GPA Graphical Progress Analyzer

Sample Project
System requirements:
1 GB RAM, 100 MB free disk space
OS : Windows XP,NT & Vista
Primavera Project Planner or Primavera 5,6,6.2 with SQL server / Oracle database
AutoCAD 2004 2010

Recommended:
If you are new to GPA, follow the sample project step by step as described below.
With a pen/pencil put a tick on the check boxes upon completion of each step.

1. Register and login GPA

2. Go through a locked project
3. Implement a sample project
4. Add Project Monitor Users
5. Do your own project

Download, Install, Register and Login

If you already installed GPA skip steps 1.1 and 1.2
Step 1.1 Download GPA installation setup from www.projectmonitoringsystems.com
Step 1.2 Install GPA setup
Step 1.3 Run GPA from the desktop icon or from the windows program menu
Upon successful connection to the GPA Server through the internet, the following login
screen will be displayed.

If you already registered skip steps 1.4 to 1.7

Step 1.4 Click on New User
Step 1.5 Type the correct information
Step 1.6 Click on Register button
Step 1.7 Open your email to get the password
Step 1.8 Use your email ID as username with the correct password click on Login
Use Forget password? Link to retrieve password.

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If you are new to GPA, always recommend going through the following session, otherwise
directly go to 3.

Go through a locked project

Locked projects are sample projects intended for output only. Anyone can go through the
output of this project using GPA Viewer and its input are locked by the administrator.

Upon successful login the following dialog box will be displayed.

Step 2.1 Select one on the locked sample project.

(Example: GPA Sample Bridge Project)
Step 2.2 Click on Load GPA Viewer button
Wait a while to load the project in GPA Viewer as shown below.

Familiarise the GPA screen

Step 2.3 Disable flash progressing activities by removing check mark

Step 2.4 Change visibility controls of progressing, completed, pending and delayed
activities by checking and un-checking respective boxes as shown below and see the
changes on the graphics screen.

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Step 2.5 Enable listing of activities from settings menu or from the toolbar Show Activities

Step 2.5 Change visibility controls of progressing, completed, pending and delayed
activities again by checking and un-checking respective boxes as shown below and see the
simultaneous changes on the graphics screen and activity area.

Step 2.6 Click on an activity, on the activity description to highlight (flash) on the screen

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Step 2.7 Right click on the graphics area to activate context menu
and select Find Activity
Step 2.8 click on any object (E.g.: on the highlighted object below)

See the selected objects are highlighted with properties on the window.

Step 2.9 Change a colour scheme from the settings menu

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Dark background scheme Light background scheme

These two are the standard set of colours for different configured items. But, you can change
individual colours as below.

Step 2.10 Click on change colour from settings menu and select one desired item

Step 2.11 Select desired colour and click on OK button to set the selected colour to the
selected item

Note: Colour changes can also be done from the colour thumbnail from the controls.

Step 2.12 Change pen width from settings menu for small, medium and large as 1, 2 and 3
pixels respectively

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Width= 1 pixel Width=2 pixels Wdith =3 pixels

Step 2.13 Select print option from the project menu. This option will not print directly to the
printer; it will open a print preview dialog. If you want to print to a printer, click on the printer
icon of the print preview dialog.

Step 2.14 If the paper is not properly oriented, select print settings from project menu and
change settings as desired. Here also, the print button of the printer settings will lead to a
print preview dialog only.

The above steps are operated while keeping the view as present status.

Step 2.15 Now, change the view by selecting the radio button Target (BL) as shown below
Note: If the controls are hidden, enable the visibility from settings menu (Settings > Controls)

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Step 2.16 Select any desired planned date by scrolling the slider and drop to generate the
baseline planned progress drawing.

