Change default link type

[makcam]

Does anyone know how to change the default link type?

 

[Steve House [MS Project MVP]]

There's no way to change the link you initially get when clicking and
dragging between task bars or when selecting tasks in the task list and
clicking the link tool in the toolbar. Those will always give you FS links
which you can then edit if it's not what you need for that particular task
pair. I'm not sure why you'd even want to change the default since 90% of
the links in virtually any project will be FS and it would be a real PITA to
have to edit all of them if something else was made the default. If you set
up the link by typing the predecessor's ID number into the Predecessor you
can make the link any type you wish by simply including the designator FS,
SS, FF, or SF along with the number. If you set links by entering the
predecessor(s) on the task information form or in the bottom window of the
split screen view you can specifiy the link type on the same line you enter
the predecessor task name.

 

[makcam]

Hello,

Thanks for the response. The reason why I wanted to change this is because
I'm doing a schedule where I know the due date of the project and the
durations of the tasks. What I wanted to do is have links from the task
after to the task before, and have the SF type. I didn't want to have to
change all of tasks within the project schedule. This way it will give me
the date that is needed to start the project by back dating it.

Thank you for your help,
makcam

 

[Steve House [MS Project MVP]]

You don't need to do that and actually it is strongly advised not to. First
of all, the links describe logical process relationships between your tasks.
Whether you are scheduling from start date forward or finish date backwards,
you have to put up the walls before you put on the roof because the law of
gravity says you can't build the roof in midair and then stuff the walls in
under it. Physics drives it, not convenience or desired timing or even
schedule mandates. "Erect Walls" is the predecessor and "Apply Roof" is the
successor and the relationship is FS because of the inherent nature of the
building construction process and that's just the way it is.

Now, as for scheduling for a specific finish date. The behavior you say you
want is built right into Project without having to "get creative" with the
links. In the Project menu, you can select Project Information and there you
can designate "Schedule from finish date" and it will set up your tasks just
as you say you want. Now, the problem with that is that it will schedule
all your tasks to occur as late as possible to meet your required finish
date. Unfortunately that also makes ALL tasks in your project critical and
you have no margin for error (and there are ALWAYS unforseeable errors). If
just ONE of your tasks takes any longer to complete than you thought it
would or starts later than you'd planned on because, say, a resource called
in sick, you'll miss your required finish date. The far better way is to
schedule from the earliest practical start date forward, set a deadline of
your required finish date, and then tweak the schedule so you meet the
deadline. You'll probably find some tasks are critical and others not,
allowing you to concentrate your management skills where it really counts.
You can then make an informed decision "Do we start 1 Dec which gives us a 2
week cushion at the end or do we start 15 Dec and make sure Tasks 10, 17,
and 22 don't run late at any cost, ready to pull people off of Task 19
(which has a lot of float) if it turns out that one critical task runs late
and we need to move 'em to the delayed task to get it done back on
schedule?"

--
Steve House [MVP]
MS Project Trainer/Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs