Highlighting overdue tasks

[Michael Gwin]

Ive read a few posts on this topic and what I really want doesnt seem
possible but I thought Id ask specifically just in case.

I have a filter that will show me tasks due on a particular day. What I
dont like is it shows me those tasks, and if they arent complete, my first
instinct is to push them out. What I cant see are the surrounding tasks to
see what impact Im making by pushing that date out.

So...

Platinum Standard: I wish MS Project would throw up flags when you move a
date out on a task that has successors showing the ripple effect in your
plan. I dont think Project does this... should be added.

Gold Standard: Use a filter or some indicator that would flag certain tasks
while still showing the surrounding tasks (like red text or something would
be nice) Id prefer this to be based on my filter criteria

Silver Standard: I know the indicator column will flag red those tasks it
thinks are overdue. But it flags tasks that havent started yet but are due
in the future as overdue as well. Can I change the rules of the indicator to
truly show those tasks with a finish date in the past?

Thanks always, Id go out of my mind without this forum for help!

Mike

 

[Jim Aksel]

Project 2007 meets the platinum standard. When you make a change to a task,
all changed dates (rippled dates) change the cell background color. There is
also a task driver pane that shows what condition is driving the start date
of the selected task.

In all versions of project, if you set a status date (Project/Project
Information...) and insert the Status (or Status Indicator) column, it will
provide information concerning the current %Complete compared to what it
should be for the task to be on schedule. That is, if the real %complete is
15%, and 16% or more of the task duration has elapsed, the status will show
late. Ahead of schedule tasks show on schedule, future tasks show "future"
and completed tasks show "complete."

Your silver standard implies you are keying deadlines for tasks. You really
do want to know those tasks are being driven to complete late. I would leave
it alone.

Also, if a task has a finish date in the past you absolutely need to extend
the duration if it is not complete. If you did not finish it "yesterday"
then you need to tell Project when you expect it will be complete so it will
drive the remaining tasks.

Finally, you can code some VBA to whatever rules you like and then set a
flag or number field. Either of these can be set to display a graphical
indicator.

Here are some tests we use:
1. Start date in the past with 0% Complete, needs new start date after the
status date.
2. Finish date in the past with less than 100%, extend duration to at least
the day after the status date unless rule 1 applies.
3. Start date to the right of the status date with %Complete not 0. You did
not start the work "tomorrw" it started "yesterday" and you need to tell the
schedule that. You may finish it early, or, extend the duration so the
finish date remains the same.
4. Task is 100% complete with a Finsih date to the right of the status date.
Sorry, you did not finish the task "tomorrow", provide a real date so a
successor activity can claim an early start.
5. Tasks with negative total slack. These tasks tell you the schedule is
not viable as currently linked. Tinkering required.
6. Tasks where the immediate predecessor is not 100% and the task is
claiming any %complete at all. This is somewhat minor because it really just
means the predecessor task has not been broken down to sufficeint detail.

All of these are easy to code (except #6). We use a flag field and show a
red dot if any one or more tests fail. You could also use a number field to
return the number of the failed test and color an icon accordingly.

Your least expensive solution is an upgrade to P2007 as it will take you
about a day to properly code and test the VBA mentioned.
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim Aksel, MVP

Check out my blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Michael Gwin]

I have Project 2007 and I have not seen it change the cell background color.
Is this an option I have to enable, or be in a specific view? Im intrigued.

 

[JulieS]

Hello Michael,

Ensure that "Show Change Highlighting" in the View menu is enabled.

You may also be interested in Highlight filters to answer your point
under "Gold standard." See Project > Filtered For > More Filters,
select your custom filter and choose "Highlight". You can also
modify a View (View > More Views, Edit) to have all filters work as
highlight filters.

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

 

[Michael Gwin]

Very nice... is there any trick to see the impacted line items that are not
visible on the screen? My project is over 700 lines long. I like the
feature but now fear I may miss something unless I scan the whole document
for highlighted fields.

Headed in the right direction anyway, I like!

 

[Michael Gwin]

Jim, thank you very much for the responses. I am running P2007. I have no
experience with VBA scripting but do catch on fast. If you could point me to
any basic training material to get into it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks again,

 

[JulieS]

Hi Michael,

You could split your screen to show the task form at the lower pane
and then format the task form to show Successors. It won't do the
neat highlighting but does show a list of successor tasks. You can
also add the successor field to the table but it will only show IDs.

Glad to know you're liking the Change highlighting

Julie

 

[JulieS]

Hi Michael,

The best reference is fellow MVP Rod Gill's book. See:

http://www.projectvbabook.com

Julie

 

[Michael Gwin]

Im loving the modified Views, however, it seems that it behaves a bit
eradically. Like I set a view to use a filter I created for Overdue tasks.
That filter says any task with a finish date less than today AND % Complete <
100%. When I apply the filter, I see tasks that have finish dates in the
past that are not complete, but they arent highlighted... have you come
across this? Im assuming Im just doing something wrong here...

 

[Michael Gwin]

Im also having a hard time getting the view to only display incomplete tasks
while highlighting tasks with a finish date prior to today.

Funny, my filter is set for only tasks with % Complete < 100% but its still
showing them.

After I set the modified view, and then go to Project/Filter/Incomplete
tasks, it doesnt remove the Complete tasks...who knows...

Thanks for all the help,

 

[Mike Glen]

Hi Michael,

I haven't a positive answer, but it seems that you need to update your
project first. Try Tools/Tracking/Update project... and select to
Reschedule uncompleted work to start after.... Then retry your filter.

FAQs, companion products and other useful Project information can be seen at
this web address: http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Hope this helps - please let us know how you get on

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP
See http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc for my free Project Tutorials

 

[JulieS]

Hello Michael,

What are you using for your date in the filter? If you've created
and saved the filter using Now() or Date() the filter doesn't update
those values. So, if you created the filter on Friday of last week
(14-Nov) and ran it today, it is still showing only tasks with a
finish date earlier than 14-Nov.

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