Is there a way to remove start/finish & constraint dates once ente

[Udderjuice]

I will try to explain how my project is set up so that you will understand
what I'm trying to do and maybe help me better.

My projects are based on submittals to the city and county. So I have taks
that last one or two weeks alternating with my submittals which I have
entered as single day tasks. The submittals have a must start on constraint
of the submittal date.

I am trying to set up the tasks that are inbetween the submittals so that
their duration automatically adjusts based on the submittal date. No matter
what constraints I put on those tasks it either moves the beginning of the
task but pushes the end past my submittal or moves the end but pushes the
beginning past the previous submittal.

Can someone please instruct me how to attach the beginning of my task to the
task before it AND the end of the task to the task after it?

Also once you enter start/finish dates on a task it seems impossible to
clear those fields. Is this possible?

 

[davegb]

I will try to explain how my project is set up so that you will understand
what I'm trying to do and maybe help me better.

My projects are based on submittals to the city and county. So I have taks
that last one or two weeks alternating with my submittals which I have
entered as single day tasks. The submittals have a must start on constraint
of the submittal date.

I am trying to set up the tasks that are inbetween the submittals so that
their duration automatically adjusts based on the submittal date. No matter
what constraints I put on those tasks it either moves the beginning of the
task but pushes the end past my submittal or moves the end but pushes the
beginning past the previous submittal.

Using constraints to control when things happen, other than your
submittal, will just get you in trouble. They're meant to force tasks
to happen before or after or on certain dates. And the more you use
them, the more trouble you're in when things change. It seems
reasonable to me to use MSO constraints for your submittals, but I
wouldn't constrain the subsequent tasks. They should be sucessors to
the submittal.

Can someone please instruct me how to attach the beginning of my task to the
task before it AND the end of the task to the task after it?

Create a FS link from the first task to the second, and an FS link from
the second to the third.

Also once you enter start/finish dates on a task it seems impossible to
clear those fields. Is this possible?

You can delete the date from a start or finish field like any other
field, just hit delete. Maybe it's the constraint you're having trouble
removing? If so, double click on the task, which brings up the Task
Information box, select the Advanced tab. Go to the Constraints box,
and reset the constraint type to ASAP. This will remove the constraint.
In fact, I reccommend to my students/clients that they always set
constraints from this box rather they typing in dates. It reminds them
of the significance what they're doing and ensures that they'll get the
type of constraint they want.

Hope this helps in your world.

 

[John]

I will try to explain how my project is set up so that you will understand
what I'm trying to do and maybe help me better.

My projects are based on submittals to the city and county. So I have taks
that last one or two weeks alternating with my submittals which I have
entered as single day tasks. The submittals have a must start on constraint
of the submittal date.

I am trying to set up the tasks that are inbetween the submittals so that
their duration automatically adjusts based on the submittal date. No matter
what constraints I put on those tasks it either moves the beginning of the
task but pushes the end past my submittal or moves the end but pushes the
beginning past the previous submittal.

Can someone please instruct me how to attach the beginning of my task to the
task before it AND the end of the task to the task after it?

Also once you enter start/finish dates on a task it seems impossible to
clear those fields. Is this possible?

Milkman,
In simple terms it sounds like you have the following scenario. You must
develop a set of tasks that lead up to a submittal milestone to local
government entities. Is that it in a nutshell?

It also sounds like you are trying to "shoehorn" each set of tasks to
exactly fall between submittals. Project doesn't work that way. Here's
how I see it. First, make the submittal a zero duration milestone. I
personally don't like hard constraints but if you feel you must put a
constraint on it, make it "finish-no-later-than". Second, enter the
tasks for that submittal in their logical sequence but do NOT directly
enter start and finish dates - Project will take care of that. Each task
should be entered with its estimated duration. Link the tasks as
appropriate with the last task driving the submittal milestone. That is
pretty much it.

If the sequence of tasks pushes the submittal milestone beyond its date,
that tells you one of two things. Either the start date of the first
task (defined by Project/Project Information - Start Date) is to late,
or the estimated durations won't allow the tasks to finish on time. If
the latter is true, then I suggest you simply "schedule" that plan for
the next submittal.

If indeed the tasks for each submittal must fall exactly between
submittal dates, then you might just be better off, doing the whole
thing in Excel and forget Project. Project is a dynamic scheduler and
unless it is used that way, the benefits of its features are lost.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP