Options dialog box, View tab

Use the View tab in the Options dialog box to enter, review, or change preferences for the way Microsoft Office Project 2007 displays different types of project information. You can:

• Change the default view that appears when you create a new project and the date format used throughout the project.

• Specify which screen elements are to be shown or hidden.

• Specify how external links are shown.

• Specify how currency information is to be displayed.

• Specify how outline information is to be displayed.

Dialog box location

On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab.

Details

Default view, Calendar type, and Date format lists

Default view    Specifies the view that Office Project 2007 displays at startup. By default, the Gantt Chart is the default view.

Calendar type    Specifies the type of calendar the project should use. By default, this is the Gregorian 12-month calendar starting on January 1.

Date format    Specifies the format for displaying dates in all project files. Some information, such as time formats and the date separator, are set through the Microsoft Windows Control Panel. For more information, see your Microsoft Windows documentation. The default date format appears as: Fri 11/14/07.

Show section

Use this section to specify which Office Project 2007 interface elements you want to display or hide. These are global settings.

Status bar    Displays the status bar, which shows information about the progress of certain operations in Office Project 2007. The status bar appears at the bottom of the Project window. If you are using the manual project calculation, the status bar also indicates when the project should be calculated. By default, this check box is selected.

Windows in Taskbar    Specifies whether separate windows are opened and displayed as separate buttons on the Windows taskbar for every open project. Clear the check box to combine all open projects in a single window and save space on the Windows taskbar. By default, this check box is selected.

Bars and shapes in Gantt views in 3-D    Specifies whether the Gantt bars, start shapes, and end shapes are displayed with a 3-D look or a flat look. By default, this check box is selected.

Scroll bars    Specifies whether scroll bars are displayed. Scroll bars are located at the right edge and bottom edge of scrollable panes. By default, this check box is selected.

Entry bar    Specifies whether the entry bar is displayed. You can use the entry bar to enter or edit field information in addition to entering and editing information directly in the field. The entry bar appears between the toolbars and the current view. By default, this check box is selected.

OLE links indicators    Specifies whether to display the OLE linked objects indicator, which is a small triangle. Office Project 2007 displays OLE links indicators in the lower-right corner of the cell that contains the link. By default, this check box is selected.

Project screentips    Specifies whether to display tips for Gantt bars and field headings, including dates for timescale units and the full cell contents if a cell is too narrow to completely display the text in sheet and Network Diagram views. By default, this check box is selected.

Cross project linking options section

Use this section to set options for working with task dependencies between the current project and other projects.

Show external successors    Specifies whether external successor tasks are shown in the current project. Clear the check box to hide external successors. To view and edit links between projects, click Links Between Projects on the Tools menu. By default, this check box is selected.

Show external predecessors    Specifies whether external predecessor tasks are shown in the current project. Clear the check box to hide external predecessors. To view and edit links between projects, click Links Between Projects on the Tools menu. By default, this check box is selected.

Show links between projects dialog box on open    Specifies whether the Links Between Projects dialog box should appear when the current project opens and has links to other projects. By default, this check box is selected.

Automatically accept new external data    Specifies whether Office Project 2007 should accept and automatically update changes to task dependencies between projects. By default, this check box is cleared. This option is available only when the Show links between projects dialog box on open check box is cleared.

Currency options section

Use this section to set options for currency formatting. Currency options are local settings and apply only to the active project.

Symbol    Specifies which currency symbol is to be used in this project file. Use caution when changing currency symbols for projects that already have cost information. For example, if you open a project that has values entered in francs, don't change the currency symbol to a dollar sign. It could be misleading because the cost values reflect franc prices, and changing the symbol does not convert the currency amount. By default, the currency symbol is $.

If you're connected to Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, the default currency is set to null. By default, the currency symbol is enforced for all projects on the server, and you might not be able to edit this field. To set the currency symbol for projects on the server, the project administrator needs to check out the enterprise global template and make the change.

Placement    Specifies the position that the currency symbol occupies. The default setting is $1, with the symbol just before amount.

Decimal digits    Specifies the number of digits that should appear after the decimal. The default setting is 2.

Currency    Specifies which type of currency is being used, for example, GBP for British Pound Sterling or JPY for Japanese Yen. When you choose a currency type, the contents of the Symbol and Placement fields are adjusted for that currency. The default setting is USD for U.S. dollar.

Outline options section

Use this section to specify outlining options. Outline options are local settings and apply only to the active project. Choices for outline options can change depending on which view is currently displayed.

Indent name    Indents the names of subtasks in the Task Name column. Indenting subtasks lets you quickly see the outline of your project. By default, this check box is selected.

Show outline number    Displays the outline number next to each task name. This can be helpful if you want to use the outline number as the basis for your project's work breakdown structure. By default, this check box is cleared.

Show outline symbol    Displays outline symbols next to each task name. Office Project 2007 shows a plus sign next to rolled-up summary tasks and a minus sign next to summary tasks showing their subtasks. By default, this check box is selected.

Show summary tasks    Displays summary tasks. If you clear this check box, tasks that have subtasks are hidden from view. Note that you cannot use outlining commands when summary tasks are hidden. By default, this check box is selected.

Show project summary task    Specifies whether you want to display a project-level summary task, which would have an ID of 0. Office Project 2007 saves this preference with the current project. By default, this check box is cleared.