The Links Tab
The Links tab shows all of the links to external schedules in your project, listed in a multi-column format.
The columns show link name, source (e.g. Microsoft Project), project (e.g. my_schedule.mpp , and link status. Any further columns (there maybe none) identify the fields from the external schedule which specify the task type, unique id, start date and end date for each linked task.
The possible values for Status are:
- Synchronized
All linked tasks have the same values as the external schedule.
- Old
Linked tasks have values that are out of date compared to the external schedule. >Synchronize Tasks from Link to update the tasks.
- Status Not Available
Its not possible to determine whether tasks are Synchronized or Old. This value only occurs for schedule sources that don't provide any way of determining when a schedule was last updated.
- Broken
The external schedule can not be accessed. The file may have been moved or deleted, or required software may be missing or not functioning correctly. TimeLiner will still function using the task values determined when the link was last synchronized.
All Link operations are performed via the context menu (accessed by right clicking in the Links tab). This allows you to add, delete and edit links; rebuild the task hierarchy from the project file into TimeLiner; synchronize existing tasks in TimeLiner with updated data in the project file.
Add Link . Choose this to create a new link to an external project file. Selecting this option will display a further menu, listing all project sources that may be connected to on the current machine (See Supported Scheduling Software for more information on which sources are available). Choose the source to which you wish to link to. A standard Open file dialog will be displayed. Browse to and Open the project file you wish to link to. The Field Selector dialog will then be displayed, from which you can identify additional data to be brought through from the project file.
Delete Link . Choose this to delete the currently selected link.
Note
Deleting the link to an external project file will not delete any tasks that have previously been rebuilt in the TimeLiner Tasks tab.
Rebuild Taks Hierarchy from Link . Choose this to read all of the tasks and associated data (as defined in the Field Selector dialog) from the selected project file and add these to the Tasks tab.
Choose this option also to synchronize with the selected project file when new tasks have been added to the project file. This will rebuild the task hierarchy in TimeLiner, containing all of the latest tasks and data.
Synchronize Tasks from Link . Choose this to update all existing tasks in the Tasks tab, with the latest associated data from the selected project file (e.g. Start and End dates).
Rebuild Task Hierarchy from All Links . Choose this to read all of the tasks and associated data (as defined in the Field Selector dialog) from all project files listed in the Links tab and add these to the Tasks tab.
Choose this option also to synchronize with all project files when new tasks have been added to the project files. This will rebuild the task hierarchy in TimeLiner, containing all of the latest tasks and data.
Edit Link . Choose this option to edit the selected link. This will display the Field Selector dialog, from which you can define new fields or re-define existing ones.
Rename . Choose this to rename the link to something more appropriate. When the text field becomes highlighted, enter the new name, then press Enter to save it.
Note
Tasks in the external schedule will be ignored if they do not include both start and end dates, with the start date being less than or equal to the end date.
JetStream TimeLiner supports multiple sources of external schedules using a COM interface. Anyone can develop support for a new schedule source - the type library that defines the interface is included with TimeLiner.