Can default constraints be turned off in Project

[CarliC]

Hi there,

I am having major issues with linking tasks and scheduling conflicts.
Project is putting default contstraints on my taks and there for not allowing
them to be linkied the way they need to be no matter what type of
relationship I try. Please Help.

Carli

 

[Rod Gill]

Under Tools, Options and the Schedule Tab, make sure new tasks start on
Project Start. If it's Start on Current date, new tasks automatically get
constraint SNET.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

Hi there,

I am having major issues with linking tasks and scheduling conflicts.
Project is putting default contstraints on my taks and there for not
allowing
them to be linkied the way they need to be no matter what type of
relationship I try. Please Help.

Carli

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
signature database 4474 (20091001) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4474 (20091001) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Jack Dahlgren MVP]

Project only puts constraints on tasks if you enter a date in the start or
finish fields. If you just enter the duration and use links to set the
dates, then no constraints will be set.

-Jack Dahlgren

 

[CarliC]

I am entering information from a premade schedule, the start and finsih dates
are set. If I enter the duartions it doesn't calculate the dates correctly.
I'm stuck.

 

[CarliC]

Also, I have to enter start and finish dates because there is some time
between some of my tasks. Ex: Stripping of topsoil starts on Set. 1 and
finishes on the 3rd but the sucessor task doesn't start until the 6th of
Sept. it automatically calulates from the 3rd. Any advice on this?

 

[Rod Gill]

Yes:
Rule 1 don't enter dates
Rule 2 don't enter dates
Etc!

Use links instead. If you have a delay, read help on adding Lag to your
link. A Lag of 3d will delay the next Task 3 working days. 3ed will delay
3x24 hour days ignoring the project calendar.

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

Also, I have to enter start and finish dates because there is some time
between some of my tasks. Ex: Stripping of topsoil starts on Set. 1 and
finishes on the 3rd but the sucessor task doesn't start until the 6th of
Sept. it automatically calulates from the 3rd. Any advice on this?



__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
signature database 4474 (20091001) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4474 (20091001) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

 

[JulieS]

Hello CarliC,

You could link the tasks in a Finish to Start relationship and then
add lag to delay the start of the successor as needed.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

To maybe help you a little bit there is a slight difference:
Adding a start date is not ideal
Adding a finish date is a deadly sin
Adding start dates will not change the way normal links behave.

Hope this helps,
--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[Steve House]

The best advice is to let Project do its job and calculate the schedule for
you. It is not designed to merely document a predetermined schedule and
make a fancy graphic of it. You don't tell it the dates you have already
determined the task will take place ... it tells YOU the dates tasks will be
able to take place. If stripping topsoil ends 3 Sept, why would you want to
wait until 6 Sept to start its immediate successor? Project is telling you
that you're wasting three productive dates and you ought to start that
successor task 3 days earlier. Now if there's some real reason 3 days has
to elapse between them, you insert a 3 day lag time into the link parameters
and the successor will move to the 6th as you need. Or perhaps the resource
doing the successor task isn't available until the 6th ... well, when you
set up his calendar correctly and assign him to the task, Project will
schedule it around his availability and the task again will move to the 6th.

 

[CarliC]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your input. The schedule is not resource loaded. I have tried
entering durations instead of start dates the issue with this is project is
not calulating the lag or lead time correctly ex: 02PS16 Mobilize - Pump
Station 10E 1 day?

Tue 18/08/09 Wed 19/08/09
03PS16 Strip Topsoil 2 days Tue 01/09/09 Thu 03/09/09 02PS10[FS+1 day]

as you can see stripping topsoil is finished on the 22th of August and the
next task which is cutting excess is suppose to start the day after the 23rd
but project is defaulting the start date to the 18th of august (the project
start date, it is default all tasks to this) and when I try to add lag or
lead time it sent the nect task to the 1st of September?????

 

[CarliC]

New Question:

I have now started to enter tasks with duration instead of start and finish
dates as many of you have suggested. My problem now is that that start date
defaults to the project start date for every task and doesn't increase only
the finish date increases.... How do I correct this without entering hard
start dates?

Thanks so much for all the help, I am on a tight deadline to produce a
schedule and time is running out.

 

[JulieS]

Hi CarliC,

You need to create links (predecessors and successors) to reflect
the relationship between your tasks to drive the schedule.

