Activity Links and Resource Preferences Overview in the Activity Details Screen

This feature will allow users with appropriate permissions to view the details of Activity Links and Resource Preferences upfront in the Activity Details screen, eliminating the need to navigate to separate screens to view this information. Admins will be able to set visibility conditions for these sections as Read-Only or Read-Write.

Screen Configuration

This feature introduces a new element 'Predefined Section' which can be added to the elements panel in the 'Edit/View Activity' screen configuration.

Screenshot showing the introduction of a new element called 'Predefined Section,' which can be added to the elements panel in the 'Edit/View Activity' screen configuration.

Similar to how a new section is added, this new element can be added by dragging and dropping it in the desired place in the activity screen context. When adding the Predefined Section into the main screen, users can either select 'Activity Links' or 'Resource Preferences'. If translations are enabled in your environment, they will be auto populated and can be changed as needed.

Screenshot demonstrating how to add the 'Predefined Section' element by dragging and dropping it into the desired location on the activity screen. Users can choose between 'Activity Links' or 'Resource Preferences' when adding the section. If translations are enabled, they will be auto-populated and can be modified as needed.

Each type of predefined section can be independently set as Read-Only or Read-Write. Users with a Read-Only permission will only be able to view the Activity Links or Resource Preferences details. Users with a Read-Write permission will be able to view and modify the Activity Links or Resource Preferences details.

Removal of 'Links' button

Prior to 24A, there were two screens 'Links' and 'Activity Link' to display the details of linked activities. Since the details of linked activities will now be available as a predefined section, the older 'Links' button will be removed from the application, and admins will no longer be able to add this button to the screens. The 'Activity Links' button will remain and serve as a screen to modify activity links.

Screenshot explaining the changes prior to version 24A, where the 'Links' and 'Activity Link' screens displayed linked activity details. The 'Links' button will be removed, as linked activity details will now be available as a predefined section. The 'Activity Links' button will remain for modifying activity links.

If the linked activity is assigned to the same user or to a resource who is visible to the user, the identifiers of the linked activities will serve as a link that, when clicked on, will display the details of the corresponding activity. In offline mode, for the resource to whom the activity is assigned, the identifier will be a link only if the linked activity is also assigned to the same resource. In other cases, the activity identifier will be displayed just as a text in black. The color of the square before the identifier will be based on the status of the activity, using a similar color coding convention from the Activity Type configuration.

If the condition of the link is violated, a warning message will be displayed below the linked activity.

Screenshot highlighting the 'Activity Links' section, where linked activity identifiers serve as clickable links if assigned to the same user or a visible resource. In offline mode, links are only clickable for resources assigned to the activity. If the linking conditions are not met, a warning message appears below the linked activity.

Warnings will be displayed in various circumstances, such as:

If the link is Start-to-start and the second activity has already started when the first activity hasn't yet been started.
If the link is Start-to-start or Finish-to-start, and the first activity has been canceled.
If the link is Finish-to-start and the second activity has already started when the first activity hasn't yet been completed.
If the activities are scheduled in a way that the link condition may not be met. E.g. if the first activity has been scheduled to start after the second activity.
If the activities are supposed to start simultaneously but there is a gap of more than one hour between their scheduled start time.
If the activities are supposed to start simultaneously and only one of them has started while the other hasn't started.

In addition to warnings, the system will also display certain informational text if the current activity cannot be started until an action has been taken on the linked activity. This will inform the technician that the current activity cannot be started yet.

Screenshot showing the informational text displayed when the current activity cannot be started until an action is taken on the linked activity, informing the technician that the activity cannot proceed yet.

Such information will be displayed in cases such as:

If the link is Start-to-start and the first activity hasn't started yet.
If the link is Finish-to-start and the first activity hasn't been completed yet.

If the 'Activity Links' predefined section is added with the visibility condition as Read-Write, the section will be displayed very similarly to how it is displayed for Read-Only; the only difference is that the title of the section will be a link (in blue color).

Screenshot of the 'Activity Links' predefined section with Read-Write visibility, showing that it appears similar to the Read-Only version, except the section title is a clickable link in blue.

