Special columns

Violations (in task view)

This column displays an icon for each task which has a violation. You can click the icon to summon the Violations window and see what the problem is.

Status (in task view)

This column shows alarm clock icons for tasks that are incomplete and due in the next few days, or in the past. Note that these icons won't appear if your project has an undetermined start date in the Project Information inspector. Each color of alarm clock has a meaning:

This task is incomplete and due in the next 3 work days.

This task is incomplete and due in the next work day.

This task is incomplete and past due. Try panicking.

Priority (in task view)

You can manually set a priority on a task, to control the order in which tasks are leveled. Priority can be any integer, so you are welcome to make up your own convention (1 to 3, 0 to 999, or whatever you like). During leveling, if two tasks are assigned to one resource at the same time, the task with higher priority gets to use the resource first.

Assigned (in task view)

This column lists the resources that are assigned to the task.

Dependencies (in task view)

This column lists the other tasks on which this task depends.

Attachments

You can click the paper clip icon

in the selected row to see a menu of the item's attachments, or to attach a file if there isn't one attached yet. Rows with attachments show a paper clip icon even when they are deselected.

Notes

You can click the note icon in the selected row to show or hide the item's note, or to create a note if there isn't one yet. Rows with notes show a note icon even when they are deselected.

Unique ID

The unique ID is a number assigned to each task or resource to identify it unambiguously, even if its name or position in the outline changes. A unique ID won't ever change, and each new task or resource you create gets a new unique ID number. These numbers are useful for matching up items when you are importing and exporting projects between OmniPlan and other applications.

IM (in resource view)

If a Staff resource is associated with an Address Book card, and that card has instant messaging account information, this column shows when the resource is available to chat. You can double-click the IM status icon to start a chat with that person.

Custom Work Week (in resource view)

An icon appears in this column if a resource has a work week that differs from its default work week; the default work week for a resource is defined by its parent (if it's a member of a group) or the project (if it's not). You can click the icon to see the resource's work week, and from there you can always click the

button in the upper right of the week view to revert to the default.

Schedule Exception (in resource view)

An icon appears in this column if a resource has a work schedule that differs from its work week, such as when someone goes on vacation. You can click the icon to see the resource's work schedule, and from there you can check the orange-highlighted dates to see where its exceptions are. You can click the

button in the upper right corner of any week view to clear the resource's exceptions for that week.