Predecessors and durations

[Marta]

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However, when I show the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on task 1, which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made sure that all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing Start/Finish dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I have checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days, etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or any other unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Steve House]

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH

 

[Marta]

Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However, when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days, etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[davegb]

Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the "Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However, when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days, etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[davegb]

Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the "Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However, when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days, etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Marta]

Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely baffled about
this.

Cheers,
m

Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the "Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However, when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days, etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[JulieS]

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the "Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Marta]

Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally; instead, I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I inserted a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme itself given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing start dates
for every single task in the project.

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do that?

Thanks!
m

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the "Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options, Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting. I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8 hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[JulieS]

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally; instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools > Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars; resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Marta]

Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the %
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally; instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools > Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars; resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies. However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for. For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[JulieS]

Hi Marta,

When you enter a % complete, the tasks will automatically get an Actual
Start date. If you delete the Actual Start date, the % complete
information will be deleted as well as tasks can not be partially (or
100%) complete without an Actual Start. So, in direct answer to your
question, no, don't delete Actual Start dates unless you wish to set the
task $ complete back to 0%.

Tasks with 0% complete may or may not have Actual Start dates -- it just
depends upon the information entered.

It sounds as though in your project where you see a successor task
starting on the same day as its predecessor, that the Actual Start date
has been set to the same start date (either Actual or scheduled) as the
predecessor. If this information is accurate, fine. If not, you can
change the Actual Start date of the successor task to indicate the true
date the task was started.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are
indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the
%
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project

Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally;
instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I
inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme
itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing
start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for
tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in
Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools >
Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars;
resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert
the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does
the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start
date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do
that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie

:

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time
between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link
between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies.
However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for.
For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's
dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts
at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular
setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours
or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Marta]

Thanks, Julie.

Ok, it seems like it's now sorted, although I am not quite sure what had
happened -but it certainly had to do with the actual start dates, as you
suggested.

What I did in the end was print out the project with the completion levels
for each tasks (to have them for later), then cleared all the actual start
dates. At this point, the calculated start and finished dates reset
themselves to what they should have been (given dependencies and durations),
and the Gantt chart suddenly started making sense. I then reentered the
completion %s (from the printed version) for each task. For some reason, the
actual start date didn't get messed up this time around (!), so now it's all
fine.

I am still a bit puzzled about what was wrong in the first place, but at
least the project looks good now!

Thanks so much for your help,

Marta

Hi Marta,

When you enter a % complete, the tasks will automatically get an Actual
Start date. If you delete the Actual Start date, the % complete
information will be deleted as well as tasks can not be partially (or
100%) complete without an Actual Start. So, in direct answer to your
question, no, don't delete Actual Start dates unless you wish to set the
task $ complete back to 0%.

Tasks with 0% complete may or may not have Actual Start dates -- it just
depends upon the information entered.

It sounds as though in your project where you see a successor task
starting on the same day as its predecessor, that the Actual Start date
has been set to the same start date (either Actual or scheduled) as the
predecessor. If this information is accurate, fine. If not, you can
change the Actual Start date of the successor task to indicate the true
date the task was started.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are
indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the
%
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally;
instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I
inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme
itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing
start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for
tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in
Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools >
Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars;
resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert
the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does
the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start
date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do
that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie
:

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time
between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link
between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies.
However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for.
For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's
dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts
at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular
setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours
or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Steve House]

Try this little experiment. Create a 2 task Project with both tasks 3 days,
say, duration. Link them FS. Enter that each task has 10% progress. Now
change task A only to show 10 days duration. You'll find that B doesn't
move. The reason? Actuals describe real historical facts and by posting
the progress for B, you've already said it began on MM/DD/YY date. Once
some work has happened on it, that's fact and changing the duration of A
will have no effect.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks, Julie.

Ok, it seems like it's now sorted, although I am not quite sure what had
happened -but it certainly had to do with the actual start dates, as you
suggested.

What I did in the end was print out the project with the completion levels
for each tasks (to have them for later), then cleared all the actual start
dates. At this point, the calculated start and finished dates reset
themselves to what they should have been (given dependencies and
durations),
and the Gantt chart suddenly started making sense. I then reentered the
completion %s (from the printed version) for each task. For some reason,
the
actual start date didn't get messed up this time around (!), so now it's
all
fine.

