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Problem with dates...

4 replies [Last post]
Thu, 2007-09-06 16:38
Maya C
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Joined: 21 May 2007
Posts: 19
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I am having trouble holding an activity in place.

I have an activity (Fixed units)that had a START of 9/4/07 and FINISH of 9/24/07. I was told that the activity has already started on 8/15/07, but will be done on 9/24/07. So I want to be able to actualize the Start on 8/15/07 and put an EXPECTED FINISH (P3e terminology) to keep the activity in place as ending on 9/24.

With Project I cannot do this. It is messing the dates up. The activity still shows 0% Complete. I am not sure what is causing this.

IS there a way to put an expected finish to hold it in place after starting it?

Thanks.
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Replies

Sat, 2007-09-08 04:41
#1
Trevor Rabey
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Joined: 29 Nov 2005
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I would not type in dates (except actuals) and produce date constraints such as FNET because they screw up everything and also are not appropriate or necessary in this case.

Maya, I think that you have pushed the entire 15 days out to the right of the status date because you have given the Task an Actual Start but have not logged the duration used as Actual Duration, and then "re-scheduled work" with the 3rd button on the Tracking Toolbar.
Suppose a 10 day Task started as planned 5 days before the Status Date but was worked on only for 2 days and then paused. you would still have 3 days of unused duration to the left of the status date which has to be moved to the right of the status date, ie it can only occur in the future. So type in the Actual Start Date (a fact), type in the Actual Duration (a fact), move the unused Duration to the right of the status date (3rd button on the Tracking Toolbar), re-estimate the Remaining Duration (or leave it alone, which anyway amounts to a decision estimate it at whatever it is).

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Fri, 2007-09-07 10:37
#2
Maya C
User offline. Last seen 15 years 21 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 21 May 2007
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Thanks Trevor,

I am still having this issue:

On the Activity Tracking dialog box it says that it has 13 days complete and an RD of only 2, but the program has scheduled all 15 days beyond the Project Status Date which is 09/02/07. What am I doing wrong.
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Thu, 2007-09-06 22:48
#3
Trevor Rabey
User offline. Last seen 1 year 24 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
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The Task Type being Fixed Units is not part of this issue.

You don’t really describe how you are going about it that is not producing the desired result.

When Tracking, it is important to set things up so you can see what you are doing, and develop a simple, consistent, repeatable procedure and stick to it.

Here is a procedure that I find useful:

Set a Baseline
Set a Status Date
Show the Tracking Gantt View
Show the Tracking Table
Show the Tracking Toolbar
Format the Gridlines to show the Status Date as a vertical red line

Then... select the Task, type in the Actual Start Date, use the Update As Scheduled button (2nd from left)on the Tracking Toolbar, then type in the new estimate of the Remaining Duration, ie the RD that makes the expected Finish Date 9/24/2007 (although in this case RD should not change).

The sequence is important.
The Remaining Duration re-estimate, if required, is v important.
If the picture that you paint is not consistent with and/or contradicts the facts, it is wrong.


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