The Main Window
Merlin’s interface provides you with a main window, which displays all the tools and information you usually use. The main window is divided into four areas offering a large variety of information regarding the project outline, elements, resources and inspector.
Menus
In the menus you will find all the commands that can be used in Merlin. A keyboard shortcut exists for almost all the menu functions.
The View Selector
Four different views have been integrated into Merlin. Clicking on the desired view will bring that view into focus.
The Main Area
Depending on the view you have selected, the main area offers you different details and information about your project. You can view and in certain cases modify the main outline of your project, adding activities, groups and milestones. Furthermore, this area also allows you to work interactively with the Gantt chart, Netplan and resource utilization.
The Element Area
The Elements Area provides a collection point for all the information that is gathered prior to, during and after a project completion. With Merlin’s Element concept we have implemented a new type of functionality for project management software. Elements will provide you with a powerful and organized structure to store and document events, risks, checklists throughout your project. The Elements area is always situated below the main area and can be accessed using the F2 key.
The Inspector
The Inspector displays detailed information of the selected object.
You can enter required information in the Inspector and obtain valuable data for your project. Right clicking on an empty gray area in the Inspector will display a context menu, in which you can switch between small and large inspector controls. You will also find the setting for this option in the Preferences.
Can be shown or hidden by a tool bar button 
or the corresponding menu command; Window - Show/Hide Info Area. More Info…
The Additional Area
This area provides you with two different types of contents. A list of resources or grops that can be assigned to activiies. In addition, you can add your Address Book resources to Merlin by dragging and dropping the resources into this dialog.
The second type of content displayed in this area is project conflicts. When a conflict is selected from this list, Merlin highlights the corresponding activity in the main view.
Adjust the column separator for additional space for the activities or the described conflicts/warnings
The Toolbar
Merlin's toolbar is global to the entire application. You can edit the tool bar icons by right-clicking anywhere on the tool bar itself and choosing "Customize Toolbar...". In addition to the view selector buttons, Merlin's tool bar has additional buttons described below:
This is the Project Settings icon. It can also be accessed using the Main Menu at "File - Project Settings".
This is the Library icon. Pressing it will show the Library. It can also be accessed using the Main Menu at "Window - Library."
This tool bar button will show/hide the Element section. Alternatively, the Element section can be accessed over the menu "Window - Show Elements."
This tool bar button is used to show/hide the inspector. The corresponding menu command for this is "Window - Show/Hide Info Area". More Info…
This tool bar button is used to toggle Merlin's publishing mode on or off. The corresponding menu command for this is "File - Publish".
The Feature Bars for the Views
Each view has an additional toolbar - the so-called feature bar. On this bar you will find the functions that are important for that specific view. Each feature bar is developed according to the same design. On the left side you will find the title of the view with its icon; On the right side, the functions used for this view. Unlike the main toolbar, it is not possible to modify these feature bars
The Activity Feature Bar
Plus: A single click on the plus button creates a new activity directly below the selected activity on the same level. Pressing and holding will display a menu of other types of activities that can be inserts.
Outdent: The selected activity will be pushed one level further to the left.
Indent: The selected activity will be pushed one level further to the right.
Limiting the Date Range: displays the Visible Date Range Dialogue helping the user to limit the view of the project to a specific start and end date.
Search Field: The search field allows you to search through the selected view. You will find more information in search.
Gear Menu: Clicking this button will display the context menu for the selected activity.
The Net Plan Feature Bar
Plus: A single click on the plus button creates a new activity directly below the selected activity on the same level. If you keep the mouse button pressed on this symbol, the context menu "insert" will be displayed.
Search Field: The search field allows you to search through the selected view. You will find more information in search.
Gear Menu: Clicking and holding the mouse button on this symbol will display the context menu for the selected activity.
The Resource Feature Bar
Plus: A single click on the button creates a new resource.
Resource Group: Press this button to show or hide the resource group list.
Search Field: The search field allows you to search through the selected view. You will find more information in search.
Gear Menu: Clicking and holding the mouse button on this symbol will display the context menu for the selected activity.
The Resource Group Feature Bar
Plus: A single click creates a new Resource Group
The Utilization Feature Bar
Increasing/Decreasing: Increases or decreases the selected rows. By doing this, the utilization is displayed accordingly as either small boxes or as a histogram.
Limiting the Date Range: Limiting the date range displayed in the view helps keep an overview of larger projects.
Search Field: The search field allows you to search through the selected view. You will find more information in search.
Gear Menu: Clicking and holding the mouse button on this symbol will display the context menu for the selected activity.
The Element Feature Bar
Toolbar title: A single click displays the types of elements the list can be filtered on.
Plus: A single click on the button displays the Element dialogue box. If you keep the mouse button pressed on this symbol, the context menu listing all the Elements will be displayed. If the toolbar had a filter in effect, pressing the plus button creates the filtered type jmmediately.
Search Field: The search field allows you to search through the selected view. You will find more information in search.
Gear Menu: Clicking and holding the mouse button on this symbol will display the context menu for the selected activity.
Modifying the Sections
The dimensions of each section in Merlin can be modified using the gray separators between each section. For example, if you would like to increase the height of the additional area section in the inspector, simply grab the separator with your mouse and slide it upwards.
Furthermore the vertical separator in the inspector can be used to modify the section between the field description and the data fields.
To resize the elements view simply slide the resizer between the outline and elements area.
Show/Hide the Gantt (or the Outline)
You can show/hide the Gantt chart in the Activities and Utilization views by sliding the Gantt resizer button found on the bottom edge.
To show the Gantt chart again, if it is closed automatically, slide the resizer as shown in the bottom right corner of the Gantt chart area, for about 2 cm to the left.
To close the Gantt chart slide the resizer all the way to the right.
To close the outline slide the resizer all the way to the left.
To show the Gantt chart again slide the resizer as shown in the bottom left corner of the Gantt chart area, for about 2 cm to the right.
