Discrepancy in ProjDateDiff()

[Bill Meacham]

The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[Earl Lewis]

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[Bill Meacham]

I seem to have overlooked the buit-in Planned Start and Planned Finish
fields. I'll give them a try. Thanks.

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[Bill Meacham]

Hmm. I see no Planned Start or Planned Finish date in Project, neither on
the desktop nor connected to Project Server. Could they be something you
have customized? I do see Start1 through Start10 and Finish1 through
Finish10. What are these for?

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[JackD]

Baseline start and baseline finish could be considered to be Planned Start
and Planned Finish. Try looking for those.
To debug your current problem you might have a time associated with those
fields which is throwing things off. Go to tools menu / options/ and set the
date format to one which includes time. You may find the solution there.


--
-Jack ... For project information and macro examples visit
http://masamiki.com/project

..

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you

tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work

or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those

fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two
calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl
AM >>>
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[Earl Lewis]

Bill,

My apologies. I misstated the field names in my reply. Start and Finish are the planned start and finish dates in project. And as was mentioned Baseline Start and Baseline Finish will be populated in you save a baseline for your plan - which I hope you are.

Actual Start and Actual Finish are different yet and these get populated when completed work is applied (for Actual Start) and when the task is marked complete (for Actual Finish).

Hope that clarifies.

Earl
Hmm. I see no Planned Start or Planned Finish date in Project, neither on
the desktop nor connected to Project Server. Could they be something you
have customized? I do see Start1 through Start10 and Finish1 through
Finish10. What are these for?

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?

 

[Bill Meacham]

Yup, that's it. When I expand the date format to show the hour I find that
the finish date is <date> 5:00 pm, whereas the other dates are <date> 8:00
am. Thanks!

To debug your current problem you might have a time associated with those
fields which is throwing things off. Go to tools menu / options/ and set the
date format to one which includes time. You may find the solution there.

--
-Jack ... For project information and macro examples visit
http://masamiki.com/project

..

Bill,

What is the reason you're doing the custom field for these dates? Have you

tried using the built-in Planned Start and Planned Finish.

Try pointing your formula at the built-in date field to see if they work

or not. If they still aren't working maybe you've got a legitimate problem.

Another idea is that maybe there is an implied time associated with those

fields (which your not seeing and which is different between the two
calculations) and maybe that's affecting the results.

Earl

Bill Meacham<[email protected]> 1/25/2005 10:31:13

AM >>>
The ProjDateDiff() function seems to return different values depending on
what dates are being compared. I have created two enterprise custom date
fields, Est. Start and Est. Finish. When I compare them to the built-in
Start and Finish flelds I get the following:

ProjDateDiff([Start],[Est. Start])/480
Start = 1/31/2005; Est. Start = 1/31/2005; result = 0

ProjDateDiff([Finish],[Est. Finish])/480
Finish = 1/31/2005; Est. Finish = 1/31/2005; result = -1

Why is there a discrepancy? It is a nuisance for what I am trying to do.
Is there a way to make the results the same?