excluding tasks from the critical path

[leodegranz]

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that ruin
the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"
2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by doubleclicking on it, and configuring the
critical path bars so they will only show critical path if the following
criteria are met:

Critical, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

 

[davegb]

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that ruin
the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

Project has no such capability. Why would it? This is like a biologist
tracking bears in Alaska saying, "Can I tag some of these Polar bears
as Grizzly bears?" I guess he could, but to what end? By definition, a
critical task is a task with no slack (unless the CP threshold has been
changed). This sounds like someone is saying, "I have my own ideas
about what should be critical and what should not". In scheduling, the
word critical is already defined. It would make more sense to mark
certain selected tasks as "crucial" or something like that. Mark those
tasks and then use some sort of color code and/or shape to identify
those. But please, leave the term critical for tasks with zero slack,
and mark the white bears as Polar bears!

And while you're at it, drop the "ir" in "irregardless". It's an
incorrect term. If "regardless" means "without regard to", then
irregardless would me "with regard to" (double negative), which is the
opposite of what you're trying to say. Sorry, just one of my pet
peeves!

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[davegb]

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That tank
happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If your
chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a very
powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the 8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[Rod Gill]

You will need to be aware that by adding an extra task that changes your
critical path, some tasks that were critical may now be not critical. This
technique will not show them up as critical. The technique works for other
scenarios though.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP
Visit www.msproject-systems.com for Project Companion Tools and more

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as
follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes."
Instruct your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following
formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show critical
path if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the
excluded tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or
less the same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a
bit to achieve the desired effect.

-A

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that
ruin the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[Andrew Lavinsky]

Yikes....well, I actually agree with all of your points about the dangers
of short circuiting the CP calculation in Project. I think they are very
well made and communicate your viewpoint very effectively.

This technique is never something I would necessarily advocate, but as Rod
pointed out, may be useful in some scenarios....i.e. perhaps inserting some
sort of buffer task into the Critical Path (maybe - and I would be happy
to get comments on that as well). It's not how I would handle buffers personally,
but maybe someone would/could.

-A

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround
as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes."
Instruct your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following
formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the
Gantt Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the
chart, and then configuring the critical path bars so they will only
show critical path if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding
the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less
the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to
achieve
the desired effect.
-A

This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That
tank happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If
your chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a
very powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the 8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[davegb]

Yikes....well, I actually agree with all of your points about the dangers
of short circuiting the CP calculation in Project. I think they are very
well made and communicate your viewpoint very effectively.

This technique is never something I would necessarily advocate, but as Rod
pointed out, may be useful in some scenarios....i.e. perhaps inserting some
sort of buffer task into the Critical Path (maybe - and I would be happy
to get comments on that as well). It's not how I would handle buffers personally,
but maybe someone would/could.

Interesting point. Would be interesting to see how others actually
implement buffers. We have had discussions on here about the pros and
cons of using buffers, but it's been while. Personally, since I started
using them, I've had a great deal of success. Others don't seem to like
the idea. But how to implement them would be in interesting thread.

-A

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround
as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes."
Instruct your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following
formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the
Gantt Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the
chart, and then configuring the critical path bars so they will only
show critical path if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding
the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less
the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to
achieve
the desired effect.
-A

This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That
tank happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If
your chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a
very powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the 8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files
that ruin the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[leodegranz]

Thanks!

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that
ruin the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[leodegranz]

I agree with you, but the client pays the bill.

I found your point on irregardless interesting; however, the use of
irregardless was intentional, to add emphasis. Irregardless is included in
dictionaries (e.g., American Heritage, Random House, Webster, etc); it is
flagged nonstandard, i.e., not to be used in formal writing.

 

[Steve House]

A critical task is essentially a task whose delay would cause the project
completion to be delayed. If your customers are adding tasks to the plan
that are going to make you miss your promised delivery date, don't you need
to know about it? If you successfully mark tasks non-critical that are
truly critical, you will have destroyed Project's usefulness as a planning
and management tool. Don't do it.

