Microsoft Project 2010 - Error/Bug regarding Filters

Question

Dear Microsoft Team,

I am an engineering professional working in a multinational company. Recently, I have upgraded from MS Project 2007 to MS Project Professional 2010.

I have observed the following error/bug:

• While using the "auto filters", when I select particular values in various columns such as "Total Slack" and "Duration" (by removing "Select All" and selecting particular values), I do not find the relevant activities to those selected values.
• However, when I use a custom filter, and select the same values, the relevant activities are displayed correctly.

Can someone please help me on this issue?

Regards,

Syed Usman

Answer 1

I just stumbled across a post in another forum with the same apparent issue.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/projectserver/en-US/0ae3530f-6760-4ef9-afd9-6028258a490e/autofilter-feature-error-in-ms-project-2010?forum=projectprofessional2010general

Like the other poster does it work with integer values but doesn't work with fractional values?

I just tried to reproduce the error using fractional values and in the Total Slack Field - I get the same issue.  Other fields appear to work correctly (Duration etc).

However, when I create a new file, I don't see this issue.  Was your file created in Project 2007?

Answer 2

Your first point is correct. When I select a particular value from drop down list it returns no tasks. No even when I scroll to the top of the list the tasks are not visible. This is the situation with some of the values, while for others it is not the case.

However, as explained when I use the drop down menu of AutoFilter>Filters>Custom, the same values when selected are showing the relevant tasks which are not shown while using the same value from drop down menu.

I have the latest service pack upgrade installed. There is no issue with the version.

Answer 3

To my surprise, some values when selected, they are displayed correctly with the relevant activities shown.However some of the values which I select are not appearing and the relevant activities are not shown and only empty rows are shown . So I use "Clear Filter" and try some other option.

I'm not following.  Are you saying that when you select a value from the list of values, it returns no tasks?  If you scroll to the top of the list, are the tasks visible?  (CTRL+Home).

You are seeing different results if you AutoFilter for the same value (-11.17 wks) and filter for the same value?

To cover all bases, please check your installation of Project (File > Help and then Click "Additional Version and Copyright) against the version numbers in http://blogs.technet.com/b/projectsupport/p/msp10.aspx

Answer 4

I will explain the error/bug in detail as below:

• I have an MS Project 2010 file which has total 3049 activities (IDs).
• The linking process (predecessors and successors) is almost complete.
• In MS Project 2010 software console, in the bottom left most corner, I have right clicked and enabled the options of "Filter" and "AutoFilter".
• In the "View" tab located at top console, I have selected "[No Filter] against the "Filter" icon. Also, from the drop down arrow against the "Filter" icon, I have enabled "Display AutoFilter". As a result I can see drop down arrows in front of all columns displayed in the file.
• I have displayed columns "Duration", "Start", "Finish", "Total Slack", etc.
• I used the drop down arrow appearing in front of "Total Slack" column, and I can see some options. At the bottom I can see all the "Total Slack" values with scroll option available and all the boxes here are checked. I remove the check box in "Select All" field and manually select any random value such as "-11.17 wks".
• To my surprise, some values when selected, they are displayed correctly with the relevant activities shown. However some of the values which I select are not appearing and the relevant activities are not shown and only empty rows are shown. So I use "Clear Filter" and try some other option.
• Now, to find those activities, I have to click on the drop down arrow in front of "Total Slack" column, Go to "Filters", and select the last option "Custom". Now I select show rows where Total Slack "equals" and I select any value from drop down arrow appearing in front of "equals", I can see all those values of "Total Slack" and I randomly select the same value for e.g. "-11.17 wks". This time the relevant activity is displayed correctly which was not shown by using the above method of selecting a certain value by selecting a check box from drop down arrow appearing against any column.

I hope to have a response from your side.

For your question on using "Auto Filter" on just one column, I am unaware how to use this feature on only on a particular column. When I select "Display AutoFilter" a drop down arrow is shown on all the columns in the file.

Answer 5

If you use AutoFilters on just one column, does it work correctly?  

Can you post the definition you are using in the custom filter?