Box Styles dialog box

Use the Box Styles dialog box to specify the number and content of fields, and to customize the appearance of the different types of Network Diagram boxes. You can:

• Set the border and background styles for all types of tasks represented in the Network Diagram view, for example, Critical, Noncritical, and Critical Summary tasks.

• Specify that the contents of certain task fields appear in a certain location in each Network Diagram box.

Dialog box location

Display a Network Diagram view. Then on the Format menu, click Box Styles. You can also open this dialog box by double-clicking the blank area of a Network Diagram view.

Details

Style settings for section

Style settings for     Click the task category (for example, Critical Milestone or Noncritical External) whose Network Diagram box you want to view or format. All subsequent formatting changes you make in this dialog box apply to the Network Diagram box for the selected task category. To specify formatting options for multiple task types at once, hold down CTRL and click multiple task categories in the list.

Task categories

Critical     Tasks on the critical path and tasks that have slack less than or equal to 0 days (the default). (To change the amount of slack that determines whether a task is critical, click Options on the Tools menu. On the Calculation tab, specify the amount of slack in the Tasks are critical if slack is less than or equal to box.)

Noncritical     Tasks that have slack greater than 0 days (the default). (To change the amount of slack that determines whether a task is critical, click Options on the Tools menu. On the Calculation tab, specify the amount of slack in the Tasks are critical if slack is less than or equal to box.)

Critical Milestone     Tasks that are critical and that have 0 duration or have been designated as milestones on the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog box.

Noncritical Milestone     Tasks that are not critical and that have zero duration or have been designated a milestone. (To designate a task as a milestone, click Task Information on the Project menu. On the Advanced tab, select the Milestone check box.)

Critical Summary     Tasks that are critical and that represent a group of tasks subordinate to them in the task outline.

Noncritical Summary     Tasks that are not critical and that represent a group of tasks subordinate to them in the task outline.

Critical Inserted Project     Tasks that are critical and that represent an external project in a master project file.

Noncritical Inserted Project     Tasks that are not critical and that represent an external project in a master project file.

Critical Marked     Tasks that are critical and are marked by setting the Marked field to Yes. You can add the Marked field to any task sheet.

Noncritical Marked     Tasks that are not critical and that you have marked by setting the Marked field to Yes. You can add the Marked field to any task sheet.

Critical External     Tasks that are critical and that are linked as predecessors or successors from other projects.

Noncritical External     Tasks that are not critical and that are linked as predecessors or successors from other projects.

Project Summary     The task that shows the entire project's rolled-up duration, percentage of completion, start date, and finish date for all tasks. When displayed, the project summary task appears in the upper-left corner of the Network Diagram with an ID number of 0. By default, the project summary task is not displayed. To display the project summary task, on the Tools menu, click Options, click the View tab, and then select the Project summary task check box.

Preview     Displays the Network Diagram box style for the currently selected task category as it will look with the options you have selected in this dialog box.

Set highlight filter style     Switches from the normal style settings options for this task category to the style settings for the filter highlight. If you select this check box, Project displays the formatting options that are merged with the original style of the Network Diagram box when a task from that category meets the criteria of a filter. The highlight filter style is shown in the Preview box for the selected task category.

Show data from task ID     Type or select a task ID in this box to see how its data would look with the currently selected style settings. The selected task displays in the Preview box with current style settings applied. To return the preview to data placeholders instead of actual data, clear the Show data from Task ID box.

Data template section

Data template     Click the box style data template you want to use for the selected task category. The Standard template is the default. Data templates are sets of fields and data predefined for display in Network Diagram boxes. Several box style data templates come with Project. Each template includes several fields to be placed in a particular location in each Network Diagram box.

Data templates

Standard     Contains the task name, task ID, start and finish dates, duration, and assigned resource names.

Cost     Contains the task name, task ID, total cost, fixed cost, actual cost, baseline cost, remaining cost, and any cost variance.

Earned Value     Contains the task name, task ID, BAC, EAC, VAC, BCWP, BCWS, and ACWP earned value cost fields.

External     Contains the task name, task ID, start and finish dates, duration, and external project name.

Inserted Project     Contains the task name, task ID, start and finish dates, duration, and inserted project name.

Milestone     Contains the task name, task ID, and milestone date.

Summary     Contains the task name, task ID, start and finish dates, duration, and percent complete.

Tracking     Contains the task name, task ID, percent complete, actual start and finish dates, actual and remaining durations.

WBS     Contains the task name, WBS number, duration, start and finish dates, and assigned resource names.

Work     Contains the task name, task ID, scheduled work, actual and remaining work, baseline work, work variance, and percent work complete.

More Templates     Click to open the Data Templates dialog box, in which you can create, modify, copy, and delete data templates for Network Diagram box formatting. This modifies the list of items in the Data template box. Data templates contain sets of fields and data, as well as font and layout information for the data displayed in a Network Diagram box.

Border section

Shape     Indicates the shape of Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. Click the arrow to select a different shape.

Color     Indicates the border color of Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. Click the arrow to select a different color.

Width     Indicates the border width of network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. Click the arrow to select a different width.

Show horizontal gridlines     Select to display horizontal gridlines within Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. By default, this check box is selected.

Show vertical gridlines     Select to display vertical gridlines within Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. By default, this check box is cleared.

Background section

Color     Indicates the color of the background of Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. Click the arrow to select a different color.

Pattern     Indicates the fill pattern of the background of Network Diagram boxes for the currently selected task category. Click the arrow to select a different pattern.

Note: 

• You can set whether to show task progress in each Network Diagram box. With the Network Diagram view showing, on the Format menu, click Layout, and then select the Mark in-progress and completed check box. By default, this check box is selected. As progress is reported on tasks, and if there is no mark, the task has not started. If a backslash (\) appears from corner to corner, the task has started. If an X appears across the Network Diagram box, the task has ended.

• Refer to the Layout dialog box on the Format menu for additional Network Diagram formatting choices. Also, to directly format elements in an individual Network Diagram box, on the Format menu, click Box.

• You can also use the Box Style dialog box to change the font style of text in the Network Diagram boxes. Under Style settings for, click the type of Network Diagram box you want to change. Under Data template, click More Templates. Click Edit, and then click Font.