You can choose from 1 of 4 possible links types: Finish to Start
(the default), Start to Start, Finish to Finish, and Start to
Finish.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[CarliC]

Hi JulieS,

I have done this, but it throws all my dates off. When I enter a duration
of 6 days projects is atually calculating 8 days why is this. I have a task
scheduled to start on the 26th of August and end on the 4th of September
(6days later) Projects is calculating it to end on the 10th. Why is this????

 

[Rob Schneider]

So, you tell it a duration=6d, and it *changes* it to 8d? Are you clear
about the different between Work and Duration?

Remember the project triangle: work x duration x units

You fix one (fixed duration, fixed units, or fixed work), you input one
(work, duration, or units) and Project computes for you the remaining.

These tasks. Double click them. What kind of task? Effort driven? What
is the calendar availability across the time span of the task (which
can effect things)? For example, 4 days of work (duration) starting on
Thursday won't finish until Tuesday end of day (assuming a normal weekend).

The key is to pay attention to the details of the task definitions. We
can't see what you are doing from here.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com

 

[JulieS]

When you enter a duration, it is measuring working time as defined
in the Project calendar. By default a "day" is 8 hours and only
Monday through Friday are working days in the Standard calendar.

So if you start a task at 8:00 am on Wednesday, August 26 and enter
6 days duration, it will be schedule to finish 6 working days
later -- usually Wednesday, Sept 2 at 5:00 pm. You note you were
expecting the task to end on Friday, Sept 4 -- do you have other
nonworking days entered into the calendar?

If you wish to count *calendar* days, you have two choices -- use
elapsed duration units -- for example "8 edays" for "elapse days"
or change your Standard calendar to allow work on Saturday and
Sunday.

Julie

 

[Prasad]

New Question:

I have now started to enter tasks with duration instead of start and finish
dates as many of you have suggested.  My problem now is that that startdate
defaults to the project start date for every task and doesn't increase only
the finish date increases.... How do I correct this without entering hard
start dates?

Thanks so much for all the help, I am on a tight deadline to produce a
schedule and time is running out.

Carli,

It seems you are on a tight deadline to produce a schedule with time
running out. I can offer you free help under some conditions. If you
have FS dependency relations among tasks, resource requirements and
resource calendars are clearly identified and allocation of a resource
to task is always 100%, then I can freely offer you a resource leveled
schedule of your project(s) even with the number of tasks running into
several thousands. The task names in mpp file can be coded as
1,2,3,... to maintain confidentiality.

Prasad
www.optisol.biz

 

[Steve House]

Duration only refers to working days. If you work 8 to 5 Mon thru Fri with
Sat and Sun off (the default standard working time calendar), a task that
starts at 8am Wed and finishes at 5pm the following Tues is a 5 day duration
task, not 7, because the non-working Sat and Sun in the middle aren't
counted. That's why a task of 6 days duration ends 8 calendar days after it
starts - there are two days off in the middle.

The dates you give, though, don't make any sense. The 4th of September is
not 6 days after the 26th of August, it is 10 calendar days later. With the
normal default calendar a taslk starting 26 Aug and ending 04 Sep would have
a duration of 8 days. And the 10th of Sept is 16 calendar days later. The
only way a task with a duration of 6 days starting 26 Aug will end on one of
those dates is if there are a bunch of holidays or other non-working days
entered into the calendar during that time period.

 

[Idong]

Hello Rod,

How then would it be possible to manage the project without assigning dates?
Like the project i have, they all have start dates, and the clients is using
the start dates to monitor payment milestones.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Since the client is making payments based on dates, all is well. When
the date arrives, you get paid! What's the problem? <==smile

Seriously ... if you already have a schedule and you are only using
Project to document and maybe publish that schedule to stakeholders,
then why bother using something as sophisticated as Project?

Project is a tool which will compute the schedule for you. Based on how
you describe the project, the deliverables, the logic, etc., Project
will tell you the dates. If these dates are not in accordances with
expectations or what has already been promised to the Client, then
change project plan and recompute a schedule. Repeat until you get a
schedule that is achievable and meets expectations. Then baseline.
Then start tracking/reporting and reforecasting future dates.

If you put dates into Project, all tasks with dates will be artificially
constrained and Project will politely decline to change those dates to
create/compute a schedule. At that point, Project only gets in the way
and is a waste of time.

--rms

www.rmschneider.com