Generic Resource Assignments on My tasks

[vandermt]

Hello,
We performed a test migration from Project Server 2003 to Project server 2007.
Some of the projects contained assignments to 'generic' resources.
These assignments are showing in the 'My Tasks' view for the project
manager. Sometimes multiple lines (same task) are displayed if there are
multiple generic assignments in the same task.
Can someone explain this behavior. We would like for the 'generic'
assignments not to show on the 'My Tasks' view.
Thanks

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

vandermt --

This is how Generic resources work in Project Server 2007. Microsoft's
assumption is that if a production project still contains Generic resources
after "going live" with the project, then that means someone has to status
the tasks assigned to the Generic resources. Their assumption is that the
PM is the person who will status the tasks assigned to Generic resources.

The only way that the PM can hide these task assignments on the My Tasks
page is to do the following:

1. Temporarily insert the Publish field in any Task view, such as the Gantt
Chart view.
2. Set the Publish value to No for tasks to which Generic resources are
assigned.
3. Save and publish the project.

The above steps mean that the PM should NOT have any task assigned to both
human resources and Generic resources because those steps will hide the
tasks on the My Tasks page for the assigned resources. In addition to the
above information, the same holds true if a PM assigns a Material resource
to a task. Microsoft assumes that someone will status the use of the
Material resource, and their assumption is that the PM is the one who
statuses the task. Hope this helps.

 

[vandermt]

Dale
thanks for your help
this gets us on the right track

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

vandermt --

You are more than welcome, my friend!

 

[reza]

hehehe...could you tell me about generic resource?
cause when i set resource to generic resource, he/she can't access to pwa...
so, could you tell me with "generic resource"


thanks

reza

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Reza --

Generic resource is a skill-based or placeholder resource. Examples of
Generic resources might be Electrical Engineer or SQL Server DBA. Each of
these resources represents an un-named human resource. So, when planning a
project, I know that I need an electrical engineer to work on multiple tasks
in the project. My problem is that I don't know which specific electrical
engineer will be assigned to work on my project. So, in the interim, I
assign a Generic resource named Electrical Engineer. Later, when a resource
manager assigns an actual electrical engineer named George Stewart to work
on my project, I can open the Build Team dialog, select the Electrical
Engineer generic resource in my project, select the human resource named
George Stewart, and click the Replace button. The system will automatically
replace the Generic resource with George Stewart on every assigned task.

As you have discovered, Generic resources cannot log into PWA. This is
because they are placeholder resources and are not real human users. Hope
this helps.

 

[reza]

very helpful dale,

thank you so much

Reza --

Generic resource is a skill-based or placeholder resource. Examples of
Generic resources might be Electrical Engineer or SQL Server DBA. Each of
these resources represents an un-named human resource. So, when planning a
project, I know that I need an electrical engineer to work on multiple tasks
in the project. My problem is that I don't know which specific electrical
engineer will be assigned to work on my project. So, in the interim, I
assign a Generic resource named Electrical Engineer. Later, when a resource
manager assigns an actual electrical engineer named George Stewart to work
on my project, I can open the Build Team dialog, select the Electrical
Engineer generic resource in my project, select the human resource named
George Stewart, and click the Replace button. The system will automatically
replace the Generic resource with George Stewart on every assigned task.

As you have discovered, Generic resources cannot log into PWA. This is
because they are placeholder resources and are not real human users. Hope
this helps.

 

[Dale Howard [MVP]]

Reza --

You are more than welcome for the help, my friend.