Activity enddate and deadline

[natash@]

I have activities that should be done in f.exp. 100 h, and have start date,
but they also have a deadline. (There are many simular activities, which
should be done simultaneously, by same group, so one activity doesn't have to
do done continuously)

If I put 100h Project calculate by itself end date and if I try to change
end date, it change back start date. How can I get all three values
undependable? Can I have two undependable dates for end, like end date and
deadline and to see them both on Ganth diagram. Sorry if this is trivial or
already asked question... I am beginner. Thanks a lot in advance, for any
help!!!

 

[Jim Aksel]

Project has three items utilize on a task: Duration, Work, Units. The
default is units. A unit is the number of resources assigned to a task ---
200% means 2 units (2 electricians).

In the case of a 'Finish No Later Than' constraint, Project will move the
start date Left to honor the constraint if necessary. You are warned of this
by Project if it creates a logic problem. Constraints are different than
deadlines.. a deadline will place an due date Icon on the Gantt line and an
indicator will appear if the deadline is violated -- it is "softer" than a
constraint.

If you enter 100h for work, with only 1 unit of resource assigned, this is
going to take 100/8=12.5 work days. To decrease the amount of duration, you
will need to add additional resources to the task. If you make the task a
fixed duration and key a value of work, Project will adjust the resource
units% for you. Let project calculate start/end dates based on work, units
and predecessors... very rarely should you key a start date.

There is a book that you may want to reference on this subject. It is
called the Ultimate Learning Guide to MS Office Project 2007, see page 182.
More information is available on the book at msProjectExperts.com.
Additional resources and tutorials are available at
http://project.mvps.org/links.htm click on Mike's Tutorials on the left side.

 

[Steve House]

Use the "Deadline" field in the Task Information dialog box, Advanced page
to designate the date/time where the task must be finished by. A task takes
X hours to do. The scheduled finish of the task will always be the
scheduled start of the task plus X working hours. In the Gantt chart this
is what the task bar represents. When you specify a deadline, Project puts
a little green arrow on the task's line showing where it is. The task
schedule might show it ending before the deadline, on the deadline, or after
the deadline depending on when it is able to start and how long it takes.
If it's after the deadline, you'll get a red alert telling you that you need
to do something to adjust the schedule - get predecessor tasks finished
earlier, assign more workers so the task doesn't take as long, etc - so that
it will get rescheduled and meet your requirements.

Do not attempt to enter dates/times in either the Start column or the Finish
column. These are not things you should input into Project except under
special circumstances. Project's job is take information you give it about
the nature of the work itself and from that to tell you the start and end
dates you can expect to achieve. You and you should let it freely calculate
them based on the task durations and predecessor links.