Time entry UI behavior

Article
06/03/2022

Applies To: Project Operations for resource/non-stocked based scenarios, Lite deployment - deal to proforma invoicing

The Weekly time entry grid is a custom control that has two main sections, Dimensions and Duration.

Keyboard shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
New	Alt + Shift + n
Copy row	Alt + Shift + c
Edit entry	Alt + Shift + e
Edit row	Alt + Shift + Ctrl + e
Open entry	Alt + Shift + o
Submit	Alt + Shift + s
Recall	Alt + Shift + r
Delete	Alt + Shift + d
Copy week	Alt + Shift + w

Dimensions

The Dimensions section shows the dimensions that time can be entered against. The following dimensions are supported out-of-the-box:

Project
Project Task
Role
Type
Entry Status

The Dimensions section doesn't allow inline editing. This section is backed by a view that enables custom fields to be added to the weekly time entry grid.

Duration

The Duration section shows the days of the week as column headers. This section allows inline editing. After a time entry row is created with the appropriate dimensions, users can quickly enter the amount of time that they spent on those dimensions.

Create a new time entry

In the time entry grid, select New.
In the Time Entry Quick Create dialog box, select the time entry date.
Enter data for the Project, Project Task, Role, and Duration dimensions. This information should be added in minutes, hours, or days by typing h, m, or d, together with the number.
Enter a description for the entry and any comments that can be shared externally regarding time entry.

When you save the entry, the entered values appear in the Dimensions section. The information entered in the Duration field appears on the date that the time entry was created for.

Lookup fields are backed by system views. For example, after a user enters a project, the Project Task field is set to the Copy view by default. To create time entries for tasks that aren't assigned to a user, select Change View in the lookup dialog box, and then select the All Active Project Tasks view.

Edit a time entry

Details from some fields on the time entry page, such as Description and External Comments, aren't shown in the weekly time entry grid. Instead, a small triangular indicator appears in the Duration cells that have these additional details.

To edit a time entry, select the cell you want to update in the time entry.
Select Edit Details to update the data in the Time Entry Mainform pane.

Copy a time entry row

After the row has been created, you can select Copy Row to copy the whole row to a new row. When a row is copied in this way, dimensions and durations are also copied. You can also select Edit Row to update dimension values and durations in the Duration section.

Open a time entry behavior

To support optimal and quick entry in the most prominent fields, the weekly time entry grid shows a subset of selected dimensions and time durations. To view all the details of a single time entry, under Edit Entry, select Open.

Submit a time entry

You can submit a single time entry or a group of time entries by selecting a block of cells or a whole time entry row, and then selecting Submit. Submitted time entries appear as entries that are pending approval on the approvers' Approval page. After time entries are successfully submitted, they can't be edited.

Recall a time entry

You can recall time entries that you've submitted. You can recall a single time entry, a block of time entries, or a whole row of time entries. Recalled time entries can be edited.

Time entry status

Draft: New time entries are automatically assigned a status of Draft. Only time entries that have a status of Draft can be deleted.
Submitted: When a time entry is submitted, the status is updated to Submitted.
Approved: When a submitted time entry is approved, the status is updated to Approved.
Returned: If a time entry is rejected, the status is updated to Returned, and the entry becomes available for correction and resubmission.

View rejection comments

When a time entry is rejected by an approver, the approver might add comments to help the resource understand the reason for the rejection. To view the rejection comments for a time entry, select Open entry. The rejection comments will be shown in the timeline. The user can respond to the rejection comments before they resubmit the entry.

Copy week

After a few time entries have been created, users can create multiple time entries at the same time.

In the Time Entries form, select Copy Week to bulk-create additional time entries.
In the Copy dialog box, in the From period section, use the Start Date and End Date fields to define the date range to copy time entries from.
In the To Period section, in the Start Date field, specify the date to create time entries for.
Select Copy. For the specified date in the To period, a copy of the time entries for the corresponding day of the week in the From period is created. For example, Monday's time entry from last week is copied into Monday of the week that is specified as the To period.

Import

The same basic process is used to import from bookings, assignments, and exchanges. You can specify the date range that bookings are imported from and then explicitly select the bookings that should be copied into draft time entries.

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