Developing Projects

Developing a project consists of the describing project tasks, resources available and defining of interrelations between them by means of assigning links.

Planning a project begins with defining project goals and describing its key features. Then a list of phases and tasks and a list of resources required for their performance is made. That done, any additional information on tasks and resources to be used while defining assignments and further on, while working due to the plan (plan tracking), is included into the plan. At last, assignments are made, whereupon the project is optimized if its duration or its budget are greater than it has been expected.

Creating A Project.

Creating a project in ConceptDraw Project can be realized in two ways:

  1. Using the New Project mode.
  2. With the help of the Project Assistant.

Creating A Project In The New Project Mode

Step 1. After clicking the New Project button, you find yourself in Project Properties window.

To enable the program to compute and create target documents, required time parameters in Time Period window should be entered. ConceptDraw Project uses 3 parameters:

  1. Project Start Date.
  2. Estimated Finish Date.
  3. Time Scale for visual displaying the project.

The input of time parameters is made by means of the Calendar menu.

Note: See the Calendar dialog.

The Currency box is intended for the input of parameters used for planning the financial part of a project. It provides:

  1. Currency Symbol.
  2. The position of the currency sign - before figures or behind them.
  3. The number of figures to be displayed.

Note: See the Currency options dialog.

Step 2. Click the OK button of the lower toolbar of the Project Properties window to create your project and get into the main window of the program.

At the top of the ConceptDraw Project Main window there is the program menu bar, below it there is the program toolbar with buttons for options used most frequently.

By default the working area displays the empty Gantt's chart at start.

It is divided into two 2 panels. The left panel displays the project tasks table items and the right one shows the Gantt's chart proper.

At start the Gantt's chart is displayed with default time parameters (its time scale displays days of week).

Click the Insert Task button in the toolbar to start creating project tasks.

Creating A Project Using Assistant

This way of creating a project is used for stage by stage insertion of information into a project in the mode of an interactive dialog with the user and it can be applied both by beginners and experienced users. The process of creating a project by means of Assistant is thoroughly described in the Quick Start section of this manual.

Project Calendar.

Project Calendar is a means of planning determining working hours for resources and tasks. It defines when work on tasks can be carried out. Project Calendar influences upon the selection of the period of time for which tasks can be planned by default.

ConceptDraw Project uses a "Standard" calendar which is the base calendar used as a default project calendar as well as a resources calendar and tasks calendar. This calendar corresponds to the traditional working schedule: from Monday till Friday, daily from 8:00 till 17.00, with one hour's break for lunch.

It is initially considered that the work at a project can be done at any time.

After applying a project calendar to the project plan this calendar defines when the work at the project is to be made in particular.

When a new project file is created for the first time, the base "Standard" calendar is accepted as a default project calendar. The project calendar makes a foundation for creating project reports by default.

The Project calendar is also used for assigning Start and Finish dates of project tasks.

Setting The Start Date Of A Project Or A Task .

Step 1. Click the Start Date button in the Start Date combo box. After clicking the pop-up Calendar box appears.

Step 2. Click scroll-bar controls on the right or on the left to change the month and the year.

Click the cell with the required day.

The pop-up calendar box will be closed, the project Start Date chosen by you entered and displayed on the screen.

Note: Assigning Estimated Finish Date of the project is made as entering the Start Date.

Setting Project Time Scale

Each project created anew has its own duration. One project may last some years, another one - for months, the third one - only a few weeks. The Project Time Scale allows you to specify the image of the course of project fulfilling using the time scale which is the most convenient for you.

The chosen Project Time Scale is used for forming graphic presentations of your project both visually on the monitor and for printing.

For setting project time scale:

  1. Click the scroll-bar control in the Time Scale combo box.
  2. Click the required the Time Scale in the list that appears.

The list will be closed, the project Time Scale chosen by you entered and displayed on the screen.

Project Importing.

ConceptDraw Project provides facilities for creating projects based on data taken from other applications. For instance, you may use data from:

  1. For importing a project click the Import button.
  2. The list box for selecting import formats will appear.
  3. Choose the required format in the list and click it.
  4. The project having the desired format will be imported.

While making a file in the Tab delimited format of Microsoft Project the preinstalled data format is being used.

Load the required project in the Microsoft Project. Save the project using the Save As : command in the Tab delimited (*.txt) format. While saving the information on tasks the Import\Export Map will be asked to be used. It is necessary to generate the map following these rules:

Task Mapping:

TextFileMSProject FieldDataType
LevelOutline LevelTEXT
NameNameTEXT
DurationDurationTEXT
Start DateStartTEXT
Finish DateFinishTEXT
Complete% CompleteTEXT
MilestoneMilestoneTEXT

After creating the Import\Export Map must be saved for its subsequent more convenient usage.

