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How to Move and Resize Appointments on the Scheduler

On the Scheduler you reschedule a visit by dragging it: along the engineer's row to change the time, to another day, or up and down to give it to another engineer. Pulling either edge of an appointment changes how long it is. Each change is saved as soon as you let go, and a message at the foot of the screen offers Undo for a few seconds.

How do I move an appointment to another time or day on the Scheduler?​

Press on the appointment on the Scheduler board, drag it along the engineer's row to the new time or day, and let go. The visit keeps its length, and it is saved the moment you let go.

  1. Open the Scheduler and find the appointment.
  2. Press on the middle of the appointment and hold the mouse button down.
  3. Drag it left or right to the new time, or into another day's column.
  4. Watch the dashed outline on the board, which marks exactly where the appointment will land, and the label above the appointment, which gives the day, the start and end times and the engineer's name.
  5. Let go to save it.

The new start snaps to the nearest line of the board's cells, so a visit dropped near 10:00 starts at 10:00. The cell size is set by Cell duration in Scheduler settings, which is also how finely you can place visits: choose 30 min to place to the half hour. A visit that started at an odd time, such as a quarter past, loses those minutes when you drag it along the row or to another day; dragged straight up or down to another engineer, it keeps its exact time.

A single click does not move anything. An appointment only starts to move once you have carried it at least half a cell along its day, or onto another day, so clicking to open its card never changes it. To call a drag off while you are still holding the mouse button, press Escape.

If you drop an appointment where it would fall wholly before or after your working day hours, the dashed outline shrinks to a narrow mark at that end of the day. The move is still saved, but the day and week views do not draw a visit outside the working day, so it disappears from the board: select Undo straight away, or widen the Working day in Scheduler settings to see it.

In the Month view there are no hours. Dragging an appointment to another day keeps its time of day, rounded to the nearest line of your Cell duration; dragging it to another engineer on the same day keeps its time exactly.

How do I give an appointment to a different engineer on the Scheduler?​

Drag the appointment up or down on the Scheduler board onto the other engineer's row and let go; it keeps its day and time unless you also drag it sideways. You can also click the appointment and use Change engineer on its card, which is easier when the other engineer is far down the list.

To change the engineer by dragging:

  1. Press on the appointment and hold.
  2. Drag it onto the other engineer's row. The label above it names the engineer it would land on.
  3. Let go to save it.

Hold the appointment near the top or bottom edge of the board and the board scrolls on its own, so you can reach engineers who are off screen; you can also turn the mouse wheel while holding it. Near the left or right edge it scrolls through the days in the same way.

To change the engineer from the appointment's card:

  1. Click the appointment to open its card.
  2. Select Change engineer.
  3. Choose the engineer in the New engineer list, which starts at Choose an engineer.
  4. Select Apply change. The visit moves to that engineer at the same day and time.

Changing the engineer on the Scheduler moves this one visit only; any other engineers on the same call keep their visits.

How do I make an appointment longer or shorter on the Scheduler?​

Press on the start or end edge of the appointment on the Scheduler board and drag it; the appointment's other edge stays where it is. Let go to save the new length.

  1. Point at the left edge of the appointment to change when it starts, or the right edge to change when it ends.
  2. Drag the edge to the new time. A dashed outline shows where it will end.
  3. Let go to save it.

The edge snaps to the nearest line of the board's cells, and an appointment is never made shorter than one cell. Short appointments have no edges to pull, because there would be nothing left in the middle to drag them by; to resize one, choose a smaller Cell duration in Scheduler settings so it is drawn wider, or use the keyboard: select the appointment and press Shift with the Left or Right arrow key. A visit with no duration keeps its edges, so pulling its right edge gives it a length of at least one cell.

Changing the length changes the visit's duration in ABM. It does not change any actual start or finish times the engineer has recorded.

Why can't I move an appointment on the Scheduler?​

An appointment cannot be moved, resized or given to another engineer when its action status is Finished, Cancelled, Matched, Closed or Send Error. Work in those states is done or closed off, so the Scheduler leaves it where it is. The pointer shows that it cannot be moved, and clicking the appointment opens its card with the line This action’s status does not allow rescheduling. and Change engineer greyed out.

Some other limits apply to every appointment:

  • It must start and end on the same day. A drag or a pulled edge that would carry it past midnight stops at the end of the day instead. ABM Service refuses overnight bookings everywhere, so that every visit can be drawn on the day it starts.
  • It must be shorter than a day.
  • Month view has no hours, so there you can see which day you are moving an appointment to but not the time. Change its time or length in the Day, Work week or Week view, where you can see the hours.

If the appointment is not on the board at all, check the dates in the toolbar's date button, the filters, Which engineers, and the Working day hours in Scheduler settings.

What happens if a move is not saved on the Scheduler?​

If ABM Service cannot save a move, the appointment goes back to where it was and a line at the top of the Scheduler board says so: Could not move or Could not resize, with the call number, followed by its original booking has been restored. Nothing has changed for that visit.

ABM refuses a move when, for example, somebody else has changed the visit in the meantime, such as finishing it on another screen so that its status no longer allows rescheduling, or when the engineer you moved it to is no longer active. Select Refresh to see the board as it now stands, then try again if the visit can still be moved.

When a move is saved, the appointment is drawn exactly as ABM has stored it. A move on the Scheduler changes the visit's engineer, due date and time, and duration, the same three things the ABM desktop scheduler changes, so the visit shows its new time everywhere in ABM straight away.

Can I move several appointments at once on the Scheduler?​

No. The Scheduler moves, resizes and changes the engineer of one appointment at a time: there is no way to select several appointments, or a whole day of one engineer's work, and move them together. ABM Service has no bulk reassign anywhere.

When an engineer is off and their visits need to go to somebody else, give each visit to the new engineer in turn on the Scheduler:

  1. Click the first of the engineer's appointments to open its card.
  2. Select Change engineer, choose the new engineer under New engineer, and select Apply change.
  3. Repeat for each of the other appointments, or drag each one onto the other engineer's row.

Each change is saved on its own as you make it, and Undo in the message at the foot of the Scheduler takes back only the most recent one.

How do I undo a move on the Scheduler?​

Select Undo in the message at the foot of the Scheduler, which appears for six seconds after each move or resize. It puts the whole visit back as it was before your last change: the same engineer, day, time and length.

The message reads Moved or Resized, the call number and the new day and time, then Undo. It appears for moves made by dragging, by pulling an edge, by the keyboard and by Change engineer.

Only your most recent change can be undone, and only while its message is showing and you stay on the Scheduler. After that, move the visit back by hand. If the undo itself cannot be saved, you will see Could not undo the change to followed by the call number, and the visit stays where you moved it.