This article describes the calendars view of the resource pool in Meisterplan.

Opening the Calendars View

Select Calendars in the list of data types to the left to open the calendars view.

Overview of the Calendars View

In the calendars view, you can view, edit, add and delete calendars.

The view displays a hierachical list of all calendars in the middle and details of the selected calendar to the right.

Derived Calendars and Inheritance

A calendar may be based on another calendar. In this case, the derived calendar will inherit its parent calendar's working hours and calendar exceptions (holidays). The inherited working hours and calendar exceptions can be overwritten in the derived calendar. It is also possible to add calendar exceptions. It is not possible to delete calendar exceptions inherited from a parent calendar.

The calendar list displays the calendar hierarchy: A little arrow icon next to the name of a calendar indicates it has derived calendars. Clicking the arrow icon will expand or collapse the structure under the parent calendar.

Default Calendar

Any one calendar can be set as the default calendar via the Use as default calendar option. This has two effects:

• New resources created in Meisterplan as well as imported resources not assigned to a calendar will automatically receive the default calendar.
• The FTE (full time equivalent) unit used to display the workload of roles and resources in Meisterplan refers to the amount of working hours in the considered period as defined by the default calendar and its calendar exceptions.

Viewing and Editing a Calendar

To view or edit a calendar, select the associated list item.

The right panel will display the properties of the selected calendar.

General

• Name: displayed in the calendar selection for a resource
• Use as default calendar: setting the calendar as default will automatically assign it to new resources and define the FTE unit used in Meisterplan (see "Default Calendar").
• Distribution of weekly working hours: enter the number of working hours for each work day. A derived calendar initially inherits the working hours from their parent calendar. Working hours can then be overwritten in the derived calendar. Any future changes of the working hours in the parent calendar will not be passed through to the derived calendar, regardless of whether the working hours were overwritten in the derived calendar or not.

Exceptions

Enter and edit calendar exceptions (holidays) here. Calendar exceptions inherited from a parent calendar will be displayed with a grayed out date. You can't delete them, but it is possible to overwrite them in the derived calendar. Move the mouse pointer over an inherited exception to display a hint indicating the calendar it is inherited from.

Note: please note that an exception may raise the number of working hours on a day if it coincides with a day with less working hours (e.g., 4 instead of 0 hours on a Saturday or Sunday). This will also raise the capacities of all resources using this calendar on that day.

• Sort List: the list is sorted by the Date field. Click on its column header to switch between ascending and descending sorting order.
• Edit an Exception: click the desired field in the list to edit an exception. The Date of inherited exceptions is grayed out and can't be changed. The Working hours and Description of inherited exceptions may be overwritten. Any inherited exceptions of a derived calendar that have not been overwritten will automatically be updated when they are changed in the parent calendar. Once an exception has been overwritten in a derived calendar, it will no longer be updated when it is changed in the parent calendar.
•  Add an Exception: click the plus icon above the list to enter a new calendar exception. The Date of the exception will default to the current date, the Working hours will default to zero and the Description will default to "Exception". Enter the desired date and working hours. If desired, also change the description. It is displayed here and is included in the Excel export. 
•  Delete an Exception: exceptions that have not been inherited from a parent calendar can be deleted. To do this, point at the list item you wish to delete and click the garbage can icon in its row. The exception will be removed from the list without asking for confirmation, but it will only be deleted permanently once you click Apply. Click Discard to restore it.

Applying or Discarding Changes

Any changes you make here, except for the deletion of calendars, are preliminary.

Click Apply to save your changes.

Click Discard to revert your changes.

Adding a Calendar

 Add Top Level Calendar: click the plus icon above the calendar list.

 Add Derived Calendar: point at the desired parent calendar and click the plus icon in its row.

A new list item will be inserted for the new calendar, either on the top level or indented below its parent calendar.

Enter working hours and calendar exceptions in the right panel.

Once you have entered all properties for your new calendar, click Apply to create it.

Click Discard to cancel creating a new calendar.

Deleting a Calendar

You can delete any calendar except for the default calendar.

 Delete Calendar: to delete a calendar, point at it and click the garbage can icon displayed in its list item.

You will be asked to confirm the deletion. If you do, the calendar along with all calendars derived from it (displayed below it in the hierarchy) will be deleted.

The default calendar will be assigned to any resources that were using any of the deleted calendars.

Backing up and Restoring Calendars

You can create a backup of your data before actually deleting anything using the Excel export available in the More Actions menu of the toolbar for the Portfolio Designer view.

If you reimport calendars and resources with the IDs used initially for them via Excel, CA PPM or another data source, the calendars and their assignments to resources will be restored.