It is often important to identify and fix gaps and overlaps in recorded time to ensure that you are tracking your time accurately.
Gaps
Gaps are empty periods of time between recorded time entries and can occur when automatic time recording is stopped and then later re-started or if two time entries are manually added and the start time of the second time entry is later than the end time of the first time entry.
For example, consider a time entry from 09:00 to 10:00 and another time entry from 10:30 to 11:00. A half-hour gap exists between the time entries from 10:00 to 10:30.
Gaps are displayed in the Edit Recorded Time window when all of the following conditions are true:
| 1. | The ALL category is selected in the category list. |
| 2. | The Show gaps in recorded time when the ALL category is selected option is checked. |
| 3. | Gaps between time entries exist and the gap is at least the configurable number of seconds specified in the Display Options. |
Gaps are highlighted in yellow.
In the previous screen shot the time between 12:55:31 PM and 1:20:10 PM has not been recorded.
You can set which gaps to ignore by specifying the number of seconds in the Display Options. This is useful to ignore small gaps.
You can fix gaps by manually adding a time entry to fill the gap, manually editing the end time of the previous time entry or start time of the next time entry, or automatically allocate the time represented by the gap to a new time entry, the previous time entry, the next time entry, or evenly allocate to the previous and next time entries.
HOW-TO
Automatically Allocate a Time Gap
Use one of the following methods to allocate the time gap to a time entry:
| • | Select the gap time entry and click the Allocate button below the listed time entries. Choose the appropriate option and select OK. |
| • | Right-click the gap and select the appropriate allocate option from the popup menu. |
The allocate time gap dialog is shown below.
Overlaps
Overlaps are periods of time that fall within more than one recorded time entry and can occur when incorrect start or end times are specified when manually adding or modifying time entries.
There are two main scenarios of overlapping time entries, partial overlaps and full overlaps. A partial overlap is where only part of two time entries overlap, for example time entries 09:00 to 10:00 and 09:30 to 10:30. A half-hour overlap exists at the end of the first time entry and start of the second time entry. A full overlap is where one time entry entirely overlaps another time entry, for example time entries 09:00 to 11:00 and 09:30 to 10:30. The first time entry totally encloses the second time entry.
Overlaps are displayed in the Edit Recorded Time window when all of the following conditions are true:
| 1. | The ALL category is selected in the category list. |
| 2. | The Show overlaps in recorded time when the ALL category is selected option is checked. |
| 3. | Overlaps of time entries exist and the overlap is at least the configurable number of seconds specified in the Display Options. |
Overlaps are highlighted in orange.
In the previous screen shot the time from 9:40:00 AM to 9:45:00 AM has been recorded in two time entries.
You can set which overlaps to ignore by specifying the number of seconds in the Display Options. This is useful to ignore small overlaps.
You can fix overlaps by manually editing the start or end time of time entries so that they no longer overlap, or automatically trim the overlapping start or end time to remove the overlap.
Note: You can only automatically trim the start or end time of time entries that are not fully overlapped by another time entry.
HOW-TO
Automatically Trim an Overlap
Use one of the following methods to trim a time entry to remove an overlap:
| • | Select the time that overlaps (the specific start time or end time highlighted as an overlap) and click the Trim Overlap button below the listed time entries. |
| • | Right-click the gap and select the appropriate allocate option from the popup menu. |
See also: