Calculating total duration

[Ali]

Hello,

MS Project 2003:

I have one big enhancement ex. EDD2000 and then 23 enhancements that make up
EDD2000.

So on my MS project plan, on the first line under task is EDD2000 and when
you "expand" it you see all 23 enhancements which can all be expanded to see
their tasks.

Now many of the 23 enhancements start and finish at the same time..

What I want see is when I don't expand EDD2000 I want to see in the duration
column the total duration ( all 23 enhancements duration added up)..

Do I use the "Predecessor" column to do this action??
Thanks

 

[Jim Aksel]

Maybe I don't fully understand the question. Precessors are necessary to
keep tasks logically in order.... I can't clean my paint brushes until after
I finish painting. This is a locigal use of predecessors and the predecessor
column can help you there.

The duration of a summary task starts with the earliest start date of all
its subordinate tasks, and ends on the latest finish date of all the
subordinate tasks.

So, if tasks A starts on day 1 for 6 days and TaskB starts on Day 3 for 10
days the duration of the summary task is 13 days.

If Tasks A & B run in parallel (both start on day 1) then the duration will
show 10 days. If you are looking for 6+10=16, please explain and we can try
to help. You will get 16 only if the tasks run in series (Finish To Start).
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Jim
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[Gérard Ducouret]

Hello Ali,

Generally, we never add up Durations. We only add up Work or Cost. But if
for you added durations have a meaning, you can use a custom field such as
Number1, with a formula such as [Duration]/[Minutes Per Day].
In the Customize Fields dialog, in the "Calculation for task and summary
rows" section, select Rollup: Sum.
Hope this helps,

Gérard Ducouret