Saving A Project

Having created a project, it is necessary for you to save it to enable an opportunity of working with its information in the future.

A ConceptDraw Project file is a file having the binary CDD format.

For saving an active project select the Save option in the File menu, or click the Save button in the Main Window toolbar.

Ctrl+S Cmd+S

If you are saving a new, unsaved project, you should give it a name and define its location using the Save As dialog. If you have already saved the project, the changed project will be saved with its former name.

For saving a modified project you can enter a new name clicking the Save As option from the File menu and specified a new name and a project location.

Then an active project will get a new name and it will be placed there where you have specified.

Ctrl+Shift+S Cmd+Shift+S

You can also create a copy of an active project.

Click the Save Copy As option from the File menu, and specify the name and the location of a copy.

Creating a copy enables you to save the current state of your project and keep on your work at the original project using the former name (not with a project having a new name).

Exporting A Project

ConceptDraw Project provides a number of features to help you to use its projects in other applications handly. When working in a collaborative environment, users must share files. Publicating over the Web is an opportunity to make the project accessible to viewing for a lot of people.

The necessity of viewing and printing a project by users of other platforms and computers occurs very frequently. For this purpose Portable Document Format (PDF) is right ideally. You can export ConceptDraw projects in various formats.

To insert a project picture into other documents (for instance into Microsoft Word, Adoba Photoshop or PageMaker documents), it is necessary to transform it into any graphic format file.

Exporting In PDF

ConceptDraw Project enables you to export your projects as a PDF file.

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a flexible, cross-platform, cross-application file format. Based on the PostScript imaging model, PDF files accurately display and preserve fonts, page layouts, and both vector and bitmap graphics.

This format allows to save the original form of your projects due to embedding of fonts in PDF files.

It also lets carry out an easy search of any text in a document and copy the text from the document.

Hyperlinks from an original project may be carried over to a PDF file and remain efficient.

In addition, PDF files can contain electronic document search and navigation features such as electronic links.

To export an active project in PDF:

  1. Choose the Export / PDF item in menu File.
  2. In the Save As dialog box select the name of a PDF file, options you want, then click OK.

Note: While exporting a ConceptDraw project to a PDF file the fonts used in the project and optimized in their size are embedded. All pages of the project are exported. Picture and the text are to be compressed for reducing the size of the resulting PDF file.

Exporting In HTML Format

ConceptDraw Project is well adapted to working over the Internet. You can export your projects in HTML for placing them on Web sites easily.

To export an active project as HTML:

  1. Choose in menu File the File / Export / HTML item.
  2. Adjust exporting parameters in the HTML Properties dialog box.
  3. Click OK.

Note: For more detailed information, see the following: The Internet section - Exporting a project in HTML.

Exporting In Graphic Formats

You can save several ConceptDraw projects or the project entirely in various graphic formats.

Bit-mapped formats

Microsoft Windows Bitmap*.bmp, *.dib
Joint Photographic Experts Group JFIF format*.jpeg, *.jpg
CompuServe graphics interchange format*.gif
Portable Network Graphics*.png
Truevision Targa image*.tga, *.icb, *.vda, *.vst
Tagged Image File Format*.tif, *.tiff

Vector formats

Windows Metafile*.emf
Macintosh PICT*.pct

It will help you to illustrate your text documents with beautiful figures, schemes and diagrams, and allow to use diagrams created in ConceptDraw Project in other applications.

Note: If you need to export only some objects from a page, select them before exporting.

To export an active project in one of supported graphic formats:

  1. Choose in the File menu the File / Export / Graphic File option and click it.
  2. In the Save As dialog box select the name for a new graphic file and its format. Click OK.
  3. In the Image Properties dialog box specify parameters for the exported image. Click OK.

Note: For more detailed information see Dialogs - Picture Properties.

Exporting In The Microsoft Outlook Tasks List Format

ConceptDraw Project is capable to synchronize current project tasks with the Microsoft Outlook tasks list. You can easily transform ConceptDraw Project tasks into the daily tasks managed by Microsoft Outlook.

For synchronization of problems(tasks) of the project menu item File / Export / Microsoft Outlook is used.

To synchronize active project tasks with the Microsoft Outlook tasks use in the File menu the option File / Export / Microsoft Outlook and follow the instructions.

Exporting In Conceptdraw Mindmap Outline Format

ConceptDraw Project it is well adapted to teamwork with a series of ConceptDraw programs. The project tasks list can be exported in the text (Tab delimited) format for the subsequent reading information from ConceptDraw MindMap Outline and building MindMap trees on the basis of this information.

