How to calculate Duration?

[Sapper]

TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database, i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2; # of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

 

[Sapper]

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto 250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men, as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2; # of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[John]

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto 250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men, as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Snapper,
Allow me to jump in here (Jan may be off-line). I guess I don't see a
problem as long as the Excel Worksheet is properly structured. For
example, using the following simple example for the Excel Worksheet:
Column A Column B Column C
Task Name Resource Names Manhours
task a Joe 20
task b Bill,Bob,Frank 80
task c Bob 20

When imported into Project, a project file is created. The duration of
each task is calculated (as Jan noted) automatically based on the
resources assigned and the manhours. So the resulting project shows:
Task Name Duration Resource Names Work
task a 2.5 days Joe 20 hrs
task b 3.33 days Bill,Bob,Frank 80 hrs
task c 2.5 days Bob 20 hrs

Isn't that what you want?

John
Project MVP

Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2; # of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[Sapper]

Yes and no, the only problem I have is that most times I do not know the
names of the resource and use generic names like Millwright or Welder etc.,
so it probably will miscalculate the duration.

I'll have to give it a try and see the results.
Sapper.

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto 250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men, as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the
duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Snapper,
Allow me to jump in here (Jan may be off-line). I guess I don't see a
problem as long as the Excel Worksheet is properly structured. For
example, using the following simple example for the Excel Worksheet:
Column A Column B Column C
Task Name Resource Names Manhours
task a Joe 20
task b Bill,Bob,Frank 80
task c Bob 20

When imported into Project, a project file is created. The duration of
each task is calculated (as Jan noted) automatically based on the
resources assigned and the manhours. So the resulting project shows:
Task Name Duration Resource Names Work
task a 2.5 days Joe 20 hrs
task b 3.33 days Bill,Bob,Frank 80 hrs
task c 2.5 days Bob 20 hrs

Isn't that what you want?

John
Project MVP

"Jan De Messemaeker" <jandemes at prom hyphen ade dot be> wrote in
message

Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm
"Sapper" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru
a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2;
#
of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration
times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or
is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import
or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

The advice I gave was typically for generic resources.

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

Yes and no, the only problem I have is that most times I do not know the
names of the resource and use generic names like Millwright or Welder etc.,
so it probably will miscalculate the duration.

I'll have to give it a try and see the results.
Sapper.

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto 250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men, as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the
duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Snapper,
Allow me to jump in here (Jan may be off-line). I guess I don't see a
problem as long as the Excel Worksheet is properly structured. For
example, using the following simple example for the Excel Worksheet:
Column A Column B Column C
Task Name Resource Names Manhours
task a Joe 20
task b Bill,Bob,Frank 80
task c Bob 20

When imported into Project, a project file is created. The duration of
each task is calculated (as Jan noted) automatically based on the
resources assigned and the manhours. So the resulting project shows:
Task Name Duration Resource Names Work
task a 2.5 days Joe 20 hrs
task b 3.33 days Bill,Bob,Frank 80 hrs
task c 2.5 days Bob 20 hrs

Isn't that what you want?

John
Project MVP

"Jan De Messemaeker" <jandemes at prom hyphen ade dot be> wrote in
message
Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm
"Sapper" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru
a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2;
#
of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration
times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or
is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import
or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[John]

Yes and no, the only problem I have is that most times I do not know the
names of the resource and use generic names like Millwright or Welder etc.,
so it probably will miscalculate the duration.

I'll have to give it a try and see the results.
Sapper.

Sapper,
I only used actual resource names for illustration. As Jan pointed out,
the resources could just as well be generic. Those are referred to as
group resources in Project.

Many times generic resources are preferred because you may not care that
Joe will be doing the work on a task. What you really need is a
millwright and that might actually be Joe, Tom, Mary, etc.

