The spatial diagram feature is currently in open beta, and is available for all current subscription customers. Functionality is subject to change pending further development and testing.
Use Cases
The first version of spatial is focused on visualizing an existing schedule. We want to enhance schedule review capabilities, enabling users to understand, trust, and confidently interact with their imported schedules.
Functionality Summary
- Setup
- Import Drawings
- Import Schedule
- Generate blocks from the schedule
- Lay out blocks based on sequence and/or location
- Inspect
- Display arrows to represent existing sequence
- Double click arrows to review logic and/or delete preferential logic
- Play timelapse to understand sequence (coming March 12)
- Share
- Print diagram to PDF and distribute to team
- Update
- Refresh diagram based on new schedule update (via Schedule Sync)
- Import new drawings
Spatial Diagram View
To switch from the Gantt view to the Spatial Diagram view, use the View tab at the top left side of the screen.
Spatial Diagram Navigation
1 - click Hide table to see fully spatial diagram space (possible to bring the table back by clicking on Show table)
2 - default selection mode
3 - click or drag and drop rectangle, ellipse or triangle icon to create new block in the space
4 - click on the New text icon or drag and drop to create new text
5 - click on the New image icon to add image or PDFs
Additional Navigation:
Ctrl + wheel: zoom in or zoom out the space
Double left click on the canva: zoom in
Pan with wheel / right click: move the space
Window selection / Ctrl + left click: multiple elements selection
Drawing(s) Upload
To upload the drawing(s) to ALICE, click on the New image icon in the bottom right corner or drag and drop the file into the spatial diagram space. If uploading a multi-page PDF, ALICE will import up to the first 10 pages of the document.
Once the drawing is uploaded, it is possible to adjust the drawing size by dragging its corners. Multiple drawings and even multiple different instances (drawings, blocks, texts) can be resized simultaneously.
Blocks Generation / Creation
There are two ways how blocks can be generated or created: automatic way to generate the blocks by WBS level or custom property and manual way.
Automatic approach:
To create blocks with the tied activities to the blocks automatically, right click on the schedule → select Visualize schedule → Create new block(s)
Select either option to visualize by WBS level and select respective level or choose to visualize by custom property and select respective custom property in the list. It is also possible to visualize blocks with relationships between them or without relationships at all. IIf the first option is chosen, relationships will reflect the current dependencies between activities in the Gantt chart.
Visualizing by WBS
Visualizing by Custom Property
If blocks for the same WBS levels were not generated simultaneously, but in multiple instances, relationships between the blocks generated on the first time will not be shown to the blocks generated on the second time. In future this should be fixed when the user hits re-schedule.
The same thing will happen if there were multiple autogeneration of blocks for different WBS levels or different custom propeties.
Manual Approach:
To create a new block, click the corresponding icon in the bottom right corner and position it on the drawing. Once placed, assign an appropriate name to the block. You can also adjust its order by selecting Bring to Front or Send to Back and customize the block's color.
Once the block is created, it is possible to adjust the block size by dragging its corners. Multiple blocks can be also resized simultaniously.
Block(s) Modification
By right clicking on the block it is possible to do the following actions:
Properties: Use this functionality to update the block name, change its order, or modify its color. You can also apply bulk updates to both the color and order of blocks and text simultaneously by right clicking or by selecting elements and using the gear icon in the bottom right corner.
Rotate: Use this function to rotate the block. In the current functionality it is not possible to rotate multiple blocks at the same time.
Duplicate: Use this functionality to duplicate selected block(s) and text. Blocks and text can be also duplicated by selecting them and clicking the duplicate icon in the bottom right corner.
When duplicating blocks with the tied activities that are described in the next chapter, ALICE will automatically duplicate the tasks and relationships associated with those blocks.
Remove: Use this functionality to remove the block(s). Blocks and text can be also deleted by selecting them and clicking the bin icon in the bottom right corner or by pressing the delete key on the keyboard.
When removing blocks with the tied activities that are described in the next chapter, it is possible to delete just the block or delete the block along with the tasks tied to it by checking the box.
Tying activities to the block
Select activities or WBS level(s) and assign them to the desired block by right clicking on selected elements in the list and selecting Tie to block, then select the block to which selected activities should be tied. Selected activities can be also assigned to the block by using the Tie to block icon in the upper left corner.
The block name will be automatically assigned to the selected activities in the Block column, helping to organize and control which activities belong to each block. If you need to detach specific activities from the block, simply select them and right-click to choose the Untie from Block option.
Blocks with tied activities will display a symbol in the bottom right corner. To select all activities linked to a block at once, click the block and use the Select All Tied option in the bottom left corner of the screen, or right-click the block and choose Select All Tied from the context menu.
Block Relationships
To connect blocks, select a block and drag its edge dot to the edge dot of another block. Currently, these relationships do not affect the sequence in the Gantt chart and function independently.
The interoperability feature between the spatial diagram and Gantt chart arrows is currently under a feature flag as it remains in the research phase and is available to a limited number of users. Since this functionality is still being explored and developed, it is not included in the current version of the documentation. Let us know if you would like to test it.
Selection & Filtering
Tied tasks selection and filtering
To select or filter all tied activities to the block(s), select the block(s) and right click on them, then select the function select all tied.
Blocks Filtering
To filter specific spatial block(s), use the Select to Filter feature and choose the desired block from the list under the Block tab.
Blocks can be also filtered by start and end date that can be defined at the top next to the Select to filter functionality. Blocks that have tied tasks happening during the selected timeline will be filtered to respect the dates filtering.
Blocks matching the filter selection will be displayed in full color, while non-matching blocks will remain visible but with 20% opacity. Other filters (by tasks, crews, etc.) affect the blocks in the same manner.
PDF Print
Spatial diagram space with the drawings and blocks can be exported to PDF. Click on the Export icon at the top right corner and select the PDF file (.pdf), then choose the appropriate paper size and continue with the Print Preview.