Creating a Gantt Chart

Gantt charts were introduced to Service Manager in Release 2015.2. In earlier releases, you could only use Gantt chart functionality specific to the Release workspace under the Schedule tab. This was not called Gantt chart functionality because the charts were hard coded and were only applicable to release schedules. Starting in Service Manager Release 2016.1, you can now use Gantt charts with any workspace or business object.

You can create milestones and tasks for a release using the Schedule tab of any release record. The Schedule tab contains a Gantt chart view of the project that you can set up and manage from the Gantt chart itself.

If you are using release templates to create a release, the system displays defined milestones associated with the release template under the Milestones tab and under the Schedule tab of the release record. When you update the status of the release record to active, the system creates tasks for the milestones. You can view these tasks by going to each milestone record and clicking the Task tab, or from the Schedule tab of the release record, where each task for the milestone is listed under the milestone that it is associated with.

Gantt charts are a way to graphically show the progress of a project. Project management is easier if it is viewed as small manageable items where the dependencies are visually illustrated and the overall progress is tracked. The tasks of a project can be quite complex and depend on each other. With a project management tool such as the Gantt chart, you can graphically view all milestones and their tasks.

For Gantt charts, the system displays the milestone and its tasks for the release project on the y-axis and displays the timeline on the x-axis. The bars show when a task should start and when it will be finished. Blue bars show tasks which have been completed or the progression towards completion. Yellow bars show work which still must be done.

The system tracks the progress of a task as a percentage of the task and displays it in the chart. You can also filter the tasks to show tasks that are not completed. The system also visually indicates any task dependencies.

When you create a new milestone using a Gantt chart, the system does not associate any workflows or approvals with its tasks. If you need an approval process for the new milestone, work with the administrator.

The Gantt chart feature was originally created to work with the Release business object. However, you can create and use Gantt charts with any business object. An example of a business object that uses a Gantt chart is the Project business object.

1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Charts and Graphs > Gantt Charts.

2.Click Add.

3.On the Add Gantt Chart page, enter information into the fields. You can only add one task business object to each milestone, but each task business object can be made up of multiple task records.

Field Name	Description
General
Business Object	The business object that this Gantt chart applies to.
Gantt Chart Name	The name of the Gantt chart.
Display Name	The name of the Gantt chart as displayed in the system.
Description	A description of the Gantt chart.
Milestone Object
Business Object	The business object for the milestone. This business object must have a relationship with the business object that applies to the Gantt chart. The system only displays the list of related business objects if the object contains the necessary fields for a Gantt chart. The business object must contain two DateTime fields, one each for the start date and end date, and at least one (1) number (percent) field in order to display in the list for creating the Gantt chart.
Label	The label for this milestone.
Add/Edit Form	The form to add this milestone to. The drop-down list contains the forms associated with the business object relationship.
Header Expression	An expression to use for the milestone header. Click the function icon to open the Expression Editor.
Image Expression	An expression to use for the milestone image. Click the function icon to open the Expression Editor.
Successor Relationship	Contains a link to the same business object type (self). It explains the dependency. For example, the milestone that comes before the current milestone.
Predecessor Relationship	Contains a link to the same business object type (self). It explains the dependency. For example, the milestone that after the current milestone.
Start Date Field Ref	The field that contains the start date of this milestone.
End Date Field Ref	The field that contains the end date of this milestone.
Percent Complete Field Ref	The field that contains the percent complete for this milestone.
Sequence Order Field Ref	The field that contains the sequence order of this milestone in relation to other milestones.
Task Object
Business Object	The business object for the task. This business object must have a relationship with the milestone business object. The system only displays the list of related business objects if it contains the necessary fields for a Gantt chart. The business object must contain two DateTime fields, one each for the start date and end date, and at least one (1) number (percent) field in order to display in the list for creating the Gantt chart.
Label	The label for this task.
Add/Edit Form	The form to add this task to. The drop-down list contains the forms associated with the task.
Header Expression	An expression to use for the task header. Click the function icon to open the Expression Editor.
Successor Relationship	Contains a link to the same business object type (self). It explains the dependency. For example, the milestone that comes before the current milestone.
Predecessor Relationship	Contains a link to the same business object type (self). It explains the dependency. For example, the milestone that after the current milestone.
Start Date Field Ref	The field that contains the start date of this milestone.
End Date Field Ref	The field that contains the end date of this milestone.
Percent Complete Field Ref	The field that contains the percent complete for this milestone.
Right Label	The label for the right side of the Gantt chart.

4.Click Save.

Adding a Gantt Chart to a Business Object

1.From the Configuration console, click Build > Business Objects.

2.Open the business object to add the Gantt chart to. This must be the same business object that you created the Gantt chart for.

3.Click the Layouts tab. The system displays the layouts associated with the business object.

4.Open the layout to add the Gantt chart to.

5.Under the Views in this layout header, click formView.

6.Near the bottom, click Add Custom Child Panel to add a new tab to the business object.

7.For the new tab, in the Display Name field, enter a name for the tab that the user will click to see the Gantt chart. We recommend entering Gantt Chart.

8.For the Plugin field, click <Not Set> and from the drop-down list, select Gantt Chart.

9.For the Gantt Chart Name field, click <Not Set>, and from the drop-down list, select the name of the Gantt chart that you created. The system only displays the Gantt charts that you created for that particular business object and not for all Gantt charts.

10.Click Save.

11.To verify that the system added the Gantt chart to the business object:

Go to the Service Desk console and refresh it.

Open the business object workspace.

Open a record.

Ensure that there is a tab showing the Gantt chart.

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