In the main application window, the menu option Reports → Create a Graph/Plot creates a customizable plot of quantities against time. To create such a plot:
select the desired project in the Summary view
select the menu option Reports → Create a Graph/Plot . This brings up a configuration dialog. This dialog has three parts - Load, Save and Configure. The Load and Save portions are very similar to the corresponding dialogs for tables, discussed here. The Configure portion has two tabs, Data and Layout. The Layout tab is discussed here.
in the Data tab, click the Add button. A list of all the columns with numerical values is shown. Select the desired columns and click the OK button to close the list. The selected columns are added to the Data tab.
select the desired option in the remaining three columns of the table:
Accrual method: this determines exactly when and how the value is added to the plot. Accrue over task period: The value is contributed linearly over the duration of the task. \item Accrue at start of task: The entire value is contributed when the task starts. \item Accrue at end of task: The entire value is contributed when the task ends.
Cumulative: the value contributed by each task under consideration adds into the overall value being plotted, i.e. the plot only increases with time.As an example, if plotting total cost against time, then it makes sense to use this setting, because the cost expended for earlier projects does not vanish when considering the total cost during the execution of a later project
Use % complete: the total value contributed is prorated by the percent complete value of the project. This is useful if you wish to get a view of the situation as it stands today.
click the OK button to bring up the plot.
The user may plot any project attribute that has a numerical value ( this includes time periods) against time, including custom defined columns. The plot is generated from the data of all the subprojects of the selected project. Each attribute selected contributes the appropriate value to the plot in the time frame when the corresponding subproject is being executed. Exactly when and how the value is contributed is determined by the Accrual method.