Unique IDs vs. Task Ids

[Wilson]

Does project allow users to assign preds/successors using UniqueIDs instead
of the Task ID? I'm not a fan of TaskIDs because they change as I insert and
remove tasks.

Also... I asked this in a previous post that no one answered. My "Grouping"
bars (used to collapse/expand) disappear when I hide the Task Name column.
Is there a way to prevent this?

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

Yes, from the "insert" menu select "column" and choose "Unique ID
Predecessors". Same thing for successors. You probably will want to display
the Unique ID column as well.

For the grouping question, set the width of the task name column to 0
(either edit the table or shrink by dragging the separator in the header).
That will hide the column, but still allow grouping. Not sure why you want
to do that though....


-Jack Dahlgren

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

IDs change but the predecessor column changes with it; no problem
whatsoever.
I'll look into the grouping thing.

--
Jan De Messemaeker
Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
+32 495 300 620
For availability check:
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/Calendar.pdf

 

[Wilson]

Sorry, I should clarify... I'm wanting to utilize the linking button on the
toolbar vs. manually entering unique id preds into the UID Preds column.

In regards to the grouping question... Sounds like based on your answer,
that the grouping is in fact tied to the Task Name Column. I agree that
zeroing out the column width would resolve my issue; but I'm curious to know
if there are other solutions. Why has MSP forced the user to display the
Name column inorder to make grouping visible?

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

The link button on the toolbar links no matter what. Use it and the
predecessor list will show predecessors by ID and the Unique ID Predecessors
will show Unique ID Predecessors. They are both set correctly by using that
button.

I don't know of any other solution. Why the name is required is probably
just a design decision they made when coding. The name column is almost
always displayed. Without it, it is difficult to tell which task is which.
The ID or UID is not very user friendly.

-Jack

 

[Wilson]

Jack -

Thanks so much for your quick responses. One last question though... Is
there any way to manipulate the window split to display unique preds & succ.
versus the task id preds & succ. If I right click in that area of the
window, i only have an option to display:
resources and preds
resources and successors
preds & successors
etc.
etc.

There is not an option for Unique ID Preds & Successors.

Again... thanks for your help.

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

Sorry, no.

-Jack

Jack -

Thanks so much for your quick responses. One last question though... Is
there any way to manipulate the window split to display unique preds &
succ.
versus the task id preds & succ. If I right click in that area of the
window, i only have an option to display:
resources and preds
resources and successors
preds & successors
etc.
etc.

There is not an option for Unique ID Preds & Successors.

Again... thanks for your help.

 

[Colin]

Hi

A way round this is to create a new table with the fields you require. Then
show this table in the bottom split.

Regards

Colin

 

[meg99]

Hi

A way round this is to create a new table with the fields you require.  Then
show this table in the bottom split.

Regards

Colin

I don't think that's possible. What Wilson wants is to show the UID
in the "Task Form" instead of the ID. Unfortunately the Task Form
cannot be edited by the user. This form shows the one-to-many
relationships in the underlying relational database. Any table the
user could create and then show in the lower panel cannot duplicate
the "Task Form" - at least I don't know of any.

If there is a way to create a View or Task Form that can show
relational data I would like to know about it.

meg99

 

[Jack Dahlgren]

You can create a user form which can do this. It is however a VBA
programming challenge.
Not impossible though.

-Jack Dahlgren

Hi

A way round this is to create a new table with the fields you require.
Then
show this table in the bottom split.

Regards

Colin

I don't think that's possible. What Wilson wants is to show the UID
in the "Task Form" instead of the ID. Unfortunately the Task Form
cannot be edited by the user. This form shows the one-to-many
relationships in the underlying relational database. Any table the
user could create and then show in the lower panel cannot duplicate
the "Task Form" - at least I don't know of any.

If there is a way to create a View or Task Form that can show
relational data I would like to know about it.

meg99

 

[Colin]

Hi Meg99

Sorry for the confusion.

I was giving an alternative method to using the current task form, since it
cannot be changed as standard.

I was thinking more about creating a new table which showed the UID and the
UID predecessors & UID successors. And any other fields he requires which
are in the task form. This can be then shown in the bottom pane instead of
the task form.

You could then create a new view (combination view) which shows your gantt
chart (+table) at the top and this new table at the bottom

I hope this clarifies

Colin

 

[meg99]

Colin,

I have done that a number of times and it is very helpful. I thought
you may have found a way to tap into the Task Form to show relational
data. That would be very helpful

meg99

 

[Aditya]

Hi,

I am using Visual C#- through VS 2008's inbuilt libraries to access MS
Project. The problem I am facing is that when I am inserting new tasks into
project, the task IDs change and hence the collection that I have, to perform
actions upon, gets altered. Unique IDs remain unique but then, I do not know
of a way to access the Unique IDs through VS 2008. For referring to the
Unique ID of a particular task, I need to know the ID of the task. But then,
the ID gets changed as soon as I insert or delete a few tasks. Can someone
please help me out with this??

Aditya

 

[Dean C]

I haven't tackled forms, but I know how to get the information.
Unfortunately, using a message box as the method of displaying the
predecessor data limits the output to about 1024 characters. Use this macro
in conjunction with the task details form to get the complete picture.

Sub MyTaskDetails()
StartTask = ActiveSelection.Tasks.Item(1).Name
For Each mypred In ActiveSelection.Tasks.Item(1).PredecessorTasks
mypredlist = mypredlist & Chr(10) & "ID: " & mypred.ID & ", UID: " &
mypred.UniqueID & ", Task Name: " & mypred.Name
Next mypred
MsgBox Title:="The Predecessors to " & StartTask & " are:", Prompt:=mypredlist
End Sub

Note: The prompt is displayed as the message in the dialog box. The maximum
length of prompt is approximately 1024 characters, depending on the width of
the characters used. If prompt consists of more than one line, you can
separate the lines using a carriage return character (Chr(13)), a linefeed
character (Chr(10)), or carriage return – linefeed character combination
(Chr(13) & Chr(10)) between each line.

 

[Dean C]

MS Project uprovides a suite of forms, Links Between Projects, Task Details
Form, Task Form, and the Predecessors tab in the Task Information box, that
all use the ID field. How much interest is there in adding a check box to the
View tab in Options entitled "Use Unique ID instead of ID in standard forms?"?

Such an option setting could control the entire suite instead of one form.
Vote for this post as helpful if you would like this added.