Progress Line Date Question PLEASE HELP

[FiachraFiachra]

Hi,
Is there a report or field available in Project 2000 that indicates
the variation between status date and actual duration, For example, -3
days, +8 days etc, ie tabular report of the progress line for each
activity.

This is driving me insane as it seems like a logical facitility that
MS Project 2000 has overlooked, or maybe I just can't see it, either
way please help.

Thanks for your time,
Fiachra

 

[Dave]

I don't really understand what you want to calculate as the difference
between the status date and actual duration isn't really well formed
mathematically (one operand being a date and the other being a time value).

However, if you mean the difference between the actual duration and
baseline duration for example you can do that or almost any other
mathematical operation you care to define.

Insert a custom number field and apply the appropriate formula via the
customise options once you have worked out what it is you wish to work
out. There are many built in functions which you can use to help make
life easy for you.

If you would like to rephrase what you would like to calculate, then it
would be straightforward for us to provide you with more concrete help
on the actual formula.

Dave

 

[FiachraFiachra]

OK ill try to clarify:

basically, for each task (including summary tasks) I'm trying to find
the difference in days between
1) the progress point, or the date that is at the end of the
actual duration
and 2) The status date.

I've done a bit of VBA so if it needs to be done this way, thats
fine. However I can't find a corresponding date for the progress
point.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Fiachra

 

[Dave]

OK ill try to clarify:

basically, for each task (including summary tasks) I'm trying to find
the difference in days between
1) the progress point, or the date that is at the end of the
actual duration
and 2) The status date.

I've done a bit of VBA so if it needs to be done this way, thats
fine. However I can't find a corresponding date for the progress
point.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Fiachra

If by the progress point, you mean the end of the black line, you can
work out the date I suppose by using one of the completion metrics to
determine where you are and using the corresponding proportion of the
interval between start and end dates.

 

[FiachraFiachra]

Hello there Dave, again, thanks for replying.

I would have thought that such a basic thing should be a standard
feature! Surely the difference between actual work completed in a
project and the status date would be one the first things a project
manager looks for!

Anyways, If then it must be calculated manually so be it. if i was
to go about calculating the date at the end of the actualduration bar,
ie the progress point; I would need to:
- convert the percentage complete into days (easy
enough)
and then - add these days to the start date, using dateadd perhaps

However i believe the dateadd function in VBA does not take into
account non-working days...

any suggestions agian?!

Again, thanks for your help...

Fiachra

 

[John]

Hello there Dave, again, thanks for replying.

I would have thought that such a basic thing should be a standard
feature! Surely the difference between actual work completed in a
project and the status date would be one the first things a project
manager looks for!

Anyways, If then it must be calculated manually so be it. if i was
to go about calculating the date at the end of the actualduration bar,
ie the progress point; I would need to:
- convert the percentage complete into days (easy
enough)
and then - add these days to the start date, using dateadd perhaps

However i believe the dateadd function in VBA does not take into
account non-working days...

any suggestions agian?!

Again, thanks for your help...

Fiachra

Fiachra,
Pardon me for dropping in but I see Dave didn't respond to you last
post. Why would you be interested in a departure from the status date?
It is only an arbitrary date. The metrics of most interest are standard
earned value metrics, BCWS, BCWP, ACWP, SV, CV, SPI and CPI. Those
metrics basically compare current performance with the original baseline
schedule. So before you believe you have to go off and create a new
metric, take a look at the existing classical earned value metrics that
Project already calculates.

However, to answer your question, there are two forms of the DateAdd
Method - one works with calendar time (i.e. elapsed time) and the other
works with Project calendar time (i.e. working time). Both versions are
also available for use in formulas in custom fields although the syntax
is slightly different. For VBA syntax, use the Object Browser under
Tools/Macro/Visual Basic Editor. For formulas, use the Project Help file
and do a search for "Functions".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

 

[Dave]

Fiachra,
Pardon me for dropping in but I see Dave didn't respond to you last
post. Why would you be interested in a departure from the status date?
It is only an arbitrary date. The metrics of most interest are standard
earned value metrics, BCWS, BCWP, ACWP, SV, CV, SPI and CPI. Those
metrics basically compare current performance with the original baseline
schedule. So before you believe you have to go off and create a new
metric, take a look at the existing classical earned value metrics that
Project already calculates.

However, to answer your question, there are two forms of the DateAdd
Method - one works with calendar time (i.e. elapsed time) and the other
works with Project calendar time (i.e. working time). Both versions are
also available for use in formulas in custom fields although the syntax
is slightly different. For VBA syntax, use the Object Browser under
Tools/Macro/Visual Basic Editor. For formulas, use the Project Help file
and do a search for "Functions".

Hope this helps.
John
Project MVP

Indeed that would have been my answer if I had had access to this group
yesterday. As John says, anything you want to do should be achievable
through Earned Value figures.