Layouts

Every time you open the Activities window in Oracle Primavera P6, you are looking through a layout: a saved set of columns, bars, grouping, filters and timescale. Most people change their screen by hand each time and lose the work when they close it. A scheduler who saves layouts can answer the same question the same way every month, and an owner who issues a set of layouts to the contractor can review every update on identical screens. This lesson covers what a layout holds, the four ways to save one, and how to share them.

Learning outcomes

• Describe what a P6 layout stores and where its name appears on screen.
• Open, save and create layouts in P6 Professional, and recognize the equivalent views in P6 EPPM.
• Choose between global, user, another-user and project layouts.
• Build and share a small owner's layout set for reviewing contractor schedules.

The lesson

What a layout holds

A layout is a saved arrangement of a window. In the Activities window it covers the activity table (which columns, in what order and width), the Gantt chart (bar styles and timescale), grouping and sorting, the bottom pane, and the filters applied when you saved it. Oracle states directly that applied filters are saved with the layout [1]. The Options bar at the top of the window shows the name of the current layout and filter, and clicking it gives you the layout commands [2].

P6 EPPM uses the word view for the same idea. On the Activities page, the Views menu opens Manage Views, whose edit tabs cover columns, filtering, grouping, sorting, bars, Gantt, activity network and access [3]. EPPM also lets you keep changes for the session only, or save them so they appear the next time you use the view [4].

Opening and saving

To open a layout in P6 Professional, go to the window (for activities, Project, Activities), choose View, Layout, Open, select the layout and click Open. P6 asks whether to save the current layout first, and the Apply button lets you preview a layout without closing the dialog [5][6]. To keep changes to the current layout, choose View, Layout, Save [7].

To make a new layout, open the one closest to what you want, choose View, Layout, Save As, type a name and choose who it is Available To, then adjust it and save again [8]. The Options bar offers the same commands under Layout.

Four ways to save a layout

The Available To choice decides who sees the layout (Figure 2):

• All Users creates a global layout, open to everyone [8][6].
• Current User keeps the layout for you alone [8].
• Another User saves it for one named user, who sees it only when they log in [8].
• Project saves it with a project. Oracle lists the uses: export the project with the layout, copy the project with it, or share it with project users without adding to the global list [9].

Privileges apply. Saving global layouts needs the global layouts privilege, and saving a project layout needs Add/Edit Project Level Layouts on the target project [7][9]. Only global or layout filters can sit in a project layout; if a user filter is applied when you save, P6 copies it into the layout filters [9]. And in P6 Professional Standalone, saving or importing layouts for all users or other users is not available [2].

Sharing layouts as files

The Open Layout dialog has Export and Import buttons. Export saves a layout as a Primavera Layout File (.PLF), and you can export several at once, each saved under its own name. Import brings in a .PLF; if a layout with the same name already exists, P6 adds "1" to the new one's name [6]. When you import, the Import Layout As dialog asks which user category the layout is for, and Oracle notes that applied user-defined filters become global filters when a layout is saved to all users [1]. This is how an owner hands a contractor a set of review layouts without sharing a database.

Screenshot to come

Northgate worked example

Northgate Distribution Centre (fictional) is a 12,000 m² tilt-up warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario, built under CCDC 2-2020 by Halvorsen Builders Ltd. (fictional) for Northgate Logistics Inc. (fictional). The owner's scheduler reviews Halvorsen's baseline NDC-BL00 and every monthly update in the NDC.SUB branch of the EPS. To keep the reviews consistent, the owner builds five global layouts, exports them as .PLF files and attaches them to the schedule specification so Halvorsen can check its own submissions on the same screens. The layouts below are BRC's suggestion; milestones are from the Northgate fact sheet.

Building NDC-01

The scheduler opens NDC-BL00, starts from the default layout and sets it up step by step:

1. Columns. Activity ID, Activity Name, NDC Milestone (the code from Lesson 15), BL Project Finish, Finish, Variance - BL Project Finish Date and Total Float.
2. Filter. The default Milestone filter, which selects Start and Finish Milestones [10], combined with a filter on the NDC Milestone code so only contract milestones appear.
3. Sort. By Finish, so M3 sits at the top and M11 at the bottom.
4. Gantt. Current and baseline milestone bars, with the timescale set to months from March 2027 to April 2028.
5. Save. View, Layout, Save As, name "NDC-01 Contract milestones", Available To: All Users.

