Two Days Workshop on MS Project 2007/2010

Organized By

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation

(Infrastructure & Project Monitoring Division)
Sardar Patel Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi – 110001

being held at

National Academy of Statistical Administration (NASA)

Plot No. 22, Knowledge Park – II
Greater Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar – 201 301
 Course Contents

Microsoft Project Professional 2007

Day 1

09.30 – 09.40 Interaction with Participants

09.40 – 11.00 Time Management
11.00 – 11.30 Tea / Coffee Break
11.30 – 12.15 MS Project Overview
• Starting Microsoft Project
• Navigating in Microsoft Project
• File Structure .mpp & .bak
• Views
• Formatting Spreadsheet
• Hands on Session
12.15 – 13.15 Project Planning Part I – Tasks
• Creating a Schedule
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Calendars
13.15 – 14.15 Lunch Break
14.15 – 15.30 Project Planning Part II – Tasks
• Task Relationships
• Modifying Task Relationships
• Project Constraints
• Task Types
• Hands on Session
15.30 – 16.00 Tea / Coffee Break
16.00 – 17.30 Project Planning – Resources
• Defining Project Resources
• Resource Types
• Cost

Page 2 of 250
 Three Day Computer based Program on

Project Management – Planning & Execution

Day 2
09.30 – 11.00 Project Planning – Resources
• Resource Assignments
• Scheduling
• Leveling Resource
• Hands on Session
11.00 – 11.30 Tea/Coffee Break
11. 30 – 12.15 Project Execution
• Filters
• Baseline
12.15 – 13.15 Tracking Part I
• Tracking the Project
• As on date Concept
• Progress Lines
• In Progress & Completed Tasks
• Variance Analysis
• Hands on Session
13.15 – 14.15 Lunch Break
14.15 – 15.00 Reporting
• Working with Reports
• Hands on Session
15.00 – 17.00 Hands on Session
Participants will be working on their organization’s project
17.00 – 17.25 Questions & Answer Session
17.25 – 17.30 Feedback Session

Page 3 of 250
 Table of Contents 

Chapter 1 - Basic Process ....................................................................................................................13

Stage 1: Project Set-up.........................................................................................................................13
Creating a New Project....................................................................................................................13
Stage 3: Enter Durations against Tasks ...............................................................................................21
Stage 4: Outline the Plan .....................................................................................................................21
Stage 5: Link Tasks .................................................................................................................................22
Auto-Linking........................................................................................................................................22
Manually Enter Predecessors ...........................................................................................................23
Stage 6: Check and Adjust..................................................................................................................23
Summary and Sub-Tasks ...................................................................................................................23
Critical Path/Task Relationships .......................................................................................................23
Stage 7: Assign Resources and Costs.................................................................................................24
Stage 8: Resolve Resource Allocations ..............................................................................................25
Filter Over-allocated Resources ......................................................................................................25
Assign Additional Resources ............................................................................................................26
Change Working Time ......................................................................................................................26
Level the Plan.....................................................................................................................................26
Stage 9: Baseline the Plan ...................................................................................................................27
Applying the Baseline .......................................................................................................................27
Stage 10: Manage - Track Progress ....................................................................................................28
Why Track ...........................................................................................................................................28
What to Track.....................................................................................................................................28
How to Track ......................................................................................................................................28
Stage 11: Share Project Information...................................................................................................29
Viewing Different files in one Window ............................................................................................29
Inserting Subprojects into a Master project ...................................................................................29
Dividing Large Projects into Subprojects........................................................................................30
Sharing Resources .............................................................................................................................30
Stage 12: Print ........................................................................................................................................31
Print Preview .......................................................................................................................................31
Change the View ..............................................................................................................................31
When to Enter Data ..............................................................................................................................32
Chapter 2 - Creating a Project Plan................................................................................................. 33
Starting a New Project..........................................................................................................................33
Starting a project from an existing file............................................................................................33
Working with a template..................................................................................................................33
Entering Tasks .........................................................................................................................................34
Overview ................................................................................................................................................34
Field Dependencies ..........................................................................................................................35
Constraint Type..................................................................................................................................35
Task Durations ........................................................................................................................................37
Overview ................................................................................................................................................37
Estimated Duration............................................................................................................................38
Elapsed Duration ...............................................................................................................................38
Options in the Recurring Task Form and their Function ...................................................................41
Properties of Recurring Tasks ...............................................................................................................42
Editing Recurring Tasks..........................................................................................................................43

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Additional Notes on Recurring Tasks ..................................................................................................43
Recurring Field ...................................................................................................................................43
Recurring Tasks Default to Do Not Level ........................................................................................43
The General Tab....................................................................................................................................44
The Predecessors Tab ...........................................................................................................................44
The Resources Tab ................................................................................................................................44
The Advanced Tab ...............................................................................................................................45
The Notes Tab ........................................................................................................................................45
Additional ways to create tasks..........................................................................................................45
Creating tasks in a Network Diagram.............................................................................................45
Chapter 3 - Calendars..........................................................................................................................47
Overview ................................................................................................................................................47
Project Information............................................................................................................................47
Changing Working Time ...................................................................................................................48
Calendar Options..............................................................................................................................49
Working Time Options and Calendars............................................................................................50
Saving Calendars ..............................................................................................................................50
Selecting Weekday letters versus date cells .................................................................................50
Working Time Formatting..................................................................................................................51
Calendar Types .....................................................................................................................................51
Base Calendars..................................................................................................................................51
Project Calendars..............................................................................................................................52
Resource Calendars .........................................................................................................................52
Task Calendars...................................................................................................................................53
Chapter 4 - Outlining a Project Plan Overview............................................................................... 54
Hierarchical Structure in a Project ......................................................................................................54
Outlining Basics......................................................................................................................................54
Promoting and Demoting Tasks ..........................................................................................................54
To Demote Tasks....................................................................................................................................55
To Promote Tasks ...................................................................................................................................55
To Undo Outlining..................................................................................................................................55
Collapsing/Expanding Task Outline Levels ........................................................................................56
Outline Usability .....................................................................................................................................56
Outlining by Drag and Drop ................................................................................................................56
Smart Insert.............................................................................................................................................57
Example ..............................................................................................................................................57
Outlining in Usage Views ......................................................................................................................57
Outline Symbols .....................................................................................................................................58
Outline Codes and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) ....................................................................58
WBS Field ................................................................................................................................................58
Outline Codes........................................................................................................................................59
Distinctions between WBS and Outline Code Fields ........................................................................59
Sharing WBS and Custom Outline Code across Projects ................................................................59
Code Preview ........................................................................................................................................60
Project Code Prefix ...............................................................................................................................60
Code Mask (excluding prefix).............................................................................................................61
Generate WBS Code for New Task.....................................................................................................62
Verify Uniqueness of New WBS Codes ...............................................................................................62
Behavior of WBS Codes........................................................................................................................62
Default Contents for New Tasks ..........................................................................................................62
Determining Code Value for Generated Codes .............................................................................63
Validating Code Value for Entered Codes ...................................................................................63
Entered Code Must Fit Mask Definition ..........................................................................................63
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Parent Task WBS Code Is Blank............................................................................................................64
Summary Task WBS Code Changes ...................................................................................................65
Parent Task’s WBS Code Changes .....................................................................................................65
Task Is Moved.........................................................................................................................................65
Code Exceeds 255-Character Field Limit ..........................................................................................65
Sorting and Filtering ..............................................................................................................................66
Sort Order ...............................................................................................................................................66
Filtering....................................................................................................................................................67
Examples of Renumbering...................................................................................................................67
WBS Codes May Not Always Remain Unique ...................................................................................68
WBS Predecessors and WBS Successors.............................................................................................68
Import Outline Code ............................................................................................................................70
Only Allow Codes Listed in the Lookup Table ...................................................................................70
Only Allow New Codes with Values in all Levels of Mask ................................................................70
Edit Lookup Table..................................................................................................................................70
Behavior of Codes in Lookup Table....................................................................................................71
Assigning Custom Codes to Tasks/Resources ...................................................................................72
Effect of Only allow codes listed in lookup table .........................................................................73
Using the Outline Code Picklist............................................................................................................73
User Cannot Enter Code in Field If No Mask Is Defined ...............................................................74
Field Cannot Exceed 255 Characters ............................................................................................74
Level in Code Mask Does Not Have to Match Task Outline Level .............................................74
Unlimited Duplicate Codes Are Allowed .......................................................................................74
Field Value Must Match the Code Mask .......................................................................................75
Effect of “Only allow codes with values in all levels of mask” ....................................................75
Levels Added or Removed..................................................................................................................77
Sequence Changed ............................................................................................................................77
Length Is Changed ...............................................................................................................................77
Separator ...............................................................................................................................................77
New Mask Definition Will Cause Some Codes to Exceed 255-Character Limit ...........................77
Chapter 5 - Sorting, Filtering and Grouping .................................................................................... 78
Sorting in Task Views..............................................................................................................................78
Sorting in Resource Views ....................................................................................................................79
Custom Sort in resource views .........................................................................................................79
Sorting by Assignment-Only fields .......................................................................................................81
Filtering...................................................................................................................................................81
Task Filters List .........................................................................................................................................82
Resource Filters List ................................................................................................................................83
Filter Definition .......................................................................................................................................84
Filter Test Options...................................................................................................................................85
Multiple Criterion in a Filter ...............................................................................................................85
Interactive Filters....................................................................................................................................85
Wildcards with the Equals or Not Equals Test ....................................................................................86
Comparing Two Fields in a Filter..........................................................................................................86
Calculations in Filters.............................................................................................................................86
Using Resource filter ..............................................................................................................................86
AutoFilter ................................................................................................................................................86
AutoFilter drop-down choices .........................................................................................................87
Comma Separated Fields ................................................................................................................87
Example ..............................................................................................................................................88
Using AutoFilter on Multiple Fields .......................................................................................................88
Refreshing AutoFilter and Named Filters ............................................................................................89
Filters in Usage Views ............................................................................................................................90
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 Show related summary rows ............................................................................................................90
Using "Assignment" Field in Filters.........................................................................................................92
Using Assignment-Only Fields in Filters ................................................................................................92
Grouping ...............................................................................................................................................92
Applying and Defining Groups ...........................................................................................................93
More Groups/Group Definition........................................................................................................93
Customize Group By .............................................................................................................................96
General Grouping Behavior ................................................................................................................97
Grouping Behavior for Inserted Projects ......................................................................................100
Interval Grouping ................................................................................................................................100
Errors Associated With Start At Values ..........................................................................................101
Errors Associated With Group Interval Values .............................................................................102
Grouping By Custom Outline Codes ................................................................................................102
Group Summary Rollup Calculations for Summary Tasks ..............................................................103
General Rollup Behavior for Summary Tasks................................................................................103
Sorting and Filtering combined with Grouping...............................................................................103
Sorting ...............................................................................................................................................104
Chapter 6 – Splitting Project Tasks.................................................................................................. 108
Split Behavior........................................................................................................................................106
Duration and Splits ..............................................................................................................................106
Extending or Reducing Gantt Task Portions ....................................................................................107
Example ............................................................................................................................................107
To Move a Split Task ............................................................................................................................109
To Remove a Split from a Task...........................................................................................................109
Linking and Split Tasks .........................................................................................................................109
Splitting Completed Portions .............................................................................................................109
Example ............................................................................................................................................110
Dragging to reschedule the remaining section of an in-progress task ...................................111
Creating a New Split Section ............................................................................................................111
How work is assigned to the new section ....................................................................................112
Split Tasks and Resources ...................................................................................................................112
Assigning Resources to Split Tasks .....................................................................................................112
Splits and Resource Contours............................................................................................................112
Splits Caused by Leveling ..................................................................................................................113
Storage of Split Dates .........................................................................................................................113
Nonworking Time is not a Split ...........................................................................................................113
Baseline and Interim Plan Split Information .....................................................................................115
Baseline Splits .......................................................................................................................................115
Interim Plan Splits .................................................................................................................................116
Gantt Chart Bar Styles for Split Tasks.................................................................................................116
The "Show Bar Splits" Setting...............................................................................................................116
Bar Styles Dialog Box ...........................................................................................................................117
Minimum Length for Drawing Splits...................................................................................................117
Split Tasks in Calendar view ..............................................................................................................118
The Calendar view can display split sections but does not support editing them...................118
Bar Styles Dialog Box ...........................................................................................................................118
Calendar View Task Types that Support Split Patterns...................................................................119
Chapter 7 - Entering Resources ...................................................................................................... 120
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................120
To link to an existing pool file .........................................................................................................120
Resource Availability Table................................................................................................................122
Meaning of “NA” in the Resource Availability Table..................................................................123
Editing the Resource Availability Table ........................................................................................123
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 Consistency With in Rows ...............................................................................................................124
Consistency Across Multiple Rows ................................................................................................124
Rate Tables and the Resource Rate Fields ..................................................................................127
Default Resource Cost Rate Tables ..............................................................................................127
Editing Rate Tables ..........................................................................................................................128
Editing the Effective Date ..............................................................................................................128
Default Values..................................................................................................................................128
Selections..........................................................................................................................................128
Copy, Cut and Paste ......................................................................................................................128
Insert and Delete .............................................................................................................................129
Deleting a Cell Value......................................................................................................................129
Using Percent to Enter a Rate........................................................................................................129
Cells cannot be linked....................................................................................................................130
Resource Cost Accrual Setting......................................................................................................130
Example ............................................................................................................................................130
Resource Fields that Reflect Availability ......................................................................................131
Resource Availability.......................................................................................................................131
Unit Availability.................................................................................................................................132
Work Availability ..............................................................................................................................132
Max Units Field..................................................................................................................................132
Default Units For New Assignments ...............................................................................................133
Availability From and Availability To Fields...................................................................................133
Setting Up a Material Resource.....................................................................................................133
Material Labels.................................................................................................................................135
Chapter 8 - Assigning Resources ................................................................................................... 137
Resource Assignment Dialog Box .....................................................................................................137
Task Information Form.........................................................................................................................138
Task Form Views...................................................................................................................................138
Editing Assignment Start and Finish Dates .......................................................................................139
Assignment Start Date before the Task Start Date .....................................................................140
Assignments Overview .......................................................................................................................140
Parts of an Assignment ...................................................................................................................140
Assignment Contours..........................................................................................................................141
What is an Assignment Contour?......................................................................................................141
Predefined Contours.......................................................................................................................141
How Assignment Contours Work ...................................................................................................142
What Happens When Changes Occur ........................................................................................142
Making a Change at the Assignment Level................................................................................142
Where D is duration, U is units, and W is work ..............................................................................143
Calculated Changes at the Assignment Time-phased Level...................................................143
Assigning Additional Resources to a Task ....................................................................................144
Changing Working Times................................................................................................................145
Moving a task...................................................................................................................................145
Assignment Information dialog box..............................................................................................147
Edited Contours...................................................................................................................................147
Making Changes at the Assignment Level..................................................................................148
Example ............................................................................................................................................149
Making Changes at the Assignment Timephased Level ...........................................................151
Adding/Removing assignments on task with Actual Work........................................................152
Adding an Assignment to an Effort Driven task that has Actual Work ....................................152
Example ............................................................................................................................................152
Example ............................................................................................................................................154
Assigning Material Resources ........................................................................................................156
Page 8 of 250
 Consumption Rate ..........................................................................................................................157
Fixed Consumption Rate ................................................................................................................157
Variable Consumption Rate ..........................................................................................................157
Consumption Rate Examples ........................................................................................................158
Scheduling Issues and Calculations Related to Material Resources ...........................................159
Calendars .........................................................................................................................................159
Effect of Task Types .........................................................................................................................159
Effect of Effort Driven Setting .........................................................................................................159
Effect of Changing Definition of “Day”........................................................................................160
Assignment Start and Finish............................................................................................................160
Behavior of Work Field ....................................................................................................................160
Leveling.............................................................................................................................................160
Importing material resource to a Resource Pool ........................................................................160
Entering Actuals for Material Resources ..........................................................................................161
Resource Graph View ........................................................................................................................161
Assignment Fields ............................................................................................................................162
Time-phased Assignment Fields.....................................................................................................162
Equations ..........................................................................................................................................162
Overtime, Over-allocation and Leveling .....................................................................................163
Splits ...................................................................................................................................................163
Fixed Duration Tasks and Overtime ..............................................................................................163
How Overtime is Scheduled...........................................................................................................163
Example 1 .........................................................................................................................................164
Example 2 .........................................................................................................................................165
Here's what happened...................................................................................................................165
Example 3 .........................................................................................................................................165
Here's what happened...................................................................................................................165
How Changes to Task Duration impacts Overtime ....................................................................166
How Changes to Assignment Units impacts Overtime ..............................................................166
Actual Overtime ..............................................................................................................................166
How Overtime is related to other Assignment Fields ..................................................................167
Editing Work......................................................................................................................................167
Editing Actual Work.........................................................................................................................167
Editing Remaining Work..................................................................................................................168
Editing Actual Overtime Work .......................................................................................................169
Chapter 9 - Costing.......................................................................................................................... 171
Task Cost Fields and Calculations.....................................................................................................171
Fixed Cost .........................................................................................................................................171
Fixed Cost Accrual ..........................................................................................................................171
Fixed Cost Accrual setting for individual tasks ............................................................................172
Accrual Choices..............................................................................................................................172
Example ............................................................................................................................................172
Prorated Fixed Cost Contribution to actual cost ........................................................................173
Resource Cost Fields and Calculations............................................................................................173
Actual Cost Calculations ...................................................................................................................174
Updating task status updates resource status ............................................................................174
Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project.........................................................174
Edits to Total Actual Cost will be Spread to the Status Date ........................................................175
How Changing Options Affects Existing Data.............................................................................175
How edits to total actual cost are distributed.............................................................................175
Examples...........................................................................................................................................176
Edits to time-phased actual cost ..................................................................................................179
Task Start and Finish not considered.............................................................................................179
Page 9 of 250
 Actual cost calculations that roll up or down .............................................................................179
Chapter 10 – Resource Leveling..................................................................................................... 183
What is Resource Leveling? ...............................................................................................................181
Over-allocated Resource Defined ...............................................................................................181
When and Why Resources should be Levelled...........................................................................182
Leveling Results ................................................................................................................................182
Manual Leveling ..............................................................................................................................183
Leveling Basics.....................................................................................................................................184
To Carry Out Basic Leveling ...............................................................................................................184
Automatic/Manual .........................................................................................................................185
Level From/To...................................................................................................................................186
Resolving over-allocations .............................................................................................................186
Leveling order ..................................................................................................................................186
Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task ...............................................................187
Leveling can create splits in remaining work ..............................................................................187
Level Now .........................................................................................................................................187
Clear Leveling ..................................................................................................................................188
Example ............................................................................................................................................188
Example 1 .........................................................................................................................................189
Example 2 .........................................................................................................................................189
Tools Options Settings that Affect Leveling..................................................................................191
After Leveling.......................................................................................................................................191
Leveling Gantt View........................................................................................................................191
Constraints............................................................................................................................................192
Example 4 .........................................................................................................................................193
Before leveling.....................................................................................................................................193
Contouring Resource Availability .....................................................................................................194
Leveling from a Finish Date................................................................................................................194
Recurring Tasks Default to Do Not Level ..........................................................................................194
Leveling Progress Indicator ................................................................................................................194
Leveling and Task Calendars ............................................................................................................195
Leveling and Material Resources......................................................................................................195
Chapter 11 – Tracking Progress ...................................................................................................... 198
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................196
Who Will Track Progress ......................................................................................................................196
Saving the Baseline for the Project...................................................................................................196
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................196
How to Save a Baseline......................................................................................................................196
Clear Baseline......................................................................................................................................198
How to Track Progress.........................................................................................................................199
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................199
Editing Fields That Affect Progress.....................................................................................................199
Task Fields .............................................................................................................................................199
Actual Start.......................................................................................................................................199
Actual Finish .....................................................................................................................................199
% Complete .....................................................................................................................................199
Actual Duration ...............................................................................................................................200
Actual Work......................................................................................................................................200
Remaining Duration ........................................................................................................................201
Remaining Work...............................................................................................................................201
Assignment Fields ................................................................................................................................201
Assignment Actual Start .................................................................................................................201
Assignment Actual Finish ................................................................................................................201
Page 10 of 250
 Editing an existing assignment Actual Finish date ......................................................................201
Assignment % Work Complete ......................................................................................................201
Assignment Actual Work ................................................................................................................202
Remaining Work...............................................................................................................................202
Editing Actual Work in Time-phased Cells .......................................................................................202
Editing Task Timephased Actual Work..........................................................................................204
Summary Task Total and Time-phased % Complete......................................................................204
Calculating Summary task total and time-phased % Complete .............................................205
Editing Summary task total % Complete......................................................................................205
Status Date .......................................................................................................................................205
Status Date and the Update Project dialog box ........................................................................206
Status Dates and Inserted Projects ...............................................................................................206
Edits to Total Task % Complete will be Spread to the Status Date Option is Not Selected ......208
Example ............................................................................................................................................209
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Multiple Progress Lines ....................................................................................................................210
Setting Progress Dates and Formatting Progress Lines...................................................................210
Dates and Intervals tab in the Progress Lines dialog box ..........................................................210
Actual versus Baseline ....................................................................................................................210
Progress Line Drawing Calculations..................................................................................................210
Filtering and Sorting.........................................................................................................................210
Progress Line Ordering ....................................................................................................................210
How to Calculate Progress Points .................................................................................................210
Summary Progress Bars ...................................................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Views .....................................................................................................................................................210
Tables ................................................................................................................................................210
Filters ..................................................................................................................................................210
Groups...............................................................................................................................................210
Reports ..............................................................................................................................................210
Chapter 12 - Multiple Projects ........................................................................................................ 210
Overview ..............................................................................................................................................210
Multiple Project Definitions .............................................................................................................210
User Interface.......................................................................................................................................210
Inserting a Project............................................................................................................................210
Locating Master and Subproject files ..............................................................................................210
Inserting a project with a different currency setting ..................................................................210
Window/New Window .......................................................................................................................210
Inserted Project Information dialog box ......................................................................................210
Inserted Project Display Behavior..................................................................................................210
Indicator (Task Sheet/Gantt) .........................................................................................................210
Task Bars ............................................................................................................................................210
Resource views ....................................................................................................................................210
Editing Rules for Inserted Projects......................................................................................................210
Inserting Tasks near Inserted Projects............................................................................................210
Task Below Inserted Project Summary Task Selected .................................................................210
Deleting an Inserted Project ..........................................................................................................210
Saving Inserted Projects .....................................................................................................................210
Custom Fields.......................................................................................................................................210
Multiple Projects - Effects on Standard Project Commands.........................................................210
Resource Assignment......................................................................................................................210
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 Find/Replace ...................................................................................................................................210
Link Tasks/Unlink Tasks......................................................................................................................210
Sort.....................................................................................................................................................210
Filtering ..............................................................................................................................................210
File Properties ...................................................................................................................................210
Project Information..........................................................................................................................210
File - Send..........................................................................................................................................210
Drawing Objects and OLE Objects on the Gantt Chart............................................................210
Change Working Time (Project Calendars).................................................................................210
Status Date, Current Date, and Update Project dialog box.....................................................210
Cross-Project Linking Terminology.....................................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Creating and Editing Cross-Project Links .........................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Linking Between Projects ...................................................................................................................210
To create a dependency between tasks in different projects.................................................210
Links between Individual Projects .................................................................................................210
Example ............................................................................................................................................210
Task Information dialog box...........................................................................................................210
Task Dependency Dialog Box ...........................................................................................................210
Manipulating Ghost Tasks...............................................................................................................210
Editing Ghost Tasks ..........................................................................................................................210
Synchronized and editable ghost fields.......................................................................................210
Formatting Ghost Tasks ...................................................................................................................210
Gantt Chart Wizard .........................................................................................................................210
Baseline Information for Ghost Tasks.............................................................................................210
Link Updates and Maintenance .......................................................................................................210
Cross Project Linking Options .........................................................................................................210
Behavior on Open ...........................................................................................................................210
Project Test1 in Memory..................................................................................................................210
Project Test1 Not in Memory and 'Show ... dialog box on open' is OFF...................................210
Automatically accept new external data is ON ........................................................................210
Automatically accept new external data is OFF .......................................................................210
Links Between Projects Dialog Box....................................................................................................210
Deleting external links .....................................................................................................................210
Project Calculations............................................................................................................................210
Circular Loop Detection.....................................................................................................................210

Page 12 of 250
 Chapter 1 - Basic Process
When creating a project plan, it is recommended that you follow the basic process for creating a project
plan as outlined below:

1. Project Set Up
2. Enter Task Details
3. Enter Durations against tasks
4. Outline the plan
5. Link tasks
6. Check and adjust
7. Assign resources and costs
8. Resolve resource allocations
9. Baseline the plan
10. Manage - track progress
11. Share project information
12. Print

Stage 1: Project Set-up

Creating a New Project 

When the New command is selected from the File menu and Blank Project is also selected in
the New Project task pane, by default Microsoft Project will prompt for a start or finish date in
the Project Information dialog box (also found by clicking on Project Information from the
Project menu). Typically a start date would be entered and the system will calculate the finish
date.

