Enter task with Finish No Later Than, duration, and no start date?

[Byron]

I need to create tasks that have durations and a Finish No Later Than
constraint, but no start date in Project 2003. This would result in a list
of tasks that have to be completed by a particular date and have a known
duration that can be completed whenever someone has spare time as long as
they are completed by the given date and time.

I'm new with Project and I can't find a way to pull this off. Thanks in
adavance for any help you can offer.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

You can't, I'm sorry.
Project's "Start" date is in fact the early start date and there's always
one (today, for instance).
Hope this helps.

 

[Steve House]

In addition to Jan's answer, IMHO a Deadline is the appropriate finish
entry, not a FNLT constraint. The deadline says it ought to end by that
date but if something gets screwed up and the task is delayed it will still
show you when it probably actually will finish. The constraint will never
show it ending any later than that date even if in fact it is running late
and it will be impossible for it to finish on time. You already know when
it needs to be done - Project's job is to predict when it will be done so
you can see if it's going to be on time in the plan you have created or if
it'll be late and you need to redo the plan.

A project plan in MSP is not a "to-do" list, which is basically what you're
describing. It is a plan of action designed to tell resources and their
managers and supervisors when they have to start their tasks in order for
the overall project to be completed on time. If you're a construction boss
deploying a team to a jobsite, you have to tell them when to show up, right?
You don't want them there too early or they'll be sitting around waiting for
the predecessor work to be finished, doing nothing but twiddling their
thumbs yet drawing pay from your budget, and at the same time you don't want
them there too late or the project's progress will get set back. Telling
them when they must start and predicting when they WILL end (not just the
deadline by when they have to end) is part and parcel of managing any
project no matter what the nature of the work.