In Oracle Primavera Cloud, Views are unique interface configurations. Similar to Layouts in Primavera P6, Views determine what project data displays. On the Activities screen, you can use views to adjust which columns appear in the table and what bars appear on the Gantt Chart. By saving Views, you can quickly switch from one interface configuration to another for the sake of different workflows. This is especially useful, as you might need a different set of columns when adding activities as opposed to performing status updates.

Although Views are extremely useful, some new users may have a difficult time understanding how they save. By default, Views will be set to save automatically. This means that every change you make to the View will immediately save. However, this can cause some issues when administrators set up standardized views for all users. Typically, they won’t want these views to constantly change in this way. Thankfully, you can adjust the Save View settings in Oracle Primavera Cloud using the User Preferences menu. Here, you can choose whether you want to Save Views Automatically or Save Views Manually.

In this article, we will cover how to save Views in Oracle Primavera Cloud. First, we’ll look at how to adjust the Save View settings using User Preferences. Then, we’ll look at how both Save Views Automatically and Save Views Manually work within the program. The following tools are available to all OPC users assigned the Primavera Cloud Schedule license type.

What are Views?

Views are unique interface configurations. They determine not only what displays within your project – but also how it displays. You can adjust everything from the columns and grouping bands in the table to the timescale and bars in the Gantt Chart using Views. The purpose of Views is to allow you to display different project information for different workflows. For example, when adding activities to the project, you may want to use a view that only has the necessary columns displaying – like Type and Calendar. On the other hand, when resource loading your project, you may want a View that has specific resource columns, like Planned Units and Planned Cost. To be clear, the View doesn’t change the project or its data – it just changes how you’re viewing that data.

You can adjust your current View using the Views menu within the Activities screen. Here, you can switch your View, edit existing Views, or even create new Views. Not only can you create your own Personal views, but you can also access Views created by others. Oftentimes, your administrators or superusers may want to make standardized Views for all users to access. You’ll find these standardized Views listed under either the Project or the Workspace header.

We recommend that administrators create sets of standardized Views for the sake of new users. However, issues may arise when it comes to how users are saving views. If a user has their settings to Save Views Automatically, they may unintentionally adjust and save over these standardized Views. Before opening up and using Views, you’ll first want to take a look at the Save View Settings and understand how they work.

Adjusting Save View Settings

You can adjust how you’re saving views in Oracle Primavera Cloud using the Preferences menu. To access Preferences, select the user menu in the upper right hand corner and select Preferences. Scroll down until you see the option for Save Views. Here, you can choose to either Save views manually or Save views automatically. 

By default, the settings will be set to Save views automatically. At any time, you can switch the Save View settings and press Save to save your changes.

It’s important to note that these settings will apply to every project you open. You can not adjust your Save View Settings for each individual project – instead, you’re setting them to the User as a whole. 

The settings you choose to use will depend on your needs within the program. We generally recommend using the Save views manually setting. However, you’ll want to evaluate how each setting works to determine which one works best for you.

Save Views Automatically

The default setting, Save Views Automatically, will automatically save any changes you make to the View. With a View open, you can make a variety of manual changes on the Activities page – such as adding columns or adjusting the timescale. Any change made will automatically save to the open view.

This can cause issues when it comes to standardized views. It’s extremely easy to make unintentional changes to your view. All changes will automatically save over any standardized views that you’ve set up. If you find that your views are consistently changing, this setting is the reason why. 

It’s recommended to not use this setting, even though it is the default. Rather than saving over your previous views, it’s a good practice to keep your standardized views as they are. Instead, you can always create new views that incorporate any needed changes.

Save Views Manually

The other option, Save Views Manually, will not automatically save changes made to the View. Instead, changes will only save when you choose to manually save the View. If you make a change to your View, the View menu will display with a caution symbol – indicating that you’ve edited the current View. If you try to leave the page without saving, a window will open, alerting you that your changes may not save. To be clear, these changes only refer to the changes in your View – they do not refer to changes made to your activities. Any adjustments made to your activities will save automatically by default.

If you choose to leave the page, your View will default to its original saved settings. Any changes you have made will be lost. If you want to save the changes you’ve made to your view, however, you can use the Views menu. Here, you can choose to either Save View, Save View As, or Reset View.

Save View will save the interface configurations to the View you’re currently using. Save View As will allow you to create and save a new View, rather than saving over your previous View. Reset View will reset the View back to its default settings, removing any changes you might have made.

Although not the default setting, we recommend using the Save Views Manually setting. This will allow you to create standardized views without needing to worry about saving over them. With this setting, your initial Views will stay exactly as you had set them.

Summary

In Oracle Primavera Cloud, Views are unique interface configurations. Views determine how the Activities page displays – such as what columns appear in the table and what timescale displays in the Gantt Chart. With Views, you can switch between different interface configurations for different workflows.

In the User Preferences menu, you have two options for saving Views: Save Views Automatically and Save Views Manually. The default option, Automatically, will save all changes you make to the View right when you make them. Although this can be convenient, it can make it harder to maintain standardized Views. Save Views Manually, on the other hand, will only save Views when you manually choose to. This can help you keep your standardized Views intact for all users. Again, we recommend using the Save Views Manually option, as it will prevent your Views from changing over time.

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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!