Custom field formula help

[Astro Boy]

Hi all,

I desperately need some help writing a formula for a Custom Project
Date Field in my Project Server 2003 installation. Here are the
specifics:

Background:
We have a task, which appears in all of our project schedules, called
"Implementation". This task will appear in a different spot in each
schedule (but only once per schedule), due to differences between the
activities required in each project, so the line number of the task is
not constant. The name of the task, however, is constant. Some
characteristics of the "Implementation" task: It is not a milestone, it
has a duration (typically a day), resources assigned, and work
assigned. We assign a Deadline to the "Implementation" task rather than
a constrained Finish.

What I'm trying to do:
I want to take the Deadline date from the "Implementation" field and
display it on Project Center views. So, I'd like to get the date from
the task-level Deadline into Enterprise Project Date2. If there is no
Deadline date, I'd like to display "NA" or something like it in
Enterprise Project Date2.

What does my formula look like? I'm sure this is simple, but I'm really
struggling with it.

Also, I know the easiest way to do this would be to have the PM
manually enter the date into Enterprise Project Date2, but there are
reasons why this is not a viable solution (extreme reluctance to double
enter anything being one of the reasons).

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

AB

 

[ahelp]

Try this: IIf([Deadline]>0,[Deadline],"NA")

 

[Mike]

Hi Astro

Its a three step process, firstly you need to capture the required date
at the task level then roll it up to the Project summary, then migrate
it to Enterprise project level.

Suggest you create two enterprise task fields (text/outline and date).
The text/outline would be a list of drop down values (including
implementation - just in case your pm's can't spell).

The date field (lets assume enterprise date 1) has a formula similar to
this:

IIf([Enterprise Task Outline
Code1]="Implementation",[Deadline],ProjDateValue("NA"))

Critically in the enterprise task date field definition the setting for
"Calculation for task and group summary rows" must be set to Rollup
using the Maximum function. This will ensure the latest value of the
task or milestone is rolled up to Row 0 (project summary record).

You now need to define an enterprise project date field which has the
following formula
[Enterprise Date1]

This field can be displayed in PWA reports.

Once you understand this technique there are any number of task level
details which can be displayed in PWA without recourse to writing
programme code.

regards

Mike

 

[Astro Boy]

Brilliant! Thanks, Mike! Works like a charm.

Hi Astro

Its a three step process, firstly you need to capture the required date
at the task level then roll it up to the Project summary, then migrate
it to Enterprise project level.

Suggest you create two enterprise task fields (text/outline and date).
The text/outline would be a list of drop down values (including
implementation - just in case your pm's can't spell).

The date field (lets assume enterprise date 1) has a formula similar to
this:

IIf([Enterprise Task Outline
Code1]="Implementation",[Deadline],ProjDateValue("NA"))

Critically in the enterprise task date field definition the setting for
"Calculation for task and group summary rows" must be set to Rollup
using the Maximum function. This will ensure the latest value of the
task or milestone is rolled up to Row 0 (project summary record).

You now need to define an enterprise project date field which has the
following formula
[Enterprise Date1]

This field can be displayed in PWA reports.

Once you understand this technique there are any number of task level
details which can be displayed in PWA without recourse to writing
programme code.

regards

Mike

Hi all,

I desperately need some help writing a formula for a Custom Project
Date Field in my Project Server 2003 installation. Here are the
specifics:

Background:
We have a task, which appears in all of our project schedules, called
"Implementation". This task will appear in a different spot in each
schedule (but only once per schedule), due to differences between the
activities required in each project, so the line number of the task is
not constant. The name of the task, however, is constant. Some
characteristics of the "Implementation" task: It is not a milestone, it
has a duration (typically a day), resources assigned, and work
assigned. We assign a Deadline to the "Implementation" task rather than
a constrained Finish.

What I'm trying to do:
I want to take the Deadline date from the "Implementation" field and
display it on Project Center views. So, I'd like to get the date from
the task-level Deadline into Enterprise Project Date2. If there is no
Deadline date, I'd like to display "NA" or something like it in
Enterprise Project Date2.

What does my formula look like? I'm sure this is simple, but I'm really
struggling with it.

Also, I know the easiest way to do this would be to have the PM
manually enter the date into Enterprise Project Date2, but there are
reasons why this is not a viable solution (extreme reluctance to double
enter anything being one of the reasons).

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

AB