Step 2.17 Click on > from the toolbar, to go to next day or week or month (< for previous)

Step 2.18 Do the above steps for Work done by selecting the radio button. This option will
show you the actual work progress as on any past date, thus the scroll bar will not move
beyond the Data Date

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Step 2.19 Do the above steps for Look ahead by selecting the radio button. This option will
show you the planned work for any future date based on the current status of the project, thus
the scroll bar will not move before the Data Date

Type of view Date Range

Present Status DD only
Target(BL) SD to FD
Work done SD to DD
Look ahead DD to FD

DD Data Date
SD Project Start Date
FD Project Finish Date

Presently you are in the middle of a sample project and were going through a locked project
output. Now, the next stage explains how to do a project to generate the above results.

Get Supporting Documents

Before you start working with a sample project, get the sample project (Primavera project and
AutoCAD file) as described below

Step 3.1 Create a folder in the hard disk (Eg: C:\GPA Sample\)
Step 3.2 Click on the link Get a sample project from the GPA Projects dialog box.

Step 3.3 Download the files to the folder created

Step 3.4 Unzip the downloaded ZIP file to C:\GPA Sample; as shown in the below folder.
The folder consists of an AutoCAD drawing file and Primavera project GPA1 and its target
TARG.

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Create a project

Step 3.5 Click on new project button in GPA Project Viewer..

Step 3.6 Type a project name (E.g.: My Sample Project)
Step 3.7 Click on Create button

Step 3.8 Click on the project you created (My Sample Project) of the Project list.
Load GPA Viewer button is disabled because; the project is not ready to monitor.

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Upload AutoCAD drawing

Step 3.9 Click on AutoCAD Drawing button

Step 3.10 Select the DWG file in the folder C:\GPA Sample

Step 3.11 Click on Open button and wait till you receive a confirmation message from the
GPA server.

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See the change of colour of the button AutoCAD Drawing from red to black means the
AutoCAD file is successfully uploaded to GPA Server.

Attach Primavera project

Step 3.12 Click on the Primavera Project button to open the following dialog

Step 3.13 Select P3 option

Step 3.14 Click on Connect button and wait for a few seconds.
To succeed this operation, your PC has to have Primavera Project Planner

If Browse button enabled after a few seconds, skip step 3.15.

Step 3.15 If GPA is unable to connect by default settings, Username and Password boxes
will be enabled. Type the correct username and password of the Primavera Project Planner
and click on Connect again.

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Step 3.16 Click on Browse button

Step 3.17 Select the project GPA1 or any file starting with GPA1

Step 3.18 Click on Open button, you can see the project details as shown below

Step 3.19 Click on Load button and wait till to get a confirmation message form the GPA
server

Process for graphical simulation

Step 3.20 If necessary, restart the GPA again.

Now you can see that, the process button is enabled. Which means the AutoCAD drawing
and Primavera project are ready to simulate.

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Step 3.21. Click on Process button, to open the following dialog.

Step 3.22 Click on Start button and wait till to complete processing.
It might take several seconds to a few minutes depending on the size of the AutoCAD
geometry

If you receive the following message, your project is completely ready to monitor.

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Visualize baseline planning stages

Step 3.23 Select your project and click on Load GPA Viewer button and wait to open the
following screen.

Step 3.24 Repeat the steps 2.3 to 2.18 with the opened project. You will realize, all the
activities in the present status (DD) view are pending. The reason is, the primavera project
you uploaded is not updated for actual progress. That is, the Data Date is still the start date of
the project as shown below

Same thing you can see in the GPAs date scroll bar in full yellow colour to indicate that the
entire stretch is look ahead.

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Now, let us try with updating some of the activities.

Visualize based on new updates

Step 3.25 Run Primavera

Step 3.26 Open your project (GPA1) in primavera
Step 3.27 Update few activities
Example: -
1. Project Start = 100%
2. Piling Abutment -1 = 100%
3. Piling Pier-1 = 50 %

Step 3.28 Schedule with new data date = 20 January 2009

As per the above:

1. Piling Abutment -1 is completed
2. Piling Pier -1 is progressing
3. Piling Pier-2 is delayed

Step 3.29 Close Primavera

Step 3.30 Run GPA
Step 3.31 Select your project
Step 3.32 Click on Primavera Project

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Step 3.33 Click on Connect, Browse and Upload

Step 3.34 Now, load GPA viewer and check the present status

Without pending activities With pending activities

Look at the output and cross check the primavera activity update status are reflected in the
graphics.

