Iif statement in MS Project

[REji]

Could anybody can help me to use the "If" statements in trh Project shedule?
MY objective is to have different alternatives for the same project in the
same schedule. i.e some activities can be bypassed in some alternatives but
have to be done in other alternatives. So anybody can help me on this ?

Thanks & regards
Reji

 

[davegb]

Could anybody can help me to use the "If" statements in trh Project shedule?
MY objective is to have different alternatives for the same project in the
same schedule. i.e some activities can be bypassed in some alternatives but
have to be done in other alternatives. So anybody can help me on this ?

Thanks & regards
Reji

I need some more information. Are you trying to create alternative
schedules using VBA? If so, I'd guess it's possible, but why would you
do it? I think it would take more time to create all the code, unless
it's a very small project, to create alternative schedules, than to
just wait until you get to the decision point, then schedule forward
from there (rolling wave scheduling). Please give me more details on
what you're trying to accomplish.

 

[John]

Could anybody can help me to use the "If" statements in trh Project shedule?
MY objective is to have different alternatives for the same project in the
same schedule. i.e some activities can be bypassed in some alternatives but
have to be done in other alternatives. So anybody can help me on this ?

Thanks & regards
Reji

Reji,
There is no "if" function for Project's scheduling engine. You can use
an "IIf" statement in a formula for customizing individual Project
fields, but it will not create alternate schedule paths.

There are two ways to create alternate schedules. One is to use the
"rolling wave" approach Dave mentioned. The other is to simply create
individual schedules for each scenario. You could use a template for the
common elements and then modify that template for each variation.

John
Project MVP

 

[REji]

Dear John,

Thanks for the valuable reply. Can I know how to use the "rolling wave"
approach?

Again i would like to make it clear my question to u further, may be it will
help.

Let us say, A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H are a set of activities.
Also D1 is the decision to start these activities and to reach the decision D2

So in the first alternative, it is the normal scheduling. But in the same
schedule I want to incorporate another alternative where no need to go to
these activities, i.e., straight from decision D1 level to D2 level. so in
the activity/decision level, D1, if we can put some logical statemnts like
IIF, can we achieve the objective? Or anotherway? Please help me
Thanks
reji

 

[REji]

Dear Dave,

Thanks for the valuable reply.

Again i would like to make it clear my question to u further, may be it will
help.

Let us say, A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H are a set of activities.
Also D1 is the decision to start these activities and to reach the decision D2

So in the first alternative, it is the normal scheduling. But in the same
schedule I want to incorporate another alternative where no need to go to
these activities, i.e., straight from decision D1 level to D2 level. so in
the activity/decision level, D1, if we can put some logical statemnts like
IIF, can we achieve the objective? Or anotherway? Please help me
Thanks
reji

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi Reji,

Sorry but this is not possible in Project.

 

[davegb]

Dear John,

Thanks for the valuable reply. Can I know how to use the "rolling wave"
approach?

Again i would like to make it clear my question to u further, may be it will
help.

Let us say, A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H are a set of activities.
Also D1 is the decision to start these activities and to reach the decision D2

So in the first alternative, it is the normal scheduling. But in the same
schedule I want to incorporate another alternative where no need to go to
these activities, i.e., straight from decision D1 level to D2 level. so in
the activity/decision level, D1, if we can put some logical statemnts like
IIF, can we achieve the objective? Or anotherway? Please help me
Thanks
reji

- Show quoted text -

In Rolling Wave scheduling, you create a Phase 1 schedule as you do
normally, but the schedule ends at the point where a major decision is
made as to how to proceed. Once you reach the point when that decision
is made, Phase 1 ends, and you schedule forward from that milestone
into Phase 2. If there is another major decision down the road, it
becomes the end date for Phase 2, and Phase 3 is scheduled when Phase
2 is completed and another major decision has been made.

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[John]

Dear John,

Thanks for the valuable reply. Can I know how to use the "rolling wave"
approach?

Again i would like to make it clear my question to u further, may be it will
help.

Let us say, A, B, C, D, E, F, G , H are a set of activities.
Also D1 is the decision to start these activities and to reach the decision
D2

So in the first alternative, it is the normal scheduling. But in the same
schedule I want to incorporate another alternative where no need to go to
these activities, i.e., straight from decision D1 level to D2 level. so in
the activity/decision level, D1, if we can put some logical statemnts like
IIF, can we achieve the objective? Or anotherway? Please help me
Thanks
reji

reji,
No need to post an identical reply to both of us. On the surface Jan is
correct, Project does not support formulas in its scheduling engine.
That would require user access to Project's scheduling algorithms and I
doubt that will ever be the case, even in future versions of Project.
But as Dave mentioned in his post a lot of things can be done with VBA.
It might be possible, but I doubt it would be worth the effort since
there are much easier approaches (see next paragraph).

What Dave meant by "rolling wave" is just as he said in his post. Lay
out your schedule using the best information you have at that point in
time. Then as the schedule is executed, modify the remaining plan based
on certain decisions. As a matter of fact, this is the normal method of
executing a schedule plan. Things change and therefore the schedule must
be modified to reflect the new information and perhaps plot a new
direction.

If you are simply looking at what-if scenarios, there are two choices.
One is to put both scenarios in a single plan but physically separated
(least desirable). The other choice is to develop separate independent
plans for each scenario (best approach).

John
Project MVP