I am still a bit puzzled about what was wrong in the first place, but at
least the project looks good now!

Thanks so much for your help,

Marta

Hi Marta,

When you enter a % complete, the tasks will automatically get an Actual
Start date. If you delete the Actual Start date, the % complete
information will be deleted as well as tasks can not be partially (or
100%) complete without an Actual Start. So, in direct answer to your
question, no, don't delete Actual Start dates unless you wish to set the
task $ complete back to 0%.

Tasks with 0% complete may or may not have Actual Start dates -- it just
depends upon the information entered.

It sounds as though in your project where you see a successor task
starting on the same day as its predecessor, that the Actual Start date
has been set to the same start date (either Actual or scheduled) as the
predecessor. If this information is accurate, fine. If not, you can
change the Actual Start date of the successor task to indicate the true
date the task was started.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are
indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the
%
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

:

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally;
instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I
inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme
itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing
start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for
tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in
Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools >
Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars;
resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert
the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does
the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start
date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do
that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie
:

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time
between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link
between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies.
However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for.
For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's
dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts
at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular
setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours
or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[Marta]

Brilliant - I now understand. I must have entered the completion %s before
finishing up the durations (as I have written some of the plan
retrospectively, so that my client can use it for future reference for
similar projects), and that's why certain dates were completely fixed even
though I had never fiddled with them.

Many thanks!
Marta

Try this little experiment. Create a 2 task Project with both tasks 3 days,
say, duration. Link them FS. Enter that each task has 10% progress. Now
change task A only to show 10 days duration. You'll find that B doesn't
move. The reason? Actuals describe real historical facts and by posting
the progress for B, you've already said it began on MM/DD/YY date. Once
some work has happened on it, that's fact and changing the duration of A
will have no effect.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Thanks, Julie.

Ok, it seems like it's now sorted, although I am not quite sure what had
happened -but it certainly had to do with the actual start dates, as you
suggested.

What I did in the end was print out the project with the completion levels
for each tasks (to have them for later), then cleared all the actual start
dates. At this point, the calculated start and finished dates reset
themselves to what they should have been (given dependencies and
durations),
and the Gantt chart suddenly started making sense. I then reentered the
completion %s (from the printed version) for each task. For some reason,
the
actual start date didn't get messed up this time around (!), so now it's
all
fine.

I am still a bit puzzled about what was wrong in the first place, but at
least the project looks good now!

Thanks so much for your help,

Marta

Hi Marta,

When you enter a % complete, the tasks will automatically get an Actual
Start date. If you delete the Actual Start date, the % complete
information will be deleted as well as tasks can not be partially (or
100%) complete without an Actual Start. So, in direct answer to your
question, no, don't delete Actual Start dates unless you wish to set the
task $ complete back to 0%.

Tasks with 0% complete may or may not have Actual Start dates -- it just
depends upon the information entered.

It sounds as though in your project where you see a successor task
starting on the same day as its predecessor, that the Actual Start date
has been set to the same start date (either Actual or scheduled) as the
predecessor. If this information is accurate, fine. If not, you can
change the Actual Start date of the successor task to indicate the true
date the task was started.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are
indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the
%
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

:

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally;
instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I
inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme
itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing
start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for
tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in
Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools >
Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars;
resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert
the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does
the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start
date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do
that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie
:

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time
between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link
between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies.
However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for.
For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's
dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts
at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular
setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours
or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta

 

[JulieS]

Hi Marta,

It looks like Steve has given you a very plausible explaination for the
"why" part. Glad you were able to get it all sorted out and thanks for the
feedback.

Julie

Thanks, Julie.

Ok, it seems like it's now sorted, although I am not quite sure what had
happened -but it certainly had to do with the actual start dates, as you
suggested.

What I did in the end was print out the project with the completion levels
for each tasks (to have them for later), then cleared all the actual start
dates. At this point, the calculated start and finished dates reset
themselves to what they should have been (given dependencies and durations),
and the Gantt chart suddenly started making sense. I then reentered the
completion %s (from the printed version) for each task. For some reason, the
actual start date didn't get messed up this time around (!), so now it's all
fine.

