MPP views explained
A view does not create a different project. It presents selected fields from the same MPP schedule in a format suited to a particular question.
Which MPP view should you use?
| Question | Best starting view | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| When will the work happen? | Gantt Chart | Task bars, milestones, summary phases and progress |
| What are the exact task fields? | Task Sheet | WBS, dates, duration, predecessors and assigned resources |
| Who is assigned beneath each task? | Task Usage | Task-to-resource assignments across time |
| Which resources exist in the plan? | Resource Sheet | Resource names and where they are assigned |
| What drives the task sequence? | Network Diagram | Predecessor links and critical tasks |
| What occurs in a particular week? | Calendar | Tasks and milestones positioned by date |
Gantt Chart
The Gantt Chart combines a task table with bars on a time scale. It is the fastest way to see the project’s phases, start and finish dates, duration, progress and milestones together. Expand summary tasks for detail, and use predecessor information when a bar appears later than expected.
Task Sheet
The Task Sheet removes the chart and emphasizes fields in rows and columns. Use it to inspect task IDs, hierarchy, start and finish dates, durations, completion, predecessors, assigned resources and critical status without horizontal timeline scrolling.
Task Usage
A Task Usage view groups assigned resources beneath each task and normally shows time-phased work to the right. FormatPeek provides a simplified usage view based on the extracted task dates and assignments; it is useful for orientation, but it is not a substitute for authoritative work or cost totals from Microsoft Project.
Resource Sheet
The Resource Sheet starts from people, roles, materials or equipment rather than tasks. FormatPeek exposes resource names and assignment counts where available. Detailed rate tables, enterprise fields and complete availability profiles are outside the current viewer.
Network Diagram
The Network Diagram draws tasks as connected nodes. Follow arrows from predecessors to dependent tasks to understand schedule logic. A critical marker means a task was flagged as critical in the parsed file; it does not independently recalculate the critical path.
Calendar
The Calendar places tasks against familiar weeks and months. FormatPeek builds this display from extracted task dates. It does not reproduce Microsoft Project’s underlying base, resource or exception calendars, so use the original application to audit working-time rules.
Why can the same MPP look different?
Microsoft Project views can combine tables, filters, groups and presentation settings. FormatPeek intentionally reads core schedule data without loading saved presentation data, so custom columns, colors, bar styles, filters and split views may not match the author’s desktop layout. Microsoft’s overview of Project views explains how the desktop application composes its views.
Start with Gantt for timing, Task Sheet for field-level checking, Network Diagram for logic and Resource Sheet for assignments. Switch views instead of trying to answer every question from one chart.
Open the free MPP viewer to try all six views on the included example project before uploading a file.