How do I set up short duration recurring task. Run for 10 seconds.

[AGF]

I need to set up a number of short duration recurring tasks staring every
minute, hour, etc. betweeen hr1 and hr2 continuing indefinitely.
Can this be done?

 

[Rod Gill]

What project management task is that??

Create a recurring task via Insert, Recurring task. However, Project's
smallest timescale is 1 minute so a task every minute is one long task!
Recurring tasks only allows a task a day, but create one of those and you
can edit the format to produce one every hour.

 

[AGF]

TXH for your responce. I am trying to scheduel jobs that need to run on a
server.
Is it possible to create a table in excel (how would I format it?) & import,
or create one task with a split every minute?

 

[Rod Gill]

A 1 minute task every minute is the same as a 1 week task. Project's minimum
time scale is 1 minute. So there is no point scheduling a 1 minute task
every minute!!

If you really have to schedule a 1 second task, then you either need to
pretend a minute in Project is actually a second or use Excel instead.

 

[AGF]

THX a lot Rod. I gave up on 10 sec. It will be a continuosly runnuing task.
What about "Transaction Log Backup Days: Every day Time: Every 30 minutes,
5:30am to 11:59pm"? Is there any way to automate data entry?
THX again

 

[Rod Gill]

I would never ever schedule that sort of task in Project. It sounds like an
operational task that belongs in whatever operation information system you
use. It's an open ended task and an open ended project is an oxymoron!

What are you trying to achieve?

As a final point, Project is best used for scheduling tasks for a project
and not for time management or production (operational tasks).

 

[Scott]

Rod,

Would disagree with you slightly. I think I am trying to do the same as the
original poster and this is to use Project to show the operational activities
throughout a 24 hour period that need to occur in the support of a given
system. For example, scheduled data loads, scheduled data extracts, scheduled
starting and stopping of services etc and how they are interdependant.
Project would lend itself very nicely to this and would be a great graphical
representation of a daily schedule if you could do what the poster was
requesting....

Regards,

Scott

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

You would be cirrect if Project were a schedule *illustration* tool but it's
not. It's a schedule generation and calculation tool designed for a very
specific purpose - estimating work schedules and costs for finitely bounded
projects using critical path scheduling methodologies. Fintely bounded
projects are unique endeavors (happen exactly this specific way only once in
all of recorded history) with discrete and observable beginning and ending
points, after which all the work is done and everyone goes home never to
work together on the same project again. Production and operational
activities don't fit that model because they are not unique - we build the
XX model car exactly the same way for every one that comes off the assembly
line, we don't have a finite numbe of cars to build after which we're done
building cars and the assembly line keeps running for an indeterminate time
as long as we have orders coming in, and most importantly they don't have a
finish bound, there is no last task where we can say that as of this date or
time all the work that ever will be done for forever on this activity has
been done and so the work is over for all time. Our operational activities
are by their very nature ongoing and repetitive - we schedule a database
backup every day for as long as the company is in busines and we'll never be
able to say we are done with backing up databases for all eternity.

 

[davegb]

This question comes up in this NG frequently. As has been said many
times Project is not designed to schedule production. Can it be bent to
do so? Yes, and a claw hammer can be used to cut wood, but not like a
saw can. I sincerely doubt the the people using Project this way were
satisfied in the long run, for the reasons already stated by others
here.
I just googled for "Production Schedule Software" and got a number of
hits. If I were scheduling production, I'd use production scheduling
software, for the same reason I own a hammer and a saw.
Best of luck!