Page 13 of 250
Save and Name the Project

Microsoft Project will always prompt for a filename before closing (if the file hasn’t already
been given a name). It is good practice to name the project and specify which directory it will
be stored in before getting too deep in to the detail of the plan, so work does not get lost. It is
also a good time to set the Auto Save feature by selecting Options from the Tools menu and
click the Save tab.

Page 14 of 250
Define the look of the Gantt Chart

Select the Gantt chart Wizard form the Format menu; it will assist the user in specifying for
example, the color of bars on the Gantt Chart, whether resource names and/or links are
displayed on the chart. This information can be changed at any time without affecting the
data entered. For example, after baselining the plan it may be useful to show the baseline
information against the current information.

Define System and Project Defaults

From the Tools menu, choose Options to define system defaults for the project. There are many
options are available, such as setting a standard cost per hour for all resources and the hours in
a working day.

Most of the options affect the way all new projects are viewed. Options that are enclosed in a
group box labeled with the same project name affect only the current project. For example,
the setting for the default start time located on the Calendar tab, affects only the current
project. Recommended adjustments are:

1. Select the View tab and click on project summary task.

2. Select the General tab and enter your name as the user name. This value will be used as the author of the
project plan.

Page 15 of 250
 3. Select the Calendar tab and enter the default start and end time. Also if you intend to use months in
entering durations insert your default month duration.

4. Select the Schedule tab and enter default unit of time used on the duration and work field.

Define Calendars

It is important to review and if necessary modify calendar(s) before assigning resources to tasks.
From the Tools menu select Change Working Time to modify the Standard Project Calendar
and to create new calendars. As a minimum, modify the Standard (Base) Calendar so that it
reflects non-working days such as public holidays and actual working day times. Generally, the
default is 8 hours per day.

Create new calendars as needed for groups of people who work in different shifts. These are
particularly helpful for example, if a group of electricians work during weekends. However,
avoid the common mistake of over-engineering multiple calendars.

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Define Resource Pool

Use View, Resource Sheet to define the resources to be used on the project. It is good practice
to enter as much information as possible including the e-mail addresses and specify which
calendar is to be used for each resource.

Once resources have been defined, access Tools, Change Working Time to enter any
nonworking days for an individual, such as vacation days.

Page 17 of 250
Save As a Template

It is good practice to save calendar and resource pool information as a single project file or as
a project template. This template can then be used to create new projects simply by opening
up the file or template and then from the File menu, click Save As to enter a new file name. This
will save considerable time and effort.

Add to Organizer

Use the Organizer (from the Tools menu, click Organizer) to copy across any customized views,
toolbars, calendars, etc. from the current project into the Global file for use with other project
plans.

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Define Page Layout

It is not critical that the page layout be amended at this stage. However, it could prove to be
less frustrating to make changes now rather than waiting. Select File, then Page Setup and as a
minimum, check that the default is to print to landscape with the correct, header, footer, and
legend so that the author and the project title will be printed on the project plan.

Stage 2: Enter Task Details

To help organize the project plan, tasks can be grouped into phases. Examples of common
phases or summary tasks would be; project, requirement analysis, design, develop,
documentation, testing and release. The Copy and Paste options or drag and drop feature
can be used to move tasks into logical phases.

Under each phase, enter the name of each task in the order it is expected to complete; also
remember to include milestones, meetings and signoffs. Use the commands New Task and
Recurring task… from the Insert menu, to perform this more quickly.

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As task names are entered, the system automatically allocates a duration of 1 day. (To change
this default select Options from the Tools menu, and then choose the Schedule tab). Durations
can be entered at any time and the user may want to wait until all the tasks are listed before
entering durations.

Formatting the style of text at this stage is premature (for example, a different font/color for
headings and tasks). Outlining will automatically show the difference between headings and
tasks (called summary and sub-tasks in Microsoft Project). After outlining is completed and
additional formatting is desired, using the Gantt Chart Wizard is a quick way to accomplish this.

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Stage 3: Enter Durations against Tasks

At this point entering durations or outlining the plan can be done.

Durations are entered against each task but not against each phase or summary. Microsoft
Project will calculate the earliest start and latest finish of all tasks under a summary
automatically (during the outlining and linking stages).

Enter durations for the length of time that the job is expected to take rather than the length of
time it would take to be completed. For example, if a job takes two days to complete but
might be done over a four-day period, enter the duration as two days.

In addition to days, Microsoft Project allows durations to be specified in months, weeks, hours,
and minutes. Best practice is to produce a detailed plan that is only as detailed as needed, to
avoid a maintenance nightmare.

Use elapsed days (or minutes, hours, weeks, months) to indicate durations that ignore the
working hours in a day. For example, running a test program on a machine may take duration
of 16h (16 hours non-stop) (ed).

Again, saving the task names, durations, and the outline as a separate project file or template
is a useful way of ensuring accuracy and consistency across projects and is particularly useful
to personnel who are new to a department.

Stage 4: Outline the Plan

Outlining is a special feature that allows groups of tasks to display together as summary tasks
and sub-tasks. After completing entering durations, summary tasks will have been identified as
phases. When tasks are indented, Microsoft Project will automatically display the phases in bold
as summary tasks. There can be multiple levels of summary tasks, 65,535 to be exact.

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Any action applied to a summary task also applies to the related sub-tasks (subordinates). If a summary
task is deleted, copied, indented, or outdented all of the subordinate tasks (including any subordinated
summary tasks) are deleted, copied, moved, indented, or outdented along with the summary task.

Once a plan has been outlined, the summary tasks can be collapsed and expanded to hide or
show the various levels of summary and sub-tasks. This is very useful for reviewing and/or for
printing views for progress reporting etc.

Stage 5: Link Tasks

 
Auto‐Linking 

Once the plan is outlined, tasks can be linked together to define the task relationships.

Sub-tasks should be linked sub-tasks. Using the Link button on the Standard toolbar is the
quickest way to link tasks and the user is less likely to make mistakes. Tasks can also be linked by
using the mouse to drag a link between tasks or by entering the ID number for a task in the
predecessor or successor fields manually.

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As sub-tasks are linked, the system will automatically calculate the duration of the summary
task.
If all tasks in the project are selected, Microsoft Project will link each summary task to the next
summary task and under each summary task link the sub-tasks together with a finish to start
relationship.
 
Manually Enter Predecessors 

Task relationship can be entered using the Predecessor column in the Entry table or in the Task
Information form. This can be used in addition to or instead of auto linking.

Stage 6: Check and Adjust

 
Summary and Sub‐Tasks 

Check to see if any summary tasks (phases) or sub-tasks have been omitted. Copy and paste
are quick ways of editing information. Typical omissions include milestones and review
checkpoints.
 
Critical Path/Task Relationships 

Check the critical path to see that all instances of tasks been included which must have a built
in lead or lag time. For example, paint must be allowed to dry for 4 hours before any
dependant tasks can begin.

Review the task relationships for instances where a start-to-start or a finish-to-finish relationship
could be applied instead of the default finish to start.
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The Indicator column of the plan can be checked to see if any tasks have constraints imposed
on them, for example “Must finish on …,” or “Start no earlier than…,” and determine if such
constraints are necessarily. Constraints can be set by mistake; this is often caused by dragging
the task bar on the Gantt Chart to a new location.

The Notes field can be used to document anything about a task, double clicking on a task
name, and then choosing the Notes tab will display the field. For example - assumptions that
have been made about a particular task relationship.

Stage 7: Assign Resources and Costs

If there is a group of people who are going to be assigned to a project (or used again in
another project) it is quicker to first define the resource pool before assigning resources to tasks.
Resource can always be added or deleted from the list or pool later on.

If multiple calendars are being used in the project plan, assign each resource to the relevant
calendar as required. Then, as nonworking dates (for example, vacation) they should be
included on the resource calendar for the individual.

Each sub-task can be assigned to one or more resources. It is recommended that resources not
be assigned to summary tasks. If there are gaps between tasks then work and costs may be
calculated incorrectly. If the number of resources to complete the project is not known, it is
better to allocate one resource per task first and then review the situation to see which tasks
could benefit from having additional resource.

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If a resource pool has not been defined, care must be taken when assigning resources to tasks.
If the option Automatically Add New Resources is switched off, (found by selecting Options
from the Tools menu, then select the General tab) each new resource must be confirmed
before Microsoft Project can add them to the pool. If a resource is added, Microsoft Project
requires that the details about the resource be completed when the resource is assigned. If
Automatically Add New Resources is switched on, Microsoft Project will automatically add that
resource to the pool, but the details about the resource will have to be filled in later by going to
the Resource Sheet view.

Stage 8: Resolve Resource Allocations

 
Filter Over‐allocated Resources 

Applying the over-allocated resources in a Resource view, will filter the view to only show
resources that are over-allocated. Switching any resource view will display over-allocated
resources and their hours in red. Frequently there are some key personnel who are always in
demand. It may be more effective to reassign some of their less important tasks to other
resources, and it may also help to minimize costs.

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Assign Additional Resources 

Assigning 200% or two units of programmers (rather than one) is only possibly if the user has
defined a group of programmers in the resource pool (1 Unit = 1 programmer, 2 Units = 2
programmers etc.). This is done by entering the value for the total number of resources in the
Max Units field.

The first time a resource is assigned to a task the effort or work on the task is calculated based
on the duration multiplied by the resource units. As additional resources are assigned or
removed from a task, the duration is recalculated. This default can be changed on a task-by-
task basis by deselecting the Effort Driven option, which can be found in the Task Information
dialog box on the Advanced tab. To change the default for all new tasks by selecting Options
from the Tools menu, then clicking the Schedule tab and deselect New tasks are effort driven.

Assign Overtime/Delay

To assist in reducing duration while maintaining the same effort some of the work can be
assigned as overtime. For example, to condense 1.5 days work into a single day, assign the
resource to work 8 hours plus 4 hours as overtime. Microsoft Project will recalculate the duration
as 1 day.
 
Change Working Time 

Changing the working time for an individual will have the same effect on the duration of a task
as assigning overtime. The Change Working Time option for a resource can be used to specify
when the resource is available to work and the additional hours will not be calculated as
overtime.
 
Level the Plan 

Leveling is a feature that aims to resolve resource allocation by delaying overlapping tasks.
Take care when using this option, it may not deliver the expected results - the project finish date
may be unacceptable. If leveling is used, the best practice would be to identify and mark
those tasks that should not be included in the leveling process.

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Stage 9: Baseline the Plan
 
Applying the Baseline 

At some point you will get to the stage when you have planned as far as you can go and are
ready to start the project. It is at this stage that you should baseline your entire project (tools,
tracking, save baseline, and entire project). Creating a baseline is like taking a snapshot of your
project. It doesn’t stop you from adding to the plan; indeed you will need to add detail to the
plan in the form of tracking progress. As your project progresses you will enter actual data so
that the plan can be updated to compare actual against planned data and also update your
schedule with revised duration etc.

It is good practice to baseline your plan, even if you do not have to formally track and report
on progress. The data it provides can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your planning for
future projects.

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Stage 10: Manage - Track Progress
 
Why Track 

Tracking and reporting are two very powerful features within Microsoft Project. Used correctly
the information provided can be invaluable both to the project manager and to the project
stakeholders. Before tracking progress a couple of questions must be answered;

• Why I am tracking this information?

• What is going to happen with this information?

Tracking and Reporting should be planned into your project at the outset - when outlining your
plan. This will assist in determining the frequency and method of update.

Microsoft Project 2000 has the capability to use Microsoft Project Central, a Web-based
collaboration tool that simplifies reporting and updating progress on your project plan. The
decision to use Microsoft Project Central is best made before plans are created but it is not a
requirement.

What to Track 

Generally speaking, a user should aim to track actual start and finish dates and actual
durations. This provides them with two vital pieces of information:

• Immediate effect on the rest of the project. A late start on just one task may result in having to re-scope the
project, particularly if key resources are affected. This information is used during project meetings to help
educate other team members and to discuss tactics.

• Accurate information with which to estimate the next similar project. Going one step further, the history can
also help users preemptively solve problems on future projects.
 
How to Track 

If Microsoft Project Central is used, resources can report progress on tasks via the Web. The
progress can then be automatically updated in the project plan or the information can be
reviewed before the plan is updated. Either way the need for manual data entry is eliminated.

Otherwise, estimates of %Complete and actual information on start and finish dates etc can be
entered the Update Tasks option (from the Tools menu, select Tracking, and Update Tasks). This
allows updates to individual tasks.

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A quicker way of updating information is to enter the information in the Tracking view (from the
View menu, and then Tracking). Team leaders have used this screen as a form to write on, by
printing off the screen, and requesting it be used to manually record the actual start, finish, and
duration of each task say on a weekly basis.

Stage 11: Share Project Information

 
Viewing Different files in one Window 

There may be situations where information from multiple related projects needs to be reviewed
or printed at one time. Using the New Window command under the Windows menu allows a
user to select from all the currently open projects, which ones should be displayed in one new
project window

In the new project window each project summary task will have a unique task ID, however,
each sub-task or resource in the individual files retains its native ID number. This means that
more than one task will have ID number 1. Tasks can be sorted, filtered, or grouped in the
merged list to display just the required information.

The contents of the new window are treated as a new project, called a master project and
can be saved as such. Views or reports can be printed from the master file and changes can
be made to the individual files. Next time the master file is opened the user will see any
modifications or the progress on the individual files that make up the master file because a link
to the individual file or subprojects is saved in the master.
 
Inserting Subprojects into a Master project 

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Another way bring together several related projects into one window or master project so that
they can be viewed, and/or printed, is to insert projects into a new file. This is done by selecting
Projects from the Insert menu. Once a project is inserted into a master project it is called a
subproject or source project. The differences between this option and viewing different files in
one window (above) are:

• The project files do not need to be open already.

• The user can choose whether or not to maintain a link with the individual source files. If the option Link to
Project (found in the Insert Project dialog box) is not selected, each task becomes unlinked in the new
project file and is assigned a new ID number and changes to this file will not be reflected in the individual
files.
 

Dividing Large Projects into Subprojects 

If a project becomes so large that it is unmanageable, it can be divided it into smaller

subprojects. Creating subprojects is also an effective way of delegating groups of tasks to
others while maintaining overall control via the master project. Subprojects are created by
cutting and pasting tasks from the master project into new project files, saving the files, and
then inserting the new files into the master project. Related tasks can then be linked between
inserted subprojects, these are called cross links. When the individual files are opened cross links
are displayed as external or ghost tasks.

Sharing Resources 

If resources are also expected to work on more that one project at a time, best practice is to
share a common resource pool between related projects. This enables Microsoft Project to
keep track of the resources’ assignments, therefore availability and over-allocation across all
related projects. To do this one of the project files is designated as the resource pool and the
other project files are linked to share the resources defined in the resource pool file. The
command to link files to a resource pool is found by selecting Resource Sharing from the Tools
menu and is called Share Resources….

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Stage 12: Print
 
Print Preview 

Before printing a large document the Print Preview option from the File menu should be used to
ensure that the correct columns are being displayed and the appropriate timescale has been
selected before clicking Print. Half displayed columns will be ignored by Microsoft Project.

Change the View 

There are many ways to change what is viewed on the screen and how it will print. For
example, the formatting of the text and bars can be changed; a new view selected, a filter,
sort or group can be applied, and collapsing the outline to view specific summary tasks only.

The Page Setup command from the File menu also has features for adding header, footer, and
legend information as well as scaling options, what pages to print and more.

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When to Enter Data

Before starting to build a project a formally agreed upon project definition should be used. In
addition, it is advisable to have:

• A sketch of the critical path.

• A sketch of the key activities/tasks that form the basis of the plan.

As users become more experienced they will be able to put their ideas onto Microsoft Project
directly and/or use a previous project as a template. However, this is not necessarily the most
effective way of learning - the focus should be to understand every stage of the process and
be able to build a plan, which is manageable.

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 Chapter 2 - Creating a Project Plan
Starting a New Project

When Microsoft® Project is first launched a blank project is displayed with the Project
Information dialog box on top. A project plan can be started from this screen by typing directly
into the blank project.

Starting a project from an existing file 

If a project plan exists that is similar in task requirements to a project that is to be started, then
using the old file can be very efficient. A new project plan can be started from an existing plan
just by opening the file and using the Save As command to give the plan a new name.
However, the old file most likely has dates that will not match the current timeline and will need
to be changed. If the project has progress tracked against it, then the dates cannot be
changed until the actual start, actual work, and percent complete are removed from the tasks.

To start a project from an existing file

1. Open the old project plan.

2. From the View menu select Table: <table name>, then click Tracking.
3. Highlight the % Complete column.
4. From the Edit menu select Clear and click Contents. All actual fields will also clear.
5. Select the title of any column and right click.
6. Select Insert Column and choose Constraint Type.
7. Select the entire column by clicking on the title, then click Edit and choose Clear, then click Contents. All
tasks will now have the As Soon As Possible constraint and are free to be rescheduled.
8. From the Tools menu select Tracking and Clear Baseline. (This is an optional step as resaving a baseline
will overwrite any existing baseline.)
9. Next consider the calendars and the resources being used to make sure the meet the new projects
requirements.
10. From the Project menu select Project Information. Enter new start date if scheduling from start, a finish
date if scheduling from finish. All the tasks in the project will reschedule based on the new Project Start date.
11. Save the new project with a new name by selecting Save As from the File menu.

Working with a template 

Working with a template is similar to opening an existing project plan except that probably will
not be any progress saved in the project. The file extension on a Microsoft Project Template is
.mpt. This is helpful when the file is saved because the Save As dialog box will always display as
it is looking for an .mpp file extension. This way the template will not be overwritten by a new
plan.

Creating a new file from a template

1. Open the template file and choose File; then click Save.
2. Enter a new file name and click Save.
3. From the Project menu select Project Information.
4. Enter new project date information and consider calendars in use as well as resources. Importing files and
file formats will be discussed in more detail.

Project Information Dialog Box

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The Project Information dialog box is presented by default when a new project is opened. This
dialog box is used to specify the scheduling mode, From Start or From Finish, the first step in
creating a project plan.

Figure 1. Project Information dialog box

• Project Start Date - The project Start date specifies the first day of the first task. Tasks are automatically
scheduled from or after this date.

• Current Date - This setting specifies the Current date. It is used in place of the Status date for the complete-
through date in the Update Project dialog box if the current date is later than the Status date, or the Status
date is set to NA.

• From Start/From Finish - This option designates how a project is scheduled.

• Priority - This sets the leveling order of importance for the project as a whole. It is used when using a
resource pool or leveling a project with inserted projects. Priority may be set from 0 to 1000 with 1000 being
the higher priority.

• Status Date - Microsoft Project uses the status date to identify the complete-through date in the Update
Project dialog box unless it is earlier than the Current date setting. If you set the Status date to NA, Project
uses the Current date as the Status date.

The Project Information dialog box can be turned off by going to the Tools menu and selecting
Options. Then choose the General tab and clear the check mark from Prompt for project info
for new projects option.

Entering Tasks

Overview

Tasks can be entered in many ways into a project file. Tasks can be entered in every type of
task view using either the keyboard or a mouse. The most common way to enter tasks is in the
table area of the Gantt Chart view (see diagram below). You can insert, copy, or delete tasks
as required or change the font and format, as you would using other Microsoft applications.

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 Figure 2. Task Entry

Each task is a unique record in the project file’s database. The ID number of the task makes the
task unique not the name.
 
Field Dependencies 

When a task is created certain fields are required and populated by default. Microsoft Project
uses the data in the default fields to calculate other information. For example, by default, all
tasks start on the Project Start date and are 1 day in duration. The Finish date for the task is then
calculated from that information. If the Finish date is edited then the Start date will recalculate.

The constraint type of a task determines whether Start or Finish will recalculate when Duration is
modified.

Constraint Type 

The default constraint for tasks when the project is scheduled from start is As Soon As Possible. If
you directly enter a start date for a task the constraint changes to Start No Earlier Than and if a
finish date is entered a finish constraint is applied to the task. Be aware that constraints can get
set on tasks inadvertently by the user and can then cause confusion when one of the three
dependant fields is changed.

Microsoft Project has eight different constraint types:

• As Late AS Possible (ALAP)

• As Soon As Possible (ASAP)
• Finish No Earlier Than
• Finish No Later Than
• Must Finish On
• Must Start On
• Start No Earlier Than
• Start No Later Than

The calculations are part of Microsoft Project’s scheduling engine and the defaults are set by
options that can be modified to suit your business needs.

Tasks

There are different kinds of tasks to represent specific kinds of information. There are subtasks or
normal tasks, milestones, project summary tasks, summary tasks, recurring tasks, split tasks, and
tasks that appear grayed out. The first five will be discussed at length in this section. Split tasks
are tasks that stop and then start again for various reasons a later chapter has been devoted

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to split tasks. The grayed out tasks represent relationship links to tasks in other project files and
are discussed in a later lesson.

To Enter a Task

1. In the Task Name field, type the name of your first task (or use the entry bar).
2. Press ENTER, or click the green check mark on the entry bar.
3. An estimated duration of one-day (1day?) will be displayed automatically when you enter each task.

To Edit a Task Name

1. Click on the Task Name you want to edit.

2. Edit the name in the entry bar (or click a second time to edit the cell).
3. Click the checkbox on the entry bar or click the ENTER key to confirm the name change.

Figure 3. Edit a Task Name

To Delete a Task

1. In the Entry table click on the grey area relating to the row of the task you want to delete. The whole row
becomes selected in the table.

2. Press the DELETE key on the keyboard OR, click the Edit menu, choose Delete Task.
If you select just the Task Name and select DELETE, a smart tag will appear to give you the
option to just clear the Task Name or to delete the entire task.

Figure 4. Delete a Task

To Insert a New Task

1. On the Entry table, click on the field where a new task is to be inserted (for example, highlight task 4).
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 2. Click on the Insert menu, choose New Task. A blank row will be inserted above the highlighted row (for
example, after task 3).

