Task links

[John]

Need help linking two tasks. Task A (inspection services) should start 30
days prior to task B and finish 30 days after. Task B (construction) is
currently set for 24 months but probably will increase. Want to make sure
the duration of the services under Task A accurately increases in
coordination with the increase of construction duration. Tried linking A to
B with SS -30 days AND linking A to B with FF +30 days. Would not accept.
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[Redneck David]

John,

Interesting situation you have. I am not sure you'll be able to get what
you want with one task.

An idea would be to create two tasks, twins. The first task could cover
the pre-construction costs and be linked ss-30d to Task B. Then you can give
birth to a second task, this one is a "hammock" task that would grow (or
shrink) with the duration of Task B.

Search this sight to find great instructions on setting up your hammock.

David

 

[davegb]

Need help linking two tasks. Task A (inspection services) should start 30
days prior to task B and finish 30 days after. Task B (construction) is
currently set for 24 months but probably will increase. Want to make sure
the duration of the services under Task A accurately increases in
coordination with the increase of construction duration. Tried linking A to
B with SS -30 days AND linking A to B with FF +30 days. Would not accept.
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I'm not sure if there's a way to solve your problem using a Hammock
task, but it's worth a try. Google for it in this NG. The MVPs have a
website with the details.

Unfortunately, I may have to add to your problems. There is a very
common misunderstanding about SS and FF links. Many, probably most,
users think that an SS link forces the 2 tasks to start at the same
time. Not so. It means the the successor can start no earlier than the
predecessor, but can start later, if other predeccessor tasks or
contraints cause it do to so. Same with an FF link. It does not force
tasks to finish at the same time. So an SS-30 will not necessarily
cause your second task to start 30 days prior to the other task, only
limit it to start 30 or less days ahead. I don't think that's what you
want. But I'm not sure how to get it either.

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[Dave]

Need help linking two tasks. Task A (inspection services) should start 30
days prior to task B and finish 30 days after. Task B (construction) is
currently set for 24 months but probably will increase. Want to make sure
the duration of the services under Task A accurately increases in
coordination with the increase of construction duration. Tried linking A to
B with SS -30 days AND linking A to B with FF +30 days. Would not accept.
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Create two milestones, one at the start of Task B and one at the end.
Then edit the links so that the first milestone occurs 30 days before
Task B starts and the second occurs 30 days after the end.

Then create a hammock task that lies between the milestones by pasting
the milestone dates as dynamic links into the start and end dates of Task A.