automatically update cells

[Contractdriver]

How can I have cells reflect the contents of another cell and be
automatically updated when the contents of that cell change? For example, I
don't want to scroll thru the who project plan to capture the status of
certain tasks or summary tasks such as Initiation and Planning phase,
development, testing and implementation. I want to reference all those in
one place at the end of the plan.

 

[John]

How can I have cells reflect the contents of another cell and be
automatically updated when the contents of that cell change? For example, I
don't want to scroll thru the who project plan to capture the status of
certain tasks or summary tasks such as Initiation and Planning phase,
development, testing and implementation. I want to reference all those in
one place at the end of the plan.

Contractdriver,
There are various ways to do what you want, some better or more reliable
than others. One simple method is to set up a series of critical element
milestones and then link those to whatever task you want to track.
Normally these types of milestones are placed at the top of a plan
instead of at the end.

You mentioned capturing the status of summary tasks. Before you think
about linking to summary lines, you should read FAQ 48 - Summary task
linking, on our MVP website at, http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Contractdriver]

John,

I appreciate the help. Can you provide some details on how to "set up a
series of critical element milestones and then link those to whatever task
you want to track." I moved the 9 tasks to the top which I want to use to
capture the data from the tasks throughout the rest of the project plan. But
how do I set up the critical milestones you speak of and how do I link to the
tasks. The only way I know to link is via predecessor and that just shows my
new task starting after the task I wish to capture. I simply need for my new
task "initiation" to show the same dates, % complete, etc.. as the summary
task "Initiation Phase" in the project plan. Can you provide some details.
Thanks and have a nice weekend.

 

[John]

John,

I appreciate the help. Can you provide some details on how to "set up a
series of critical element milestones and then link those to whatever task
you want to track." I moved the 9 tasks to the top which I want to use to
capture the data from the tasks throughout the rest of the project plan. But
how do I set up the critical milestones you speak of and how do I link to the
tasks. The only way I know to link is via predecessor and that just shows my
new task starting after the task I wish to capture. I simply need for my new
task "initiation" to show the same dates, % complete, etc.. as the summary
task "Initiation Phase" in the project plan. Can you provide some details.
Thanks and have a nice weekend.

Contractdriver,
OK, I guess I misunderstood what you wanted. In most cases users often
set up a series of milestones at the beginning of their file. They then
link those milestones via simple predecessor to various important tasks
within the bowels of the file. It is simply a quick way to track
progress at major points in the plan.

What you describe is a little different and here is an approach that
should do just what you want. Instead of trying to create additional
duplicate "tracking" tasks, designate a spare flag field (e.g. Flag1)
and set the flag for each task that you want to track the status. Then
create a simple filter that looks for the flag. When the filter is
applied you will see exactly what you want. Simple and effective.

John
Project MVP

 

[Contractdriver]

John,

Yes, that will work, I've used filtering before and know how to do that.
However, is it possible to do it the way I suggest? To have several tasks at
the beginning of the plan that get updated when their corresponding task in
the plan itself gets updated. I believe that I've done this before but can't
remember how. So is it possible to have one task "linked" in some fashion to
another task so that when one gets updated/changed, the other also gets
updated/changed. Thanks.

 

[John]

John,

Yes, that will work, I've used filtering before and know how to do that.
However, is it possible to do it the way I suggest? To have several tasks at
the beginning of the plan that get updated when their corresponding task in
the plan itself gets updated. I believe that I've done this before but can't
remember how. So is it possible to have one task "linked" in some fashion to
another task so that when one gets updated/changed, the other also gets
updated/changed. Thanks.

Contractdriver,
To answer your question, yes, it is possible. There are basically two
approaches. One is to use paste links, which I do NOT recommend, or to
use VBA.

What you probably used previously was paste links and it was probably
done in a fashion similar to a hammock task. The problem with paste
links is that they are fragile and it is very easy to introduce file
corruption if the links are not properly set up and maintained.
Nonetheless, for information on how to set up a hammock task, go to our
MVP website at, http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm, and take a look at FAQ
19 - Hammock tasks.

Good luck.

John
Project MVP

 

[Contractdriver]

John,

I'm going to take your suggestion and not use the paste links and I'd rather
not get involved with Visual Basic. So, I did setup the filter and it works
fine so I'm gonna go with that. Thanks so much for your assistance.
Regards...

 

[John]

John,

I'm going to take your suggestion and not use the paste links and I'd rather
not get involved with Visual Basic. So, I did setup the filter and it works
fine so I'm gonna go with that. Thanks so much for your assistance.
Regards...

Contractdriver,
You're welcome and thanks for the feedback. Using a simple filter is a
smart choice. Unless the user has a lot of experience with Project,
paste links are best avoided, especially if there is a better, simpler
solution.

John