Some of those simply CAN'T be independent of each other. Duration, for
example, is defined as the working time units as defined in the calendar
that lie between the start and finish points of the task. If the calendar
says work is possible Mon thru Fri between 8am and 5pm with an hour for
lunch each day and a task starts Mon at 8am and finishes Fri at 5pm, its
duration MUST be 40 hours for the same reason that 8 minus 6 must equal 2,
mathematically there is one and only one possible answer. Any other number
you come up with might be a fascinating number but it is NOT the duration by
the engraved-in-granite definition of duration. Simlarly for the
relationship between work and duration. They are irrevocably bound together
mathematically because "work" means the amount of the duration that gets
turned into useful output by the resource doing the task. If he's working
at full speed, ie 100%, 8 hours of duration MUST result in 8 hours of
output. But if he's jawing with his buddy about the World Cup and only
producing at half his normal capacity as a result, that same 8 hours of
duration produces only 4 hours worth of work output. Work and Duration MUST
be locked together by the resource's working rate if the whole thing is make
any sense whatsover and there's no way to change one without changing the
other and have Project have any usefulness whatsoever. Turn off its
calculations and you have nothing but a fancy typewriter.