John
Project MVP

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto 250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men, as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the
duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Snapper,
Allow me to jump in here (Jan may be off-line). I guess I don't see a
problem as long as the Excel Worksheet is properly structured. For
example, using the following simple example for the Excel Worksheet:
Column A Column B Column C
Task Name Resource Names Manhours
task a Joe 20
task b Bill,Bob,Frank 80
task c Bob 20

When imported into Project, a project file is created. The duration of
each task is calculated (as Jan noted) automatically based on the
resources assigned and the manhours. So the resulting project shows:
Task Name Duration Resource Names Work
task a 2.5 days Joe 20 hrs
task b 3.33 days Bill,Bob,Frank 80 hrs
task c 2.5 days Bob 20 hrs

Isn't that what you want?

John
Project MVP

"Jan De Messemaeker" <jandemes at prom hyphen ade dot be> wrote in
message
Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm
"Sapper" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined thru
a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of men=2;
#
of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the Duration
times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing or
is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the import
or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.

 

[Sapper]

O.K. I see wwhere this is coming from, I will have to increase my resource
pool to something like Millwright = 100 etc. As I usualy have as many as 50
to 100 resources applied, sometimes all the same type.

Thanks all for the ideas and thoughts, this is the best learning areas I
have found and "used" over the past few years, always helpful.
Thx guys,
Colin.

Yes and no, the only problem I have is that most times I do not know the
names of the resource and use generic names like Millwright or Welder
etc.,
so it probably will miscalculate the duration.

I'll have to give it a try and see the results.
Sapper.

Sapper,
I only used actual resource names for illustration. As Jan pointed out,
the resources could just as well be generic. Those are referred to as
group resources in Project.

Many times generic resources are preferred because you may not care that
Joe will be doing the work on a task. What you really need is a
millwright and that might actually be Joe, Tom, Mary, etc.

John
Project MVP

Yes, that's o.k. with those at 200%, but I have several tasks (upto
250)
that I import at the same time, some are 1 man, others are upto 8 men,
as
well as as a variable mix of manhours.
I was hoping for someway of automatically importing and setting the
duration
from the # of manhours divided by # of men.
Any other ideas would be nice to hear from.
I have looked at inserting a second sheet in the spreadsheet and doing
a
linked sheet with the calcs set in it and working off that sheet
alone, a
little clunky, but a workable means, what do you think?

Snapper,
Allow me to jump in here (Jan may be off-line). I guess I don't see a
problem as long as the Excel Worksheet is properly structured. For
example, using the following simple example for the Excel Worksheet:
Column A Column B Column C
Task Name Resource Names Manhours
task a Joe 20
task b Bill,Bob,Frank 80
task c Bob 20

When imported into Project, a project file is created. The duration of
each task is calculated (as Jan noted) automatically based on the
resources assigned and the manhours. So the resulting project shows:
Task Name Duration Resource Names Work
task a 2.5 days Joe 20 hrs
task b 3.33 days Bill,Bob,Frank 80 hrs
task c 2.5 days Bob 20 hrs

Isn't that what you want?

John
Project MVP


"Jan De Messemaeker" <jandemes at prom hyphen ade dot be> wrote in
message
Hi,

No.
Leave duration (temporarily) to the default value of 1 day, import
Work
(mandays) then resources like People[200%] and duration will
calculate.
HTH

--
Jan De Messemaeker, Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
http://users.online.be/prom-ade/
For FAQs: http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm
"Sapper" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
TIA,
Real novice here, be kind.
I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use all the time, it is joined
thru
a
mainframe system so I can "download" specific fields from a
database,
i.e.
Task; # of men; and # of manhours - Task = Repair gearbox; # of
men=2;
#
of
manhours=12.
This would mean a Duration of 6 hours.

I want to import this into a project, but need to create the
Duration
times
from this information.
Do I have to do all the calcs in the spreadsheet before importing
or
is
there a way to do the calcs and create the Duration during the
import
or
after?

Any help is always appreciated,
Colin.