I am still a bit puzzled about what was wrong in the first place, but at
least the project looks good now!

Thanks so much for your help,

Marta

Hi Marta,

When you enter a % complete, the tasks will automatically get an Actual
Start date. If you delete the Actual Start date, the % complete
information will be deleted as well as tasks can not be partially (or
100%) complete without an Actual Start. So, in direct answer to your
question, no, don't delete Actual Start dates unless you wish to set the
task $ complete back to 0%.

Tasks with 0% complete may or may not have Actual Start dates -- it just
depends upon the information entered.

It sounds as though in your project where you see a successor task
starting on the same day as its predecessor, that the Actual Start date
has been set to the same start date (either Actual or scheduled) as the
predecessor. If this information is accurate, fine. If not, you can
change the Actual Start date of the successor task to indicate the true
date the task was started.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

Thanks, Julie. It seems like we are getting somewhere. There are
indeed
Actual Start Dates for all the tasks where I have entered some % of
completion, but none for the dates that are 0% completed.

Should it be this way? And if I delete them all, will that affect the
%
completion that I have entered?

Cheers,
m

:

Hi Marta,

My comments are embedded.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Hi, Julie,

Here's the thing: I didn't enter any start dates originally;
instead,
I just
entered durations for the tasks. When I got your question, I
inserted
a
column named "Start", so that it would show me the start dates for
each task:
I am assuming that these have been calculated by the programme
itself
given
the durations (as I didn't enter them), but it is indeed showing
start
dates
for every single task in the project.

[Julie] Sorry for not being more clear.

You are correct, Project *should* be calculating the start dates and
finish dates for each task. The start date (and finish dates) for
tasks
are based upon a number of factors: project start date set in
Project >
Project Information; the project calendar as defined in Tools >
Change
working time and set in Project > Project Information; dependency
relationships; lead or lag; task constraints; task calendars;
resource
calendars; to name a few.

My question to you was about the *Actual* Start date. If you insert
the
field [Actual Start] into a table is there data in the field or does
the
field say "NA"?

Incidently, both the predecessor and the successors have the same
start
date, and I am not sure why (I would have assumed that, if the
programme
calculated them, it would do so using both the durations and the
dependencies).

[Julie] True, it should be but Actual Start dates change the Start
date
of a task.

Should I be deleting all the start dates? And if so, how do I do
that?

[Julie] You can't delete start dates for tasks. But if there is an
*Actual* start date, you may find all resolves itself after deleting
that date.

Thanks!
m

[Julie] You're welcome Marta. I hope this helps and let us know if
there are any Actual Start dates.

Julie
:

Hi Marta,

Does the successor task have an actual start date?

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information
about Microsoft Project


Thanks, Dave. Unfortunately, no lags at all. I am completely
baffled
about
this.

Cheers,
m

:


Marta wrote:
Thanks, Steve. I had forgotten to say that I had tried that
already. I have
been through all of the previous answers to similar questions
and
tried
everything I saw.

cheers,
m

Have you checked to see that there is no 1 day lead time
between
the
pred and the succ? If not, just double click in the link
between
the
tasks and look on the lower right to see if there's a -1 in the
"Lag"
field.

Hope this helps in your world.

:

First thing to check, go to the Tools menu, Options,
Calculation
tab, top of
the page, and make sure calculation is set to Automatic.

HTH
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

I have created a plan with a number of dependencies.
However,
when I show
the
Gantt chart, only some of them seem to be accounted for.
For
instance, my
task 2 has an overall duration of 8 days, and it's
dependent
on
task 1,
which
lasts 1 day and starts at 8am on 6/3/06. However, my Gant
Chart
shows the
dependency line between tasks 1 and 2, but task 2 starts
at
the
exact same
time and date as task 1.

I have checked that they are all Finish to Start. I have
made
sure that
all
Tasks were set to "Start as soon as possible" by removing
Start/Finish
dates
and setting the Task information to that particular
setting.
I
have
checked
the calendar to make sure it was set to the default 8
hr.days,
etc. I have
checked that task duration is given in days and not hours
or
any other
unit.

I don't know what else to do. Please, help. Many thanks,
Marta