The answer is yes. I've copied and pasted int the steps below. However I
personally would caution you with this approach. If you have a large number
of external dependencies, that have the high probability of changing, you
could have some deep impacts on your schedule that become VERY difficult to
track down. External dependencies are good thing when used sparingly for
critical tasks.
This is not dependent on project server. You can do it for two project files
in the same directory as well. Here's how to link project files:
You can create a dependency between tasks in different projects.
Note The externally linked task appears dimmed in the task list.
Double-clicking a task with an external successor (successor: A task that
cannot start or finish until another task starts or finishes.) or an external
predecessor (predecessor: A task that must start or finish before another
task can start or finish.) opens the project containing the external task
(external task: A task that represents a linked task in another project,
providing an easy way to review the attributes of linked tasks without
switching between projects. An external task can be changed only in the
source project.) if the project is available.
Open both projects: the project containing the task you want to link to and
the project containing the task you want to link from.
On the Window menu of one of the projects, click Arrange All.
In the Task Name field, click the task for which you want to create a
dependency to an external predecessor.
Click Task Information , and then click the Predecessors tab.
In the ID column, type the project name and ID number of the external
predecessor, separated by a backslash, for example Project1\1 for Task ID 1
in a file named Project1.
Note When you link tasks in different projects that are stored in Microsoft
Office Project Server 2003, the predecessor's task ID must be formatted
correctly. In the Task Information dialog box, on the Predecessors tab, in
the ID column, the task ID must be formatted as shown in the following
example: <>\project1.published\42. In this example, the angle brackets (<>)
contain no information, project1.published is the name of the project
containing the predecessor, and 42 is the task ID of the predecessor task.
To change the task dependency (task dependencies: A relationship between two
linked tasks; linked by a dependency between their finish and start dates.
There are four kinds of task dependencies: Finish-to-start[FS],
Start-to-start [SS], Finish-to-finish [FF], and Start-to-finish [SF].) to a
type other than finish-to-start, select a different dependency type in the
Type column.
To enter lag time (lag time: A delay between tasks that have a dependency.
For example, if you need a two-day delay between the finish of one task and
the start of another, you can establish a finish-to-start dependency and
specify a two-day lag time [has a positive value].) for the dependency, enter
a value in the Lag column.
To enter lead time (lead time: An overlap between tasks that have a
dependency. For example, if a task can start when its predecessor is
half-finished, you can specify a finish-to-start dependency with a lead time
of 50 percent for its successor [has a negative lag value].), enter a
negative value in the Lag column, such as –2 for two days of lead time.
By default, you are notified if data in an externally linked project has
changed. The external predecessors and successors and impacts to your
schedule are displayed when you open a project with external links, and you
can choose to accept any or all changes.
Note If you want to unlink tasks, select the tasks you want to unlink in
the Task
