1. Field Service Management
  2. Field Service Management Administrator Guide
  3. Color Coding

Color Coding

Color coding lets Scheduler users visualize event data. Users can select a color Group that color codes all events based on a property. The selected group colors are applied to events on the Board, Map, and the Assigned and Unassigned Task Panels. The information provided helps users make better and faster decisions based on the color data presented.

An example use case is when users may want to see if tasks are progressing based on its priority. An option to display all tasks on the board, color coded by priority can provide the user an overview if there are still lots of tasks which are High priority and not completed. For this scenario, the color assigned to High will dominate the board and be a visual cue for the user to spring into action.

Groups

A color group is a selectable view to color code events with. A group has a set of Items that relate values of an event property, as found in the event map routes/scheduler.event, to color Swatches. If an event does not have a matching item, the default swatch is applied.

The event map has a swatch property that can also specify the swatch to apply, overriding the item swatch. When the group eventswatch option is true the swatch from the event is applied, if it is false the swatch from the item takes priority.

A color group applies a Palette that defines the available swatches to use. Scheduler users can change the default palette to the other palette options they would like to use which in turn changes the swatches on the items. The selected preferences are saved to the user's local computer and will not affect other users' preferences.

The following color groups are pre-configured and the default selected group is Task Priority:

  • Task Priority

  • Task Status

  • Task Type

  • Case Type

Items

An item relates a value of an event property to a color. To do this, each item defines a unique value in its id and specifies a color swatch. If the item has no swatch defined, one will automatically be assigned based on its index in the palette swatches. Assigning an item a swatch not supported in the palette will result in a default swatch being applied. An item can optionally define cluster which specifies how the color is applied to the map marker clusters.

Scheduler users can change the swatch for each item with another swatch within the same palette. The user changes will be saved to the user's local computer and will not affect other users' changes.

Palettes

Palettes are combinations of 8 swatches which are internally supported in the scheduler. It is not supported to configure additional palettes.

The following palettes are available and the default palette is Rainbow:

  • Rainbow

  • Cool

  • Warm

  • Contrast

Swatches

Swatches are the colors available in each of the palettes. It is not supported to configure additonal swatches or change their colors.

The swatches for the available palettes are listed below:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The swatches available to events are listed below:

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Adding a Color Group

Going back to the use case on task priority, configure the group by:

  • Setting group object name to any unique descriptive value.

  • Setting label property to the text Priority.

  • Setting column property to the event mapped field priority.

  • Setting items property to an Array of Objects representing the values high, medium and low.

  • Setting palette property to Rainbow one of the palette values.

  • On the item object, set the swatch property to specific swatch names which are under the Rainbow palette.

  • Setting eventswatch flag to true to source swatch from the color swatches.

            {
    "colour": {
        "group": {
            "mypriority": {
                "label": "Priority",
                "column": "priority",
                "palette": "Rainbow",
                "items": [{ "id": "1", "label": "High", "swatch": "redpigment" }, { "id":"2", "label": "Medium", "swatch": "sizzlingsunrise" }, { "id": "3", "label": "Low","swatch": "skybluecrayola" }],
                "eventswatch": true
            }
        }
    }
}

Removing a Color Group

To remove an existing group from appearing as an option, set the existing group property to null.

            {
    "colour": {
        "group": {
            "priority": null
        }
    }
}

Map Cluster Color

Map clusters provide an overview of tasks clustered in the map. It can indicate if priority tasks are still unattended in a cluster of tasks on the map. This can help the user zoom in to the cluster and find where these tasks locations are.

The color of the cluster can be configured by providing a cluster level for each item.

Any cluster which contains a task assigned “1” will be color coded to based on that task, overriding the colors of all other tasks in the cluster.

Any cluster which contains a task assigned “2” (and no “1”s) will be color coded to based on that task, overriding the colors of all other tasks in the cluster, and so on and so forth.

For the group priority, to turn the cluster color to the swatch assigned to high, set the item object cluster property to value 1. This would result in the cluster displaying the high swatch color whenever a task with high value is present among the clustered tasks. Set the rest of the items' cluster to the next increment values, that is, 2, 3, etc.

If the cluster property is not set on an item object, it will be ignored and will not be taken into consideration for the cluster color. If all items do not have this property set, the cluster will display the default dark color.

            {
    "colour": {
        "group": {
            "mypriority": {
                "label": "Priority",
                "column": "priority",
                "palette": "Rainbow",
                "items": [{ "id": "1", "label": "High", "swatch": "redpigment", "cluster": "1" }, { "id":"2", "label": "Medium", "swatch": "sizzlingsunrise", "cluster": "2" }, { "id":"3", "label": "Low", "swatch": "skybluecrayola", "cluster": "3" }],
                "eventswatch": true
            }
        }
    }
}

Read Only Mode

Read only mode prevents users from changing the swatches for each group item on the scheduler. Users will still be able select the color groups with the last edited palettes and swatches applied before read only mode was turned on.

To set color to read only, set the readonly property to true.

            {
    "colour": {
        "readonly": true
    }
}

Disabling the Feature

There are scenarios where colors might need to be disabled. To disable this feature, set the enable property to false.

When color feature is disabled, the default group will be Task Priority and palette will be Rainbow.

            {
    "colour": {
        "enabled":  false
    }
}

General Notices