Baseline work and no resources?

[Quizzed again]

This seems messed up to me but please tell me if you also see this.
In MSP2007 and also MSP2003, I have discovered that in projects without
resources that if I save a baseline in a file, with no resources at all, that
the SW is calculating what would equal 1 FTE worth of baseline work on each
non-zero duration task. The baseline work in this case can be seen in a
resource usage view if you add the baseline work field.
The baseline work is not timephased.
Why woud it be doing this and how do I stop it? I tested with MSP SP2 and
Dec CU and also the April 2010 CU. I also tested on other files in MSP2003.

Thanks!

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Quizzed again --

You can't stop it, so you need to understand it. In the Resource Usage
view, didn't you notice the work is assigned to the resource named
Unassigned? The Unassigned resource is how Microsoft Project 2003 and 2007
track unassigned work. The software is telling you that there is
potentially this amount of work not assigned to any resource yet. In a
sense, the software is telling you to staff these tasks with resources. If
you publish the project, the Unassigned Work information also shows up in
the OLAP cube as available information in Data Analysis views.

So, you cannot stop this behavior. It is most definitely NOT a bug. This
is by design; so, try to make use of it instead of fighting it! Hope
this helps.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Quizzed again --

Additional thought: Why are you baselining a project in which you have
unstaffed tasks?

 

[Quizzed again]

Thanks Dale. It is sometimes hard to tell what is a 'feature' and what is a
'bug' in this SW. One reason this seems strange to me is that WORK is not
being calculated. Baseline Work is being calculated. So while I now
understand that this is default behavior, I will need convincing that this is
a 'feature'. Against my better judgement I'll ask the rhetorical: at what
point does the SW decide that I do not need it to tell me the potential
resource baseline work load on a task? After I add resources to 10% of them
and baseline the file? 50%? One? Are we really to believe that MS programmed
this into the SW on purpose?

Baselines are still necessary. Just because the resource features of the SW
are not being used does not mean the SW is useless

My favorate line in HW and SW development applies here I guess: "If you
can't fix it, then feature it".

Seriously though, I do appreciate your offering the help!
QA

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Quizzed again --

Let me get this straight. You want me to explain why this is default
behavior of the tool and not a bug? I do not work for Microsoft and I
shared no part whatsoever in either the design of or the development of the
software. I explained to you why the tool is behaving as it is, and told
you also that you cannot fit it as it is not a bug. That's about as far as
I can go with you; the rest is up to you, my friend.

Hope this helps.