insert extra date colums

[Anabih]

Please inform me about the following:
How to insert extra colums to show planned start - planned finish beside the
existing 2 colums actual start and actual finish.

the problem is that the MS Project won't treat colums as date fields when i
insert any.

Regards,

 

[JulieS]

Hi Anabih,

You can insert Date columns (Date1, Date2, etc) or use one of the custom
Start or Finish fields (Start1, Start2, Finish1, Finish 2, etc.) in the
table.


As far as "Planned Start" and "Planned Finish" those should usually be
the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish fields. Before you begin
tracking, save a baseline (Tools > Tracking > Save Baseline) to copy the
Start, Finish, Duration, Work, and Cost fields into Baseline Start,
Baseline Finish, Baseline Duration, Baseline Work, and Baseline Cost
fields.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie

 

[John]

Please inform me about the following:
How to insert extra colums to show planned start - planned finish beside the
existing 2 colums actual start and actual finish.

the problem is that the MS Project won't treat colums as date fields when i
insert any.

Regards,

Anabih,
Let me add a bit to what Julie said. I sense you need some clarification
on Project's various date related fields.

First, the "standard" date fields in the Gantt Chart view are not actual
start and actual finish, they are scheduled start and finish. Project
has two completely separate fields for the actual values. When a project
plan is first created, the Start and Finish fields represent the initial
plan based on task duration, links and to some extent, the resource
assignments.

Second, to capture the original plan, a baseline must be set as Julie
explained. The baseline values are a snapshot of the scheduled start and
finish at the point in time that the baseline is saved. Baseline dates
will not change, unless a new baseline is set or the values are manually
overwritten by the user. Project provides for the setting of multiple
baselines for each task.

Third, as the plan is executed, the schedule dates will move in response
to the dynamics of the schedule (e.g. progress or lack thereof, plan
changes, etc.). The Start and Finish fields are dynamic.

Fourth, once a particular task is started, an entry can be made in the
Actual Start field if the actual start does not agree with the scheduled
start. If the task did start as scheduled, an non-zero entry in the %
Complete field will cause the Actual Start field to be populated with
the scheduled Start date. If an actual start date is entered that is
different from the scheduled start date, Project will automatically
update the Start field to agree with the Actual Start field. In other
words, the schedule will be "corrected" to reflect reality.

Fifth, Project has several spare date type fields as Julie mentioned.
These fields are all static, that is, the user can directly enter a
date, a formula can put a date in them or a VBA macro can put a date in
them. Of these three entry methods only a formula can parrot dynamic
changes in spare date fields.

Hopefully this has clarified the care and feeding of date fields in
Project.

John
Project MVP