Figure 5. Insert a Task

To Move a Task

1. In the grey area of the Entry table, click on the ID of the task that you want to move. This selects the entire
row.

2. Point the mouse at the bottom edge of the box. The mouse pointer changes to a white arrowhead with a
move cursor. Click, then drag and drop the task to its new position. A gray indicator bar displays to visually
show where the task row will be positioned. This moves all the information about that task.

To Move a Task Name

1. On the Entry table, click on the Task Name that you want to move.

2. Point the mouse at the bottom left edge of the box. The mouse pointer changes to a white arrowhead. Click,
drag, and drop the task name to its new position.
Task Durations

Overview

When entering task durations, enter the amount of time expected to complete the task and
don’t be concerned about the length of the project at this point. Later, as relationships
between tasks are defined and resources are assigned, the finish date of the project will be
adjusted.

The default duration of tasks is one-day and one day equals 8 hours. To specify duration in a
time unit other than day, type the number and the abbreviation for the time unit. Or change
the default time unit, choose Options from the Tools menu and click the Schedule tab. You can
change what one unit of time equals on the Calendar tab and you can change the default
abbreviation used, on the Edit tab.

To Enter a Duration

1. Click in the Duration field.

2. Type the number (and abbreviation if other than d for days).

The available abbreviations are:

M = Minutes
H = Hours
D = Days
W = Weeks

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 Mo, Mon = Months

3. Click the checkbox on the entry bar or, press ENTER. Continue until you have entered durations for all
tasks.

Note : If you have more than one task with the same duration it may be quicker to select
the tasks, click the Information button on the toolbar and then type the duration. Or use
the fill down by dragging the bottom right corner of the cell and dragging down. The fill
down command is also under the Edit menu.

Estimated Duration 

All new tasks are automatically created with estimated durations by default to signal that a
duration has not yet been entered. This is denoted by a “?” after the duration. Users can enter
a different duration followed by a “?” to denote that this duration value is not certain. This
allows a duration to be entered that is only an estimate, and it is easily recognized as such so
that users know to come back later and confirm it or change it when they have a concrete
value. Tasks with estimated durations are easily found using the Tasks With Estimated Durations
filter, or by a quick visual scan for question marks in the duration column.

The “?” can be typed or selected in the Task Information form as seen below.

Figure 6. Estimated Task Duration

 
Elapsed Duration 

Type ed (or eh, etc.) to indicate an elapsed duration. Elapsed duration ignores the project
calendar and nonworking time, 1ed equals a continuous 24-hour period. This is used where the
work is to be continued or completed over non-working time e.g., over a weekend. For
example, a process that needs to run for 72 hours uninterrupted, the duration can be entered
as 3ed or 72eh.

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Summary Tasks 

A summary task is made up of subtasks and summarizes those subtasks. You can use the
Microsoft Project outline feature to create summary tasks. Microsoft Project automatically
determines summary task information (duration costs, etc.) by using information from the
subtasks. A summary task Start date is the earliest start of its subtasks and the summary task
Finish is the finish of its latest subtask. The duration for the summary is the total of the working
days between its start and finish dates.

The figure below shows what a summary task looks like in the Task Sheet view.

Figure 7. Summary Task in Task Sheet view

To create a Summary Task

1. In a Gantt Chart view, insert a new task into the table above the tasks that will eventually become the
subtasks.

Or

2. You may already have entered task names that will represent phases in your project plan, if so, skip to Step
3

3. Type in the name of the task that will become the summary task

4. Select the task(s) that you want to identify as subtasks

5. Click the Indent button to indent the task (s)

(push it to a lower level of the hierarchy)

As you indent tasks summary task formatting will be applied to appropriate tasks, as shown in
the picture at the top of this page.

To undo a Summary Task

1. On the View menu select Gantt Chart.

2. Select the subtask(s).

3. Click the Outdent button to outdent the subtask(s)

(push it to a higher level of the hierarchy)

4. As you outdent the subtasks, summary task formatting will be removed from the appropriate task.

To show / hide Subtasks

With summary tasks created, it is possible to show or hide the subtasks beneath them.

1. On the View menu select Gantt Chart.

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 2. In the Task Name field select the summary task containing the subtasks that you would like to show/hide.

Click show subtasks

or

Click hide subtasks

The Project Summary Task

The project summary task displays your entire project on a single row with its own summary task
bar at the top of your project. It allows you to see at a glance the entire time line of your
project. Project-level summary tasks are hidden by default.

To show the Project Summary Task

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab.

2. Under Outline options, select the Project summary task checkbox.

3. A new task will appear at the top of the table. Type in a task name.

Project summary tasks have some unusual characteristics:

• ID = 0 (doesn't show in ID field)

• Unique ID = 0
• Outline Level =0
• Summary = Yes

Only project summary tasks can be created at Outline Level 0

The values of project summary task fields are calculated just as they are for any other summary
task. These values will usually be the same as those shown in the Statistics tab under the File
menu after selecting Properties. The Start or Finish date of the project summary task may vary
from the Project Start or Project Finish if tasks are constrained to start or finish on dates other
than those specified in Project Information.

The Notes field of the project summary task is a reference to the same text string referenced by
the Comments field in the Properties dialog box accessed via the File menu; changing one of
these is equivalent to changing the other.

Entering Milestones 

A milestone is generally considered to be a key event, typically a deliverable such as parts

delivered. For progress meetings you may find it useful to filter your plan to display milestones
only. Microsoft Project allows several ways of identifying milestones. For consistency, it is better
to adopt one method only.

Method 1: On allocating a task with duration of zero, Microsoft Project will automatically display
the task on the Gantt Chart as a diamond symbol.

Method 2: You can identify tasks that have duration as also being milestones. To do this:

1. Double-click on the Task Name to display the Task Information dialog box.

2. Select the Advanced tab, and then click in the checkbox to Mark task as milestone.
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 Figure 8. Marking a task as a Milestone

Both methods set the Milestone field to Yes. Inserting the Milestone field into a task table and
setting the field manually, is another way to identify a task as a milestone.

Recurring Tasks 

Recurring tasks enable the user to add regular recurring events, such as weekly or monthly
meetings to the project plan. With this feature the user can specify the following:

• When the event will reoccur (for example, monthly, weekly, every 3rd Monday)

• The duration of the recurring event

• When the recurrence will start and end or how many times the event will reoccur

To insert a Recurring Task

1. From the Insert menu, select Recurring Task (this command is available anywhere that creating a single
task is available).
2. The Recurring Task dialog box appears.
3. Specify the task name, duration, and recurrence details.
4. Click OK.

Figure 9. Recurring Task Information dialog box

Options in the Recurring Task Form and their Function

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 • Task Name. The name of the recurring task. Each individual occurrence of the task is named as "Name "+
number. For instance, a recurring task named "Meeting" will have subtasks named "Meeting 1", "Meeting 2",
etc. If the name + number combination would be greater than 255 characters, the name will be truncated to
allow for the number.

• Duration. The duration of each occurrence of the event. Not the total duration of the recurring task itself.

• Recurrence Pattern. The primary period of time between task occurrences. Note that recurring periods of
less than 1d are not allowed.
The title and options of the adjacent group vary depending on the time period selected (daily weekly etc.)

• Daily. Can select occurrences with periods of either 1-12 days, or 1-12 workdays. Changing the Default
Hours per Day on the Calendar tab has no effect on the daily scheduling; one day in this instance is always
24 hours

• Weekly. The number of occurrences each week is determined by the day(s) selected. The period can be 1-
12 weeks.

• Monthly. The user can select tasks to occur on either:

A particular day number, with a period of 1-12 months. The first, second, third, fourth, or last day of the
month, with a period 1-12 months.

• Yearly. Can select tasks to occur every year on either: A particular month and day or the first, second, third,
fourth, or last occurrence of a particular day, of a particular month.

• Range of recurrence. These options determine the overall length of the recurring task.

• Start. The earliest possible start date for the first occurrence of the task. Default is the project start date.

• End after n occurrences. For n Occurrences: Number of task occurrences that should be created.

• End by. The latest possible finish date for the last occurrence of the task. Default is the Project Finish date.
Either this date or the number of occurrences must be specified.

• Calendar for Scheduling this task. Allows the task to be scheduled based on the working times of the
specified a calendar instead of the project calendar.

• Scheduling ignores resource calendars. This option will allow the subtasks to be scheduled without
checking resource availability as long as a task calendar has been specified.

Properties of Recurring Tasks

The individual task occurrences are scheduled using the Start No Earlier Than constraint if the
project is Scheduled from Start, or the Start No Later Than constraint if the project is Scheduled
from Finish. The setting for project start is in the Project Information dialog box.

The Roll up field is used to format the individual task bars to draw on top of the summary bar.
The Hide field is used to format the summary task bar from drawing at all. These fields are
automatically set to Yes when you use the Recurring Task dialog box. These fields can also be
used to format other kinds of tasks on the Gantt Chart.

The Priority of the subtasks for the recurring task is set to Do Not Level. This means that when
resource leveling is invoked, automatic leveling will not reschedule recurring tasks.

There is also an internal field that flags this task as a recurring task. This flag is not accessible, but
the status can be determined by double-clicking the task, the Recurring Task Information
dialog box displays instead of the standard Task Information form. It is not possible to change
the status of this flag. If the subtasks are promoted or deleted so that a recurring task is no
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longer a summary, the Task Information command will display for a normal task. If any tasks are
then demoted beneath that task, it will again be regarded as a recurring task.

Editing Recurring Tasks

Changes to individual occurrences of the recurring task can be made normally using the Task
Information form. These individual tasks can be modified or deleted as needed.

If just the recurring task summary is selected, then double-clicking the task brings up the
Recurring Task form. Changes to the recurring task made in this form are handled as follows:

Table 1. Changes to Recurring Task

Item Changed Result

Task Name All instances of the old task name will be replaced with the new task name. For
instance, if the name changes from "Wed Meeting" to "Weekly Mtg", then "Wed
Meeting 3" would change to "Weekly Mtg 3" on the subtask.
Duration The duration of any uncompleted task that has the old duration is changed to the new
duration.
Recurrence Pattern If the recurrence pattern of task is changed, (e.g.,weekly to daily) Project alerts the
user that all un-started occurrences of the task will be deleted and replaced with new
occurrences. User can OK or Cancel.
Day change If the user changes the day of the week, month, or year that a task begins on, Project
will not delete tasks, but rather just change the constraint date of any un-started tasks.
Start The Start date can only be modified if none of the subtasks have an Actual Start date.
If modified, the constraint date of each subtask will be changed to reflect the new date.
End after X occurrences or End by Project will add or delete tasks to or from the end of the group as necessary. If tasks
date that need to be deleted have Actual Start dates, Project will alert the user and provide
an option to Delete or Cancel.
Calendar for Scheduling this task Changing the calendar used may affect when the subtasks can be scheduled, Project
alerts the user that all un-started occurrences of the task will be rescheduled. User can
choose Yes, No or Cancel.
Scheduling ignores resource This option will reschedule the subtasks without checking resource availability as long
calendars as a task calendar has been specified.

Additional Notes on Recurring Tasks

 
Recurring Field 

There is a Yes/No read-only task field, called Recurring that can be used to filter for recurring
tasks. Only recurring tasks and their subtasks have a Yes in the Recurring field.
 
Recurring Tasks Default to Do Not Level 

Because of the complexity of leveling all the subtasks in a recurring task, by default recurring
subtasks are created with a priority of Do Not Level. The task Leveling Can Split and Level
Assignments task fields are set to No. This means that all other tasks and assignments are
leveled around recurring tasks.

However, these settings can be changed to allow the subtasks of the recurring task to level.

Task Information Form 

The Task Information form that appears on the screen as a dialog box, provides the user with
information relating to the task and enables the user to make changes to the information in a
single task or set of tasks. This tabbed dialog box is available from the pop-up menu that

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appears when right-clicking on a task, from the Information button on the Standard toolbar, or
by double-clicking on a task.

Figure 10. The Task Information dialog box

The General Tab

The Name, Duration, and Estimated fields are available in all tabs of this dialog box, including
the General tab.

The Percent Complete field can be modified in this dialog box, as can the Priority. There are
1000 priority values, where 1 indicates low priority and 1000 indicates high priority.

Although the Start and Finish dates are available, the Baseline and Actual dates are not. These
dates are not available in any of the Task Information tabs.

The Rollup Gantt Bar to Summary checkbox corresponds to the Roll up field. This toggles
whether specific task information, defined in the Gantt Bar Styles, rolls-up, and shows on its
summary task. The Hide Task Bar checkbox corresponds to the Hide Bar field. Checking this box
hides the Gantt bars associated with the task. Both these fields are used when a recurring task is
created. They can also be used independently to format bars on the Gantt Chart.

The Predecessors Tab

The Predecessors tab provides a very useful interface for entering task relationships. The fields,
ID, Name, Type of relationship, and Lead / lag for each predecessor is listed in a grid. Pull-down
lists are provided for task names and relationship types. If only a single task is selected, the
predecessors already linked to the task will be displayed in the grid. If multiple tasks are
selected, the grid will be blank.

The Resources Tab

The Resources tab provides a grid for entering resource names and units that are assigned to
tasks. If only a single task is selected, the resources already assigned to the task will be
displayed in the grid. If multiple tasks are selected, the grid will be blank.

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The Units field is parsed just as it is in the Resource Assignment dialog. If only a number is
entered, that number of resource units is assigned to the selected task(s). If a valid work value is
entered instead, then Microsoft Project calculates the units using the formula:

• Units = Entered Work / Duration.

For example, if a task with duration of 8h is selected, and 2h is entered in the Units field for a
resource, Microsoft Project will assign 25% Units of the resource to the task, and display 25% in
the Units field.

The Advanced Tab

This tab provides access to the Constraint Type and Constraint Date fields. It also allows editing
of the task type and effort driven fields; these fields play a large role in resource assignment and
are discussed in a later chapter.

A task calendar can be assigned to a task. This allows the task to be scheduled outside the
project calendar. If a task calendar is assigned then the option scheduling ignores resource
calendar is available.

The WBS field can be edited here as well as the Earned Value method.

The Mark Task as Milestone checkbox corresponds to the Milestone field.

The Notes Tab

The Notes tab provides a multi-line edit box for entering task notes, in addition to the Name and
Duration fields. When the Enter key is pressed, the insertion point advances to the next line in
the note, rather than closing the form.

Selecting the Task Notes command from the default Project menu will bring up the Task
Information form with this tab active.

Additional ways to create tasks

If you type a task name in any task table a task record will be created. Or double-click any row
in a task table and enter data into the Task Information form.

The mouse can be used to draw a new task in a Gantt Chart, Calendar, or Network view.
To draw a task in a Gantt Chart or Calendar view

1. Click the left mouse button down and hold, the cursor turns into a + sign.

2. Drag the mouse and a task bar outline is drawn in gray.

3. Release the mouse when the task bar is drawn to the desired duration.
The Start date is determined by which day the bar begins and the Finish is calculated from the Start and
the Duration. Drawn tasks will have a constraint type of Start No Earlier Than, by default.
 
Creating tasks in a Network Diagram 

1. Click the left mouse button down and hold, the cursor turns into a + sign.

2. Drag the mouse and a task box outline is drawn in grey, release at any time.

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All tasks boxes in this view are the same size and are added to the Network dialog box layout
automatically. For best results turn off the automatic setting by going to the Format menu and
selecting Layout, and then click the radio button for Allow manual box positioning. Double-
click the task to bring up the Task Information dialog box to enter the task details.

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 Chapter 3 - Calendars
Overview

Calendars determine how resources assigned to tasks are scheduled and how tasks themselves
are scheduled. Base calendars are sets of working and nonworking times and days that the
three other types of calendars use. Those calendar types are:

• Project calendar
• Resource calendar
• Task calendar

Base calendars can be used for the project calendar and task calendars, and provide the basis for
resource calendars. Project and resource calendars identify when work on tasks can take place,
ensuring that resources are scheduled only when they're available for work.

Project calendars affect the default for when tasks are scheduled.

Resource calendars affect a specific resource or category of resources.

Task calendars make it possible for tasks to have a calendar different from the project
calendar.

These calendars are distinct from the Calendar view, which shows the project schedule in a
calendar format. Resource calendars apply only to work resources, not material resources.

When you first open a new project file, the Standard calendar is set as the default for the
project calendar. You can modify the Standard calendar to meet your specific project
calendar needs. You can also base the project calendar on a different base calendar, such as
the Night Shift or 24-Hours calendar, or on another base calendar you create. Set the project
calendar using the Project Information dialog box, available on the Project menu.

There are three interrelated features when setting the base calendar: Project Information;
Change Working Time; and the Calendar tab from the Options menu.

Project Information 

Project Information is a dialog box that shows critical project scheduling information. The
Calendar field in this dialog box is used to specify which calendar is to be used to schedule
tasks in the project plan. To get to the Project Information dialog box click the Project menu,
then Project Information.

Figure 1. Project Information dialog box

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Changing Working Time  

To view/change the project calendar working days/times: From the Tools menu, click Change
Working Time. Changes made to the base calendar are called base calendar exceptions.

Figure 2. Changing Working Time dialog box

To create new base calendars, from the Tools menu, click Change Working Time, then click the
New command button in the Change Working Time dialog box. Selecting the New button
allows the user to create a new calendar or copy an existing one in the Create New Base
Calendar dialog box.

Figure 3. Create New Base Calendar

The Create new base calendar option will create a new calendar with working hours of 8 A.M.-
12 P.M., 1 P.M. -5 P.M., Monday-Friday.

The Make Copy of <calendar name> Calendar option creates a new calendar based on an
existing one.

The name of the new calendar can be modified in either case.

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Note In the Change Working Time dialog box, the New button in will not be available in
Microsoft® Project Enterprise edition by default. The Project Server administrator must select the
option Allow projects to use local base calendars to enable the New button. If the option is not
selected, only those base calendars listed in the Enterprise Global file will be available for use.
 
Calendar Options 

Selecting Options from the Tools menu opens the Options dialog box. Select the Calendar tab.

Figure 4. Change Working Time Options

The Calendar options function as follows:

Week Starts on. The day of the week that the week starts on. This applies to the Gantt Chart
where a dividing line is displayed on the chart, with the start day immediately to the right of the
line. The date of the starting day is displayed in the timescale panel when selected. It does not
affect calendar working hours.

Fiscal Year Starts in. The month of the year that is the start of the financial year. This enables you
to display fiscal year settings in combination with calendar year settings on the timescale in a
view to reflect the correct dates for overlapping fiscal year units.

Default Start Time. This time is used for any start date times when no specific time is specified.
This applies to the project start, task starts, and any start constraints. It does not affect calendar
working hours.

Default End Time. This time is used for any finish dates when no specific time is specified. This
applies to the project finish, task finishes, and any finish constraints. It does not affect calendar
working hours.

Hours per Day. The number of hours in a working day. This does not affect, or depend on, any
calendar settings. The default setting is 8 hrs.

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Hours Per Week. The number of hours in a working week. This does not affect, or depend on,
any calendar settings. The default setting is 40 hrs.

Days Per Month. This represents the number of working days in any given month where the
Duration setting is month and time phasing is carried out in intervals of months. Care must be
taken as the variance in the number of days in a calendar month over a long period can
impact on the expected calendar completion time.

Set As Default. These settings are for the individual project. If the Set As Default button is
pressed, these values are saved to the Microsoft Windows® Registry file and are then used as
defaults when new projects are created.
Working Time Options and Calendars 

The working times project calendar and resource calendars are used to establish when
resources are available to be scheduled for tasks. You can also use the calendars to establish a
shorter work day or work week for all resources. For example, you might want to set up a 6-hour
day and a 30-hour week to account for non-project tasks the resources are responsible for.

However, if you change the working times, keep in mind that Microsoft Project will still operate
on an 8 hour per day, 40 hour per week calendar basis until you change how Microsoft Project
calculates the durations and other time abbreviations you enter. If you want Microsoft Project
to interpret 1 day as 6 hours, or 1 week as 30 hours, you need to change the settings on the
Calendar tab of the Options dialog box.

On the Calendar tab, you can indicate the default start and end time for any dates you enter
in Microsoft Project, for example, constraint or actual dates. You can also establish the number
of hours in a day, the number of hours in a week, and number of days in a month. If you
indicate that there are 6 hours to a day, when you enter a 1-day duration for a task, Microsoft
Project schedules this as a 6-hour day, regardless of whether resources are assigned. Likewise,
when you enter a 1-week duration for a task, Microsoft Project schedules this as a 30-hour
week.

By synchronizing your task scheduling defaults with the calendars, you can ensure that your
schedule accurately reflects the work-days and work-weeks of your project.
 
Saving Calendars 

Calendars are saved as part of the individual project file (.mpp). The default Standard
calendar, is contained in the Global.mpt file and copied to new project files as they are
created. Any changes made to the Standard calendar, or any new calendars created, are
then saved as part of the project file.

The Organizer may be used to copy new calendars into the global file, or between project files.
It may also be used to delete or rename calendars.
 
Selecting Weekday letters versus date cells 

In the Change Working Time dialog box, if you select a weekday letter (S,M,T) and then choose
working or nonworking or edit the working times, the changes for that weekday apply to all
months.
If you select one or more date cells, the changes apply only to the selected dates.

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Dragging to select multiple cells in different weeks automatically selects all the days in
between. For example, continuous selections use continuous date ranges. You can use
CTRL+Click to select discontinuous cells in the same or different weeks within the same month.
You cannot select multiple dates from different months.
 
Working Time Formatting  
 
Shading and bold underlining 

Shading is used in a consistent way, for all calendars, to make it easy to tell which weekdays or
specific dates are working or nonworking, which are using the default setting, and which have
modified shift hours. The legend at the bottom left of the dialog box shows how to interpret
shading, bold, and underlining:

All calendars have the same date cell shading and bold underlining formatting scheme:

• White: Working day

• Medium gray: Nonworking day
• Light gray: Working day with modified shift times
• Bold underline: Exception created in that calendar (not in the parent base calendar)

Exceptions created in calendars are indicated by bold underlined day letters or date cell
numbers. If the exception applies to a day letter, then that day letter has the bold underline
format, not the individual date cells below it.

A resource calendar inherits the shading from its parent base calendar, but not the bold
underlining from exceptions created in the base calendar. Calendar exceptions created in the
resource calendar do use the bold underlining.

Formatting from changes made in the resource calendar overrides inherited formatting.

Calendar Types
 
Base Calendars 

The base calendar is a calendar that specifies working and nonworking time for a project, a
task, a resource, or set of resources. You choose a base calendar to be the default project
calendar, and you can apply a base calendar to tasks as a task calendar or to resources as a
resources calendar. Three base calendars are provided with Microsoft Project:

• Standard
• 24-Hours
• Night Shift

The Standard calendar is the base calendar that is used as the default for the project, resource,
and task calendars. This calendar reflects a traditional work schedule: Monday through Friday,
8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., with an hour break.

The 24-Hours calendar reflects a schedule with no nonworking time at all. The 24-Hours
calendar can be used when resources and tasks are scheduled for different shifts around the
clock, or when equipment resources work on tasks continuously.

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The Night Shift calendar reflects a graveyard shift schedule of Monday night through Saturday
morning, 11:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M., with an hour break.

You can also create your own base calendars. Creating your own base calendar is particularly
useful if you have alternative schedules for multiple resources, such as a part-time schedule, a
swing-shift schedule, a 12-hour shift schedule, or a weekend schedule.
 
