Release milestone timeline

How it works

1. Model phases and milestones

   Create three working phases and three zero-duration milestones, connected in delivery order.

2. Create the timeline snapshot

   Calculate dates against an explicit working-week calendar and select the Timeline view with daily time buckets.

3. Share charts and editable data

   Export PNG, SVG, and PDF, then create a PowerPoint report with a chart and data slides and an Excel workbook with typed report values.

This is the complete example file used to generate the download. The walkthrough runner creates the output directory and produces the additional previews.

using OfficeIMO.Drawing;
using OfficeIMO.Project;
using OfficeIMO.Workflows;

namespace OfficeIMO.Examples.Showcase.Workflows;

/// <summary>Creates a release timeline and a PowerPoint report with charts and editable data.</summary>
internal static class ProjectMilestoneTimeline {
    internal static void Create(string folder) {
        using var project = ProjectDocument.Create();
        project.Name = "Autumn release / milestone timeline";
        project.Calendar = project.Calendars.AddStandardWorkingWeek();
        project.Settings.StartDate = new DateTime(2026, 10, 5, 8, 0, 0);
        string[] names = { "Prepare the pilot", "Pilot ready", "Run the pilot", "Pilot accepted", "Roll out the service", "Service handover" };
        var tasks = names.Select((name, index) => {
            var task = project.Tasks.Add(name);
            task.Duration = ProjectDuration.WorkingDays(index % 2 == 1 ? 0 : 3);
            return task;
        }).ToArray();
        for (int index = 1; index < tasks.Length; index++)
            project.Dependencies.Add(tasks[index - 1], tasks[index]);

        var schedule = project.CalculateSchedule();
        schedule.Report.ThrowIfErrors();
        var view = project.CreateView(schedule, new ProjectViewOptions {
            Kind = ProjectViewKind.Timeline, Timescale = ProjectViewTimescale.Day,
            PageWidth = 1200, PageHeight = 675,
            Columns = new[] { ProjectViewColumn.Name }
        });
        project.ApplySchedule(schedule);
        project.Save(Path.Combine(folder, "example.xml"));

        string fonts = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "Assets", "Fonts");
        var faces = new OfficeFontFaceCollection()
            .Add("Arial", File.ReadAllBytes(Path.Combine(fonts, "Carlito-Regular.ttf")))
            .Add("Arial", File.ReadAllBytes(Path.Combine(fonts, "Carlito-Bold.ttf")), OfficeFontStyle.Bold);
        var typography = new OfficeRenderingProfile("timeline-report", faces, OfficeManagedTextShapingProvider.Instance);
        var images = new ProjectImageExportOptions().UseRenderingProfile(typography).UseQuality(OfficeImageExportQuality.Print);
        File.WriteAllBytes(Path.Combine(folder, "preview.png"), ProjectReportWorkflow.ExportImages(view, options: images).Single().Bytes);
        File.WriteAllText(Path.Combine(folder, "preview.svg"), ProjectReportWorkflow.ToSvg(view, typography).Single());
        File.WriteAllBytes(Path.Combine(folder, "preview.pdf"), ProjectReportWorkflow.ToPdf(view, typography: typography));
        using var slides = ProjectReportWorkflow.CreatePowerPoint(view, new ProjectOfficeReportOptions { Images = images });
        slides.Save(Path.Combine(folder, "report.pptx"));
        using var workbook = ProjectReportWorkflow.CreateExcel(view);
        workbook.Save(Path.Combine(folder, "report.xlsx"));
    }
}

Run it from the source checkout

Clone the OfficeIMO repository and run this command from its root with the .NET 10 SDK. The first run restores the example project's dependencies.

dotnet run --project OfficeIMO.Examples -f net10.0 -- --showcase-workflows --showcase-example project-milestone-timeline

The files are written to OfficeIMO.Examples/bin/Debug/net10.0/Documents/Workflows/project-milestone-timeline/. To use the example in your application, start with the Project guide and its package setup.

Continue with another example

• ProjectDelivery Gantt with progress
• ProjectParallel dependency network