Moving predecessor tasks in concert with successors

[dgmoore]

I have a requirement to manage a collection of milestones with fixed
dates that are controlled externally, each of which has a set of
predecessor tasks that precede the milestones by various defined
amounts of time. In the event the milestones should slip or move
earlier, their predecessors need to move accordingly, maintaining the
specified separation.

Attempts to achieve this in a Project file by linking tasks with
appropriate constraints, relationship type and lags have not been
successful - I have not been able to get predecessor tasks to move
consistently when their successor moves regardless of the relevant
Project settings (Constraint type ASAP, Tasks honor constraint dates =
False, SF vs FS relationship types, etc.).

I am thinking it might be easier to write some code to recalculate the
dates of predecessor tasks when the successor moves. Before I undertake
this, can anybody suggest a reliable way to get predecessors to move
consistently in concert with their successors in the scenario I
describe?

Thanks
Dave

 

[John]

I have a requirement to manage a collection of milestones with fixed
dates that are controlled externally, each of which has a set of
predecessor tasks that precede the milestones by various defined
amounts of time. In the event the milestones should slip or move
earlier, their predecessors need to move accordingly, maintaining the
specified separation.

Attempts to achieve this in a Project file by linking tasks with
appropriate constraints, relationship type and lags have not been
successful - I have not been able to get predecessor tasks to move
consistently when their successor moves regardless of the relevant
Project settings (Constraint type ASAP, Tasks honor constraint dates =
False, SF vs FS relationship types, etc.).

I am thinking it might be easier to write some code to recalculate the
dates of predecessor tasks when the successor moves. Before I undertake
this, can anybody suggest a reliable way to get predecessors to move
consistently in concert with their successors in the scenario I
describe?

Thanks
Dave

dgmoore,
I sounds like you are not the one managing the milestones, someone else
(external) is. The scenario you describe would probably be a good
application for reverse scheduling, although I will warn you that
reverse scheduling requires a whole new mindset in your thinking.
Nonetheless reverse scheduling should produce the results you desire. To
reverse schedule go to Project/Project Information and set the "schedule
from" to "Project Finish Date". Now when the milestones are moved, all
predecessor tasks will move in concert.

Personally I would probably take the VBA approach. That way standard
forward scheduling (the way most of our brains tend to think) can still
be used.

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[dgmoore]

Thanks, John. I didn't think of reverse scheduling - I'll give it a try
and see how it works. Like you, I suspect I'll probably go to VBA.

Dave

 

[John]

Thanks, John. I didn't think of reverse scheduling - I'll give it a try
and see how it works. Like you, I suspect I'll probably go to VBA.

Dave

Dave,
You're welcome. Good luck.

John