In Microsoft Project 2002, you can apply grouping to tasks in the Network Diagram view. Unlike grouping in other views, when you apply grouping in the Network Diagram view, the grouping bands that separate the Network Diagram boxes (or nodes) display group labels only—they do not display any other data. In comparison, a grouped Gantt chart displays all fields in the table, and the grouping summary rows display rolled-up values for each field.

Even though you can't see additional fields in a grouped Network Diagram view, you can customize the view to show the data you want for grouping summaries. For example, when you format box styles for summary nodes to include the fields you want to have rolled up for grouping, that data will be available in a pop-up node that appears when you hover the mouse over the group header in a grouping band.

If the data you want rolled up for grouping is not the same data you want in your summary nodes when no grouping is applied, you can just create a new Network Diagram view and format it with box styles specifically for grouping. This provides access to rolled-up grouping information in the new view, formatted any way you want for short-term viewing, while leaving the default Network Diagram view formatted the way you normally want it.