P6 Layouts and Filters
Last reviewed 16 September 20267 min read
The layouts a planner actually keeps — six of them, saved once, used for three years
🟩 In one line: A layout is a saved combination of columns, grouping, bars and filter; a working planner needs about six of them built in week one and never rebuilt — update, look-ahead, review, float, constraints and code QA — and everything else is a variation on those.
👤 Who this is for: J/M. Prerequisites: setting-up-a-p6-project, activity-coding-structure.
First, let's be honest about why this page exists
Most planners rebuild the same view every month: add the columns, group by WBS, set the filter, adjust the bars, forget to save, do it again next month. Twenty minutes each time, twelve times a year, for every view. Layouts are the single biggest time saving in P6 after Fill Down, and they cost nothing.
The second problem is layouts that hide things. A review layout with the Constraint column missing, or a float layout that includes LOE, produces a schedule that looks clean and isn't.
🟨 The standard — what "good" looks like
| Source | What it asks for (paraphrased) | Layout it implies |
|---|---|---|
| DCMA 14-Point, Metrics 1–14 | Counts of missing logic, leads, lags, hard constraints, high float, high duration, invalid dates | A review layout with every tested column visible; LOE and WBS Summary filtered out |
| GAO Schedule Assessment Guide, BP 6 and 7 | Confirm the critical path; ensure reasonable float | Float layout sorted ascending, Longest Path flagged |
| AACE RP 38R-06 | Basis records the reporting layouts used | Layout list in the SBM |
| Client schedule specifications (typical Gulf) | Prescribe columns for the submission Gantt (ID, name, OD, RD, start, finish, TF, % complete, BL dates) | A submission layout matching the spec exactly |
| Convention (schedule-narrative) | Constraint register, calendar list, top-3 near-critical paths in every narrative | Constraint and float layouts that produce those tables directly |
🟢 Rule: six layouts saved as user or project layouts in week one, each with the LOE/WBS Summary exclusion where it matters, exported as .plf files into the project archive so they survive a database move.
How it actually works
1. The six layouts
| Layout | Filter | Grouping | Columns | Bars | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Update | Not Started before DD + 6 weeks, or In Progress | WBS → Area → Level | ID, Name, Cal, OD, RD, Actual Start, Actual Finish, Physical %, Expected Finish, Notebook flag | Actual, Remaining, Baseline | Monthly statusing (statusing-a-schedule) |
| 02 Look-ahead | Start or Finish within DD + 4 weeks; not Completed | Subcontractor → Level | ID, Name, Start, Finish, RD, Predecessors, Constraint, Responsibility | Remaining, Critical highlighted | Weekly meeting (weekly-vs-monthly-cycles) |
| 03 Review | Type ≠ LOE and ≠ WBS Summary | WBS | ID, Name, Type, Cal, OD, RD, Predecessors, Successors, Relationship count, Constraint, Constraint Date, TF, FF, Longest Path flag | Baseline vs current | DCMA pass; received files (how-to-review-a-schedule) |
| 04 Float | Type ≠ LOE/WBS Summary; TF ≤ near-critical threshold; not Completed | None; sort TF ascending, then Early Start | ID, Name, Cal, TF, FF, Longest Path, Early Start, Early Finish, Successors | Critical red, near-critical amber | Top-3 near-critical table (near-critical-paths) |
| 05 Constraints | Primary Constraint is not null (or Secondary) | Milestone Type → WBS | ID, Name, Constraint, Constraint Date, Secondary Constraint, TF, Notebook (Constraint Basis) | — | Constraint register in every narrative |
| 06 Code QA | One saved filter per code where value is null; run in turn | None | ID, Name, all code columns | — | Pre-submission null check (activity-coding-structure) |
Add a seventh — 00 Submission — only if the client spec dictates columns; build it to the spec letter-for-letter and never edit it.
2. Saving and where they live
| Choice | Path | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Save | View → Layout → Save As | Name with a number prefix so they sort |
| Available to | Current User / All Users / Another User / Project | Project layouts travel with the project inside the database; user layouts stay with the login |
| Export | View → Layout → Open → Export → .plf | Six files into the project archive; import on any database |
| Filters | View → Filters; saved as User or Global | Keep filters user-level unless the team agrees a standard; global filters go into every planner's list |
Layouts, filters and user preferences do not travel in an XER. Send the .plf files with the transmittal when the receiving planner needs the same view.
3. Filter mechanics that trip people
- Filters are AND within a group by default; use "Any of the following" for OR.
