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\section{Introduction}

The \xplan\ project planning tool was developed to aid in planning and
managing projects.  Any project that can be broken down into a set of
discrete tasks that must be performed in a certain order can be
planned out and managed with \xplan.  Users of \xplan\ should be familiar
with PERT and Gantt charts (which \xplan\ produces both within its
graphical user interface, and in a \LaTeX\ format), and the basic
ideas of a task network (task dependency, duration, float time, etc.).
One source for this information is \cite{cpa}.  This manual makes no
attempt at educating the user on the subject of task scheduling, task
networks, PERT or Gantt charts.

Potential users of \xplan\ include any computer user that has a project
they need to plan and manage.  This might include a project manager at
a software company, or a senior development engineer in a mechanical
engineering research lab who is responsible for managing a project.
The primary customers of the project were Dr.\ B.\ Cheng and Jerry
Gannod of Michigan State University, the instructor and TA
respectively of the Fall 1992 Software Engineering course.  Secondary
customers include the Internet community, for whom this product will
be made freely available (as per the GNU General Public License, which
will be distributed with the source code).  No support is offered
after the end of the semester.

Project planning is facilitated by \xplan\ through the use of a
graphical user interface, the ability to enter and store (to a file on
disk) task information for a project, the automatic calculation of
critical path in the task network, interactive graphic display of PERT
and Gantt charts which are automatically generated by \xplan, and
through the ability to export PERT and Gantt charts to \LaTeX\ code
that corresponds to the boxes and words seen on the screen.  Examples
of projects that may be planned and managed with \xplan\ include
manufacturing projects, research projects, software development
projects, personal projects, and all other projects for which a plan
is seen as a useful tool.

The user of \xplan\ is assumed to be familiar with the basics of using
graphical user interface that conforms to the {\sc Open Look}
standard.  The \xplan\ software is provided on an ``as is'' basis, there
is no expressed or implied warranty or support policy.  For
information on installing \xplan, see Section \ref{sec:install} on page
\pageref{sec:install}.

\subsection{Hardware Requirements}
\label{hw-req}

\xplan\ was originally developed on Sun SPARCstations (1's, 1+'s, and
2's) running version 4.1.1 of SunOS.  A graphical display is
necessary to support the graphical user interface that \xplan\ provides.
The graphical display need not support color --- no special meaning is
attached to any of the colors in the \xplan\ interface.  A three-button
mouse and keyboard are required for interaction between the user and
the user interface.

As with most any software, a ``faster'' machine is always the
preferred platform for the program.  Some functions of the software
take much more time as the number of tasks in the network (or the
number of dependencies for a task) increases.  So, for working on
large projects, a Sun SPARCstation 2 (or comparable machine of a
different make) would be preferred.

\subsection{Software Requirements}
\label{sw-req}

To run \xplan, the user needs to be using a machine running the
Unix\footnote{Unix is a trademark of AT\&T Bell Labs.} operating system
along with X Windows.  Some type of X Window manager is also required.
To compile the program, an ANSI C compiler (preferably {\tt gcc},
which was used in development of \xplan), the XView libraries, the Sun
OpenWindows Developer's Guide (if any changes are to be made to the
user interface's {\tt .G} files), and the programs {\tt flex} and {\tt
bison}\footnote{{\tt lex} and {\tt yacc} may also work, but they have
not been tested with \xplan, and they were not used in the development
of it.} are all required.  Further development of \xplan\ should probably
be done in its ``native'' environment (Sun SPARCstation running
OpenWindows).  For instance, if the human language (in this case
English) used in the text of the program were to be modified
(translated to another language), it would be preferable that the Sun
OpenWindows Developer's Guide was available for use.

Additionally, if the user plans on exporting PERT and Gantt charts
into \LaTeX\ format, the \LaTeX\ document processing software is
necessary.  This feature is especially useful for incorporating PERT
and Gantt charts along with task sheets into other documents, such as
project planning documents.
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The xplan project planning tool was developed to aid in planning and
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planned out and managed with xplan.  Users of xplan should be familiar
with PERT and Gantt charts (which xplan produces both within its
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Potential users of xplan include any computer user that has a project
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Project planning is facilitated by xplan through the use of a
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and Gantt charts which are automatically generated by xplan, and
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of projects that may be planned and managed with xplan include
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The user of xplan is assumed to be familiar with the basics of using
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standard.  The xplan software is provided on an ``as is'' basis, there
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information on installing xplan, see section \ref{sec:install} on page
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xplan was originally developed on Sun SPARCstations (1's, 1+'s, and
2's) running version 4.1.1 of SunOS.  The authors made no attempt at
making the program portable across platforms, although some
portability will certainly be present.  A graphical display is
necessary to support the graphical user interface that xplan provides.
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attached to any of the colors in the xplan interface.  A three-button
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large projects a Sun SPARCstation 2 (or comparable machine of a
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To run xplan, the user needs to be using a machine running the
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which was used in development of xplan), the XView libraries, the Sun
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not been tested with xplan, and they were not used in the development
of it.} are all required.  Further development of xplan should probably
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