Project Calendars 

The Project calendar is the base calendar used for a project. By default, the Standard base
calendar is the project calendar. The working time hours defined on the Standard calendar are
the default working hours and days off for each resource.

You can set up the working days and hours for your project calendar to reflect the working
days and hours for everyone working on your project. You can specify regular nonworking time
(such as weekends and evenings), as well as special days off (such as company holidays). You
can also indicate other nonworking times to reflect periods when the entire team will be
working on non-project activities, such as company meetings or departmental retreats.

To specify which base calendar is the project calendar for the active project, from the Project
menu, click Project Information, then select a calendar from the Calendar drop-down list in the
Project Information dialog box. The list includes all the base calendars stored in Global.mpt and
those stored in the active project.

Note Choosing a project calendar does not change the calendar that exists or the calendar
on which new resources are based. A discussion on how to select a base calendar for a
resource follows.
 
Resource Calendars 

Resource calendars are used for unique exceptions for individual resources. The working hours
and days off defined on the Standard calendar are the default working times for each
resource or resource group. In other words, the Resource calendar is initially identical to the
Standard calendar.

If you want, you can customize the resource calendars for individual resources to indicate
specific working hours, vacations, leaves of absence, and planned personal time. This can help
you create a more accurate schedule, especially if there are significant variations of working
time among resources. Microsoft Project only schedules resources when they are available,
according to their Resource calendars.

If you have alternative schedules that a number of resources work, such as a part-time
schedule, a swing-shift schedule, or a 24-hour schedule, you can set up and apply a separate
base calendar. The base calendar you create becomes the resource calendar for the
selected resources. You can then customize the individual calendars for the individual resource
schedules.

If you change working times on a resource calendar, and the resource is assigned to a task, the
task is scheduled during the working time on the Resource calendar.

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If you're working with resources from a shared resource pool, or if you're sharing resources from
another project, there are probably different calendars in effect. Take note of which project's
calendars are in effect when sharing resources.

To specify the base calendar for a resource, apply a Resource view, such as the Resource
Sheet, select one resource record, click Project, click Resource Information, select the Working
Time tab, then from the Base Calendar field, click on the drop-down tab, and select a
calendar from the Base Calendar drop-down list. You may also double click the resource in the
Assign Resources dialog box (use the Assign Resources toolbar button to display it) to display
the Resource Information dialog box. You may also double click the resource record in a
resource table (such as in the Resource Sheet view), or use the shortcut menu for resource
information in a resource view. There is also a field on the Entry table in the Resource Sheet
called Base Calendar.

To view/change the resource calendar working days/times, select the resource calendar from
the list of calendars in the Change Working Time dialog box, or display the new Resource
Information dialog box Working Time tab as described above. Resource calendars inherit
changes made to the parent base calendar, and can override the parent base calendar with
resource calendar changes, called resource calendar exceptions.
 
Task Calendars 

Task calendars allow you to schedule a task based on working and nonworking times that are
unrelated to the Project Calendar. When a task calendar is assigned, resources will not be
scheduled during either task or resource calendar nonworking periods. Thus it is not necessary
to edit the resources' assignments in order to make them available for other tasks. If resources
are assigned, tasks are scheduled according to the assigned resources’ calendar and the task
calendar. There is, however, an option on the Task Information dialog box for scheduling to
ignore resource calendars.

For example, let's suppose the progress on a task depends on the availability of a particular
piece of equipment. Every Wednesday morning, this equipment undergoes routine
maintenance that takes 4 hours. During this time no other resources can do any work on the
task. You can create a base calendar that shows the 4 hours as nonworking time and apply it
to the task, allowing the other assigned resources to be automatically scheduled on other tasks
during that time.

Task calendars are not really a third type of calendar; rather they represent a new use for base
calendars. If a suitable base calendar already exists in the project, it can be assigned as a task
calendar. Otherwise, a new base calendar can be created to meet the needs of the task,
using the Change Working Times dialog box just as for any base calendar.

You create a task calendar in the Change Working Time dialog box as a new base calendar.
You then apply the base calendar to a task using the Advanced tab in the Task Information
dialog box.
If you have a task calendar applied as well as resources assigned to a task, by default, the task
is scheduled for the working times that the task calendar and resource calendars have in
common. If you want the task to be scheduled using only the task calendar, also on the
Advanced tab in the Task Information dialog box, select the Scheduling ignores resource
calendars checkbox.

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 Chapter 4 - Outlining a Project Plan Overview
Hierarchical Structure in a Project

Creating a hierarchical structure in a plan allows you to group tasks together under summary tasks; these groups
are also referred to as phases. This is Microsoft® Project’s method of creating a natural outline structure to your
plan. An outline structure enables you to see your project plan in varying levels of detail from high to low level.
Other outline structures are covered later.

To create a summary task

1. From the View menu, select Gantt Chart.

2. In the Task Name field, click the first task that you want to be part of summary group.

3. On the Insert menu, click New Task.

4. In the Task Name field, type a name for the summary task.

5. Select the tasks that you want to be part of the summary task group.

6. To select multiple tasks, press CTRL, and then click each task.

7. Click Indent on the Format toolbar to indent the task or tasks beneath the summary tasks.

Note Placing tasks in a hierarchical order does not automatically create task dependencies.

To create task dependencies, you need to link your tasks.

Outlining Basics

Promoting and Demoting Tasks

The Outdent and Indent buttons are available on the left-hand side of the Formatting toolbar and are used to
create an outline in a project plan. The outline buttons allow the outline symbols to be toggled on and off. Options
for displaying outline numbers, symbols, name indentation, and summary tasks are available in the View tab (from
the Tools menu select Options). The equivalent outlining commands are also available from the Outline submenu
on the Project menu.

Figure 1. Demote/Promote Task buttons

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To Demote Tasks

1. Click on the task(s) to be demoted.

2. Click the Indent button on the Format toolbar.

OR

From the Project menu, choose Outline, then choose Indent.

To Promote Tasks

1. Click on the task(s) to be promoted.

2. Click the Outdent button on the Format toolbar.

OR

From the Project menu, choose Outline, then choose Outdent.

To Undo Outlining

Outdent all your subtasks and next-level summary tasks until all your tasks return to the same outline level.

The following figures show project plan before and after outlining.

Figure 2. Project plan before outlining

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 Figure 3. Project plan after outlining

Collapsing/Expanding Task Outline Levels

Microsoft Project allows users to expand and collapse outline levels efficiently.

To do expand and collapse outline levels.

1. Click on the summary task or outline level you would like to expand.

2. Click on the Show Subtasks button from the Formatting toolbar.

3. Click on the Hide Subtasks button to collapse the outline level.

These options can also be found on the Project menu by selecting Outline, then selecting Show Subtasks to
expand the outline level.

OR
On the Project menu select Outline then click on Hide Subtasks to collapse the outline level.

Outline Usability

Outlining by Drag and Drop

Microsoft Project allows users to outdent, indent, and reorder tasks in an outline by clicking and dragging on
them.

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To change the outline level of a task using drag and drop

1. Moving the mouse over the task name until the cursor changes to an outline cursor .

2. Click and drag the task to the right to indent, to the left to outdent.

Horizontal dragging is used to promote and demote tasks. Tasks can be demoted or promoted more than one
level at a time in this manner.

Tasks can be dragged to a new outline level using the move cursor .

To move a task to a new outline level by dragging

1. Select the row of the task that is to be moved.

2. Move the mouse over the ID number until the cursor changes to the move cursor .

3. Click and drag the task to the new location.

When a subtask is moved from outline level to another, the task will take on the new outline level. When reordering
the outline by dragging rows, subordinate tasks are moved with their summary task.

Smart Insert

When inserting a new task, the new task will be created at either the outline level of the current task (or highest ID
task, if multiple tasks are selected), or the outline level of the task immediately before the selection, whichever is
greater.
 
Example 

The user has the following hierarchy:

Figure 4. Smart Insert

If the user has summary2 selected and performs an Insert Task, then the new task is created at level 2, as a peer
to task t2. If task r3 is selected then the new task is inserted at outline level 3.

Outlining in Usage Views

In Usage views, the assignments are shown indented under the parent record.

In the Task Usage view, assignments are grouped under the task to which the resource is assigned. Tasks are
displayed at their normal outline level and their assignments are shown indented under each task. Because tasks
can appear at any outline level, it is possible to have assignments displayed at various outline levels in a Task
Usage view. Assignments are indented about 1.25 times the normal task indention. This helps to distinguish
assignment rows from task rows. When displaying tasks and their resource assignments, you can collapse and
expand task outlines as well as indenting and outdenting the tasks.

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In the Resource Usage view, assignments are grouped under assignment summary tasks for each resource. You
can collapse and expand an assignment summary task to show or hide the indented assignments. Resource
records in resource tables cannot be indented or outdented manually to create a resource outline.

Outline Symbols

Outline symbols can be used with parent records in a Usage view, just like they can be used with summary tasks
in a task table. They provide a convenient way to expand or collapse indented subordinate rows.

The View tab, which can be accessed by selecting the Tools menu and clicking Options, has a group of Outline
Options for <project name>, shown in the figure, that control the behavior of summary tasks and outline symbols.

Figure 5. Tools Options - View tab (Outline Options)

All of these settings can be used with any views containing a task table, including the Gantt Chart, Task Sheet,
and Task Usage views. These settings are inaccessible (grayed out) when any resource views are active, except
that the Show Outline Symbol setting is accessible when the Resource Usage view is active.

The Indent/Outdent toolbar tools cannot be used to create custom outlines from resource or assignment records,
so these tools are disabled in the Resource Usage view. They are enabled in the Task Usage view, but don't do
anything unless a task record is selected.

Outline Codes and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

WBS Field

The Outline number and the WBS fields by default contain the same values, however while the Outline number
is not editable the WBS field can be customized.

The WBS field allows users to do the following:

• Create a mask for the field so only WBS codes can be entered that adhere to the outline structure and the
format specified in the code mask.

• Renumber the WBS codes based on the outline and the mask.

• Maintain the codes so they are unique and will change only under specified circumstances.

• Verify uniqueness of any user-entered codes.

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Outline Codes

Custom outline codes give users the following capability:

• Users can define a custom outline structure that is unrelated to the task outline.

• A mask can be created for the fields so the user can only enter codes that adhere to the code mask.

• Users can create a lookup table, and have the option to ensure that codes entered are one of the values listed
in the lookup table.

• The lookup table provides a field picklist to help users assign codes to tasks or resources.

• Users can perform hierarchical grouping with rollups based on the codes entered.

Distinctions between WBS and Outline Code Fields

WBS is a predefined task field, which always corresponds to the task outline structure. Because it is possible for
each task to have a unique WBS code, the WBS field can be used much like the task Name or ID fields to refer to
tasks. The project manager can specify that codes be verified as unique whenever a code is entered or modified
on a task. (For more information on ensuring that codes are unique throughout a project, see Uniqueness of WBS
Codes later in this lesson.)

Custom Outline Code fields, on the other hand, allow users to outline tasks and/or resources in ways unrelated to
the task outline structure or resource group codes. There is no provision to require a unique outline code for each
task, but the project manager can specify that only codes that are predefined in a lookup table be used.

The following are examples of scenarios in which each type of code might be used:

• A company requires that all project tasks adhere to a WBS code format used throughout the company, so
the project manager creates a WBS code mask based on the company’s WBS format. Whenever a new task
is created, Microsoft Project generates a unique code for the task that adheres to the code mask.

• Different groups in the company want to view the Microsoft Project data in different ways. The project
managers are most interested in the critical path, and have defined the project outline based on project
phases. The accounting department wants to see a different set of rollups based on cost centers, and HR
wants to see the information based on the company’s organizational structure. The accounting department
creates a custom task Outline Code field called Cost Code, and populates the lookup table with a
hierarchical list of codes based on cost centers. They then use the field picklist to assign the appropriate
code to each task, thus ensuring that only valid codes are entered. Once codes are assigned, they can use
Group By (from the Project menu) to arrange the project by Cost Code with the desired outline and rollups.

• The HR department designs a custom resource outline code called Departmental Workload, and creates a
lookup table corresponding to the company’s organizational chart. They assign each resource the
appropriate code so that they can view resource usage grouped by department and job category.

Sharing WBS and Custom Outline Code across Projects

A tab labeled Fields, which is available from the Tools menu and select Organizer, allows WBS code definitions
and custom outline codes to be copied from one open project to another or to the Global template. If an Outline
code has been renamed, its new name will appear in the Fields tab in the Organizer.

For outline codes only, code masks and lookup tables can also be imported from another project using the Import
Outline Code command in the Outline Code Definition tab. To view this tab select the Tools menu, click
Customize, then select Fields.

Defining WBS Codes

WBS code masks are defined in the WBS Code Definition dialog box, available by selecting WBS then click
Define Code from the Project menu.
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 Figure 6. WBS Code Definitions

The title bar of the dialog box includes the name of the current project, and all WBS code settings entered in the
dialog box apply only to the current project. Note that the option checkboxes in the WBS Code Definition dialog
box apply only to a defined code mask, and are disabled until at least one level of the code mask is defined.

The total length of the code mask cannot exceed 255 characters. For purposes of calculating the total length,
length is counted as the specified length plus the number of characters in its separator. A length of “Any” is
counted as 1 character plus the length of its separator. If a code mask is defined that exceeds 255 characters,
when the user clicks OK to close the dialog box, the following message is displayed:

Figure 7. Invalid Value

Note Because validation of mask length in the WBS Code Definition dialog box is limited to verifying the length of
the mask itself, it is possible to define a mask that in practice could exceed the WBS field limit of 255 characters

The sections that follow describe the various parts of the WBS Code Definition dialog box and how they are used.

Code Preview

Code preview is a read-only textbox that displays the current code format selected by the user. The contents of the
box change dynamically as the user changes either the project code prefix or an item in the code mask table. The
code format is displayed using the project code prefix (if used), followed by preview display characters
representing the level, sequence, length, and separators defined for each level of the code mask.

Project Code Prefix

The Project Code Prefix textbox allows the user to specify a prefix that will be appended at the beginning of all
WBS codes for every task in the project, so that in master projects, for example, the user can distinguish tasks of
one project from another. Also, the Project Code Prefix will be used as the WBS code for the project summary
task.

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Note that no separator will be inserted between the Project Code Prefix and the first level of the mask, so if a
space or other separator is desired, the user must enter it as the last character(s) of the prefix.

Microsoft Project can only use the Project Code Prefix if one or more levels are defined for the code mask. If the
user enters a Project Code Prefix and then tries to close the dialog box without entering any code mask levels,
the following message is displayed:

Figure 8. Code Mask

Code Mask (excluding prefix)

The code mask table is empty by default, and contains the following columns in which each level of the WBS code
mask is defined:

• Level. Specifies each outline level. The numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., will appear in the Level column as the user
enters information in the respective row.

• Sequence. Specifies, for each level, the type of characters that are acceptable for that level. To choose a valid
character type, the user clicks a cell in the Sequence column and then selects from a picklist.

In the code mask, the sequence is represented as shown in the following table:

Table 1. Code Mask

Sequence Shown in Mask As

Numbers (ordered) 1

Uppercase Letters (ordered) A

Lowercase Letters (ordered) A

Characters (unordered) *

The first three choices are self-explanatory. Characters (unordered), means any characters (numbers, letters, other
characters), in any order the user wishes. (For automatically generated codes, the default character used will
always be an asterisk.)

Length. Specifies the number of character positions allowed or required for a given level. A picklist available in the
cell contains “Any” plus the numbers 1 through 10, but any other positive value can also be entered. The default
value is Any.
In all cases, a length of Any is represented in the code mask by a single character of the specified type. For a
specific length, the mask will show the number of characters specified.
For example, a level with a sequence of uppercase letters (ordered), a length of 4, and a single slash as Separator
would be represented in the mask as “AAAA/”. The same level with a length of Any would be represented in the
mask as “A/”.

Separator. Specifies the character(s) that separates one outline level from the next; up to three characters can be
specified. This is an editable combo box with a default value of period (.). The combo box drop-down also contains
the hyphen (-), plus (+), and slash (/) characters, or the user can enter any other character they wish to use, except
numbers or letters. If a number or letter is entered, the following message is displayed:

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 Figure 9. Code Mask Separators

A separator character is not required unless the Length field is Any (otherwise it would be impossible to
differentiate the levels in the code mask). If the user leaves the Separator column blank when the Length field is
Any, the following message is displayed:

Figure 10. Required Separator Character

Generate WBS Code for New Task

When checked (the default), Microsoft Project will automatically generate a WBS code based on the code mask for
every new task created in the project. If unchecked, no WBS code is generated and the WBS field for the task will
be left blank. The exact code generated will depend on the factors described in the section Behavior of WBS
Codes, later in this lesson.

Verify Uniqueness of New WBS Codes

When checked (the default), all new codes entered by the user will be verified as a unique code amongst the task’s
siblings. If the code entered is not unique, the following message is displayed:

Figure 11. Unique WBS Code

Because Microsoft Project does not step through the WBS codes for all tasks in the project to verify uniqueness,
only those of a task’s siblings, the performance overhead is not as severely impacted as might otherwise be the
case.

Behavior of WBS Codes

Default Contents for New Tasks

• No mask defined, no codes entered manually. The WBS field contents will be the same as the task’s
Outline Number field.

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• No mask defined, some codes entered manually. The user can edit the field to replace the default outline
number with any combination of numbers, letters, or characters (up to the 255-character maximum), and codes do
not have to be unique. If the user clears the contents, the field will be refilled with the task’s Outline Number.

• Code mask defined. The default WBS field contents for new tasks depend on whether Generate WBS code
for new task is checked in the WBS Code Definition. If checked, a code is generated that conforms to the code
mask. If not checked, the WBS field is blank for new tasks unless the user types in a code. In either case, if the
user clears the contents, it will be left blank.

Determining Code Value for Generated Codes

Validating Code Value for Entered Codes 

Code values are generated or validated according to the following rules:

• Each task’s code consists of the value of its parent task’s WBS field with a value for its own mask level
appended at the end.

• Each summary task has a counter, which keeps track of the highest code ever assigned to any of its child
tasks, even if the subtask that had the highest code has been deleted.

• A generated code will always be one value higher than the value stored in its parent task’s counter.

• The user may not manually enter a code, which is equal to or lower than the value stored in the counter, but
may enter any otherwise valid code whose value is higher than the currently stored code.

If the WBS codes are renumbered using the Entire project option, the counter is reset to the highest value
of the subtasks after renumbering.

• No code value may exceed 255 characters.

If the user manually enters a code, which violates the above rule for code values, the following message is
displayed:

Figure 12. Incorrect Code Value

 
Entered Code Must Fit Mask Definition 

When the user manually enters a code in the WBS field, the code entered is validated against the code mask
according to the following process:

• Is the code entered valid according to the complete mask definition? If yes, it is valid.
Otherwise.

• Is the code valid if the Project Code Prefix is appended (that is, did the user forget to type in the prefix)? If
yes, it is valid.

Otherwise,

• Is the code valid if the Project Code Prefix plus the parent’s WBS code are appended (that is, did the user
enter only the text for the code’s outline level)? If yes, it is valid. If not, it is invalid.

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If the user enters a code that is invalid according to the above tests, the following message is displayed.

Figure 13. Code violates code rule

Parent Task WBS Code Is Blank

If the user tries to enter a code for a task whose parent task has a blank WBS code, the following message is
displayed:

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 Figure 14. Parent Task has blank WBS

Summary Task WBS Code Changes

If the WBS code for a summary task is changed, the WBS code will be changed for all of its subtasks. Each
subtask will retain its current level value, with the new summary task WBS code appended in place of the previous
code.

Parent Task’s WBS Code Changes

If a task is indented or outdented, Microsoft Project will automatically change the WBS code to fit its new outline
level.

Figure 15. WBS Code Automatically Changes

Task Is Moved

If a task is moved from one summary task to another, Microsoft Project will update its WBS code as if the task had
been deleted and reentered under the new summary task.

• If Generate WBS code for new task is checked, Microsoft Project will assign the next available code for the
task according to its new level.

• If Generate WBS code for new task is unchecked, Microsoft Project will attempt to retain the task’s current
code (after its current summary task code has been stripped), but if the current code would then violate another
rule based on its new location (for example, duplicate code, or code value is lower than the summary task’s
counter in the new location), then the code will be left blank. In this situation, no error message will be generated.
Code Exceeds 255-Character Field Limit

In either of the following situations the message shown below will be displayed.

• When a new task is created with Generate WBS code for new task selected, and its newly generated WBS
code exceeds the 255-character WBS field limit, the error message is displayed.

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• When an existing task is indented or moved and its newly generated WBS code would exceed the 255-
character WBS field limit, the code will not be inserted, and the error message will be displayed.

Figure 16 WBS Code exceeds 255 characters

If the user clicks OK, the task will be created with a blank WBS field. If the user clicks Cancel, the task is not
created.

When the user manually enters a code which exceeds the limit, the message is a bit different:

Figure 17. Manually entered code exceeds 255

What Happens When a Code Mask Is Defined After Manual Codes Are Already Entered?

When applying a newly created code mask, Microsoft Project will renumber the codes already in the project
according to the mask, but will attempt to retain manually entered values at their appropriate levels within the
structure of the renumbered codes. If the manually entered value is valid according to the mask definition for its
level, it will be retained. If it is not valid, it will be replaced with the value that would have been applied if the entire
project were being renumbered.

For example, suppose a WBS field contains the value “apple” when a new code mask is defined, and in the new
mask the level is specified as Lowercase Letters (ordered), Length Any. Its value would be valid according to the
mask definition, so it would be retained. If in the new mask the level was Numbers (ordered), the value would be
changed to a number.

If any manually entered codes are changed when a new code mask is applied, no error messages are generated.

Sorting and Filtering

Sort Order

The sort order of both WBS and Outline Code fields is somewhat different than the normal sort order for
alphanumeric fields in Microsoft Project. The normal sort order is by alphanumeric value only, whereas WBS and
outline codes are sorted first by length of the individual level, and then by alphanumeric ordering.

For example, suppose a mask level is defined as Uppercase Letters (ordered) with a length of Any. The ascending
order of the codes would be sorted as A, B, … Z, AA, AB, … AZ, BA, BB, … BZ, AAA, and so on. Microsoft
Project’s normal ascending order would have sorted similar values in a text field in the sequence A, AA, AAA, B,
etc.

Across the entire mask, sorting is done level by level, with the highest-level sorted first. This means, for example,
that A.B.A. will come before AB.A.

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Filtering

The WBS field can be filtered using the same operations used for any text field.

Renumbering WBS Codes

If a code mask is defined, WBS codes can be renumbered for selected tasks or for the entire project. If no code
mask is defined, the Renumber option is disabled. Select Renumber from the Project menu, click WBS and the
dialog box below will be displayed.

Figure 18. Renumber WBS Codes

If at least two tasks are selected when the dialog box is opened, the default selection will be Selected tasks.
Otherwise, Selected tasks is disabled and Entire project is selected. Note that Selected tasks will also be
disabled if a sort or filter has been applied, or if AutoFilter is turned on even if no columns have been AutoFiltered.

When the entire project is renumbered, the process is straightforward. Microsoft Project steps through each task in
the project and resets the WBS code for the task in accordance with the WBS code mask. The code set for each
task is based on the code’s mask plus its parent’s code.

Only a contiguous selection of tasks can be renumbered.

