Common

Use a Calendar

In Common, users can add calendars for use in dspTrack™ and for establishing SLAs in dspConduct™. Users can assign users and configure work days, work hours, and calendar exception dates to calendars.

Calendars in dspTrack™

Calendars are used in dspTrack™ for schedule status calculations. Each plan can have a default calendar assigned so that non-working days and holidays can be included in schedule status calculations. Refer to Set Parameters for Schedule Status Calculations for more information.

A calendar named Default is included when dspTrack™ is installed. Additional calendars can be added for dspTrack™.

The default calendar settings are used to establish work days, work hours, and calendar exception dates for all calendars for dspTrack™ plans when the plans are created. A user can designate a calendar other than the default calendar be used in dspTrack™.  

NOTE: The dspTrack™ Default calendar cannot be deleted.

A user can also change the calendar for any plan in dspTrack™. Refer to Add a Default Calendar to a Plan or All Plans for more information.

NOTE: If a calendar is being used for a plan in dspTrack™, the calendar cannot be deleted.

Calendars in dspConduct™

A default calendar is delivered for dspConduct™. The dspConduct™ default calendar cannot be deleted. dspConduct™ default calendar’s Work Day, Work Hours, and Exceptions may be changed to reflect correct values for a specific client site. Each site should have only one dspConduct™ calendar.

Best practice is to have only one dspConduct™ calendar per site.  However, calendars can be added to handle international date considerations.  A user can only be assigned to one calendar at a time.

To use a calendar:

Add a Calendar

NOTE: When an MS Project file is imported into dspTrack™, a calendar is added with the Project name at the start of the calendar name.

To add a calendar:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar from the Navigation pane.

    NOTE: If no records exist, the page displays in add mode. Otherwise, click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Calendar page

  2. Enter a unique name for the calendar in the NAME field.
  3. Enter a description of the calendar in the DESCRIPTION field.
  4. Click Save; Vertical View displays.
  5. Enter a value in the Hours Per Day field.

    NOTE: This value indicates the number of hours in a work day.

  6. Enter a value in the Hours Per Week field.

    NOTE: This value indicates the number of hours in a work week.

  7. Enter a value in the Days Per Month field.

    NOTE: This value indicates the number of hours in a work month.

Copy a Calendar

An existing calendar can be used as the basis for a new calendar.

A copied calendar copies the work days, work hours, and exceptions.

NOTE:  A calendar’s users are not copied.

To copy a calendar:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar in the Navigation pane.
  2. Select the calendar to be copied.
  3. Click Copy Calendar in the Page toolbar.

  4. Click Edit.

    View the field descriptions for the Copy Calendar page

  5. Enter the unique name of the new calendar in the New Name field.
  6. Enter a description of the new calendar in the New Description field.
  7. Click Save.
  8. Click Copy Calendar; a confirmation message displays.
  9. Click Ok.
  10. Refresh the Calendar page to view the new calendar.

Add and Remove a Calendar's Users

If a user is assigned to a calendar, a check mark displays in the IS MEMBER column for that USER ID on the Calendar User page.

A user can only be assigned to one calendar at a time.

If a user is assigned to a calendar, and an attempt is made to add that user to another calendar, a warning message displays. If OK is clicked, the user is removed from the other calendar and assigned to the current calendar.

To add or remove users from a calendar:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Users for a calendar.

  3. Select a USER ID.

    NOTE: To select a contiguous range of users, hold down the Shift key and select the first and last users in the range. To select a noncontiguous range of users, hold down the Ctrl key and select each user.

  4. Click Add To Calendar.

    NOTE: A check mark displays in the IS MEMBER check box.

    Or

    Click Remove From Calendar.

NOTE: A check mark no longer displays in the IS MEMBER check box.

Set Work Days and Work Hours for a Calendar

To set work days and times for a dspTrack™ or the dspConduct™ calendar:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar from the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Work Days for a calendar.

  3. Click the WORK DAY check box to enable it to indicate that the day is a workday on the selected calendar.

    NOTE: By default Saturday and Sunday are not selected.

  4. Click Work Hours for a WEEKDAY.

  5. Click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Work Hours page

  6. Use the sliders to indicate hour, minute and second, or click Now to set the start time to the current time.
  7. Click Done.
  8. Click the FINISH TIME field. 
  9. Use the sliders to indicate hour, minute and second, or click Now to set the finish time to the current time.
  10. Click Done.
  11. Click Save.

A work day can have multiple sets of work hours. However, a set of work hours cannot:

  • Overlap the hours of any other set of work hours
  • Start during hours already specified in another set of work hours
  • Have a finish time that is earlier than its corresponding start time

The finish time for one set of work hours can be identical to the start time of another set.

The following start and finish times are valid work hours for a work day:

Start Time

Finish Time

12:00:00 AM

9:00:00 AM

9:00:00 AM

5:00:00 PM

5:15:00 PM

11:59:00 PM

Add an Exception to the Calendar

When the users assigned to a calendar should work different hours than on a regularly scheduled work day, add a calendar exception.  For example, if regular work hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM for all of the work days on a calendar, but work hours are 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM on December 24, add an exception to the calendar for this date.

To add an exception:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar in the Navigation pane.

  2. Click Exceptions for a calendar.

    NOTE: If no exceptions exist, the page displays in add mode. Otherwise, click Add.

    View the field descriptions for the Calendar Exception page

  3. Enter a date in the format MM/DD/YYYY or click a date on the calendar.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Click Exception Hours for the date.
  6. Use the sliders to indicate hour, minute and second, or click Now to set the exception start time to the current time.
  7. Click Done.
  8. Click the FINISH TIME field.
  9. Use the sliders to indicate hour, minute and second, or click Now to set the exception finish time to the current time.
  10. Click Done.
  11. Click Save.

A Calendar Exception Date can have multiple sets of work hours. However, a set of work hours cannot:

  • Overlap the hours of any other set of work hours
  • Start during hours already specified
  • Have a finish time that is earlier than its corresponding  start time

The finish time for one set of work hours can be identical to the start time of another set.

The following start and finish times are valid work hours for a Calendar Exception Date:

Start Time

Finish Time

12:00:00 AM

9:00:00 AM

9:00:00 AM

5:00:00 PM

5:15:00 PM

11:59:00 PM

Copy Work Hours Across Work Days

A user can copy work hours from one work day across all the work days for a calendar instead of entering work hours for each work day in a week.

For example, the work hours for a Monday are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. These work hours can be copied across the remaining work days in the week, so that all work days in the calendar also have work hours from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

If a work day has multiple sets of work hours, these shifts are copied across all work days in the calendar.

To copy work hours:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar in the Navigation pane.
  2. Select Work Days for a calendar.

  3. Select a work day.:

    NOTE: A work day has the WORK DAY check box enabled.

    NOTE: When a work day is selected, the work hours display on the Work Hours page.

  4. Click Copy Work Hours on the Work Day page.

    NOTE: Copying work hours has no effect on non-working days. If a non-working day is selected on the Work Day page, the Copy Work Hours icon is disabled.

Any work hours already set for other work days are removed and replaced with the copied work hours.

Delete a Calendar

To delete a calendar:

  1. Select Common > Tools > Calendar in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click Delete for a calendar.

The Default and dspConduct default calendars cannot be deleted.

If a calendar is being used for a plan in dspTrack™, the calendar cannot be deleted.