 

[Steve House]

The client might pay the bills but when he's asking you to screw things up,
he needs to be told why his request will not do what he thinks it will do.
No matter how much they pay, they hired you because you presumably know the
right way to do the project while they don't. <grin>

 

[leodegranz]

Perhaps a clarification is in order.

They are creating "tasks", but these aren't truly tasks in the sense of the
project. The items have no impact on the project because they are orthogonal
to the project.

A critical task is essentially a task whose delay would cause the project
completion to be delayed. If your customers are adding tasks to the plan
that are going to make you miss your promised delivery date, don't you need
to know about it? If you successfully mark tasks non-critical that are
truly critical, you will have destroyed Project's usefulness as a planning
and management tool. Don't do it.


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

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that
ruin
the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[Steve House]

If the 'tasks' aren't describing physical activities that create project
deliverables, then they don't belong in the project plan at all. Project is
a work schedule planning and calculation tool, not a documentation tool.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Perhaps a clarification is in order.

They are creating "tasks", but these aren't truly tasks in the sense of
the
project. The items have no impact on the project because they are
orthogonal
to the project.

A critical task is essentially a task whose delay would cause the project
completion to be delayed. If your customers are adding tasks to the plan
that are going to make you miss your promised delivery date, don't you
need
to know about it? If you successfully mark tasks non-critical that are
truly critical, you will have destroyed Project's usefulness as a
planning
and management tool. Don't do it.


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

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that
ruin
the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[leodegranz]

Preaching to the choir...

If the 'tasks' aren't describing physical activities that create project
deliverables, then they don't belong in the project plan at all. Project is
a work schedule planning and calculation tool, not a documentation tool.
--
Steve House [Project MVP]
MS Project Trainer & Consultant
Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs

Perhaps a clarification is in order.

They are creating "tasks", but these aren't truly tasks in the sense of
the
project. The items have no impact on the project because they are
orthogonal
to the project.

A critical task is essentially a task whose delay would cause the project
completion to be delayed. If your customers are adding tasks to the plan
that are going to make you miss your promised delivery date, don't you
need
to know about it? If you successfully mark tasks non-critical that are
truly critical, you will have destroyed Project's usefulness as a
planning
and management tool. Don't do it.


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



Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project files that
ruin
the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[davegb]

I agree with you, but the client pays the bill.

I found your point on irregardless interesting; however, the use of
irregardless was intentional, to add emphasis. Irregardless is included in
dictionaries (e.g., American Heritage, Random House, Webster, etc); it is
flagged nonstandard, i.e., not to be used in formal writing.

Well, since "ain't" is also in the dictionary, I'll just let it go by
saying, "it ain't good English, whether it's in the dictionary or it
ain't".

 

[davegb]

The client might pay the bills but when he's asking you to screw things up,
he needs to be told why his request will not do what he thinks it will do.
No matter how much they pay, they hired you because you presumably know the
right way to do the project while they don't. <grin>

I'd definitely agree with Steve on this one. That's part of what what
we get paid for.

 

[scutzer]

I believe I've identified an exception to this argument in that a "hammock"
task will assume a "critical path" and it should not. By defition the
hammock task will move with the movement of other tasks and therefore doesn't
change itself and thus should not be considered critical path.

I have a project right now where this is the case. Not sure if the work
around described will take it off the critical path, but do believe this is
an example of a task you do want in the plan, but should not be in the
critical path.

FYI, the tasks that are hammock in my case are those that run the length of
the project like governance, status reporting, etc...

Thanks!

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of "Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That tank
happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If your
chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a very
powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the 8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[JulieS]

Hello scutzer,

Not sure if I understand exactly what your question is, but I am
guessing that you want to create a hammock task which does not show as
on the critical path.

A suggestion would be to enter a milestone linked F to S with the
final task in the project and lead the milestone by 1h. The use the
milestone's finish as the finish for the hammock. The milestone will
still adjust as the project dates change but the -1h lead should keep
it off critical path and keep the hammock with total slack as well.

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

I believe I've identified an exception to this argument in that a
"hammock"
task will assume a "critical path" and it should not. By defition
the
hammock task will move with the movement of other tasks and
therefore doesn't
change itself and thus should not be considered critical path.