When selected tasks are renumbered, the WBS code of the first task in the selection is used as a reference, and
the remaining tasks in the selection are numbered incrementally starting with the first selected task’s code.

Examples of Renumbering

The following examples will help to illustrate the behavior when selectively renumbering. Each example assumes
the following code mask is defined:

Table 2. Renumbering

Level Sequence Length Separator

·
1 Uppercase Letters (ordered Any
·
2 Numbers (ordered) Any
·
3 Numbers (ordered) Any

Before each example is renumbered, the task list appears as follows:

Name WBS

Task1 B

Task2 B.7

Task3 B.4

Task4 B.4.1

Task5 B.4.3

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Task6 B.4.5

Task7 A

Task8 A.2

When Task3, Task4, and Task5 are selected and renumbered, the result is:

Name WBS

Task1 B

Task2 B.7

Task3 B.4

Task4 B.4.1

Task5 B.4.3

Task6 B.4.5

Task7 A

Task8 A.2
When Task5 through Task8 are selected and renumbered, the result is:

Name WBS

Task1 B

Task2 B.7

Task3 B.4

Task4 B.4.1

Task5 B.4.3

Task6 B.4.4

Task7 C

Task8 C.1

Note that the code for Task7 changed to “C” because the reference task (the first task in the selection) had the
letter “B” at that level of the mask.

WBS Codes May Not Always Remain Unique

It is important to note that it is not possible to guarantee that all WBS codes will always be unique within a project.
Because of the behavior when selectively renumbering, non-unique numbers can be generated without the user
being notified that this is the case.

If a project manager wants to ensure that all WBS codes in the project are unique, the WBS field can be
renumbered using the Entire project option.

WBS Predecessors and WBS Successors

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Two read-only fields, WBS Predecessors and WBS Successors, are used to display the WBS codes of a task’s
predecessors and successors. Multiple predecessors or successors are separated by the list separator (a comma
by default).

For a cross-project link, the full path name plus the WBS code of the predecessor or successor task is displayed.

Defining Custom Outline Codes

To create a Custom Outline Code

1. From the Tools menu, select Customize, and then click Fields.

2. Select the Custom Outline Code tab. Ten outline codes can be defined for tasks and for resources.

Figure 19. Customize Fields

The Task and Resource options specify whether task or resource Outline Code fields are listed. The Rename
command allows the selected field to be renamed.

When the user selects one of the ten outline codes and clicks the Define Code Mask button, Outline Code
Definition for ‘Outline Code’ is displayed. The name of the selected field is displayed in the title bar of the dialog
box. If the user has used the Rename command to rename the selected Outline Code field, the new name is
displayed in the title bar.

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 Figure 20. Outline Code Definition
The dialog box allows the user to specify a mask and other options for the outline code selected. The total length of
the code mask cannot exceed 255 characters. Length is calculated the same as the WBS field.

Note Since validation of mask length in the Outline Code Definition dialog box is limited to verifying the length of
the mask itself, it is possible to define a mask that in practice could exceed the field limit of 255 characters.

The sections Level, Sequence, Length and Separator of the Outline Code Definition dialog box function the
same way as those in the WBS Code Mask.

Import Outline Code

Clicking Import Outline Code button displays the following dialog box.

Figure 21. Import Outline Code

The user can select the Global template or any open project, and then select a task or resource Outline Code field
to be imported into the current project. When the user clicks OK, the code mask and level definitions from the
specified project are populated into the Outline Code Definition dialog box for the outline code currently being
defined. Note that any levels previously defined for the current outline code will be removed, removed and no error
message will be generated.

Only Allow Codes Listed in the Lookup Table

When checked, any code entered by the user must be contained in the lookup table. This option is unchecked by
default.

Only Allow New Codes with Values in all Levels of Mask

When checked, any code entered by the user must have a value in all levels defined for the mask. For example, if
the code mask is 1.1.1.1, and the user enters 1.1.1, the code would be considered invalid.

Edit Lookup Table

The Edit Lookup Table command opens the Edit Lookup Table dialog box shown below, where the user can
define a list of valid outline code values.

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 Figure 22. Lookup Table

When Only allow codes listed in the lookup table is checked in the Outline Code Definition dialog box, any
values entered in the code field for a task or resource must be present in the lookup table.

The lookup table provides a picklist that the user can choose from when selecting values in the Outline Code field
for the tasks or resources in the project.

Figure 23. Outline Code Column Picklist

Outdent/Indent/Expand/Collapse/Expand All. These buttons perform the same functions in manipulating the
outline levels as they do in Task views.

Cut Row/Copy Row/Paste Row/Insert Row/Delete Row. These buttons behave in the same manner as in other
definition dialog boxes where they are present, with the following additional behavior:

• If a summary code is deleted, all of its subcodes are also deleted. No error message is generated.

• If a summary code is copied and pasted, its subcodes are copied and pasted with it.

Display indenting in lookup table. When checked (the default), subcodes are shown in the table indented under
their summary codes, similar to tasks in a task view. When unchecked, the indenting is removed, but summary
codes retain their bold formatting.

Behavior of Codes in Lookup Table

The order of codes in the lookup table is always ascending. The user may enter codes out of order, but when the
dialog box is closed and reopened, it is automatically resorted in ascending order.

The lookup table will initially allow invalid codes (codes that do not conform to the code mask) to be entered, but
invalid codes will be marked in red and will have a yellow exclamation point icon in the Level column.

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 Figure 24. Invalid Codes

If the user attempts to close the dialog box when any codes are marked invalid, the following message will be
displayed:

Figure 25. Codes do not match mask

A code will also be marked invalid if its length plus its parent code length exceeds 255 characters.

As long as they match the code mask, duplicate codes are allowed and will not be marked as invalid.

If the user deletes a code in the lookup table, and if there are any tasks in the project that have the deleted code
assigned, then when the user closes the Outline Code Definition dialog box, the following message will be
displayed:

Figure 26. Codes become invalid

If the user clicks OK, the dialog box closes and the codes are removed from the tasks.

Assigning Custom Codes to Tasks/Resources

To make it easier for users to add outline codes to a task or resource, the Outline Code field in a table contains a
picklist of any codes, which have been added to the lookup table. The user can either type in a valid code
manually, or select a code from the picklist. Items contained in the picklist are derived according to whether Only
allow codes listed in lookup table is checked in the Outline Code Definition dialog box, as described below.
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Effect of Only allow codes listed in lookup table 

• If Only allow codes listed in lookup table is unchecked in the Outline Code Definition dialog box and the
user enters a code which is not currently contained in the lookup table, the code entered is first checked against
the code mask. If it is a valid code according to the mask definition, then the new code is added to the lookup table,
and will subsequently appear in the field picklist.

• If Only allow codes listed in lookup table is checked in the Outline Code Definition dialog box, the user
cannot manually enter a code which is not contained in the lookup table for the particular Outline Code field. If a
code is entered that is not in the lookup table, the following message is displayed:

Figure 27. Not a valid custom outline code

When OK is clicked, the field is not added to the picklist, and the user is returned to the cell being edited, with the
invalid code selected for editing. The user can then either select a valid code from the picklist, type in a valid code,
or cancel editing of the field.

Using the Outline Code Picklist

Just as in the Edit Lookup Table dialog box, only the value of each sub code level is displayed in the Outline
Code field picklist. When the code is inserted into the field, however, the entire code mask will be displayed. To
make it easier for the user to distinguish the level of the codes in the picklist, they are displayed with indentation
similar to that in the lookup table. The separator is also included for all except the lowest level in a given hierarchy.

For example, suppose the following code mask is defined for Outline Code1 and that the lookup table for Outline
Code1 contains the following entries:

Table 3. Outline Code Picklist

Level Sequence Length Separator

1 Uppercase Letters Any /

2 Lowercase Letters Any ·

3 Numbers 2 ·

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 Figure 28. Example Code

The picklist for the field would appear as follows:

Figure 29. Outline Code Table Column Picklist

 
User Cannot Enter Code in Field If No Mask Is Defined 

If the user tries to edit an outline code in a table when no mask has been defined for the field, the following
message is displayed:

Figure 30. No Code Mask defined

 
Field Cannot Exceed 255 Characters 

The total number of characters contained in a given Outline Code field cannot exceed 255 characters. If a code is
entered which would exceed the 255-character limit, the similar message seen in the following figure is displayed.
 
Level in Code Mask Does Not Have to Match Task Outline Level 

Because there is no relationship between the task or resource’s outline level and any custom outline code, any
item in the picklist can be assigned to any task in the project.
 
Unlimited Duplicate Codes Are Allowed 

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With outline codes, there is no validation for uniqueness of either the codes in the lookup table or in the field
contents, so the user is allowed to enter any number of duplicate codes in the project. When the project is grouped
by outline code, tasks with duplicate codes will be grouped together.
 
Field Value Must Match the Code Mask 

Any value entered manually must match the code mask defined for the particular Outline Code field. If a value is
entered that does not match the mask, the following message is displayed:

Figure 31. Value must match Code Mask

 
Effect of “Only allow codes with values in all levels of mask” 

Suppose we have the following mask defined:

Level Sequence Length Separator

·
1 Uppercase Letters Any
·
2 Numbers Any
·
3 Lowercase Letters Any

If the option Only allow codes with values in all levels of mask is checked in the Outline Code Definition
dialog box, and the user enters a code such as ‘AAA.1”, the entered code would not be considered valid because
the mask is defined for 3 levels and only 2 levels were entered. In this case the following message will be
displayed:

Figure 32. Values in all levels of Code Mask

Putting It All Together: Grouping by Outline Codes

Custom outline codes allow you to sort, filter or group tasks or resources in your project. After you assign custom
outline codes to tasks or resources, you can use those codes to group the tasks or resources into a hierarchy
based on the hierarchy of the outline codes. You can group tasks or resources in sheet views to view summary
(rolled up) information. In Resource views, applying grouping provides summary information that is unavailable
otherwise.

For a description of how to use the Group By dialog box Sort, Filter, and Group.

Let’s look at an example of how the codes might be used in order to view a project grouped according to the
company’s cost codes: Suppose the project has the following tasks, and that Outline Code2 has been used for the
Cost Code field. The mask for Cost Code is defined with one level that contains two numbers.

The lookup table for the Cost Code field contains the following values:

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 Figure 33. Lookup Table for Cost Code

If we perform a Group By on the Cost Code field, Microsoft Project will refer to the code mask defined for the
custom field, parse the values for each of the tasks, and place them in a hierarchical grouping using the labels
entered in the Description column in the lookup table. The result will be the following:

Figure 34. Group by Cost Code

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Modifying WBS or Outline Code Masks

If changes are made which cause some outline codes in the project to become invalid, the following message is
displayed:

Figure 35. Changes to Outline Code alert

Levels Added or Removed

If new levels are added at the end of the mask, previously entered codes are unaffected.
If new levels are added in the middle of the mask, or if levels are removed, some codes could become invalid.

Sequence Changed

If the sequence of a code mask is changed to characters, then previously entered codes are unaffected, because
any combination of numbers or letters is allowed.

If the sequence is changed from uppercase to lowercase letters, or vice versa, Microsoft Project will convert the
case on previously entered codes.

If the sequence is changed from numbers to letters or vice versa, some existing codes may become invalid.
Microsoft Project will renumber the affected codes according to the task’s level in the code mask.

Length Is Changed

If the length of any level is changed to Any, then codes are unaffected.

If the length is increased, Microsoft Project will left fill the code with characters appropriate to the level’s sequence.

If the length is decreased, some codes may become invalid. Microsoft Project will renumber the affected codes
according to the task’s level in the code mask.

Separator

Most changes to the separator will not result in codes becoming invalid. The exception is if the level’s length is Any
and the separator is changed to include a character, which is currently used in any codes in the project, then the
affected codes will become invalid.

For example, if a code currently contains the value “C++” and the separator for the task’s level is changed to “+”,
then the code will become invalid.
New Mask Definition Will Cause Some Codes to Exceed 255-Character Limit

This is essentially the only situation that is not covered by the rules outlined above.

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 Chapter 5 - Sorting, Filtering and Grouping
Sorting is a feature Microsoft® Project uses for organizing and analyzing project plan data.
Sorting can be used to organize tasks into different sequences. Tasks or resources can be sorted
by fields, such as task name, deadline, or resource name. For example, sorting tasks by date,
ascending will reorder the task list to show the earliest starting tasks to the latest.

Task views have five predefined sorts fields that can be applied to the view and Resource views
have three predefined sort fields. Custom sorts are created on the fly and cannot be saved to
be used in other views or files. Sorting is not maintained when switching between views,
however if a file is saved with a sort, even a custom sort, the sorted view will persist when the file
is reopened.

Sorting in Task Views

To apply a standard sort in a task view

• On the Project menu, point to Sort, and then click a sorting option.

Figure 1. Sort menu and options for task views

To apply a custom sort

• On the Project menu, point to Sort, and then click the Sort by option.

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 Figure 2. Custom sort for task views
• In the Sort by dialog box, click a field on which to sort your data, and then click Ascending or Descending to
specify the sort order.
• To set a secondary sort criteria click in the field Then by and select the field on which to perform the
secondary sort. Click Ascending or Descending to specify the sort order.
• To set a third sort criteria, click the second field Then by box and select the sort criteria. Click Ascending or
Descending to specify the sort order.
• To renumber your tasks based on the new sort order, select the Permanently renumber tasks check box. To
renumber tasks, you must first select the Keep outline structure check box. New task ID numbers will be
assigned to tasks. The task unique ID numbers will not be reassigned. This may be helpful if the original order
needs to be reinstated. However, unique IDs are assigned at the time of task entry and therefore may not be
sequential.
• To sort tasks within their outline structure so that subtasks remain with their summary tasks, select the Keep
outline structure checkbox.
• To reset the sort order back to the default sort order, click Reset. This option works as long as Permanently
renumber was not selected.

Note Clicking Reset only resets the sort options in the Sort dialog box to their default order. If
your tasks were renumbered by using the Permanently renumber tasks checkbox, then clicking
Reset will not reset the numbered order of the tasks.

Sorting in Resource Views

When a resource view is active, then the Sort submenu predefined sorts are by Cost, Name,
and ID. Items cannot be added or removed from the submenu.

Figure 3. Sort menu in a resource view

Custom Sort in resource views 
The fields listed in the Sort dialog box are resource and assignment fields. The last checkbox in
the Sort dialog box is labeled Sort resources with their assignments by project.

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 Figure 4. Custom sort in a resource view

Resource tables have no outline structure other than the resource parent/assignment
subordinate relationship in the Resource Usage view. One resource record cannot be indented
below another resource record in a resource table, so there is no summary resource equivalent
to a summary task. However, selecting the option Sort resources with their assignments by
project will keep resources with their project and assignments with their resource.

The resource field Project, lists the name of the project or pool to which a resource is assigned.
Selecting the option Sort resources with their assignments by project checkbox groups
resources by project or pool and then sorts within each group. This option also keeps
assignments grouped under their parent resource during sorting in the Resource Usage view.
When the Sort resources with their assignments by project checkbox is not selected, all records
are sorted as a single group.

The figure below is of the Resource Usage view, sorted by name with the option Sort resources
with their assignments by project selected.

Figure 5. Resource sorted by name and by project

The following figure is the Resource Usage view sorted by name without the Sort resources with
their assignments by project options selected.

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 Figure 6. Resource sorted by name only

Sorting by Assignment-Only fields

Some of the fields that can be inserted into a task or resource table are assignment-only fields,
such as the Assignment Units field. These fields contain blanks for task and resource records,
and are sorted accordingly when you sort by an assignment-only field. For example, sorting by
Assignment Units in the Task Sheet or Resource Sheet view has no effect. In a Task Usage view,
sorting by Assignment Units with Keep Outline Structure selected sorts the assignments under
each parent task, and does not move the tasks. However, when the Keep Outline Structure is
not selected, all the tasks are sorted to the top of the table, because they have blanks in the
Assignment Units field.

Filtering

When you need to see a defined subset of your project information, you can apply a filter to
any view so that only information meeting the filter criteria is displayed. When none of the filters
provided with Microsoft Project meets the users information needs, they can create a new filter
or modify an existing filter.

When a filter is applied, Microsoft Project replaces the current filter with the new filter.

When a filter is applied as a highlighting filter, all tasks or resources are displayed, but those
tasks or resources that meet the criteria are highlighted with a different color, font, or font size.

When a user applies an interactive filter, a dialog box appears, in which they can enter the
value or range of values to be applied in the filter. For a filter that is not interactive, the test
values are specified when the filter is defined. The advantage of an interactive filter is that the
user can use one filter to test for a variety of values without having to define a new filter.

A comparison filter can be created that allows for the comparison of the values in two fields for
the same task or resource. For example, you could create a calculated filter to display tasks for
which the Actual Start is earlier than the Baseline Start.To choose any of the supplied filters,
select from either the;
• Filters drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar.
• Filtered For submenu on the Project menu.
• Filters list in the More Filters dialog box.

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 Figure 7. From the Formatting toolbar the Filtered For submenu expanded

Figure 8. More Filters dialog box

Resource filters can only be applied in a Resource view, and task filters can only be applied in a
Task view.

Task Filters List

All Tasks. This shows all the tasks regardless of their characteristics.
Completed Tasks. This shows only those tasks that have been finished. Microsoft Project
considers a task complete when you mark it as 100% complete.
Confirmed. This shows tasks that the assigned resource or resources have not declined.
Cost Greater Than. This shows tasks that cost more than the amount that you specify.
Cost Overbudget. This is a comparison filter that shows all resources or tasks that have a
scheduled cost greater than the baseline cost.
Created After. This shows tasks that were created in your project on or after the date you
specify.
Critical. This shows all tasks that are on the critical path.
Date Range. This is an interactive filter that prompts for two dates, and then shows all tasks that
start after the earlier date and finish before the later date.
In Progress Tasks. This shows all tasks that have started but haven't been completed.

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Incomplete Tasks. This shows all tasks that haven’t finished, regardless of whether they have
started.
Late/Over Budget Tasks Assigned to. This shows the tasks assigned to a resource you specify
that are exceeding the allocated budget or finishing after the finish date in the baseline plan.
Linked Fields. This shows only tasks or resources to which information from another task, another
project file or from other applications has been linked.
Milestones. This shows only those tasks that are milestones. A task is a milestone if the task is
marked as a milestone or if its duration is set to zero.
Resource Group. This is an interactive filter that prompts you to enter the name of a resource
group and then displays those tasks that are being carried out by the resources that belong to
that group.
Should Start By. This is an interactive filter that prompts for a date and then shows all tasks that
should start by that date but haven’t.
Should Start/Finish by. This is an interactive filter that displays those tasks that haven’t started
and finished within the date range you specified.
Slipped/Late Progress. This can be used in any of the task views, and displays tasks that have
either slipped behind their scheduled finish date in the baseline plan or haven't been
progressing on schedule.
Slipping Tasks. This shows all tasks that have been delayed from their original baseline plan and
haven't yet been completed.
Summary Tasks. This shows all tasks that are summary tasks.
Task Range. This is an interactive filter that works in task views. It prompts you for two ID numbers
and then shows all the tasks between and including those two numbers.
Tasks with a Task Calendar Assigned. This shows all tasks with a task calendar.
Tasks with Attachments. This shows tasks that have objects attached or a note in the Notes box.
Tasks with Deadlines. This shows all tasks with deadlines.
Tasks with Estimated Durations. This shows all tasks with estimated durations.
Tasks with Fixed Dates. This shows all tasks that do not have the constraint As Soon As Possible
or that have an actual start date.
Tasks/Assignments with overtime. This shows tasks whose resources have over time assigned.
Top Level Tasks. This shows only the highest-level summary tasks.
Unconfirmed. This shows tasks that at least one requested resource has declined.
Unstarted Tasks. This shows tasks that haven't started.
Update Needed. This shows tasks that have incurred changes, such as revised start and finish
dates or resource reassignments, and need to be sent for update or confirmation.
Using Resource in a Date Range. This prompts for a resource name then prompts for a start date
and finish date for a range, then shows all tasks for that resource during that time frame.
Using Resource. This is an interactive filter that prompts you for the resource whose tasks you
want to view.
Work Overbudget. This is a comparison filter that shows all tasks with scheduled work greater
than baseline work.
Resource Filters List
You can apply each resource filter to each resource view.
All Resources. This shows all the resources regardless of their characteristics.
Confirmed Assignments filter. This is applicable only in the Resource Usage view, and shows only
those assignments that a resource has not declined.

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Costs Greater Than. This is an interactive filter that prompts you for two dates and then shows all
tasks and resources with assignments that start after the earlier date and finish before the later
date.
Cost Overbudget. This is a comparison filter that shows all resources that have a scheduled cost
greater than the baseline cost.
Date Range. This is an interactive filter that prompts for two dates and shows all resources with
assignments during the date range specified.
Group. This is an interactive filter that shows all resources belonging to the group you specify.
In progress Assignments. This is applicable only in the Resource Usage view, and shows the
assignments that have been started but have not been completed.
Linked Fields. This shows resources to which information from another task, another project or
from other applications has been linked.
Overallocated Resources. This shows all resources that are scheduled to do more work than
they can accomplish in the time specified.
Resource Range. This is an interactive filter that shows all resources with ID numbers within the
range you specify.
Resource – Material. This shows material resources like wood, nails, or cement.
Resource – Work. This shows work resources like people and equipment.
Resources with Attachments. This shows resources that have objects attached or a note in the
Notes box.
Resources/Assignment with Overtime. This shows all resources that have assignments where
overtime is scheduled.
Should start by. This prompts for a date then shows resources with assignments that should start
by that date but haven’t.
Should Start/Finish by. This is an interactive filter that displays those tasks or assignments that
haven't started and finished within the date range you specify.
Slipped/Late Progress. This displays tasks that have either slipped behind their scheduled finish
date in the baseline plan or haven't been progressing on schedule.
Slipping Assignments. This shows resources that have assignments that have not finished as
scheduled.
Unconfirmed Assignments. This shows resources that have not confirmed all assignments sent
via workgroup features.
Unstarted Assignments. This shows resources with assignments that have not started.
Work Complete. This shows resources that have completed all assigned work.
Work Incomplete. This shows resources that have not completed all assigned work.
Work Overbudget. This is a comparison filter that shows all resources with scheduled work
greater than baseline work.

Filter Definition

Filters can be created, edited or copied, in the Filter Definition dialog box. This dialog box allows
you to determine the criteria for the filter.

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 Figure 9. Filter Definition
Filter Test Options
Microsoft Project provides 11 test criteria that can be applied to the fields in the Filter definition
dialog box.

Table 1.Filter Test Options

Test Criterion Example Field Name Test Value(s)

equals Select Critical tasks Critical Equals Yes

does not Task has started Actual Start does not equal NA
equal
is greater than Task started after 8/1/92 Actual Start is greater than 8/1
is greater than Budgeted cost is $1000 or Planned Cost is greater than or equal $1,000
or equal over
is less than Duration less than 1 day Duration is less than 1d
is less than or Task finishes before 9/1/92 Actual Finish is less than or equal to 9/1
equal to
is within Duration is 5 to 10 days Duration is within 5d,10d
is not within Tasks that are not in the % Complete is not within 25%,75%
middle of production
contains Resource assignment includes Resource Names contains John
anyone named John
does not Resource assignment doesn’t Resource Names does not contain Frank
contain include Frank
contains Resource assignment includes Resource Names contains exactly Mary Logan
exactly Mary Logan

Multiple Criterion in a Filter 

Filters can be created that will test for more than one set of criterion by using the And and Or
operators. For example the Date Range filter looks for tasks that start before one date And finish
before another. The And/Or operator can be used before the second criteria or on a line of its
own between two criterion lines.
Interactive Filters

With an interactive filter, different filter criteria can be specified each time the filter is applied.
To create an interactive filter, in the Value(s) field in the Filter Definition dialog box, a message is
typed enclosed in quotation marks and followed by a question mark (?). For example, type
“Enter date:”? to create an interactive filter that requests a date to test for, or the Within test

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can be used. Two values for “From”?, ”To”? are entered to create an interactive filter that
requests a range of dates to test for.