The other four follow the same pattern. Then, in View, Layout, Open, the scheduler selects all five and clicks Export, giving five .PLF files for the specification appendix.

Why global, not project, layouts

Project layouts sound attractive because they travel with the project. But each Northgate update is a separate project (NDC-UP01, NDC-UP02 and so on), so project layouts would need copying every month, and P6 notes that project layouts are not available in the Project and Tracking views [1][6]. Global layouts in the owner's database, plus the exported .PLF set for Halvorsen, keep one master copy of each.

Screenshot to come

Screenshot to come

Owner's move

• Issue review layouts with the specification. Attach the .PLF files and ask the contractor to check each submission in them before sending.
• One question per layout. Name it for the question it answers; a layout that tries to show everything shows nothing clearly.
• Number the set. A prefix such as NDC-01 keeps the owner's layouts together and in review order in the Open Layout list.
• Keep personal tinkering out of the global set. Make working copies as Current User layouts and change the global ones only on purpose.
• Use the same layouts for screenshots in reports. Monthly reports that show the same view every month make change easy to see. Printing is covered in Lesson 20.

Common mistakes

1. Overwriting a global layout by accident. View, Layout, Save on a global layout changes it for everyone. Use Save As for experiments.
2. Forgetting the filter is part of the layout. A layout saved with a filter applied keeps hiding activities the next time it opens. Check the Options bar before you draw conclusions.
3. Reviewing in the contractor's layout. It shows what the contractor chose to show. Apply your own.
4. Saving everything as All Users. The global list fills with one-off views nobody else needs.
5. Assuming a project layout follows every update. Each update project needs its own copy, and project layouts are not available in every view [6].

Quick quiz

1. Which statement about filters and layouts is correct?

   1. Filters are never saved with layouts
   2. Applied filters are saved with the layout
   3. Only default filters are saved with layouts
   4. Filters are saved only in project layouts

2. Which Available To option creates a global layout?

   1. Current User
   2. Another User
   3. All Users
   4. Project

3. What file type does P6 Professional use to export a layout?

   1. .XER
   2. .PLF
   3. .XML
   4. .MPP

4. What is the P6 EPPM equivalent of a P6 Professional layout on the Activities page?

   1. A portfolio
   2. A view
   3. A baseline
   4. A dashboard

5. Why does the Northgate owner use global layouts plus exported files rather than project layouts?

   1. Project layouts cannot hold columns
   2. Each monthly update is a separate project, so project layouts would need copying each time
   3. Global layouts are faster to schedule
   4. P6 Professional has no project layouts

Show answers and explanations

1. B. Oracle states that applied filters are saved with the layout [1].
2. C. All Users creates a global layout [8].
3. B. Export saves a layout as a Primavera Layout File (.PLF) [6].
4. B. EPPM manages views from the Views menu on the Activities page [3].
5. B. Project layouts belong to one project; the owner's global set plus .PLF files gives one master copy [9].

Key terms

Layout

A saved arrangement of a P6 Professional window: columns, bars, grouping and sorting, filters, timescale and panes.

Global layout

A layout saved for All Users.

Project layout

A layout stored with one project, which travels when that project is exported or copied.

Options bar

The bar at the top of a window showing the current layout and filter, with layout commands.

.PLF

Primavera Layout File, the format for exporting and importing layouts.

View (EPPM)

The P6 EPPM equivalent of a layout on the Activities, EPS and Assignments pages.

References

1. Oracle. Import Layout As dialog box. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
2. Oracle. P6 Professional User Guide (PDF). Primavera P6 Professional, Version 26.
3. Oracle. Manage Views Dialog Box of the Activities Page, EPS Page or Assignments Page. Primavera P6 EPPM Help, Version 26.
4. Oracle. Working with Activity Views. Primavera P6 EPPM Help, Version 26.
5. Oracle. Open a layout. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
6. Oracle. Open Layout dialog box. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
7. Oracle. Save a layout in the Activities or Resource Assignments window. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
8. Oracle. Create a new activity layout. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
9. Oracle. Save a layout as a project layout. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.
10. Oracle. Default filter criteria. Primavera P6 Professional Help, Version 26.

Verified on November 6, 2026.

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