- "Data Date" is available as a relative value: Start ≤ DD + 4W gives a rolling look-ahead without editing the filter each week.
- The Longest Path flag is a filterable field (Critical = Yes when Longest Path is the critical definition); don't filter on TF ≤ 0 for critical on a multi-calendar job (multiple-calendars-and-float).
- Exclude by Activity Type, not by name — "scaffold" in the name misses "access tower".
- Show → All Activities when the view goes empty; a stacked filter left on from last week is the commonest reason a schedule "lost" activities.
4. Group & Sort
Group on WBS for anything going to the client; on codes for anything internal. Tick "Show group totals" only when the summary bars are wanted; untick "Hide if empty" while building so you see nodes with nothing under them. Sort order inside a group: Early Start then Activity ID — never Total Float in a submission layout, because it scrambles the reading order.
5. Bars
Three bar sets and no more in a client layout: Actual, Remaining (critical in red), Project Baseline. Turn off the automatic "Summary" bar on grouped rows unless the client wants it. Label the milestone bars with the finish date. Bar settings are part of the layout and are the first thing lost when someone rebuilds from scratch.
🟥 Where people go wrong
- Rebuilding views every month. Twenty minutes a view, six views, twelve months. Save six layouts once and stop.
- Review layout without the Constraint column. The reviewer sees a clean network; the 34 Start On constraints are invisible until someone adds the column. Constraint and Constraint Date live on the review layout permanently.
- Float layout including LOE. Scaffold shows 180 days of float, supervision shows negative; the near-critical table is nonsense. Type exclusion on every float and review filter.
- Layouts saved to Current User only. The planner leaves; the layouts leave with the login. Project layouts plus .plf exports in the archive.
- A filter left on. "Half the activities have disappeared" is almost always a filter. View → Filters → All Activities first, panic second.
- Sorting the submission by float. The client reads the Gantt top to bottom expecting sequence and gets a shuffled list. Early Start within WBS.
⚖️ When you're challenged
"Send me the schedule the way you see it." The XER carries the data, not the view. I'll send the layout file with it — import it under View → Layout → Open → Import and you'll have the same columns, grouping and bars.
"Why does your float list not show the tower crane?" The crane is a Level of Effort — it takes its dates from the work it supports, so its float means nothing and it's excluded from every float and DCMA view. That's the correct treatment; it's in the SBM.
"Can you give me the look-ahead grouped by subcontractor instead of level?" Same layout, one change in Group & Sort — two minutes. I'll save it as 02b so it's there next week.
📄 Related pages
- Activity Coding Structure — the codes every layout groups on
- Statusing a schedule — what the update layout is for
- How to review a schedule — the review layout in use
- Near-Critical Paths — the float layout's output
- Constraints and calendars — the 5-minute diagnostic built from layouts
- P6 Keyboard and Speed — the other time savers
- Gantt Chart Presentation — the client-facing bars
✏️ Worked example
Layout set for a hospital in Jeddah, exported to the archive at baseline:
| File | Filter summary | Group | Owner | Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01_Update_JED-H.plf | In Progress OR Start ≤ DD+6W | WBS → Level | Project | Monthly, day 1–2 |
| 02_Lookahead_JED-H.plf | Start or Finish ≤ DD+4W, not Completed | Subcontractor → Level | Project | Weekly |
| 03_Review_JED-H.plf | Type ≠ LOE, WBS Summary | WBS | Project | Monthly, day 3; every received file |
| 04_Float_JED-H.plf | Type ≠ LOE/WBS Summary, TF ≤ 15, not Completed | None, sort TF asc | Project | Monthly, narrative table |
| 05_Constraints_JED-H.plf | Primary or Secondary Constraint not null | Milestone Type | Project | Monthly, narrative register |
| 06_CodeQA_JED-H.plf | 11 null filters, run in turn | None | Project | Before every submission |
Time to build all six: 2.5 hours in week one. Time recovered in the first monthly cycle: roughly 3 hours. Layout list pasted into SBM section 3.
📖 References
- DCMA 14-Point Schedule Assessment
- GAO Schedule Assessment Guide (GAO-16-89G), Best Practices 6, 7
- AACE International RP 38R-06, Documenting the Schedule Basis
- Oracle Primavera P6 Professional User Guide — Layouts; Filters; Group and Sort; Bars (field labels as in P6 Professional v20; earlier versions differ)
From the field
Notes, corrections and additions from people who've done this on a real job. Everything is checked before it appears here.
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