Wildcards with the Equals or Not Equals Test

When the Equals or Not Equals test is used in a filter, the Value field can contain the characters
* (any characters) or ? (any characters) as a wildcard. The field specified for Field Name must
contain a text value, such as resource names, rather than a numeric value, such as duration.
Comparing Two Fields in a Filter

A filter can also compare the values in one field to the values in another. To create a
comparison filter, in the Value(s) field in the Filter Definition dialog box, type a field name
enclosed in square brackets ( [ ] ), or select one from the drop-down list. For example, type
duration in the Field Name field, Is Greater than in the Test field, and [Baseline Duration] in the
Value(s) field to display all tasks with scheduled durations that exceed baseline durations.

Calculations in Filters

The standard filter definitions do not support calculations of any sort. It is not possible to create
filters that depend on variables, such as the current date. For instance, a user might want to
create a variation of the Date Range filter that only shows tasks occurring within one week of
the current date. Filtering of this type is only possible by using a Visual Basic for Applications
macro.

Using Resource filter

Figure 10. Using Resource dialog box

The Using Resource filter is a special internal filter that cannot be edited or copied. It provides a
drop-down list of the resources available in the project. This drop-down capability is provided
internally by Microsoft Project and is not available in other filters.

AutoFilter

The AutoFilter provides a quick way to find a subset of data in a field. The AutoFilter can be
applied to any view with the exception of the Calendar view, Resource Graph, Network
Diagram view or form views. To apply AutoFilter, click the Project menu, then Filtered for: <filter
name>, AutoFilter; or use the AutoFilter button located on the Format tool bar.

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 Figure 11. AutoFilter menu option and AutoFilter button

The AutoFilter will display drop-down arrows in the column headings to select the information to
be filtered.

Figure 12. AutoFilter drop-down arrows

When a filter is already applied, the AutoFilter will further filter the list of tasks or resources.
AutoFilter also inherits the Highlight mode and the Show related summary rows from an active
task filter.
To convert an AutoFilter into a standard filter, click the drop-down arrow for the column
heading, click Custom, then click Save, choose the criterion for the filter, enter a filter name in
the Name field and click OK.

AutoFilter drop‐down choices 
For each field there are four options available in the AutoFilter drop-down list.
• (All)
• (Custom...)
• Predefined choices specific to the field type
• A sorted list that contains the current filtered contents of the field, without duplicates
The contents in the AutoFilter drop-down list for a specific field is limited to contents from those
records that satisfy the currently applied named filter and AutoFilter choices for all other fields.

When filters are already applied, only the contents of the records that are showing are
included.

Note Not all of the fields have all of the above kinds of choices available.

Comma Separated Fields 

For comma separated fields such as the task Resource Names field and Predecessors field,
each item in the comma separated list in the cell for a specific record is listed separately in the
AutoFilter list. When you select a resource name from the AutoFilter list, it matches all records
that include that resource name in the Resource Names field. However, for other fields such as

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the Predecessors field, selecting a choice from the auto filter list, matches only records that
have that single entry.
All of the items in the comma separated list are included in the AutoFilter list. The Resource
Names field for a particular task may appear to be too long and may be truncated followed
by ellipses (...), however all the resources assigned to the task are listed separately in the
AutoFilter drop-down list. In order to view the entire name the column can be enlarged (for
example, best fit).

Example 

The table shows an example of the Resource Names field and its AutoFilter choices.

Figure 13. Comma delineated fields

Using AutoFilter on Multiple Fields

Selecting something other than All from the AutoFilter list for more than one field behaves like a
sequence of And operations.
The content in the AutoFilter list for a given field is limited only to records that are still showing.
Selecting a criterion for one field may hide some records, indirectly limiting the selection in the
AutoFilter list for other fields.

The function of the '(Custom...)' choice in AutoFilter

(Custom...) is a selection on all AutoFilter lists. When you click it, then it displays the Custom
dialog box illustrated in the figure is displayed:

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 Figure 14. Custom AutoFilter

It allows you to defined two conditions on the same field joined by And or Or. It also allows you
to defined criteria on other fields.

Refreshing AutoFilter and Named Filters

If data is changed while a named filter is active or while AutoFilter is active with at least one
criteria other than All, then the record edited may no longer satisfy the combined filter. This
does not automatically cause the filters to recalculate.

All active filters can be forced to recalculate by doing either of the following:
• Reapply the current named filter. Note the exception.
The All Tasks and All Resources named filters have a special behavior when they are replied, they reset all
AutoFilter settings to All, instead of doing an And operation with the current AutoFilter settings
• To display the AutoFilter list, click the drop-down arrow, then click again to close the list.

Resetting AutoFilter settings (to All)

The AutoFilter can be reset to the default settings by performing one of the following steps:
• Reset the field AutoFilter to All. A filtered field displays a highlighted title. Click the down arrow and choose
All from the AutoFilter list.
• Toggle the AutoFilter button on the Formatting Toolbar. Click the AutoFilter button on the Formatting
toolbar to turn the AutoFilter off and then click it again to turn AutoFilter back on.
• Apply the All Tasks or All Resources named filter.

Keyboard access to the AutoFilter list

To drop-down the AutoFilter list for a specific column using the keyboard, first move the cursor
to any cell in that column, then press the CTRL + Spacebar key combination, and then press
ALT + Down. You can then use the Up and Down arrow keys to move through the drop-down
list.

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Filters in Usage Views

Task filters can be applied in Task Usage views, and resource filters can be applied in Resource
Usage views.

Assignment records share the task or resource columns in a Usage view and are subject to
evaluation by filters.

In Usage views, assignment records share many fields with tasks or resources, for example the
Start and Finish fields. Some fields such as % Complete and Duration are not used by
assignments (they are blank for assignment records). Some fields are Assignment-only fields
such as Assignment Units (these fields are blank for task and resource records).

There is a special Yes/No field called Assignment that can be used in filter definitions to control
whether assignments should be displayed by the filter, and to define conditions that you want
to apply only to assignment records. The Completed Tasks filter definition is an example of a
filter that uses the Assignment field.

The fields available in the Filter Definition dialog box depend on the whether the Task or
Resource option is selected in the More Filters dialog box. Assignment fields such as Assignment
Units, are available in either case.

Figure 15. More Filters dialog box, resource or task assignments

Show related summary rows  

In a custom filter the option Show related summary rows when checked, will display summary
rows that are related to the items meeting the filter criteria.

Figure 16. Filter Definition dialog box, Show related summary rows

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Example using the Show related summary rows option.

The following sequence of pictures illustrates the effects of the Show related summary rows
settings is used when filtering. The name of the summary task associated with each task has
been entered in the Text1 field and the title of the column changed to reflect the contents.

First the special predefined All Tasks filter is applied in the Task Usage view

Figure 17. Standard Task Usage View, All tasks filter

Next, apply a custom filter with the condition that Work equals 8h, and with the Show related
summary rows checkbox checked:

Figure 18. Task Usage View, Work equals 8h filter, with Show related summary tasks checked

Next the Show related summary rows checkbox in the above filter is unchecked and the
altered filter is reapplied:

Figure 19. Task Usage View, Work equals 8h filter, Show related summary tasks not checked

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In the above figure, note that the task summary lines are not shown.

Using "Assignment" Field in Filters

It is also possible to alter a filter so it displays only assignment records or only parent records, by
adding the condition Assignment Equals Yes or Assignment Equals No to the filter definition.

The figure below displays part of a Filter Definition dialog box defining a filter that is to show only
assignment records that have Work equal to 8h, and that has Show related summary rows
unchecked:

Figure 20. Filtering for Assignment field setup

Applying this filter to the same set of data produces the following:

Next, the filter is edited so the Show related summary rows checkbox is checked, and the filter is
reapplied:

Figure 22. Filtering for Assignment field, Show related summary tasks checked

Using Assignment-Only Fields in Filters

Assignment-only fields, such as Assignment Units, are blank for non-assignment records (task
and resource records). In non-Usage views, assignment-only fields are blank, because there are
no assignments.

Any filter condition based on an assignment-only condition is either True for all non-assignment
records or False for all non-assignment records.

For example, if a filter with the single condition, Assignment Units equals 100%, is applied in a
Gantt Chart view, then no tasks will be displayed. When a filter with the single condition,
Assignment Units does not equal 100% is applied in a Gantt Chart view, then all tasks will be
displayed.

Grouping

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Grouping allows users to categorize and view rolled up information for their tasks and resources
in a variety of ways, using up to ten fields. Grouping gives users the following capabilities:
• Allows multi-level grouping of tasks and resources based on fields specified by the user, in order to analyze
and report project data in a variety of ways.
• Provides non-editable summary header rows for each value in the grouped field, containing rollup totals similar
to a summary task.
• Allows grouping on interval ranges for a given field, to reduce the number of summary header rows in cases
where fields contain a wide variation in values.
• Allows grouping by custom Outline Code fields.
• “Intelligent” grouping allows users to perform hierarchical grouping based on a single coding field.

Applying and Defining Groups

Grouping is applied or defined using the Group By submenu available from the Project menu.
Similar to filters and views, a number of predefined groups are listed on the menu and can be
applied simply by clicking on the desired group name. Predefined groups can also be applied
using the new Group By drop-down available on the Standard toolbar. Groups defined by the
user can be added to the default menu, and default groups that the user does not want to see
can be removed from the menu.

Figure 23. Group by menu and submenu

More Groups/Group Definition 

When More Groups is selected from the Group By submenu, the following dialog box is
displayed, which behaves like the More Filters dialog box and other similar definition dialog
boxes.

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 Figure 24. More Groups

When New or Edit is clicked in the More Groups dialog box, the following Group Definition
dialog box is displayed. Each item in the dialog box is explained in greater detail below.

Figure 25. Group Definition dialog box

Name:. The name to be used for the new group. When a default group is selected and the user
clicks Copy in the More Groups dialog box, a copy of the default group will be created and
the default group will remain unmodified. When a default group is selected and the name is
modified, any modifications will be made to the default group.

Show in menu. This displays the group on the Group by submenu on the Project menu.

Field Name, Field Type, and Order. These columns display the fields to be grouped by and
whether each field will be displayed in ascending or descending order. For a group definition
that contains more than one field, the fields are listed in descending hierarchical order, similar
to the Sort By dialog box. Up to 10 fields can be grouped.

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Group assignments, not tasks. This option allows grouping on assignment fields as well as rollup
timephased data totals to group summary rows in Usage views only. The option checkbox in a
Task Usage view will display Group assignments, not Tasks. In a Resource Usage view the option
is Group assignments, not Resources. All assignment timephased fields will rollup excluding the
following: cumulative percent complete, overallocation, peak units and percent allocation.

Group by setting for. This allows the user to change the font formatting, cell background color,
and cell pattern to be used for the display of the group heading summary associated with the
field when the group is applied.

Show summary tasks. Check this option to display summary tasks in the grouped view. For more
information on the behavior of summary tasks in a grouped view, see Grouping and Rollup
Behavior of Summary Tasks later in this lesson. Show summary tasks is unchecked by default,
and is unavailable if the group is being defined for resources.

OK. This saves the current group definition and returns the user to the More Groups dialog box.
Cancel. This cancels any changes made to the current group definition, and returns the user to
the More Groups dialog box.

Define Group Intervals. For most fields, clicking the Define Group Intervals button opens the
dialog box shown below, in which grouping intervals for the selected field can be defined.

Figure 26. Define Group Interval dialog box

Define Group Intervals. This defines intervals for the groups and the starting value for the field
selected under Field Name. This option is not available for:
• Boolean fields such as Flag and Summary fields.
• Fields that make do not make sense such as TeamStatus Pending.
• A field that might cause a conflict in connection with the application of a custom group order such as Outline
Number.

The options in the Define Group Interval dialog box perform the following functions:

Field name:. This displays the name of the field currently being used to group by.
Group on:. This specifies whether group headings occur at each field value or at another data
value for this field. Depending on the field type, he drop-down list displays content relevant to
the field being edited, for example a duration field would list minutes, hours, days, weeks, and
months.
Start at:. This specifies the starting value for the grouping headers for this field. For date fields,
this is a drop-down date picker control. For all other fields, this is a spin control with increments
appropriate to the field being edited. This option is disabled until Each Value is removed and

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another option is selected. It will remain unavailable when the group on field is set to Prefix
characters.
Group Interval:. This defines the step interval for the grouping headers for this field.
For more detailed information see Interval Grouping later in this lesson.
When Group on is set to something other than “Each Value”, the selected interval will be
displayed to the right of the Define Group Intervals button in the Group Definition dialog box, so
that the user does not have to open the Define Group Interval dialog box in order to see the
current setting.

Customize Group By

Selecting Customize Group By from the Group By submenu, displays a dialog box similar to the
one viewed in the figure above, except that this dialog box has buttons to Reset and Save a
grouping. The Customize Group By feature affects the currently applied grouping.

When the customized group definition is not saved the settings in the dialog box will not be
retained when a new group definition (or No Group) is subsequently applied. When a grouping
is applied by clicking OK in the Customize Group By dialog box, unless the definition is saved,
the currently applied group will be displayed as Custom Group in the Group By submenu and
drop-down list.

The behavior of the options in the Customize Group By dialog box is the same as those in the
Group Definition dialog box. However there are also two additional command buttons, Save
and Reset, described below.

Figure 27. Save Group dialog box

Save. This opens the dialog box shown above, in which the user can enter a name for the new
group and can optionally specify whether the new group should be shown in the More Groups
menu:

When the user clicks Cancel, the group is not saved and the user is returned to the Customize
Group By dialog box. When the name entered is the same as for an existing group definition,
the following message is displayed.

Figure 28. Warning when custom group name already exists

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Reset. This returns all settings to their default values; font and cell formatting are reset to the
application defaults, and all field names are removed from the Field Name column. So the next
time the group is applied the grouping will appear with the application defaults. If the OK
button is clicked at this point, the effect would be the same as applying No Group, so to retain
the previously applied groupings, the user should instead click Cancel.

General Grouping Behavior

The general behavior that applies to most grouping is outlined in the following rules:
1. Group summary headers have no task numbers, the ID column is blank.
2. The Name column contains the heading for each level in a group definition. The text in the Name column
consists of the field name and a colon, followed by the field value. For example, if the grouping is by Priority,
there would be headings similar to “Priority: <number>” for each Priority value contained in the available tasks.
For a grouping by Flag1, the heading would be either “Flag1: No” or “Flag1: Yes”. Because Flag fields are
Boolean only two values are possible.
• When the grouping is based on intervals, the Name text will consist of the field name and a colon, followed
by the interval grouping for the immediately following tasks. For example, if the field is Cost, the starting
value is zero, and group intervals are $1000, the headings would be “Cost: $0 - $999,” “Cost: $1000 -
$1999,” etc.
• When the grouping is by custom Outline Codes, the Name text will consist of the Description for each
outline code level as defined in the Custom Field definition dialog box. When the description is blank, the
name text will be the Outline Code itself.
• When the grouping is by custom fields other than custom Outline Codes, the Name text will consist of the
value only.
3. The display of font formatting, background color and pattern (or data banding) for a group header row, as
configured in the Group Definition dialog box, will begin wherever the Name column appears in the current
view and extends across all columns to the right of the Name column. Formatting and banding will not be
applied to columns that appear to the left of the Name column. The background color and pattern also appears
as a vertical bar on the leftmost side of the Name column.

Note The vertical color bar normally viewed in a grouping is controlled by the presence of the
Name field, except in the Network Diagram view. When the Name column is not inserted in the
current table, there is no indication that a grouping has been applied. The currently applied
grouping name is listed in the Group By submenu and drop-down.
Tasks with a blank value for a specified grouping field will be grouped together at the top of the view, under a
group header displaying the field name but indicating “No Value.” For example, if the field being grouped is Text1,
any tasks having Text1 blank will be displayed together under the heading “Text1: No Value.”

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 Figure 29. No Value Group
4. A separate group summary row is only created for those values that have at least one entry; no summary item
is created if no task meets a particular value. In other words, if tasks are grouped by Priority, and no tasks
have a Priority equal to 700, then no summary item will be created for Priority: 700.
5. Actions that can be performed on regular summary tasks are not available for group summary headers. For
instance, the Task Information dialog box, is not available, nor is Publish or cut-and-paste operations. Values
for fields displayed in the group summary header cannot be modified.
6. Editing individual field formatting is not allowed for any fields displayed on a group summary header row. Users
can only change the formatting for group summary rows, using options in the Customize Group By or the
Group Definition dialog boxes.
7. A default bar style called Group By Summary is included in the Bar Styles dialog box. The formatting is the
same as the default bar style for summary tasks. Users can change the default formatting, or can define
criteria for new bars using the Group By Summary item in the Show For…Tasks column of the Bar Styles
dialog box only. Group By Summary bars cannot be individually formatted.
8. Indenting and outdenting are unavailable, both for group summary headers and for summary and subtasks.
9. Group summary headers can be expanded and collapsed, and the currently expanded or collapsed state of a
group summary heading will be “remembered” when the grouping is reapplied. Summary tasks (if displayed)
cannot be expanded or collapsed in a grouped view.
10. An interval can be set for each Group By field or level in a multi-level group definition.
11. When a view has been filtered, rolled up totals include values only for the filtered tasks or resources.
12. Grouping is view-specific, so the user can have different groupings applied in different views. Also, in the View
Definition dialog box a Group item is included so that a predefined grouping can be accessed in custom view
definitions.
13. A field, Group By Summary, is set to Yes for group summary headers and No for all other tasks. Also, the
existing Summary field is set to Yes for group summary headers. This is for filtering and formatting purposes.
14. The principal difference between group rollups and summary task rollups is that while summary tasks can
include values entered directly for the summary task, such as fixed costs, work, or priority, group rollups
contain only those values. For the tasks in the group. Fields that can be edited on normal summary tasks are
unavailable in group rollup headers.

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Grouping by Outline Number

Because the Outline Number field always matches the project’s task outline structure, using
Outline Number as the primary grouping field allows the user to keep the project’s outline
structure but display rollup totals that would otherwise not be available. For example, suppose
we have the following grouping of tasks:

Figure 30. Group by Outline Number

When these tasks are grouped using the default Priority Keeping Outline Structure, the result is
as follows:

Figure 31. Group by Priority

First the plan is grouped on Outline Number, which maintains the outline structure, so the same
values at that grouping level can be seen in both Figures 30 and 31. Then the plan is grouped
on Priority under each outline number, displaying a group summary total for Priority but only for
that outline level not on the entire plan.
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Grouping Behavior for Inserted Projects 

No distinction is made between tasks from inserted projects and those in the master project.
When the inserted project is expanded, then all its tasks are grouped along with the other tasks
in the project. This behavior is different for a regular summary task; its subtasks are still grouped
regardless of the state of the summary task.

When the user wants to see grouping project by project, the Project field can be included as
the first grouping level.

Interval Grouping

In the Define Group Intervals dialog box, the drop-down choices available for various field
types are as summarized in the following table:

Table 2. Group Intervals defined

Field type Group on Start at Interval Notes
Range Range
Currency each any real any real When grouping by each value,
value number number $1.10 will be in a separate group
interval from $1.20 etc. In order that they
are in the same group, the user will
have to group on interval set to 1.
Currency Rate each any real any real
value number number
interval
Date Each Jan 1, integer > The date format used for display
Value 1984 - 0 will be the format specified in View
Minutes Dec 31, tab, by selecting the Tools menu
Hours 2049 and clicking Options.
Days The default for Group on is 'day'.
Weeks When the user chooses to group on
Thirds of each value, dates with different
Months times are placed in separate
Months groups.
Quarters When the user is grouping on
Years 'week', the starting day of week is
defined in the Calendar tab, by
selecting the Tools menu and
clicking Options. 'Week starts on'
setting.
Also, for the display of the year, we
will respect the 'Fiscal year starts in'
as well as the 'Use starting year for
FY numbering' settings also on the.
Calendar tab.
The 'Start at' datepicker for date
fields sets the appropriate value
depending on the 'Group on' item
selected. For instance, if the user is
grouping on 'month', the day and
time entered does not matter - just

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 the month and the year. The
grouping intervals are then
constructed forward and
backwards from that month and
year. The same applies to the rest
of the 'group on' categories.
Duration Each integer integer > This includes duration and work
Value >= 0 0 fields. The format for duration fields
Minutes will be as specified in the Edit tab,
Hours from the Tools menu click Options.
Days Also, in the calculation for duration
Weeks and work fields, we will use the
Months Calendar tab setting for Hours/day,
Hours/Week and Days/Month.
Integer Each integer integer >
Value >=0 0
Interval
Number Each any real any real
Value number number
Interval
Custom Outline Each NA NA
Code Value
Level
Percentage Each integer integer >
Value >=0 0
Interval
0, 1-99, 100
0,1-50, 51-
99,
100
0, 1-25, 26-
50, …,
100
0, 1-10, 11-
20, …, 100

Percentage/Number Each integer integer >

Value >=0 0
Interval
Text Each NA NA
Value
Prefix
Characters

Note that when the Group on value is Each Value, the Group interval is set to 1 and is disabled.
When the Group on value is anything other than Each Value (except as noted in the above
table), the Group interval can be increased to any number that is valid for the field being
edited.

Errors Associated With Start At Values 

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When the user enters an invalid value for Start at for a date field, the following message is
displayed:

Figure 32. Invalid value for Start at – Date field

When an invalid Start at value is entered for any other field type, the following message is
displayed:

Figure 33. Invalid value for Start at – Other field type

Errors Associated With Group Interval Values 

When a user enters a value for the Group interval that is out of the valid range or that does not
match the field type (entering text for a number field, for example), the following message is
displayed:

Figure 34. Invalid Group Interval Value

Grouping By Custom Outline Codes

When one of the custom Outline Code fields is selected for grouping, the following rules will
apply:
1. A grouping header will be created for every value in the lookup table for the specified Outline Code.
2. Tasks or resources that have a blank outline code value will be grouped at the top of the view.
3. Rollups for the non-Outline Code fields in the grouping header will behave the same as in other situations.
When the Outline Code field is one of the displayed columns, the rollup value will be the value from the lookup
table.
4. In a consolidated project, grouping will work across all tasks in all of the projects, ignoring the projects’ outline
structure, except if a project is collapsed, only the collapsed project summary task will be included in the
grouping.

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5. The order of grouping will depend on whether the group is by ascending or descending order.

Group Summary Rollup Calculations for Summary Tasks

General Rollup Behavior for Summary Tasks 

Users can choose whether to show regular summary tasks in a grouped view by selecting the
Show summary tasks checkbox in the Group Definition or Customize Group By dialog boxes.
When summary tasks are shown, they are treated like non-summary tasks, except that they
retain their default summary task formatting (but not their indentation). Outline symbols are
displayed for summary tasks in a grouped view, but clicking the symbol does not expand or
collapse the summary task’s subtasks.