Clicking on the 'Activity Links' title will take users to the existing activity links screen, where they can add new activity links or modify existing ones, similar to the current functionality.

Screenshot illustrating that clicking on the 'Activity Links' title takes users to the existing activity links screen, where they can add new links or modify existing ones, maintaining current functionality.

Activity Links for Segmentable activities

For segmentable activities, the details about the other segments will not be shown in the 'Activity Links' predefined section.
If the activity link is start to start, the first segment of the segmentable activity will be linked to the other activity. The other segments won't show the linked activity.
if the activity link is finish to start where the segmentable activity is the first activity, the last segment of it will be linked to the normal activity. The other segments won't show the linked activity.
If the activity link is finish to start where segmentable activity is the second activity, the first activity will be linked to first segment of the segmentable activity. The other segments won't show the linked activity.
If the activity link is to start simultaneously, the first segment of the segmentable activity will be linked to the other activity. The other segments won't show the linked activity.
If the activities are just related, the first segment of the segmentable activity will be linked to the other activity. The other segments won't show the linked activity.
The above statements will hold true even when a segmentable activity is linked to another segmentable activity.

Resource Preferences in Activity Details screen

Similar to 'Activity Links', if the 'Resource Preferences' predefined section has been added to the activity details screen configuration, a new section 'Resource Preferences' will be displayed in the main activity details screen. If the predefined section was set as Read-Only, the section will be Read-Only. This section will include all the resource preferences set for the activity grouped by Required, Preferred and Forbidden.

Screenshot showing the 'Resource Preferences' predefined section in the activity details screen, displayed similarly to 'Activity Links.' If set as Read-Only, this section will also be Read-Only and will include resource preferences grouped by Required, Preferred, and Forbidden.

If the 'Resource Preferences' predefined section is added with the visibility condition as Read-Write, the section will be displayed very similarly to how it is displayed for Read-Only; the only difference is that the title of the section will be a link (in blue color).

Screenshot of the 'Resource Preferences' predefined section with Read-Write visibility, showing that it appears similar to the Read-Only version, except the section title is a clickable link in blue.

Clicking on the 'Resource Preferences' title will take users to the existing Resource Preferences screen, where they can add preferences or modify existing ones, similar to the current functionality.

Screenshot illustrating that clicking on the 'Resource Preferences' title directs users to the existing Resource Preferences screen, where they can add or modify preferences, maintaining current functionality.

In offline mode, the link to the existing Resource Preference screen will not be clickable and will be displayed in black as a normal heading. The data for resource preferences may not be available in offline mode and therefore the predefined section may not display the resource preference details.

Screenshot showing that in offline mode, the link to the Resource Preferences screen is not clickable and appears in black as a normal heading. Resource preference data may be unavailable, so the predefined section may not display details.

Migration

Upon migration to 24A, User Types that have the button 'Links' configured in the activity details screen will have the 'Activity Links' predefined section automatically populated at the end of the activity details screen, in Read-Only mode. User Types that previously had access to details about linked activities will continue to have access to that data. All references to the button 'Links' will be removed from all screens.

Business Benefit

Admins will have the option to only display resource preferences and activity links to certain users without giving the permission to modify them. This will be beneficial in cases where technicians just need to know what the dependencies are, without modifying them.
Lower chances of missing important details related to resource preferences and linked activities by providing this information upfront to users on the activity details screen, minimizing the need to navigate to separate screens.
Actionable messages to make users aware of when they should start an activity based on the status of other linked activities.
Detailed warnings that enable users to perform corrective actions in case any link condition has already been broken.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

All references of the button 'Links' will be removed. Even though the 'Activity Links' predefined section will be automatically added during migration for User Types that have access to the button 'Links' in the Activity details screen, if the 'Links' button has been added to other screens, it will be removed in the 24A release. Admin users should review the access and visibility permissions of the predefined sections for the different User Types.
No other elements can be included or dropped within any of the Predefined Sections.
The 'Links' button will be removed from the application. Admin users will no longer have the ability to add this button to the screens.
User Types that have the button 'Links' configured in the Activity details screen will have the 'Activity Links' predefined section automatically populated at the end of the Activity details screen, in Read-Only mode.