Gantt view and dependencies

The layout of the Gantt view

1. The Critical path (Критичен път) switch outlines the tasks with no float.
2. The toolbar with Export PDF, Lock/Publish, History, Reports, Export to MS Project (.xml), Work calendar and Schedule structure.
3. The Budget Lines (Бюджетни линии) table with the DESCRIPTION (ОПИСАНИЕ) column and the value columns; Columns (Колони) changes which columns show.
4. Bars on the timeline; arrows between bars are dependencies.
5. The zoom control (− level +), pan arrows and Today (Днес).

The toolbar

On a narrow window the button labels collapse to icons; hover over an icon to see its name.

The table columns

The first column, DESCRIPTION (ОПИСАНИЕ), is always shown and pinned. The other columns can be pinned, scrolled or hidden.

Quantity and value columns stay empty for milestones, rows with distribution Manual (Ръчно) and rows not linked to a priced BoQ position.

How to arrange the columns

1. Click Columns (Колони) above the table. The Manage columns (Управление на колони) window opens.
2. Drag columns between Pinned (left) (Фиксирани (вляво), "Frozen while scrolling"), Scrollable (right) (Превъртащи се (вдясно), "Scroll horizontally with the table") and Hidden (Скрити, "Not shown in the table"), and reorder them within each list.
3. Click Done (Готово). Reset to default (Върни по подразбиране) restores the default: Unit pinned, all other columns scrollable.

The layout is saved to your user account and applies to every schedule you open.

1. Pinned (left) keeps columns visible while you scroll.
2. Scrollable (right) holds the columns that scroll with the table.
3. Hidden lists the columns not shown.
4. Reset to default restores the default layout.

The timeline

• Zoom. Use − and + around the current level: Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year (Ден, Седмица, Месец, Тримесечие, Година).
• Pan. Pan left (Наляво) and Pan right (Надясно) move the visible period; Today (Днес) jumps to the current date.
• Dock. Expand all, Collapse all and Full screen act on the table and chart.
• Legend. Scheduled task (Планирана задача) is the bar; Progress (Напредък) is the filled part of the bar.
• Jump to a bar. When a row's bar is outside the visible period, the arrow "Scroll to this row's bar" in the table brings it into view.
• Warnings. A category or group bar shows "Category contains tasks outside its date range" or "The group task contains tasks outside its period" when a row inside it lies outside its dates.

How to set and change dates

• In the table: type a date in Start or End, or a number of working days in Duration. A start after the end is refused with "The start can't be after the end date"; a duration below 1 with "Invalid duration (min. 1 working day)".
• On an undated row: hover over the empty row for about half a second. A ghost bar one zoom unit long follows the mouse and shows "start · N days · end". Click to set both dates.
• By dragging: drag the middle of a bar to move it without changing its duration; drag its left or right edge to change the start or the end. Tooltips show the new dates while you drag.
• Group and category bars: their dates are normally computed from the rows inside. You can still edit them directly; the edit is kept until a row inside changes.

When a task with dependencies moves, its successors move with it. The message "Updating schedule…" (Обновяване на графика…) shows while the dates are recalculated. If you make another change meanwhile, you see "Change queued — it will apply after the current update finishes."

The dates of a task that has a dependency cannot be cleared: "Cannot clear the dates of a task that has a dependency. Remove the dependencies first."

Dependencies

A dependency links a predecessor and a successor. The four types and their labels:

The Lag (working days) (Изместване (раб. дни)) shifts the successor: a positive lag delays it, a negative lag pulls it earlier. The allowed range is −365 to +365 working days.

How to create a dependency by dragging

1. Hover over a bar. Connector dots appear at its start and end.
2. Drag from a dot to another bar. A Finish → Start dependency with lag 0 is created.
3. In the window that opens, choose the type under Dependency type (Тип на зависимост) and enter the Lag (working days). Press Enter or click outside to save.

How to edit or delete a dependency

1. Click the arrow on the timeline.
2. Change the type or the lag; the successor and the chain after it are recalculated.
3. To remove it, click Delete dependency (Изтрий зависимостта). A successor left without predecessors moves back to the start of the schedule.

1. The dependency arrow you clicked.
2. Dependency type (Тип на зависимост) with the four types.
3. Lag (working days) (Изместване (раб. дни)).
4. Delete dependency (Изтрий зависимостта).

How to type dependencies in the Dependency column

The Dependency (Зависимост) column lists a row's predecessors by their row number. Click the cell and type:

• 5 — Finish → Start from row 5, no lag.
• 5SS — Start → Start from row 5.
• 4FS+2 days — Finish → Start from row 4 with 2 working days lag; 3FF-1 — Finish → Finish with 1 day lead. The word after the number is optional.
• Separate several predecessors with a semicolon: 4; 7SS+1.
• Clear the cell to remove all dependencies of the row.

Errors: "Invalid dependency "{token}" — use e.g. 5, 5SS or 4FS+2 days"; "Lag must be between -365 and +365 working days"; "No schedule row with number {index}"; "A task can't depend on itself"; "Row {index} is listed more than once".

How to link several tasks at once

1. Tick the checkboxes of the rows in the order you want them to follow each other.
2. Click Link tasks (n) (Свържи задачи (n)). You need at least two rows.
3. Finish → Start dependencies with lag 0 are created in selection order. The result tells you what happened: "Dependencies created", "Link(s) skipped (already exist or are invalid): {count}" or "Task(s) skipped — they have no start/end date: {count}".

The critical path

Switch on Critical path (Критичен път) to outline every task whose total float is zero or negative: if it slips by one working day, the end of the schedule slips too. The calculation uses the project work calendar and all dependencies. It covers dated tasks, group tasks and milestones; category bars are not analyzed.

Editing a locked (final) version

When the current version is Final, any change to dates, durations, dependencies or structure first opens Edit final version (Редактиране на финална версия): "This version is final. Would you like to create a new draft?" Click Create draft (Създай чернова) and the change is applied to the new draft; Cancel leaves everything as it was. Reporting progress is the exception: it works on a final version without a new draft. See Versions, locking and comparing.

Exporting the schedule

• Export PDF (Експорт PDF) — a PDF of the Gantt, prepared in your browser.
• Export to MS Project (.xml) — an MSPDI XML file with tasks, hierarchy, dates, dependencies and the project calendar. After the download the window Export to MS Project explains how to open it: 1. Open MS Project. 2. Choose File → Open. 3. Select the .xml file you downloaded. 4. In the Import Wizard, choose "As a new project". The export covers the current version only. If you just made a change you may see "Waiting for pending changes to save — try again in a moment."; an empty schedule gives "The schedule has no tasks to export."
• Excel — the Reports screen exports what it shows to .xlsx. BORO can also export the schedule as an Excel table or MS Project file and give you a download link. See Reports and What BORO can do.

Common questions

Related

• Structure: categories, groups, tasks, milestones
• Reporting progress
• Versions, locking and comparing
• Working days and holidays
• Pricing report and schedule cash flow