Unique Numbering in MSP Std

[andrewbettany]

Hi,

We had a "project meeting" today - we have single big project coming up and
we are still evaluating whether MSP is going to give us the majority of the
answers....

We are not savvy with VBA, so we cannot do anything too tricky.

I really appreciate your advices to my couple of questions.

The 2nd question is how do you recommend we obtain a unique numbering system
for our tasks?

We would like be able to refer our remote users to a specific task, using a
reference number, based on a copy of a project that may be a out of sync,
i.e. a month or so out of date (but 95% complete).

On first appearance WBS looks ideal.... but these numbers change as we add
new tasks, also the task ID changes likewise and using a number code as part
of the task name is a non starter.

Is there another recommendation (like is each task given a unique ID), or is
WBS really the only way to achieve this - if so how could we avoid it
changing when we add a new task item?

Kind regards



Andrew in Sheffield (UK)

 

[SFSailLady]

I've used custom fields in the past for things like this.

 

[John]

Hi,

We had a "project meeting" today - we have single big project coming up and
we are still evaluating whether MSP is going to give us the majority of the
answers....

We are not savvy with VBA, so we cannot do anything too tricky.

I really appreciate your advices to my couple of questions.

The 2nd question is how do you recommend we obtain a unique numbering system
for our tasks?

We would like be able to refer our remote users to a specific task, using a
reference number, based on a copy of a project that may be a out of sync,
i.e. a month or so out of date (but 95% complete).

On first appearance WBS looks ideal.... but these numbers change as we add
new tasks, also the task ID changes likewise and using a number code as part
of the task name is a non starter.

Is there another recommendation (like is each task given a unique ID), or is
WBS really the only way to achieve this - if so how could we avoid it
changing when we add a new task item?

Kind regards



Andrew in Sheffield (UK)

Andrew,
Project has always had a field called Unique ID and it seems like it is
exactly what you are looking for. Just add it as a column to any task
view (e.g. Gantt Chart)

John
Project MVP

 

[SFSailLady]

Yes, this is true. I don't use it though because I like to be able to have a
task ID that I can see in both the task sheet and the resource usage view and
have it correlate to the same task. I sometimes use WBS if the project isn't
too big, but if it is, then I prefer to create my own ID that I can use in
both views.

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

And how exactly do you display a task custom field in the resource usage
view?
Greetings,

 

[John]

Yes, this is true. I don't use it though because I like to be able to have a
task ID that I can see in both the task sheet and the resource usage view and
have it correlate to the same task. I sometimes use WBS if the project isn't
too big, but if it is, then I prefer to create my own ID that I can use in
both views.

SFSailLady,
I think you might benefit by reading FAQ 51 - Data Types: Task, Resource
and Assignment on our MVP website at:
http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm

The IDs that you see on a task view (e.g. Gantt Chart) are NOT the same
IDs that are shown on the Resource Usage view. The latter are Resource
IDs.

John
Project MVP