06 Resources and Assignments

Resources and Assignments

The four resource types

Type	Typical use
Staff	Have capacity (e.g. part-time 50%), efficiency, availability period
Equipment	Same as above, but usually without a notion of "effort"
Material	Consumables, usually priced by quantity
Group	Used only to categorize within the resource tree; doesn't take part in scheduling itself

Groups can be nested; the resource panel collapses by group.

Resource attributes

Attribute	Meaning
Availability	The fraction of each day this resource contributes. 50% = part-time. Default 100%
Efficiency	The output coefficient per unit of time
Available period (availableFrom / availableUntil)	Start date / rental period. The resource can only be scheduled within this interval
Cost	One-time usage cost (per use) + hourly rate

Cost is entered on the resource, not on the task—a task's cost and total cost are aggregates derived by the engine from assignments, so the three cost columns in the outline are read-only for that reason.

Assignment: two directions, one set of data

The "who does what" between a task and a resource is one record (an Assignment), editable from two directions:

1. Task → who does it: inspector "Task" tab → "Assigned resources" → pick a resource
2. Resource → which tasks it does: inspector "Resource" tab → "Assignments" → pick a task

Both directions go through the same command and change the same record; there's no "it's different depending on which side you add it from".

Each assignment carries a units value: the fraction this resource contributes on that task, in the range (0, 1].

Bulk assignment (Assign resources)

Select multiple tasks in the outline or Gantt (Ctrl/Cmd + click, or Shift for a range), and the Assign resources dropdown in the top bar can check resources onto all selected tasks at once:

• Checking a resource → each selected task gets one assignment with units = 1.0; existing ones aren't added twice
• Tri-state: shows indeterminate when some tasks already have that resource
• Unchecking → removes that resource from all selected tasks
• Clear assignments at the bottom → clears all assignments on all selected tasks

The dropdown collapses resources by group and has a search box at the top; when no task is selected, or all selected ones are summary tasks, the button is disabled with a visible reason (it won't "do nothing when clicked").

A bulk action leaves only one undo record: checking, clearing, or bulk-deleting tasks—a single Ctrl+Z restores it all.

One intentional exception: "Assign resources" is a shortcut (fixed units = 1.0); to change units precisely or delete a single assignment, still go to the inspector.

The two effort models

Set in the task's inspector:

Model	What happens when you add people
Fixed duration	Duration stays the same, effort increases
Fixed effort	Effort stays the same, duration shrinks (5 person-days / 2 people = 3 workdays)

Under Fixed effort, "Effort" is an input; under Fixed duration, "Effort" is a derived quantity, so that column doesn't enter edit mode under fixed duration in the outline.

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Next: Leveling.