Group rollup totals will include only the totals attributable to all individual tasks listed under
them. When summary tasks are included, only the totals directly attributable to the summary
task are included in the group rollup total. However, summary task fields will always include
both the totals for their subtasks plus the totals for any values associated directly with the
summary task, just as they do in non-grouped views. This can have the effect of displaying
rollup group summary totals which do not appear to be the total of their subtasks.

This behavior occurs because summary tasks do not store work and cost values separately for
their own assignments; but group rollup totals are based on the assignment values for any
grouped subtasks, regardless of whether the grouped subtasks are normal or summary tasks.
For example, consider the figure below first grouped by Start date and then by Work. View the
Group header Work:24hrs. Notice the Work header displays 16 hrs in the work field, however
Summary 2’s work field displays 24 hrs. Summary 2’s group level work totals 24 hrs, this includes
16 hours attributable to R2’s assignment on Summary 2 plus 8 hours work for task T1’s assignment
R1.

Figure 35. Group Rollup – Summary Task

Sorting and Filtering combined with Grouping

All standard sorting and filtering operations can be performed along with grouping, either
before or after grouping is applied. However the sorting options to permanently renumber tasks
and Keep outline structure are ignored and unavailable. When filtering is combined with
grouping, the setting for Show related summary rows are ignored. Sorting or filtering performed
applies only to the actual tasks or resources in the project, though the group summaries may be
rearranged in order to keep them with their subtasks.

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Sorting 

When sorting is combined with a grouped view, the tasks or resources are sorted within each
group. Group header rows always stay with their subtasks, and the last operation performed
(grouping or sorting) takes precedence in the arrangement of the group headers.

Grouping and/or filtering can be applied to a Network Diagram view.

Network Diagram View

When a filter is applied task nodes that do not match the criteria will be hidden.

The Network Diagram view is a task view, therefore task fields can be used in grouping and
filtering. Group Assignment, not Tasks is not an option in this view.

When a grouping is applied, the group bands or group summary records will draw across the
screen horizontally. The task nodes that fit that group will display beneath the band from
earliest start on the left to latest on the right.

The figure below displays part of the Network Diagram view, grouped by Complete and
Incomplete tasks.

Figure 36. Group bands in a Network Diagram view

The dialog box to format grouping is the same user interface as in a Gantt Chart view. The color
of the group banding, the font and whether to show summary tasks or not can all be modified.

When grouping in the Network Diagram view the Layout Mode is set to Automatically position
all boxes and grayed out. When you remove the grouping your custom layout will be
displayed. To locate the Layout Mode, click Layout from the Format menu.

Zooming into the view will not affect the group summary tasks size.

When printing, the Group label display to the left so that you always know what the group
band represents. In order to view field rollup information for a group, use the mouse to hover
over a band and a ToolTip will display the rollup information.

Edits can be made to tasks while in group mode but you will not be able to add new tasks.

Calendar View

The Calendar view cannot be grouped or sorted, however filters can be applied as in other
views. AutoFilter is disabled as well.

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 Chapter 6 - Splitting Project Tasks
Task splitting is a useful way to model interruptions to a task. For example, stopping work on a
task for a period of time and starting up again. Or it can take more complex forms, such as
assigning resources to different sections of the task, or to model a number of similar tasks as a
single task.
Microsoft® Project supports relative splits, not absolute splits. The difference is described below:

• Relative Splits. A relative split means that if the task’s start date changes, the gaps move with it. For
example, if a 5-day break must occur in a task exactly 2 working days after the task starts, regardless of
when the task starts, then a relative split could be used.

To Split a Task

You can split a task so that the task is interrupted, and then resumes later in the schedule.

1. On the View bar, click Gantt Chart.

2. Click the Split Task button on the Standard toolbar.

OR

From the Edit menu, select Split Task

OR

In the Gantt Chart right click on the tasks in question and select Split Task from the shortcut menu that appears.

3. Move the cursor over the task bar you would like to split, and then click on the task bar under the date where
you want the split to occur.

Figure 1. Splitting a Task

You can use the Split Task tool repeatedly to split pieces into smaller pieces, creating multiple
splits as illustrated below:

Figure 2. Multiple Splits

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The number of splits allowed per task is only limited by the memory on the machine.

Splits are sometimes referred to as gaps. In the above figure, the splits are represented by the dotted
lines. The length of each gap is called the span of the split, measured in working days. The date at the
beginning and end of a dotted line segment are called the split start and split finish dates.
You can use this method to split tasks only in views with timescales such as the Gantt Chart.
There is an alternate method discussed later in this section on how to split tasks in Usage views.
You cannot create splits in any other kinds of views and the Calendar view is the only other
view that will display split tasks.

Tip: If you drag a portion of the split task so that it touches another portion, you will remove the split.

Split Behavior

A split is relative to the start of the task, so when the entire task is moved to another point in
time, the split is moved with the task.

If the units of an assignment change, the split is moved, but the span of the split does not
change.
The split span is based on working time and not elapsed time.

Modifying Split Tasks

To Change the Duration of a Split Task

1. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart.

2. Position the cursor over the right end of any portion of the split task, until the cursor changes to an
expansion arrow.
3. Drag to the left to shorten the duration, or drag to the right to lengthen the duration.
If you click and move the last split section of a task without changing the duration of the task, Microsoft
Project will insert zero work between it and the previous split section. Extending a task in this way does not
increase the work on the task.
When you drag the Finish of the last split section, an outline bar is drawn for the entire task:

Figure 3. Extending the finish of the last split section of the task

However, if you drag the cursor back before the start of the split section, the outline bar snaps
back to the Finish of the previous split section, because if you release the mouse button at that
point, the new task Finish will be the Finish of the previous split section.

Figure 4. Dragging the task finish to the left of the last split section
To change the duration of the entire task, type a new duration in the Duration field. You may
want to move portions of the split task after changing the duration.

Duration and Splits

• Splits in a fixed-duration task count as part of the total task duration.

• Splits in a non-fixed duration task do not count as part of the total task duration.

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 The Before/After figures below illustrate the impact splits have on duration of the task
types:
Before splitting:

Figure 5. Effect of splitting on different task types section I

After splitting:

Figure 6. Effect of splitting on different task types section II

Extending or Reducing Gantt Task Portions

You can use the mouse to extend or reduce the duration of individual pieces. When you adjust
the duration of an individual piece, only assignments that have work at the end of that piece
are impacted. If an assignment does not have work at the end of a piece, then increasing the
duration of that piece doesn't impact the contour of that assignment, and decreasing the
duration of that piece will not impact the contour of that assignment as long as it doesn’t
decrease earlier than the original finish of the assignment.

The impact on the resource contour depends on whether the task type is fixed work or not.

Example 

This example illustrates the impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task, and how it
depends on task type. Split tasks T1 and T2 begin with identical schedules except that T1 is fixed
work and T2 is not. The sequence of pictures below shows what happens when the first piece of
each task is dragged to the right one day. Note that R2 on each task does not work to the end
of the first piece on T1 and T2.

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 Figure 7. Impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task and the effect on fixed work and fixed units
task types section I

Start with the same resource contours on split fixed work and fixed units task:

Figure 8. Impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task and the effect on fixed work and fixed units
task types section II

This is the corresponding Gantt Chart:

Figure 9. Impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task and the effect on fixed work and fixed units
task types section III

Next, drag the right end of the first piece of each task 1d to the right:

Figure 10. Impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task and the effect on fixed work and fixed units
task types section IV

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Figure 11. Impact of extending one of the pieces of a split task and the effect on fixed work and fixed units
task types section V

Corresponding Task Usage:

R1 had work at the end of the first piece of each task, so its contour was impacted when the
duration of the first piece increased.

• For the fixed work task T1: R1 originally had 24h spread over the 3d first piece of T1. The duration of the first
piece was dragged to 4d so now R1's 24h of work on the first piece of T1 has to be spread over 4d. That's
24h divided by 4d, which is 6h per day.

• For the non-fixed work task T2: Extending the duration of the first piece simply extends R1's contour, using
R1's units (work rate) at the end of the first piece, which was a rate of 100% (8h per day). Extending 1d to
the right at that same work rate gives 8h on Day4.

R2 on the other hand did not originally work at the end of the first piece on either task, so
increasing the duration of each task didn't change either contour for R2.

Notice that if you now drag the first piece of T1 and T2 back to the left to their original positions,
the reverse impact occurs, and everything ends up as it was at the start.

To Move a Split Task

Two methods that can be used to do this:

Method 1. Move the cursor over the first split section of a task until the cursor changes to the
move cursor , Click and drag the bar to its new location.

Method 2. Hold down the Shift key and click any split section of the bar and then drag the bar.
As the task moves outlines of all the split sections move as well.

To Remove a Split from a Task

To remove a split on a task, drag a portion of the Gantt bar so that it touches another portion.
If you use any calendar to specify the span as nonworking time instead of splitting the task, the
nonworking time will not appear as a split task on the Gantt Chart.
Linking and Split Tasks

You cannot create relationships where the predecessor, successor, or both are single sections
of a split task. You cannot create links between split sections of different tasks or between a split
section and another task.

Splitting Completed Portions

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Typically, you do not want to split the completed section of a task, however, the Split Task
command allows you to create task splits in completed portions of tasks and assignments.

Splitting an in-progress task with no assignments behaves the same as a task without progress.
Splitting a task with assignments similarly behaves the same as a task with progress.
 
Example 

This example illustrates using the Split Task tool to split a completed portion of a task that has
assignments. In each picture, the Gantt Chart is in the top pane and the task usage is in the
bottom pane, showing timephased Work and Actual Work.

The Split Task tool is clicked and then the bar is split after Day 1 and starts again on Day 4,
creating a 2-day gap in work.

Before splitting the task:

Figure 12. Splitting a completed portion of task with assignments section I

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After splitting the progress portion:

Figure 13. Splitting a completed portion of task with assignments section II

 
Dragging to reschedule the remaining section of an in‐progress task 

The Split Task tool is not being used here; you are simply clicking on section of a bar and
dragging.
The feature of dragging the remaining portion of a task to split it without the Split Task
command requires the following:

• Click the Schedule tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu). Select the Split In Progress Tasks option.

• In the Bar Styles dialog box, there must be a progress bar defined to run From Start or Actual Start to
%Complete or Complete Through.

If the Split In-Progress Tasks option in the Schedule tab of the Options dialog box (Tools menu) is
not selected, then you will not be able use the drag method to reschedule uncompleted work.
However, if the Split In-Progress Tasks option is enabled, then clicking on the portion of the bar
that is not progressed and dragging it, creates a split at the end of the progress bar and the
tasks resumes on the date where the bar is dropped.

Progress bars use the %Complete or Complete Through (internal calculation), which are both
related to Actual Duration. If the Tools Options, Calculation tab, Updating Task Status Updates
Resource Status option is not selected, then %Complete and assignment Actual Work are
independent, and you cannot split the task by manually dragging the uncompleted portion.

Creating a New Split Section

You can create new tasks by dragging the cursor while holding down the left mouse button.
You can also create new split sections the same way.

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Dragging in an existing task row to create a new split:

Figure 14. Creating a new split section

You can drag the outline of the new section to the left or right. If you drag the outlined bar until
you hit an existing piece and then release the mouse button, the new section is appended to
the existing one.

You can cancel the drag operation by moving the cursor off of the task row and releasing the
mouse button.
 
How work is assigned to the new section 

For tasks with assigned work, the following rules are used for assigning work to the new task
section:

1. For split sections created before the start of a task, Microsoft Project assigns only the resources that were
already scheduled at the previous start of the task and assigns them at the units they had there.

2. For split sections created between other split sections, Microsoft Project assigns only the resources that
were already scheduled at the finish of the section on the left of the new section and assigns them at the
units they had there.

3. For split sections created after the finish of a task, Microsoft Project assigns the resources that were already
working at the finish of the task and assigns them at the units they had there.

Split Tasks and Resources

Assigning Resources to Split Tasks

You cannot assign resources to individual split sections in the Gantt Chart or Calendar view. If
you assign a resource to a task it is assigned to all split sections of the task.

You can, however, edit the assignment time phased work contour so that the resource does
work only on specific sections. If the entire task is moved later, the contours move too.

Splits and Resource Contours

A split on a task automatically gives all of the task's resources zero work during the gap period.
The Usage views show the zeroes in the time scaled grid.
If a task has resources, a split is equivalent to giving all of its resources zero work during the
desired split gap.
To create a split in a Usage view, select where the split is to begin and drag to where it will
resume. Then from the Insert menu select Cells or use the Insert key.

If zeroes had been inserted for only one of the resources, then it does not create a split.

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Splits can also be removed in a Usage view by selecting a timescaled range in the grid in the
task row, and then using the Edit menu, Delete Cells command, or pressing the Delete key.

Splits Caused by Leveling

Leveling can also create splits. The Tools Resource Leveling menu command displays the
Resource Leveling dialog box, which contains the option Leveling that can create splits in
remaining work, as shown in the figure below:

Figure 15. Lower portion of the Resource Leveling dialog box

With this option selected, leveling may create split tasks if necessary to help resolve over-
allocations more effectively. When split information is saved, splits created by leveling are
flagged internally so that they can be distinguished from other splits. If you later click the Clear
Leveling button, task and assignment leveling delay is cleared, and only the splits created by
leveling are removed.

Storage of Split Dates

In addition to looking at zero work gaps, Microsoft Project internally stores pairs of split dates for
all splits on a task. Splits created with the Split Task tool in the Gantt Chart view are rolled down
to assignments if there are any, and edits to assignments are rolled up to the internal task split
dates. The split dates can only be observed in a Usage view by looking at periods of zero work.
There are no fields you can insert it a table to see these split dates.

Nonworking Time is not a Split

A split gap is different than specifying a nonworking period on project or resource calendars by
using the Change Working Times command, or the Working Times tab in the Resource
Information dialog box. It impacts the start and finish of tasks, but does not split them.

Split In‐Progress Tasks 

This setting is located in the Schedule tab; select the Tools menu and click Options.

Selecting this option is required to enable the following features:

• Remaining work on an in-progress successor task that violates a relationship with a predecessor task is
automatically rescheduled to honor the relationship with the predecessor.

• The Stop and Resume fields for non-summary tasks can be edited. If the Split In-Progress Tasks option is
not selected, Stop and Resume fields are still calculated, but cannot be edited.

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• These features, Tools, Tracking, Update Project, and Reschedule uncompleted work to start after, can
split in-progress tasks to reschedule remaining work. Otherwise this feature can only move tasks that have not
started (by giving them SNET constraints).

• You can click on the remaining portion of an in-progress task Gantt bar and drag it to reschedule it. This
creates a split that runs from the original stop date to the new resume date, and you do not need the Split Task tool
to do this.

Stop and Resume Fields 

Stop and Resume fields, are used to split the remaining portion of a task from the work done on
the first portion. The Stop and Resume fields can be edited directly if the option to Spilt in
progress tasks is on.

Editing the Stop field has the same impact as using the Update Work as Complete Through, Set
0% - 100% option in the Update Project dialog box.

Editing the Resume field has the same impact as using the Update Project, Reschedule
uncompleted work to start option.

In progress tasks are split when using the Update Project command form the Tools menu, click
Tracking with the Reschedule Uncompleted Work to Start option.

Figure 16. Update Project dialog box

There are two options that impact Stop and Resume dates and the use of the Update Project
command as follows:

• Split In-Progress Tasks (available through the Tools menu, click Options then select the Schedule tab). If
selected, then remaining work on an in-progress successor task that violates a relationship with a predecessor task
is automatically rescheduled to honor the relationship with the predecessor. Also, the setting must be selected in
order to have Stop and Resume dates, and for the Reschedule Uncompleted Work to Start feature to have any
impact on in-progress tasks.

• Updating Task Status Updates Resource Status (available through the Tools menu, click Options then
select the Calculation tab): If this option is selected, then edits to % Complete cause assignment Actual Work to
recalculate, at that percentage of the assignment work. This is a two way setting. Edits to Actual Work and Stop
dates cause %Complete to be calculated. When the setting is not selected, %Complete is independent of Actual
Work and Stop dates.

There are also two options that impact Stop and Resume dates when editing %Complete or
using the Update Project command as follows:

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• Move end of completed task sections after status date back to status date (available through the Tools
menu, click Options and select the Calculation tab). If this option is selected, this edits to %Complete move the
completed section of the task to end at the Status date, which is the same as the Stop date. The Resume date
equals the original scheduled Start.

• A subordinate option, And move start of remaining sections back to status date becomes available when
the parent option is selected. When selected there will be no split in the task. The Resume date equals the status
date.

• Move start of remaining sections before status date forward to status date (available through the Tools
menu, click Options then select Calculation tab): If this option is selected, then edits to % Complete will
reschedule uncompleted work immediately after the Status date. The Resume date equals the Status date + 1
minute. Stop date equals Actual Start plus Actual Duration.

• A subordinate option, And move end of completed sections forward to status date, becomes available
when the parent option is selected. When selected there will be no split in the task. The Stop date is equal to the
Status date.

Please note that setting a new Stop and Resume date does not impact existing Actual Work
contours. Only remaining work is scheduled on or after the Resume date, after the current
Actual Work already on the assignment.

The following apply to both Stop and Resume:

• If Split In-Progress Tasks is not selected, then Stop and Resume are NA.

• If %Complete is 0, then Stop and Resume are NA.

Assuming that Split In-Progress Tasks is selected and that %Complete is nonzero, then the following rules apply:

• If a task has no resources, then the task Stop is the date derived from Actual Start + Actual Duration.

• If a task has resources, then the task Stop is the earliest of all of the internal assignment stop dates.

• The Resume date is the first working day after the Stop date by default.

If you repeatedly reschedule uncompleted work, the split history is lost. Each time you
reschedule remaining work in Microsoft Project it simply assumes the current Actual Work was
done as scheduled.

Baseline and Interim Plan Split Information

Baseline Splits

When you save a baseline plan, the split information is saved with the baseline internally. This
means that the baseline bars can be displayed on the Gantt Chart with the splits intact.
Clearing a Baseline Start or Finish field clears the split information from the project.

There are no fields that display scheduled, baseline, or interim split dates.

You can use the task Baseline Start and Baseline Finish fields to move, truncate, or extend the
baseline end pieces, but you cannot adjust individual baseline split pieces, either through task
fields or with the mouse.

You can also edit task time-phased Baseline Work in a Usage view, but it has no impact on the
baseline split dates and the appearance of baselines bars on the Tracking Gantt, because no
calculations are done with baseline data.
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Interim Plan Splits

The Save Baseline dialog box (displayed by the Tools menu Tracking Save Baseline command)
also includes an option to Save interim plan. This option by default saves scheduled dates into
the Start1 and Finish1 fields. The Copy and Into drop-downs allow you to move saved plans
between any combination of Start/Finish or Baseline fields. Save a baseline means to save
scheduled information to corresponding baseline fields such as Baseline Start, Baseline Finish,
Baseline Work, and so on. To save an interim plan means to save scheduled information to
fields like Start1/Finish1 or to save one set of baseline data into another baseline.

Each task has two sets of bar styles and formatting, one for the task sections, and one for the
split gaps. All split sections use the one style of formatting and all split gaps use another.

Gantt Chart Bar Styles for Split Tasks

The "Show Bar Splits" Setting

When the Gantt Chart is active, the Layout command on the Format menu and the Gantt
shortcut menu displays the Layout dialog box, which contains the Show Bar Splits setting.

Figure 17. Gantt Chart Layout dialog box

If this setting is selected, then task sections and split gaps are displayed. If this setting is not
selected only whole task bars display.

Even when the setting is not selected, you can still use the Split Task tool to create task splits in
the Gantt Chart, but you can't see the gap you create. Also, you cannot drag individual split
sections unless they are displayed.

The Show Bar Splits setting is selected by default for new and imported projects.

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Bar Styles Dialog Box

When the Gantt Chart is active, the Bar Styles command on the Format menu and the Gantt
shortcut menu displays the Bar Styles dialog box, which is used to defined categories of bar
formatting. The Show For column determines to what category of task, task section, or split gap
that the formatting should apply. The split can be used in conjunction with other conditions.

• If split is one of the conditions listed in the Show From column for a specific bar style definition, then that style
can only be used to draw split gaps for tasks that satisfy the rest of the conditions for that style (if there are any).

• If split is not one of the conditions for a bar style, then that style can be used for tasks without splits and for
tasks with split sections. As mentioned above, if the Show Bar Splits setting is selected in the Layout dialog box,
then all tasks can only use bar styles that do not have the split condition, and those bars are drawn without splits
whether they have any or not.

Figure 18. Bar Styles dialog box with Split condition in Show For

Bar styles defined with the split condition can use the same Bars tab settings as any other bar
style, however you cannot associate bar text with them. The Text tab is disabled (grayed out)
when a bar definition is selected in the top half of the dialog box that uses the split condition.

Minimum Length for Drawing Splits

To avoid visual clutter in the Gantt Chart, split gaps are not drawn if they are under a minimum
size. The minimum size depends on the base unit of the minor timescale if it is displayed,
otherwise it depends on the base unit of the major timescale. The table below shows the
minimums for various timescale base units.

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 Table 1. Miminum length for drawing splits

Timescale Base Unit Don’t Display Splits Less Than…

Minutes 1 minute
Hours 10 minutes
Days 2 hours
Weeks 1 day
Thirds of Months 1 day
Months 2 days
Quarters 1 week
Years 3 weeks

Split Tasks in Calendar view

The Calendar view can display split sections but does not support editing them.

Split Split
Task Split Task
Task

Figure 19. Calendar view showing split task sections and gaps

Bar Styles Dialog Box

Split sections are formatted in the Calendar view by using the Bar Styles command on the
Format menu and Calendar shortcut menu. The Bar Styles dialog box contains a Split Pattern
setting. Each category of bar in the Task Type list gets its own split pattern. Only the pattern of
the split gap is controlled separately. Its shape and color are the same as the task section
formatting for the category.

Figure 20. Calendar view bar styles

Some sample Calendar view bar styles follow. All use a dashed split pattern.

Bar Type is Line.

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Bar Type is Bar and bar pattern is a solid bar. Note
that the split gap is always hollow.
Bar Type is Bar and bar pattern is a hollow bar. The
Shadow option is selected. Note that the shadows go
separately with each task section, but no shadow for
the gaps.

Calendar View Task Types that Support Split Patterns

The Calendar view only displays split sections for the following task types listed in the Bar Styles
dialog box:

• Noncritical
• Critical
• Milestone
• Marked
• Highlighted
• External

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 Chapter 7 - Entering Resources
Overview

Until resources are assigned to tasks no work is associated with tasks in Microsoft® Project, only
an estimate of how long the task should take to complete. Microsoft Project calculates the
work for a task when the resource is assigned. The distinction between work and duration is an
important when it comes to bringing a project in on schedule. Duration is how long the task will
take to complete and work is the amount of effort is needed to complete the task.

For example, painting the interior of a room takes one person two days to complete. However
assigning a second person to work along side the first, the job can be completed in one day.
It’s the same amount of effort, but now the duration is reduced.

In this lesson we will discuss the kinds or resources available, the required data set by default,
and the options that affect the work resource do, as well as what cost information is needed to
calculate total costs for a project.

Adding Resources to the Plan or Pool 

Resources need to exist in the project plan before they can be assigned to tasks. Creating a list
of resources is also referred to as a resource pool. The pool can be created in the Resource
Sheet view simply by entering names into the sheet or anywhere the Resource name field is
presented.

When a resource name is entered in Microsoft Project, a record is automatically created in the
resources database with basic default information.

