Setting Global Filters and Date Parameters

This article shows how to set your global data filters and date ranges, which together determine the data set you will see when using ResourceFirst.

About the Global Funnel Filter

The Global Funnel Filter, the funnel icon in the upper right of your ResourceFirst screen, is where you specify the scope of data to load for your session. The scope includes projects and resources, as well as the date ranges for labor and financial assignments. You can also select additional check boxes and field-level filters to fine tune the data load.  The filter settings remain until you change them again, even across sessions.

Important! When using ResourceFirst, the first thing you should do is use the Global Filter icon to set your scope and then press the Reload Data (bottom right corner.) One of the most common problems is people forgetting to do this and wondering why they’re not seeing their data.

Filters/Get Data (Set Session Scope)

• The data load dialog requires selection of at least one project node and resource node. More than one node of each type CAN be selected.
• In ResourceFirst versions beginning in 2020, the Get Data dialog includes Date filters (as pictured below). On prior versions, date ranges can be set using the Date Range dropdown on the Assignments, Utilization, and other pages that feature time-phased data.

Data Filter section

To select or change nodes in the Project Nodes or the Resource Nodes filters, click the + dropdown to the right of the Project Nodes or Resource Nodes section. The following dialog will appear, allowing you to select or remove multiple nodes or sub-nodes.

You can remove previously selected nodes from the selection by hovering the mouse over the node name and clicking the x icon that appears to its right.

Date Parameters

The Data Parameters section allows you to set the date range for your session, including start date, period type (granularity), and number of periods. Labor and financial date ranges are set separately.

You may want to look at financial assignments and roll-ups in quarters or years, but labor supply-demand in months.

ResourceFirst versions prior to 2020

The date range is set using the Date Range dropdown on in the Assignments, Utilization, and other pages. Instructions are as follows:

The  icon in Assignments, Utilization, and other relevant contexts allows setting the visible data range (the start date, granularity type and number of periods).

You can also specify if you prefer to see Units in Hours (vs. the default, FTEs or Full Time Equivalents). With FTEs, you’ll enter 1 to represent the equivalent of a full time person, or .5 to represent half time, etc.

Note that the hours per 1 day FTE can be set in the Server Settings page in Administration (“Hours Per 1 Day FTE” defaults to 8).

Other Filter Options

In addition to OBS filters, Date Range Filters, and Field Filters, there are several check boxes in the Global Filter dialog, as below:

• Units in Hours – Allows you to see units in hours vs. in FTEs.
• Load Picklist Projects Only – If using Project Picklists (which can be set for users by managers as to which projects they’ll see in dropdowns), this option will load only the projects in your assigned picklist.
  [Note: This checkbox is available in 2020 and later releases of ResourceFirst.]
• Load Projects With Assignments Only – This will load only those projects that have labor and/or financial assignments.
• Load Resource Assignments – By default, this is checked. This will load named resource assignments into your data set. If for some reason, you do not want to see these, you can uncheck this box.
• Load Skill Assignments – By default, this is checked. This will load skill assignments into your data set. If for some reason, you do not want to see these, you can uncheck this box.

Field Filters

To add additional “field level” filters,

•  go the the Field Filters section at the bottom of the Filters dialog,
• click the “+” sign to add a filter,
• select the type of field (Project, Resource or Assignment),
• choose a field
• enter one or more field values

(for example, you may want to see both active and inactive projects. Select type Project, select field Active and enter values y, n or Y,N.)

Don’t forget to click Reload Data once you’ve made your changes.

• Once you’ve selected your nodes and any desired field filters, click the Reload Data button to reload your data.

Note: Field filter selection has dropdowns, with type-ahead on values. Also, field filter settings are sticky. When you log off and on again, they’ll still be selected.

So be aware! These filters will be used the next time you login to ResourceFirst. If you do not see the data you are expecting, consider what filters might be in effect.

Sharing Global Funnel Filter settings among partition members

If you are a Partition Administrator, you may wish to have different default Global Filter settings appear when members of your partition first login. After initial login, the partition member can modify the Global Filter settings as needed.

There are two steps to sharing the Global Filter default setting with the partition members:

Step 1: Set the Global Filter to the default settings you want to share. Then, press Reload. Lastly, go back into the Global Settings and press Share for that to be shared.

Step 2: Go to Admin>Lists>Users. Select all partition users who you want to reset, go to their row and on the far right of their row press the Reset button. (see screen shot below) Note: If the user is logged in while you are resetting the account, any user action will take precedence. For the reset to work the user must log out then back in.

For more information on partitioning, refer to: Using Partitions