Re: Setting fixed task start and end date

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You're welcome, :-)

I think you may have hit the nail! You need to understand the effects of
multiple resource assignments. You might like to have a look at my series
on Microsoft Project in the TechTrax ezine, particularly #10, at this site:
http://tinyurl.com/2xbhc or this:
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMFrame.asp?CMD=ArticleSearch&AUTH=23
(Perhaps you'd care to rate the article before leaving the site, :)
Thanks.)

Mike Glen
MS Project MVP

Pr4gm4tik wrote:
Thanks, and I will try the developer group. I found that by putting a
duration of 90,000 I was able to get most of the tasks to come close
(they come out to 93.75 days) -- some tasks come out to 187.5 days.
It seems to have something to do with the number of resources
assigned to the task, in case you have any thoughts there from an end
user perspective (those are helpful as well since ultimately the
project managers will be manipulating the tasks using Project Pro).

"Mike Glen" wrote:

The setting for 90 days is just that: 90 days. Project will
interrogate your calendar and work out the start date based on your
finished date.

If you want to program these entries, I suggest, once again a
re-direction, that you post to the developer newsgroup where the
experts hang out. I really can't help with code.

Mike Glen
Project MVP


Pr4gm4tik wrote:
If I just enter a task manually, and try to set start and end dates
of 9/15/07 and 12/15/07 respectively, it adjusts them to the next
working day, making it 9/17/07 and 12/15/07 (which would be fine).
However, unless I can accomplish something similar programmatically,
I don't think we will be able to use Project for this, because it is
essential that we pull data from the legacy system for import (and
since the legacy system is still in use daily, adding tasks manually
is not yet feasible).

Regarding the calendar, mine is set to the default settings:
Week starts on Sunday, Fiscal Year Starts in January, Default Start
Time 8am, Default end time 5pm, hours per day = 8, hours per week
=40, days per month=20.

Given those calendar settings, what would be the appropriate
duration setting for 90 days?

Thanks

"Mike Glen" wrote:

Don't forget that Duration is always in working time according to
your calendar settings, ie 90 days Duration = 90/5 = 18 weeks or
about 4 months and a bit. Have you tried keying in the data rather
than using vba to bring it in? What results do you get then?

Mike Glen
Project MVP

Pr4gm4tik wrote:
Here's an example following using that approach:

//Add the task
tsk.ConstraintType = MSProject.PjConstraint.pjMFO;
tsk.ConstraintDate = "12/15/2008";
tsk.Duration = 432000;

Here I have basically said finish on 12/15/2008 no matter what,
with a duration of 90 days (from what I've read duration is mins *
10, with an 8 hour day being 4800 so its 4800*90).

With that code I get tasks that end on 12/15/2008, but start on
3/27/07. Perhaps there is a problem with my duration value? I
tried experimenting with the duration settings under Tools >
Options > Schedule and it only made a difference in the way its
displayed, the dates came out the same.

"Mike Glen" wrote:

Project will only allow you to put a constraint on one end of a
task, not both. Try making one of them a Must... constraint and
see the other being driven by the Duration you enter.

Mike Glen
Project MVP

Pr4gm4tik wrote:
I'm unsure what made you feel the need to be combative. You
suggested I post to the server group, and I followed your
suggestion and that's the only reason I posted there. You now
seem to be contradicting your own advice at this point and
chastizing me for posting in both places.

I had no intention of wasting anyone's time who was not inclined
or able to help, I'm simply trying to use the groups for what
they are hear for, and I posted an MS Project Professional
question in the general group and was then asked to move it to
the Server newsgroup. I was simply pointing out that it was not
a Project Server question; I mentioned Project Server to provide
insight into the higher level task I need to solve.

Regarding letting Project do it's job, I understand what you're
saying and it's my personal opinion that Project is not the best
tool for the task my boss wants to accomplish. I suggested
that I can develop a custom app in C# in a relatively short
that behaves *exactly* as desired, but there is a basic
philosophy of integrate versus build here. If we cannot get
Project Pro / Project Server to behave as desired it makes an
excellent case for developing a custom solution.

To answer your question, the tasks do not have constraints
currently. I have experimented with constraints to see if they
solve the problem, but they don't. The constraint of As Soon As
Possible is the default. I have experimented with all of the
different constraint types and still have not found a way to
absolutely set the dates to, for example 1/1/2008 - 7/1/2008.
Why on earth would I want every task to have a six month
duration? That leads me back to where Project Server comes
in... it will only autopopulate timesheets with tasks if the
task falls within that time period. These tasks are being
imported into Project from another system, without scheduling
information, so we need them to appear in the user's time***
without regard to scheduling. The six months timeframe is
arbitrary, we need to be able to set it to 60 days, or 2 years,
or whatever is needed to ensure it always shows up in the
user's time***.

If you or anyone can help, that's great. I'm uninterested in
engaging in unconstructive arguments.


"Mike Glen" wrote:

So you want someone here to give you an answer and waste
someone else's time in the server group?

The only way to fix a date is to use the Must Start On
constraint or the Must Finish On constraint. Any others won't
do. Are they the constraints you're using? In any event, you
would do best to make them all As Soon As Possible and put
deadline dates to alert you of problems. Project's job is to
tell you want is possible with the data you've entered - let
it do it's job.

Mike Glen
Project MVP



Pr4gm4tik wrote:
Hi Mike,

I have posted this in the server group as well, although I do
want to point out I am trying to accomplish this in Project
Pro 2007, not in Project Server. Server plays into it in a
sense, but it is the thick client app that is adjusting the
dates.

"Mike Glen" wrote:

Hi Pr4gm4tik ,

Try posting on the server newsgroup. Please see FAQ Item:
24. Project Newsgroups. FAQs, companion products and other
useful Project information can be seen at this web address:
http://project.mvps.org/faqs.htm

Mike Glen
Project MVP


Pr4gm4tik wrote:
I am inserting tasks into the project from another system
using a .net utility running against the Project Pro 2007
object model.

I need to set absolute start and end dates for tasks -- I do
not want Project Pro to change these dates for any reason.
I have turned off automatic calculation for the project,
but it still seems to adjust the dates as it seems fit.

The reason this is important is the project is being
published to Proj Server 2007, and tasks can only be
auto-populated in the user's time*** if the task is
scheduled within the time*** period, so I need to make
the date range wide enough to cover all possible time***
periods.


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