To export an active project in the ConceptDraw MindMap Outline format:

  1. Choose in the File menu the Export / MindMap Outline option and click it.
  2. In the MindMap Outline dialog box specify parameters for the export. Click OK.

Exporting In The Microsoft Project Outline Format

ConceptDraw Project can export project tasks data in the Project Outline format.

To export an active project in the Microsoft Project Outline format:

  1. Choose in the File menu the option Export / Microsoft Project Outline and click it.
  2. In the Microsoft Project Outline dialog box specify parameters for the export. Click OK.

Exporting In Microsoft Project 2002 XML

ConceptDraw Project is well adapted to handing over the comprehensive information about projects, resources and tasks to Microsoft Project 2002 by means of XML-files.

To export an active project in the Microsoft Project 2002 XML format:

  1. Choose in the File menu the Export / Microsoft Project 2002 XML option and click it.
  2. In the Microsoft Project 2002 XML dialog box specify parameters for the export. Click OK.

Printing

ConceptDraw Project has flexible means for printing its projects: you can set any size of a printed page, have your document on several pages, preview results before printing.

Printing parameters

Whether you are providing an image to an outside partner or just sending a quick proof to a desktop printer, knowing a few basics about printing will make the print job go more smoothly and help ensure that the finished image appears as intended. When you print a file, the ConceptDraw Project application sends your image to a printing device.

Types of images

The simplest types of images, such as line art, use only one color in one level of gray. A more complex image, such as a photograph, has color tones that vary within the image. This type of image is known as a continuous-tone image.

Halftoning

To create the illusion of continuous tones when printed, images are broken down into a series of dots. This process is called halftoning. Varying the sizes of the dots in a halftone screen creates the optical illusion of variations of gray or continuous color in the image.

Quality of detail

The detail in a printed image results from a combination of resolution and screen frequency. The higher an output device's resolution, the finer (higher) a screen ruling you can use. Before printing image is necessary to prepare your project and adjust your printer and its printing parameters.

Setting Page And Printer Options.

For Windows:

  1. Choose in the File menu the Print Setup option and click it.
    The standard Print Setup dialog for setting printer parameters will appear.
  2. In the Print Setup dialog box specify printing parameters.
    You can select the printer for printing, paper orientation, the size of a print page, etc.
  3. Click OK.

For MacOS X :

  1. Choose in the File menu the Page Setup option and click it.
    The standard Setup dialog for setting page and printer parameters will appear.
  2. In the Page Setup dialog box specify printing parameters. Click OK.
    You can select the printer for printing, paper orientation, the size of a print page, etc.
  3. Click OK.

Ctrl+Shift+P Cmd+Shift+P

Note: For more detailed information see Dialogs - Page Setup.

Project Printing Options

Project printing options are set in Project Properties dialog of the File menu.

The Printing tab controls the following parameters:

The output size of a project page can have its initial size or it corresponds to the value of a page scale, or a project page occupies the specified amount of paper sheets.

In detail you can get acquainted with the Project Properties dialog (the Printing tab and other tabs) in the Dialogs - Project Properties section.

Paging the Project Image

The size of a project page can be more or less than the size of a paper sheet. Make a note that the size of a print page does not always coincide with the size of a project page. Therefore it is very important to preview pagination of a project before printing it.

Previewing can be effected by using the View menu and setting the Page Breaks check mark. Thick grey lines will correspond to non-printable areas of a page, thin grey lines separate print pages.

If necessary, you can change printing set-ups for a project in the Project Properties dialog and page set-ups in the Page Setup dialog.

Preview Document Mode

After all the settings have been completed you can see how the printed project will look without resorting to printing.

Previewing for Windows : Select the Print Preview option from the File menu, or click the Print Preview button in the Main toolbar.

Previewing for MacOS X :

  1. Select the Print option from the menu and click it.
  2. Select the Preview option in the Print dialog.

Printing

As soon as your project is ready for printing, you can send it to your printer. A standard system printing dialog where you specify printing parameters will be called and you will be able to the send the current screen image of your project to the printer.

It can be made in the following way.

Step 1. Use one of three variants of calling the Print dialog:
a) Click the Print button in the toolbox;
b) Select the Print command from the File menu;
c) Use keyboard combination: Ctrl+P for Windows or Cmd+P for MacOS X .

Step 2. The Print dialog with the selected active printer will appear. In this dialog you specify the range of printed pages, the amount of copies and some other settings.

Step 3. Click OK for printing.

Note: In detail you can get acquainted with the Print dialog in the Dialogs - Print section.