How do you change a linked one-time task to a recurring task?

[Pkati]

I have inherited a project with several hundred linked tasks, all of which
need to be changed from one-time occurrences to recurring tasks, with their
links intact. How can I do this without re-entering each line individually
and re-linking the tasks?

 

[John]

I have inherited a project with several hundred linked tasks, all of which
need to be changed from one-time occurrences to recurring tasks, with their
links intact. How can I do this without re-entering each line individually
and re-linking the tasks?

Pkati,
Why don't you help us out here. If is very difficult to visualize a plan
with hundreds of linked tasks, (i.e. what would seem to be a very normal
plan), that all of a sudden needs to be converted to hundreds of
recurring tasks with links. Something just doesn't gel. Once we better
understand your end goal, then maybe we can suggest a viable solution.

John
Project MVP

 

[Pkati]

John,

Thanks for your response. My task list reflects legislated environmental
sampling requirements, of which there are several hundred since every
requirement has been itemized. That itemization will remain the same. The
linkages connect a precursor task such as "prepare to meet this requirement
by this date" so that there is enough time to garner resources to meet a
particular requirement. As far as this setup goes, it works and will remain.
My task is to convert this setup of several hundred tasks from a one-time
occurrence, as it was originally created, to a recurring regime, identical
year through year until the legislation expires several years from now. I am
asking how to change a group of tasks, including its summary heading etc.
from this one time occurrence to a recurring task that we will see every year
as opposed to just this year. As I said, I want to maintain the linkages,
and do this for the entire task list if there is a way. I want to avoid
creating an entirely new project. Surely there must be some way to
accomplish this.

I hope this clarifies things for you; please let me know if it doesn't.

Pkati

 

[John]

John,

Thanks for your response. My task list reflects legislated environmental
sampling requirements, of which there are several hundred since every
requirement has been itemized. That itemization will remain the same. The
linkages connect a precursor task such as "prepare to meet this requirement
by this date" so that there is enough time to garner resources to meet a
particular requirement. As far as this setup goes, it works and will remain.
My task is to convert this setup of several hundred tasks from a one-time
occurrence, as it was originally created, to a recurring regime, identical
year through year until the legislation expires several years from now. I am
asking how to change a group of tasks, including its summary heading etc.
from this one time occurrence to a recurring task that we will see every year
as opposed to just this year. As I said, I want to maintain the linkages,
and do this for the entire task list if there is a way. I want to avoid
creating an entirely new project. Surely there must be some way to
accomplish this.

I hope this clarifies things for you; please let me know if it doesn't.

Pkati

Pkati,
Thanks for the clarification. It help a lot to understand what you have
and what you want. It also sounds like you have a ton, I mean a ton, of
repetitive type tasks. Based on that I think it would be better to break
the single massive file into smaller, more manageable pieces, perhaps by
year, or by sampling requirement or a combination thereof. Why carry the
overhead of hundreds of tasks for several years ahead if your only
concern is the current year? Then if you need to look at the whole
shebang, you can always create a consolidated master that links to all
the other files.

I don't see any easy way to expand your current file other than by
manually adding the new tasks. An existing task cannot simply be changed
to a recurring task. It could be done using VBA but that may not be an
option for you.

If you are amenable to creating multiple files then I suggest you create
a template of the existing file. Replicate it for each year (or however
you decide to break it up). Then use the Adjust Dates utility (found on
the Analysis toolbar) to re-set the schedule for each time period.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Pkati]

John,
You've definitely been helpful. Regarding your first suggestion, carrying
over the entire task list is necessary since it directs our activities for
the upcoming year; our sampling regime repeats every spring until the
legislation expires several years from now. The Project 2003 'master copy'
that exists as the cohesive unit it is now is perfect for quick perusal on a
yearly or monthly basis, especially since looking at the resulting calendar
view is easy to read. Keeping that copy in this form is a constraint that
keeps me from breaking it up into manageable pieces, as you suggested. This
is why I want to investigate any possibility of simply making the switch from
one time occurrence to a recurring task for each task while maintaining
linkages. It sounds as though this not an option. Also, it sounds as though
creating a consolidated master is a linkage nightmare, in addition to there
being several dozen files to keep track of, not to mention something that
makes looking at tasks on a month by month basis fairly difficult. Over the
14 years that the legislation is good for, the linkages add up considering
there are close to 1000 tasks (almost every task is itemized). Changing
dates by Visual Basic is definitely not an option.

