resources” tab selected, use the “Add resource” button to assign a resource to the task: · Resource: Res 1 · Rate: 100% Select “Close” to create the new task
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Plan User Manual Summary tasks Now enter a summary task for tasks 1 and 2. Ensure that task 1 is current and press shift-enter to insert a new task. The enter key edits the current task, or creates a new task if no task is current, and shift-enter inserts a new task immediately above the current task. Set the description to “Summary task”. Leave all the other fields unchanged. A new task will be inserted at the top of the list. At the moment all the tasks are normal tasks and we need to m
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Plan User Manual be converted automatically when dragged/dropped to the Communicator via Windows Explorer. Note: The Nokia PC Suite 2.11 and the above converter are only compatible with the 9210/9210i, not the 9300 or 9500. MPX file format Plan on the Communicator can also directly read and write Microsoft Project MPX files. To create an MPX file use the “File > Save > Save as MPX” option. If making changes to an opened MPX file they will be saved back into a new Plan format file with a
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Plan User Manual KEY FEATURES Plan has the following key features: · A separate file for each project plan with either plan specific or a shared resource file. · Any number of tasks may be entered (subject to available memory), each having the following details: · task name/description · start date and time · end date and time · work · any number of assigned resources per task · rate of work or work value for each assigned resource · any number of dependencies upon other tasks · ca
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Plan User Manual · flexible repeating work shift pattern, e.g. standard start/end work hours Mon-Fri repeating every 7 days · override work hours for any day · set holidays on a per day basis · text1 - text5 fields · number1 - number5 fields · A Gantt chart view. · Sorting of tasks by a number of attributes. · Transfer projects between the Communicator version of Plan and the desktop version (Plan for Windows) or Microsoft Project. · Can directly read and write Microsoft Project files
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Plan User Manual VIEWS Plan supports the following views, all accessible from the “View > Change view” menu option: · Task list · Gantt view · Resource list · Holidays The first two views show tasks using different display formats. The resource view shows the list of resource available. The holiday view shows resource holidays for a single selected resource. In the task views many of the same keys have the same function, for example the up and down cursor keys change the current tas
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Plan User Manual cursor keys to scroll the display a page at a time. Use the left and right cursor keys to scroll the view left and right. The task description will be indented to indicate the level of a task in the hierarchy of summary and sub-tasks (see “Summary and sub-tasks” section of this manual). Use the zoom options on the View menu to control the font size of the task list, Gantt and resource views. Gantt view The Gantt view shows the same information on the left of the screen a
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Plan User Manual · Charge/use. The fixed cost of the resource for each resource assignment. This is a one off cost per task the resource is assigned to regardless of task duration. · Text1 – Text5. Freeform text associated with the resource · Number1 – Number5. Freeform values associated with the resource · Note. Freeform note associated with the resource. In the resource view each resource is shown on a separate line of the display. One of the resources on the screen will be highlighted
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Plan User Manual TASKS Editing tasks To create a new task position the highlighted area at the bottom of the task list or Gantt chart view and press enter, or use shift-enter to insert a new task above the current position in any of the task based views. Pressing enter with the cursor positioned on an existing task allows the given tasks details to be altered. When entering or editing tasks a dialog box will appear which allows the following items to be set: Details: · Description. A d
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Plan User Manual · Target. This value is shown for reference and cannot be altered. It shows how much of the task should be complete at the current point in time for comparison against the “Actual % done” field. · Actual % done. This field shows the actual percentage of the task completed. Note that “Tracking” field in the “Plan > Properties” dialog controls whether actual values are entered as a % of the planned work or as actual work done values in days and hours. · To start of. This fi
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Plan User Manual Sorting tasks The “Plan > Sort tasks…” menu option may be used to sort the tasks in the task and gantt views by given task fields. Baselines (saved work/start/end date) Each task has a saved work/start/end date. This can be used to store a baseline for the task. A baseline records the calculated work/start/end date at a particular point of a project plans life. It is often useful to save a baseline when initially constructing a plan so that it can be compared at a later
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Plan User Manual RESOURCES Plan allows any number of resources to be created, subject to available memory. Each resource has a repeating pattern of work hours. Normally this pattern repeats weekly, but any pattern can be defined with a given number of days for each cycle in the pattern. Holidays and work hours for individual days can be overridden for each resource as required. By default when first using Plan only one resource will be available called “Standard”. This will be constructed