Step 3.35 Repeat the above steps (3.25 to 3.34) by updating further activities with new
data dates.

Add Project Monitor Users

This session explains how to add permission to monitor your project for other project
members.

Step 4.1 Open your project in GPA

Step 4.2 Click on Project Monitor Users from Project menu

Note: This can also accessed before opening project using Project Monitor Users from the
Projects dialog.

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Step 4.3 Type the correct email id of the person whom you want to permit to monitor this
project.
Step 4.4 Click on Add button.
Note: This member has to register in PMS before doing this operation.

The Project Monitor user will get an automated email notification regarding the new project
added for monitoring and by whom.

If you want you can easily remove the user from the Project Monitor list by a single click on
the button to remove after selection of the respective user.

The monitoring users will get the project in the Monitor Projects tab of the Projects dialog as
shown below.

If he selects the project title, the input section (AutoCAD, Primavera and Process) will be
inactive and he can view the project using Load GPA Viewer with full facility in GPA Viewer as
the administrator of the project.

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Do your own project

If you complete the above steps, you are capable of doing your own project. Here the
important thing to understand before doing your own project is how the primavera activities
and graphical elements are communicated?

It is very simple, open the drawing in AutoCAD which is to be attached to GPA. The drawing
can be anything like layout, section, or both. The drawing elements associated to an activity
have to be moved to a separate layer with activity ID as the layer name.

Open your sample file download, in AutoCAD; you can see how it is arranged in different
layers by opening Layer property dialog.

If you are not very familiar with AutoCAD, get assistance from your draughtsman.

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Appendix A Primavera P3 configuration

If you are using Primavera Project Planner (P3), GPA will try to connect P3 with default
settings. In case of faulty connection, you will be prompted to enter Username and Password
of a P3 user as shown below.

You can create users in Primavera Network Administrator (Netset from the windows
Primavera programs with default password netset)

Use this username and password in GPA to connect P3 projects

Note: Users can also be created without passwords.

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Appendix B Primavera P5 + configuration

If you are using P5 or P6 project, GPA will try to connect using default settings.

In case of failure, you will be prompted to enter the following information in a new dialog box
as shown below.

Data Source is MSDE or SQL Server or ORACLE

If you dont know the Server Name, Database Name and User Name; check the System tab
in About Primavera.

About Primavera dialog can be access from the Help menu of Primavera. If you are unable to
find all the above information for the database connection, get assistance from your
Primavera administrator.

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Appendix C AutoCAD LIMITS to view

The default view of the GPA output is Zoom Max as shown below, which is the drawing limit
of the AutoCAD drawing file.

AutoCAD drawing limit is defined by LIMITS command in AutoCAD by clicking or typing lower
left corner and upper right corner as shown below.

You can go to any zoom level in GPA same as AutoCAD.

Thus define the proper LIMITS in AutoCAD before you upload the DWG file in GPA.

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Appendix D Limitations

GPA is managed by a remote GPA server with SQL Server database connected through the
internet. The AutoCAD file size and number of graphical elements are limited.

AutoCAD Drawing Size : Default limit 1 MB (can be increased upon request)

AutoCAD Drawing entities : 2500 (can be increase upon request)

Number of AutoCAD drawing entities is the total number of individual lines, arcs, circles and
text elements. This can be identified if you type ALL in the Select objects prompt of any
command as shown below. (Do not freeze any layers)

No limitations for number of Primavera activities

Note: If you want to increase the size of AutoCAD file or number of drawing entities, contact
GPA administrator.

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www.projectmonitoringsystems.com
April 2009

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