If there is absolutely no way to make the 'switch' I mentioned above I think
that the adjusting dates suggestion may be my only option, and is the
simplest way. The only problem that I see it creating is that a change to
one task in one year needs to be made 14 times reflecting the number of file
copies. Another benefit is that linkages are preserved. I think we found a
solution, and hopefully you can confirm or clarify any of the above. Two
more questions I had were what does MVP stand for, and do you work for
Microsoft?
Once again, thanks for your help, John.

Pkati

 

[John]

John,
You've definitely been helpful. Regarding your first suggestion, carrying
over the entire task list is necessary since it directs our activities for
the upcoming year; our sampling regime repeats every spring until the
legislation expires several years from now. The Project 2003 'master copy'
that exists as the cohesive unit it is now is perfect for quick perusal on a
yearly or monthly basis, especially since looking at the resulting calendar
view is easy to read. Keeping that copy in this form is a constraint that
keeps me from breaking it up into manageable pieces, as you suggested. This
is why I want to investigate any possibility of simply making the switch from
one time occurrence to a recurring task for each task while maintaining
linkages. It sounds as though this not an option. Also, it sounds as though
creating a consolidated master is a linkage nightmare, in addition to there
being several dozen files to keep track of, not to mention something that
makes looking at tasks on a month by month basis fairly difficult. Over the
14 years that the legislation is good for, the linkages add up considering
there are close to 1000 tasks (almost every task is itemized). Changing
dates by Visual Basic is definitely not an option.

If there is absolutely no way to make the 'switch' I mentioned above I think
that the adjusting dates suggestion may be my only option, and is the
simplest way. The only problem that I see it creating is that a change to
one task in one year needs to be made 14 times reflecting the number of file
copies. Another benefit is that linkages are preserved. I think we found a
solution, and hopefully you can confirm or clarify any of the above. Two
more questions I had were what does MVP stand for, and do you work for
Microsoft?
Once again, thanks for your help, John.

Pkati

Pkati,
Being helpful is our goal but I'm not sure I made my pitch for multiple
files with a consolidated master clear enough. With a dynamically
consolidated master, a pointer to each individual file (subproject) is
inserted into a master file. All the files can then be viewed, filtered,
edited, etc. right from the master or, worked on as individual files.
Everything is dynamic so changes made in either the master or individual
files are reflected in the other. The advantage is that when doing
day-to-day work, you only need to work with the individual file for
tasks in the current time frame. From what you have described I would
hands down elect to go with a more manageable individual file structure
(although I may feel differently if I actually saw your file). By the
way, once a multi-file structure is created, at some point in the future
a single static file can be created, if desired, complete with linkages
intact (although that last part does require a VBA macro - which I have).

With a multi-file structure, links may or may not need to exist between
files depending on how the existing huge file is partitioned. Those
inter-file links are called external predecessors/successors and it
really isn't any more difficult to set them up than setting up all the
new links you will need when you expand all the existing tasks. The time
to do this of course is when you create the template file and all its
variants.

The Adjust Dates utility adjusts all dates in a file based on a new
Project Start Date. It will not simply adjust a select group of dates in
an exiting file, although that could be done with VBA. So the adjusting
dates option is only really applicable if you break up the one file into
several.

You mentioned the problem of updating multiple files if a change is made
to a task in one year. Well yes, that is a pain but no more difficult in
a consolidated master than in one huge file.

You mentioned that you think you found a solution be it isn't clear
exactly what that is. If you don't want to use VBA, and don't want to
break the big file into multiple files, then your only choice is a huge
manual update.

Finally, you asked what MVP stand for. It stands for Most Valuable
Professional. For more information about the MVP program you can check
out the website at:
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
And for your last question, no MVPs do NOT work for Microsoft. We are
all independent volunteers. That allows us to freely speak our minds as
appropriate with regard to Microsoft and its products. The only thing
that really separates us from regular users is that we have a vast
amount of combined experience and many of us are teachers or
consultants. That doesn't mean we will always have the answers, or in
some cases even the right answers but the majority of the time you will
see a "thank you" from a user who has posted because we have
answered/addressed their issue. We must be doing something right.

John
Project MVP