Re: How do I 'start date' = current date & 'finish date' = fixed d

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From: George (George_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 12/30/04 

Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:45:01 -0800

Agreed. I will back track and adjust.

"Steve House [MVP]" wrote:

> Would very very strongly suggest you NOT use the finish date or set the
> finish date to the EOL of the network components. A task is a discrete
> package of observable work with a clearly defined start and end. The Start
> date is when the resource first picks up his tools and begins work on it.
> The finish is when he put down his tools, steps back, and says "That's a
> good job!" Your EOL date is most likely quite different from the date work
> actually will be completed on the tasks you're describing. It may be the
> last date work COULD take place but it's most likely that the work on the
> task itself will finish far ahead of that deadline date. Your finish date
> should reflect the date you think that task will actually be completed, 999
> times out of a thousand calculated from the start date and the expected
> length of time it will take to do the work. The start is in turn also
> calculated, not input, based on when the tasks that must come before will be
> done and the resources required to do the work are available. The EOL is
> the date by when it MUST be done, quite different from the date it WILL be
> done.
>
> If the EOL of the network is 01 July 2006 and all tasks must be completed by
> then, that becomes the DEADLINE of those tasks, NOT a Finish No Earlier Than
> constraint (which is what you get, not a MFO, when you input a finish date)
> nor a Must Finish On constraint. The only case where the constraint would
> be a valid model is whenever work begins on the task it continues steadily
> with work being performed up until that date. That can occur, of course,
> but it would be very very rare IMO.
>
> Remember the fundamental best practice in Project is to never, ever enter
> either start or finish dates for tasks except in certain very special
> circumstances (and my reading of what you say you're doing does NOT qualify
> as one of those circumstances). Project's reason for existance is to
> calculate those dates for you based on what you have to do and the assets
> you have to do it with. Let it do its job without trying to second guess it
> by supplying your own start and finish fields. In the best of possible
> worlds you input just one or two dates for the project as a whole - the date
> the project will start and MAYBE the deadline by which it or tasks inside it
> must be finished. Everything else is calculated unless there is a very good
> reason where events outside your project determine it and it *must* be
> supplied.
>
>
> --
> Steve House [MVP]
> MS Project Trainer & Consultant
> Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs
>
> "George" <George@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7BA36C1B-E71B-4708-B487-6598C6082C82@microsoft.com...
> >
> > GREAT! Formula I used: DateDiff("d",Date(),[Finish]). Note, that to
> > eliminate negative # Days Remaining result I added an IIF Function:
> > IIf(DateDiff("d",Date(),[Finish])>0,DateDiff("d",Date(),[Finish]),0).
> >
> > Much appreciated Steve!!! Have a great New Year!!!!
> >
> > "Steve House [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> I should have asked what version of Project you're using. Project
> >> 2002/2003
> >> ( I don't remember with 2000) have a field named [Current Date] that you
> >> can
> >> use in calculations. You would use the DateDiff() function to calculate
> >> the
> >> difference. Let's say your end-of-life date was stored in the user
> >> definable field [Date1]. To get the number of days remaining you could
> >> calculate the field [Number1] with the expression DateDiff("d", [Current
> >> Date], [Date1]) and that would give you the number of days until the
> >> expiration date. If that EOL date doesn't apply to all tasks, you might
> >> need to add some error detection because a blank [Date1] will result in
> >> an
> >> error condition in the result field.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Steve House [MVP]
> >> MS Project Trainer & Consultant
> >> Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs
> >>
> >>
> >> "George" <George@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:C44B3860-1FBF-4E95-9811-DF5E1B49ED61@microsoft.com...
> >> > Makes sense, thanks. How can I easily create a 'current-date' field to
> >> > include in a calculated field?
> >> >
> >> > "Steve House [MVP]" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Duration and constraints aren't what you should be using to express
> >> >> your
> >> >> requirements IMHO. Remember, duration is the amount of time between
> >> >> when
> >> >> work is first done on a task and when it's finished and NOT the the
> >> >> "window
> >> >> of opportunity" during which you have to work on it. If I have a task
> >> >> that
> >> >> requires 8 hours of work, can start as of today and needs to finish
> >> >> before 1
> >> >> July 2005, its duration is 1 day and it has a deadline of 1 July; it's
> >> >> NOT a
> >> >> 6 month duration task unless the resource doing the work is going to
> >> >> put
> >> >> in
> >> >> a few minutes on it each day between now and July. Using duration and
> >> >> constraints as you're attempting is probably going to royally screw up
> >> >> everything else in your plan and it'll end up making no sense
> >> >> whatsoever.
> >> >> Instead, grab a user defined number field and create a calculated
> >> >> field
> >> >> that
> >> >> subtracts the current day from the end-of-life dates and add it to
> >> >> your
> >> >> Gantt chart table labeled "Time Remaining" or something appropriate.
> >> >> Let
> >> >> your start date and finish date be freely calculated by Project as
> >> >> they
> >> >> are
> >> >> supposed to and remove those constraints. If a task must be finished
> >> >> before
> >> >> the end of life date, express that fact in the plan with a deadline
> >> >> set
> >> >> on
> >> >> that date.
> >> >> --
> >> >> Steve House [MVP]
> >> >> MS Project Trainer & Consultant
> >> >> Visit http://www.mvps.org/project/faqs.htm for the FAQs
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> "George" <George@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:4CB672F6-5DB6-4D97-9343-F9F57EF3E7A7@microsoft.com...
> >> >> >I have a small section of the project plan that I would like to show
> >> >> >days
> >> >> > remaining until ATT end-of-life date for a few of their network
> >> >> > services.
> >> >> > We
> >> >> > are migrating people and want this calendar count down section
> >> >> > visible.
> >> >> > I
> >> >> > have finish-date set with must-finish-on, can't figure out how to
> >> >> > set
> >> >> > start-date to current date so the duration column automatically
> >> >> > counts
> >> >> > days
> >> >> > between start-date and finish-date.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > "Brian K - Project MVP" wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> >> George wrote:
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> > How do I have keep me 'start date' = current date?
> >> >> >> >
> >> >> >> > How do I set 'finish date' to a fixed date that doesn't change as
> >> >> >> > other tasks are updated?
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> You could set a MUST FINISH ON constraint on the task. This would
> >> >> >> ensure that the finish date did not move.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> As far as the start date I guess you could have a macro so this but
> >> >> >> what is the business reason for this? I dont get why you would want
> >> >> >> the
> >> >> >> start date to always be 'today'.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> --
> >> >> >> ___
> >> >> >> Brian K
> >> >> >> Project MVP
> >> >> >> http://www.projectified.com
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> Project Server Consultant
> >> >> >> http://www.quantumpm.com
> >> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>

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