I have a project right now where this is the case. Not sure if the
work
around described will take it off the critical path, but do believe
this is
an example of a task you do want in the plan, but should not be in
the
critical path.

FYI, the tasks that are hammock in my case are those that run the
length of
the project like governance, status reporting, etc...

Thanks!

[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a
workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of
"Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the
following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used
the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the
chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show
critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color
coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or
less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a
bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A

This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some
years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to
fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That
tank
happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If
your
chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a
very
powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to
and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator
noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the
8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be
severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of
Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make
carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your
knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.

Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical
path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the
slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project
files that
ruin the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance

 

[scutzer]

Thanks Julie,

Yes, you managed to translate my post correctly

I have a hammock task linked to two milestones. I was reluctant to reduce
the days, for obvious reasons, but your suggestion to reduce by 1 hour should
work and not change the overall calendar days for the project.

Thanks again for your help.

Hello scutzer,

Not sure if I understand exactly what your question is, but I am
guessing that you want to create a hammock task which does not show as
on the critical path.

A suggestion would be to enter a milestone linked F to S with the
final task in the project and lead the milestone by 1h. The use the
milestone's finish as the finish for the hammock. The milestone will
still adjust as the project dates change but the -1h lead should keep
it off critical path and keep the hammock with total slack as well.

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

I believe I've identified an exception to this argument in that a
"hammock"
task will assume a "critical path" and it should not. By defition
the
hammock task will move with the movement of other tasks and
therefore doesn't
change itself and thus should not be considered critical path.

I have a project right now where this is the case. Not sure if the
work
around described will take it off the critical path, but do believe
this is
an example of a task you do want in the plan, but should not be in
the
critical path.

FYI, the tasks that are hammock in my case are those that run the
length of
the project like governance, status reporting, etc...

Thanks!

Andrew Lavinsky wrote:
[Minor change to the last post for clarification]

You can't turn off the CP calculation, but you could do a
workaround as follows:

1) Create a custom flag field (Flag1) w/ a default value of
"Yes." Instruct
your client to flag the tasks that shouldn't count as a "No"

2) Create a second custom flag field (Flag2) and use the
following formula:

IIF([Critical]=Yes AND [Flag1]=Yes),Yes,No

Then format the Gantt chart by first making sure you have used
the Gantt
Wizard to display the Critical Path, then doubleclicking on the
chart, and
then configuring the critical path bars so they will only show
critical path
if the following criteria are met:

Normal, Flag2

Change the Normal Task bar criteria to:

Normal, Not Flag2

And that should more or less do it. I might recommend color
coding the excluded
tasks as green or something like that, but it should be more or
less the
same principle. You may need to play w/ the Gantt formatting a
bit to achieve
the desired effect.

-A


This is a very clever workaround. It reminds me of the time some
years
ago when a truck driver delivering hydrocloric acid to one of our
facilities in South Texas couldn't get the nozzle on the truck to
fit
to the nozzle on the tank he thought he was supposed to fill. That
tank
happened not to be an HCl tank, but a hydrogen peroxide tank! If
your
chemistry knowledge has faded, mixing these 2 chemicals causes a
very
powerful reaction. Like in explosion!

Our company operator, apparently not paying any attention to the
various safety markings on both the truck and the tank, offered to
and
did fabricate a custom made fitting in the shop to connect the two
together. It worked! Fortunately for them both, the operator
noticed
the storage tank "humming" and felt that it was rapidly heating up.
They both took off just before the peroxide tank blew, sending the
8'
diameter aluminium dished end over a hundred yards across the leach
field and barely missing the oxygen storage tank on the far side.
Luckily for everyone involved, no one was hurt. Fortunately, with
software, the damage usually can't be physical. But it can be
severe.

This workaround is a very clever way to defeat the purpose of
Project,
which is to help us find which tasks are "critical" and make
carefully
thought-out decisions based on that knowledge. I salute your
knowledge
of the software, but with concerns about your understanding of
scheduling!

Hope this helps in your world.


Is it possible to flag a task to be excluded from the critical
path
calculation?

I want to flag tasks to be noncritical irregardless of the
slack.
Basically, I have customers who are adding tasks to project
files that
ruin the critical path calculation.

Thanks in advance