In Oracle Primavera Cloud, you can create a wide variety of custom columns and fields. These Configured Fields allow you to track custom data for your projects, activities, and resources. For example, you could create a custom field to track subcontractors for activities, or locations for projects. With these fields, you can move beyond the basics and track specific data needed for your workflows. Once created, you can add these configured fields to data tables and use them to filter, group, and sort project data.

OPC’s predecessor, Primavera P6 Professional, also offered this capability through User-Defined Fields. User-Defined Fields also allow you to create, track and manage custom project data. Configured Fields in OPC improved upon the capabilities of User-Defined Fields in a variety of different ways. For one, in OPC, you can create a variety of different types of fields, including List fields and Boolean fields. Configured Fields also allow the use of formulas. These fields automatically fill in the column’s value based on a user-defined operation. 

However, P6’s User Defined Fields still hold one benefit over OPC’s Configured Fields: Indicator Type Fields. In P6, Indicator fields lets you choose a color coded icon for each field value. For each activity, you can choose between a red, green, yellow, or blue indicator icon. You can use these icons to track any value needed, such as safety level or progress.

Currently, there is no option to create an Indicator type configured field in Oracle Primavera Cloud. However, you can create similar types of fields using List type columns and emoji characters. In this article, we will look at how to create an Indicator field in Oracle Primavera Cloud, similar to those in P6. The following tools are available for any user assigned either the Schedule or Portfolio Management license type in OPC.

What are Indicator Fields?

To start, let’s take a look at what Indicator fields are. In Primavera P6, you can create Indicator fields in the User Defined Fields window. For each User Defined Field, you can choose a Name and a Type. The Name is the name of the column that displays, while the Type indicates what the column will do.

The Indicator type will create a custom column where you can choose between 4 different color coded icons. For each activity, you can choose between a red X, a yellow caution symbol, a green check, or a blue star.

These symbols don’t have any intrinsic value – it’s up to you and your organization to determine what each symbol represents. For example, you could create a custom column to track safety level, where red indicates least safe and blue represents most safe. After assigning these indicator values, you can sort, group, and filter by these symbols. If I were to create a Safety column, I could quickly filter the screen to only show activities with red symbols – or those that are least safe. This can help me ensure that I have the necessary resources available to mitigate risk.

Creating a Configured Field in OPC

To create a configured field, start by opening up a workspace. You will only be able to use configured fields on projects within the selected workspace. If you want all projects to be able to access these fields, you’ll want to create them higher up in the workspace hierarchy. Within the workspace, select Summary & Settings from the Main Menu. Then, select Defaults & Options.

Here, you’ll find a wide variety of data items – such as Activities and Projects. These are all the data types you can create custom fields for. In this case, I’ll be creating an indicator field to assign to my activities, so I’ll select Activity. Then, select the Configured Fields option at the top of the screen.

To create a new configured field, select Add. For each field, you’ll need to enter in a Column Label, a View Column Name, and a Data Type. For the rest of this article, we will focus specifically on creating Indicator Fields. If you would like a full overview on creating configured fields, please refer to this article here.

Creating an Indicator Field in OPC Using Emojis

In this example, we’ll create an indicator field to track safety levels. First, set both the Column Label and View Column Name to “Safety”. Under Data Type, select List. This will allow you to create a list of different items to choose from – such as indicator symbols.

In the Details section, you will now have access to a tab called List. Here, you’ll enter in each of the values that you want to be able to choose from. You could use text, but you could also add values for emojis or other text icons you have available. When working on a computer, you can copy and paste emojis from a variety of sites, such as Emojipedia. To add a value, simply click within the Value cell and either type in a value, or paste the value saved to your clipboard. In this example, we’ll add four values for emojis, all of which are different colored circles.

After entering in the desired values, select Save. You can now use this field on any project within the current Workspace.

Assigning Values to Custom Fields

With the configured field created, you can use it to assign values to your data. You can do this within the page for whatever type of field you created. For example, if you created a Project field, you’ll assign values on the Projects screen. If you created an Activity field, you’ll do this on the Activities screen. In this case, we’ll be assigning activity values on the Activities screen. To access this page, open a project and select the Main Menu > Schedule > Activities.

You can now add the configured field to the table using the Add Column button. Search for the name of the column you created and select the Show button to add it to the table.

For each activity, you can double click within the cell for the configured field. A dropdown menu will appear, allowing you to choose one of the indicator icons you added to the list. Now, you can track activities visually by their safety level. You can create additional indicator fields to track a variety of different values, such as progress or risk.

Like all other columns, you now can use these configured field values to group, sort, and filter project data. For example, you could create a filter to only show the least safe activities – or those with a red icon. Going forward, this can help you ensure that you have the right resources available to mitigate potential risk.

Summary

In Oracle Primavera Cloud, configured fields allow you to attribute custom values to your projects and activities. These fields work very similarly to User Defined Fields in Primavera P6. However, one major difference between the two tools is the lack of Indicator fields in OPC. Indicator fields let you assign a color coded icon for each field value, letting you visually track custom variables. Although OPC doesn’t have this field type by default, you can create a similar field using List type columns and emoji characters. Now, just like in P6, you can continue to track your project’s values using indicator symbols in Oracle Primavera Cloud.

To learn more about Oracle Primavera Cloud, please refer to our OPC page here. If you would like to set up an OPC training or implementation session, please contact us here.

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Lauren Hecker is an Oracle Primavera Cloud, Primavera P6, and Microsoft Project instructor who teaches onsite and virtual scheduling courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!