The project manager can turn off the automatic addition of resource names, by selecting the
Tools menu, click Options, and making the change in the General options <filename> section
on the General tab.

Figure 1. General tab default settings

If the option Automatically add new resources and tasks is not selected then the user will be
prompted every time a resource name is added to the project plan. A default standard rate
and overtime rate for a resource can also be set in this tab. If the button Set as Default is
selected then all new projects will have the same default information.

There are additional ways to add resources to projects, resources can be pulled into the plan
using the Resource Assignment dialog box or by linking to a project plan that already has a
resource pool.
 
To link to an existing pool file 

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1. Open the file that contains the list of resources to be used.

2. Open the new file where the resources will be added.

3. From the Tools menu, select Resource Sharing, then click Share Resources

4. Select the file name that contains the pool and click OK.

The resource names from the pool file will now appear in the new project’s Resource Sheet
view. For more information about working with resource pool files see Lesson 22: Resource Pools.

Resource Information General Tab 

To enter or modify most resource fields there is a Resource Information dialog box (shown
below). Each tab and its features will be discussed.

Figure 3. Resource Information dialog box, General tab

The features in this General tab of the dialog box functions as follows:
Resource name. The name entered here can have spaces such as first and last name but will
be treated as one value.

Initials. This field will default to the first letter/s of value in the Resource name field.

E-mail. Optional, e-mail address can be entered. The e-mail address is used with collaboration
commands discussed in the tracking lesson.

Group. Optional, a text value can be entered for grouping and filtering purposes.

Code. Optional, for grouping and filtering purposes same behavior as group.

Windows Account. This button will pull Microsoft Windows user account information from the
address book of a MAPI compliant e-mail client.

Type. This can be either work or material. Work resources are people and equipment. Material
resources are supplies or other consumables used to complete a task of a project. The
differences between work and material resources are discussed in detail later in this lesson.

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Material Label. This feature is available when the resource type is material and explained in
more detail later in this lesson.

Resource Availability. This grid allows dates to be entered for when a resource is available for
working on this project plan and is independent of the resource calendar. This table is discussed
in detail later in this lesson.

Details. This button will access information from the address book.

Help, OK and Cancel buttons behave as in other dialog boxes and Microsoft Office
applications.

Resource Availability Table

Microsoft Project allows contouring a resource’s availability to reflect the maximum units of
work that a resource may be available for over the course of a project. This feature will be most
useful in defining available maximum units over time for a resource that represents a group of
multiple available units, such as engineers, because resource calendars already provide this
functionality for individual resources. Contoured resource availability is not available for
material resources.

For example, suppose a building contractor employs two electricians year-round. For May
through September, they plan to hire three additional electricians to handle increased summer
workload; and in August they know that one of them will retire. They need to reflect this in their
resource list or pool so that their project plans will reflect this variable availability and flag over
allocations, and so that the information will be available when leveling.

Resource availability is entered in the Resource Availability table on the General tab of the
Resource Information dialog box. The Maximum Units, Availability From, and Availability To
fields are available to insert in a resource table. Up to 100 unit changes can be specified for
each resource. In the table, the Date fields have date picker controls, and the Units field has a
spin control that increments by 50%.

Figure 4. Resource Availability Table

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Units. This field represents the percentage of time that a resource is available to work on the
project plan. The default is 100%, based on the standard calendar that equates to 8 hours per
day. Likewise if 50% was entered the resource would be available ½ time or 4 hours per day.

This value can also be displayed as a decimal. To change the default select the Tools menu,
select Options and click the Schedule tab and change Show Assignment units as a: from the
drop-down list.

Figure 5. Option to change default Units display method

 
Meaning of “NA” in the Resource Availability Table 

Before the table has been edited, the first row contains NA in both the From and To fields. Units
defaults to 100%, unless a different Units value has previously been specified. The units value
can be edited in the Maximum Units field in the Resource Information dialog box or another
Resource view.

NA in the From date of the first row of the table implies that the units specified are applicable
“from the start of time” until the To date specified. Similarly, NA in the To date of the last row of
the table implies that the units specified are applicable from the From date specified to the
end of time.

If the first From date or last To date is not filled with NA, but rather has a date, then zero
availability is assumed for the period before the From date or following the To date. If nothing is
entered in the
From or To date then NA is filled in by default.
 
Editing the Resource Availability Table 

In the Resource Availability table, all From dates start at 12:00 midnight, and all To dates end at
12:00 midnight. You cannot enter a different time of day here. This is so that the resource can
have its calendar working time set to any time of day.

The user is allowed to enter rows out of sequence, but when the dialog box is closed or the user
clicks another tab, the rows are automatically resorted by the Available From field.

When a user enters a From or To date in a new row, Microsoft Project will try to interpret the
user’s intent, supplying default dates according to the following logic:

If the user enters a From date and then moves to another row, check whether there is a conflict
with the date range in another row.

• If there is a conflict, the To date is left blank.

• If there is no conflict, the To date is filled with a date one day earlier than the earliest From date in the table
that is later than the From date just entered.

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 • If there is no later From date, the To date is filled with NA.

If the user enters a From date and then selects the blank To date in the same row, the same
rules as above are applied.

If the user enters the To date first in a new row and then moves to another row, Microsoft Project
checks whether there is a conflict with the date range in another row.

1. If there is a conflict, an alert will display (see the figure below).

2. If there is no conflict, the From date is filled with a date one day later than the latest To date in the table that
is earlier than the To date just entered.
3. If there is no earlier To date, the To date is filled with NA.

If the user enters a To date and then selects the blank From date in the same row, the same
rules as above are applied.

After both the From and To dates are filled, Microsoft Project fills the units with the same value
as in the preceding row, or with 100% if there are no other rows.

If there is a gap in the time periods entered, the gap will be considered as a period of zero
availability for the resource, but no row representing the gap will show in the table. However,
the user can enter a period specifying zero as the units, and a row entered in this way will be
retained in the table.
 
Consistency With in Rows 

When the user moves to another row and tries to exit the Resource Information dialog box, or
clicks another tab within the dialog box, Microsoft Project checks the row just edited for a From
date that is earlier than the corresponding To date. If this is not the case, the following message
is displayed:

Figure 6. Conflict between Availability from and Availability to dates

On clicking OK, the user is returned to the Resource Availability table, with the focus placed on
the row containing the inconsistency.
 
Consistency Across Multiple Rows 

When the user tries to exit the Resource Information dialog box, or clicks another tab within the
dialog box, Microsoft Project first checks for consistency within the last edited row as described
above. If no inconsistency is found, the entire table is next sorted by the Available From date
and then checked for inconsistencies across multiple rows.

If a row is found with a missing From or To value, the following message is displayed:

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 Figure 7. Missing To or From dates

If the user clicks OK, the row is deleted and returned to the Application view. If the user clicks
Cancel, they are returned to the Resource Availability table with the focus on the row
containing the blank date.

If an overlapping date range is found, the following message is displayed:

Figure 8. Overlapping dates

Resource Information Working Time Tab 

Generally resource calendars are used to determine how Microsoft Project calculates when
work on a task can occur. If a resource has a day off in the middle of a week long task then the
task duration will adjust to six days to accommodate the resources working time. There are
exceptions; Microsoft Project will display scheduling messages when issues occur.

The Working Time tab shows the resource calendar details. This is where the project manager
can enter exceptions to the working time for a specific resource, such as time off or training
schedule.

If a resource or a group of resources have a schedule far different than the default Standard
calendar represents, then assigning a new Base calendar is a more efficient option. For
example if this resource works a night shift schedule, then change the resource’s Base calendar
to the predefined Night shift calendar. If the calendars that ship with Microsoft Project do not
meet your organization’s need, then create a new base calendar. For more information on
creating calendars see Lesson 13: Calendars.

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 Figure 9. Resource Information dialog box, Working Time tab

Resource name. This field is for display only

Base calendar. By default all resources are based on the Standard calendar, which represents
working time for 5 days a week and 8 hours a day. A new calendar to base the resource
working time on can be selected from the drop-down list. Once additional Base calendars are
created they will then display in the drop-down list.

Legend. The legend explains the kinds of edits that were made to the calendar.
Select Date(s). This feature allows exceptions to be made to a Resources calendar, such as
time off or extended working hours and works in conjunction with the next feature.

Set selected Date(s) to. When a date/s is selected to the left, the radio buttons can be used to
designate nonworking or nondefault working time. If nondefault working time is selected then
the From and To fields should be edited to reflect the new working time.

Help, Details…, OK and Cancel are the buttons from the General tab.

Resource Information Cost Tab 

As a project progresses over time the cost of resources may change. In order to reflect that
change in the project the ability to enter multiple costs for one resource is needed. Another
case where different costs may be required is when a program manager wants to keep track
of one cost internally and another cost for billing purposes or a resource has more than one skill
and gets a different pay rate depending on which task they are performing.
Microsoft Project allows each resource five cost rate tables, labeled A through E. In each rate
table, you can define up to 25 custom time specific rates (a cost rate for a specific date
range). For each resource's assignments, you can choose one of that resource's five rate
tables. This is done through the Assignment Information dialog box discussed in Lesson 15:
Assignments.

Cost rate tables can be customized in the Resource Information dialog box Costs tab as shown
in the example that follows:

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 Figure 10. Resource Information dialog box, Costs tab
Note that the Resource Sheet field, Cost/Use, is labeled Per Use Cost in the Resource
Information Cost tab.
 
Rate Tables and the Resource Rate Fields 

The resource Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, and Cost per use fields, as listed in a resource Entry
table, have a two-way link to the row in the resource's rate Table A that corresponds to the
current date (in the Project Information dialog box). As the current date changes, the rates
listed in the Resource Sheet change to match the appropriate row in the resource's Rate Table
A

In the above figure, the current date falls between 02/04/02 and 03/04/02. The resource sheet
shows the rates from rate table A relative to the current date. Because the current date is
between 02/04/02 and 03/04/02, rates from the second row of rate table A are listed in the
Resource Sheet. When the current date changes to 03/04/02, the Resource Sheet will list the
rates from the third row of rate table A.

When you assign a resource to a task, the assignment uses rate table A by default.
 
Default Resource Cost Rate Tables 

When a resource is created, it is given the default standard and overtime rates as defined in
the General tab (from the Tools menu select Options). This default rate only affects cost rate
table A for the resource. The other cost rate tables, B through E, have their first line of rates set
to zero.

Figure 11. Bottom of the Options dialog box

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Editing Rate Tables 

Each of the rate tables for a resource in the Resource Information dialog box Costs tab consists
of up to 25 sets (for example, rows) of date and cost rate fields.

The default display for the grid is blank, except for the first row. For rate table A, the default first
row corresponds to the Standard Rate, Overtime Rate, and Cost per use fields as viewed in the
Resource Sheet. For rate tables B-E, the first row defaults to $0.00.

In the first row of a rate table, the Effective Date column always has "--" and cannot be edited.
The other three fields can be edited. You cannot delete the first row.

All other rows in the rate table can be edited or deleted.

Editing the Effective Date 

The Effective Date column in a rate table specifies the date on which the new rates in that row
take effect. Dates can be typed or the date picker control used to edit the Effective Date. It
uses the Date Format setting View tab (from the Tools menu select Options).

If dates are entered out of order, they are automatically sorted the next time the dialog box is
displayed. If duplicate dates are entered in the Effective Date column, the following alert is
displayed when you click OK.

Figure 12. Duplicate Effective Date alert

 
Default Values 

If you enter some values in a row (other than the first row) in a rate table but leave some rates
blank, they get their values from the row above.

If you enter some values in a row in a rate table but leave the Effective Date blank, it uses the
Effective Date from the row above, plus one year later, but not past the end of project time,
12/31/2049.
 
Selections 

You can select a cell or block of cells, whole rows, whole columns, or the whole grid, the same
way you can in a spreadsheet, except that discontiguous blocks are not supported (no support
for CTRL+click).
 
Copy, Cut and Paste 

You can use the keyboard to cut, copy or paste (CTRL+X, CTRL+C, and CTRL+V) data within or
between rate tables for the same resource while the dialog box remains open. In particular,
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copied data is not saved to the clipboard, so you can't copy rate table data and paste it
outside of the dialog box, or copy data outside of the dialog box and paste it into a rate table.

You can paste a cell or block of cells, whole rows, whole columns, or the whole grid within or
between rate tables while the dialog box remains open. Data is pasted into those cells where
the data is the correct data type. Invalid data types are ignored without an alert.
 
Insert and Delete 

You can insert a blank row into the grid using the Insert key. If you attempt to insert a row
before the first row of the grid, then the following alert is displayed:

Figure 13. Insert warning

You can also delete any row except the first row using the DELETE key. No alert is given if you
attempt to delete the first row.

Deleting a Cell Value 

If you try to enter a blank in a specific cell, then the previous value is simply reassigned.
 
Using Percent to Enter a Rate 

In addition to entering a numeric value for a rate, you can enter a positive or negative
percentage change, which converts to a rate when you press the ENTER key or move out of
the cell. The percentage is converted to a rate as follows: The new rate is 100% plus the entered
percentage multiplied by the rate in the corresponding cell in the row above.

Figure 14. Rate Table Instructions, Resource Information Costs tab

The ability to enter a percent change is a shortcut for entering a rate value. The percentage
you enter is not remembered once it has been converted. There is no permanent link to the cell
above the one in which the percentage was entered.
 

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Cells cannot be linked 

Changing the value in one cell in the grid has no affect on any existing values in other cells.

Resource Cost Accrual Setting 

At the bottom of the Resource Information dialog box Costs tab is the Cost accrual setting:

Figure 15. Cost Accrual setting on the Resource Information dialog box

Do not confuse the resource Cost Accrual setting with the Task Fixed Cost Accrual setting. They
are completely independent. Fixed costs will be discussed in Lesson 16: Costing.
If the resource costs accrue at Start or End, the total cost of the assignment is still calculated using all of
the appropriate time specific rates across the span of the assignment. Microsoft Project does not use the
rate at the Start or the rate at the End but rather uses all rates for the time period. The resulting cost
displays at either the Start or End of the assignment.
Note The accrual of cost is relative to the assignment, not the task. For example, if the
assignment does not begin when the task begins, then accrue at start means the start of the
assignment, not the start of the task.

Example 

This example illustrates how timephased cost distributes for variable resource rates and different
accrual settings.

The resource R is assigned to the task T, using rate table A as shown below.

Figure 16. Rate Table example

The figures that follow show the distribution of timephased cost for the three different resource
accrual settings. Note that in all three cases, the total cost of the assignment is the same.

Figure 17. Cost accrued at Start

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 Figure 18. Prorated Cost

Figure 19. Cost accrued at End

Resource Information Notes and Custom Fields Tabs 

There are two more tabs in the Resource Information dialog box. The Notes tab is a place to
enter comments that pertain to the selected resource. This is a memo type field that supports
rich text formatting.

The Custom fields tab is a place to enter values for custom fields. This tab will contain any
resource custom fields created in the project. To create custom fields see Lesson 26:
Customizing the User Interface.
 
Resource Fields that Reflect Availability 
 
Resource Availability 

Resource availability can be viewed in Resource Usage view by inserting unit avail. and/or work
avail. details in the timephased portion of the view. These fields are for reference only.

Figure 20. Resource Usage

Changing availability dates do not affect a resource’s calendar. Changes to resource availability settings
do not cause tasks to reschedule automatically, but will be taken into account when leveling. If resource
availability changes such that fewer units are now available than are required to complete tasks for that
period, the resource will become over-allocated and require leveling.
 

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Unit Availability 

Unit availability is a read-only field available in the Resource Usage view, containing the
percentage or number of maximum units that a work resource is available to accomplish any
tasks during any selected time period, as distributed over time. When inserted in the time-
phased area of the Resource Usage view, this field shows a time-phased representation for any
changes in unit availability for different time periods, as established in the Resource Availability
table of the Resource Information dialog box. Because the resource availability periods do not
always coincide with the periods represented by the resource usage timescale, the units
displayed for unit availability are calculated as average availability for the timescale period,
calculated against working time periods only and using minute values rather than hours in order
to account for small changes in the resource calendar.

Work Availability 

The Work Availability field is also a read-only field in the Resource Usage view and contains the
maximum amount of time a work resource is available to be scheduled for work during any
selected time period, as distributed over time. When inserted in the time-phased area of the
Resource Usage view, this field shows a time-phased representation for any changes in unit
availability for different time periods. The displayed amount of work is based on the resource
calendar and the Resource Availability table in the Resource Information dialog box, and is
calculated as follows:

• Work Availability = Unit Availability x Time in Resource Calendar (that is, 4 hours = 50% x 8 hours).

Max Units Field 

If there is no resource availability contour (the From and To dates in the top row of the Resource
Availability table both contain NA), the Maximum Units field in the Resource Sheet will contain
the same value as the Units column in the Resource Availability table. If the value is edited in
either location, the other location will reflect the change.

If there is a resource availability contour, then the Maximum Units field contains the current
Units value derived from the Resource Availability table and the current date as shown in the
Project Information dialog box. If the current date is outside the range of any period currently
shown in the table, then the Maximum Units field will contain 0%.

If the user edits the Maximum Units field, then Microsoft Project will update the Units value of the
corresponding row in the Resource Availability table. If the current date is outside the range of
any period currently shown in the table, then the behavior is as follows:

• If the current date is before any shown period, then a new row will be added to the table with a From date of
NA and a To date equal to the latest From date minus 1.

• If the current date is after any shown period, then a new row will be added to the table with a To date of NA
and a From date equal to the latest To date plus 1.

• If the current date is between two shown periods, a new row will be added between the two rows, which
chronologically bracket the current date. The new row will have a From date that is one day later than the
To date on the previous row, and a To date that is one day earlier than the From date on the following row.
 

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Default Units For New Assignments 

When a resource is assigned to a task, the default assignment units’ value is the lesser of either
the value of Maximum Units or 100%. The value of Maximum Units for the assignment is
calculated as the value from the Resource Availability table for the period, which corresponds
to the Start date of the assignment. The exception is when the value from the table is 0%, then
the last known Maximum Units or 100% whichever is less, will be used (because it makes no
sense to have a default assignment of 0%).

Note If a resource is based on a “split shift” calendar such as the night shift base calendar,
there may be cases where the unit assignment value is not calculated as desired. A calendar
must be set up with the earliest period in the day listed first even though the resource’s workday
really begins before midnight, whereas the From and To dates in the Resource Availability table
always begin/end at midnight.
 
Availability From and Availability To Fields 

These two fields are read-only in the Resource Sheet view, and will contain the values of the
period in the Resource Availability table corresponding to the current date. If there is no
contour, or if the current date is outside the range of any period currently shown in the
Resource Availability table, then these fields will both contain NA.

Microsoft Project offers two types of resource designations, Work and Material. The selection is
made from the Type field which is found on the Resource Sheet. Work resources are people
and equipment. Material resources are supplies or other consumables used to complete a task
of a project.

Material Resources 

As mentioned, material resources are supplies or other consumable resources such as

concrete, steel or cable. The Type and Material Label fields on the Resource Sheet enable
Microsoft Project to identify and manage material resources. Material resources are designated
through the Type field. The Type field allows the user to specify one of two valid resource types,
Work or Material, while the Material Label field indicates the type of units by which the material
resource is measured.
 
Setting Up a Material Resource 

Resource type can be specified either in a resource table or in the Resource Information dialog
box.
When resource type is material, the Maximum Units field in a resource table is blank and
unavailable.
When the user clicks in the Type column, a drop-down list is enabled with Work and Material as
the two options to choose from, as shown in the figure below. Once Material has been
selected as the type, the Material Label column is enabled for that resource. For more
information see the Material Labels section later in this lesson.

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 Figure 21. Resource Type field in the Resource Sheet view

When resource type is Material, the Maximum Units field in a resource table is blank and
unavailable. The Units field will be used when the material resource is assigned to a task. This is
explained in detail in Lesson 15: Resource Assignments.
Material modifications have also been made to the Resource Information dialog box to
accommodate setup of material resources. The modified dialog box appears as shown below
when a material resource has been selected.

Resources can also be added or modified through the Resource Information dialog box.

Figure 22. Resource Information dialog box

Items in the Resource Information dialog box are further described below:

General tab. Contains general information related to the material. Here the Type and Material
Label fields can be entered, as well as initials, group, and code.

When the resource type is material, the E-mail, Workgroup Collaborate using, Windows
Account, and Resource Availability grid items are all unavailable. When the resource type is
Work, the Material Label item is unavailable.

Working Time tab. Because Resource calendars are not available for material resources; the
Working Time tab in the Resource Information dialog box is unavailable if the resource type is
material.
Costs tab. All items in the cost rate table are available for material resources, but the
functionality is different than for work resources in the following ways:

• Standard Rate. Does not include the time value. Time value has a different meaning for material resources,
and is specified when assigning the resource. For more information, see Material Labels and Assigning Material
Resources in Lesson 15: Resource Assignments.

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 • Overtime Rate. Unavailable in the cost rate table for a material resource.

• Cost per Use. Cost per use is only charged once, regardless of the number of units of the material resource
that are assigned.

Otherwise, editing of the cost rate table is the same as for a work resource.
An example of the Costs tab, in the Resource Information dialog box, filled in for a material
resource appears in the figure below.

Figure 23. Resource Information Cost Tab

Notes tab. This tab shows any notes made related to the resource.

Custom fields tab. This field shows any customized resource fields built for the project.

Material Labels 

The Material Label field indicates the kind of units or materials that the material resource is
measured in, for example, gallons, feet, tons, or reams. After a resource is assigned, Material
Labels are displayed in the Units column of the Assign Resources and Task Information dialog
boxes, and are viewable in the Resource Names column in a Gantt Chart view or Task Usage
view, and in the Work column in Resource Usage view. The labels are also appended to the
detail style headings in the Resource Usage view, but are not displayed in the timescaled
columns of the Resource Usage view.

Labels must adhere to the following rules:

• Cannot exceed 32 characters in length.

• Cannot contain square brackets or the list separator character.

• Cannot consist solely of duration, work, or other reserved time units, although these can be used in a
modified form, such as by adding a period.

If a Material Label is entered that does not follow the above rules, the following message is
displayed:

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 Figure 24. Invalid Material Label

When the user clicks OK, they are returned to the dialog box or table where the Material Label
was entered, with the focus on the cell containing the entry.

Figure 25. Example of Material Labels

The next figure shows the Gantt Chart with these resources assigned to tasks. One unit of each
resources was assigned to each task.

Figure 26. Example of how Material Labels display

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 Chapter 8 - Assigning Resources
Microsoft® Project provides a couple of methods for assigning resources to tasks. The Resource
Assignment dialog box and the Task Information form, or splitting the screen and using the Task
Form, each make the process of assigning resources to tasks much easier.

Resource Assignment Dialog Box

The Resource Assignment dialog box is a floating dialog box that can be moved anywhere on
the screen. Once the dialog box appears, it will remain in the same place on the screen, which
is on top of the current view until closed or moved. It is available by choosing the Resource
Assignment button from the Standard toolbar.

Figure 1. Collapsed Resource Assignment Dialog box

This is a collapsed view of the Resource Assignment dialog box. It is best used when there are a
small number of resources in the file or if additional options are not needed.

This dialog box will display the names of resources already created in the project file. Resources
can be added to the project file by entering the names in this dialog box.

Assign. Selecting this button assigns the selected resource(s) to the currently selected task(s).
Resources can also be assigned from this dialog box by dragging and dropping them on a
task.
Remove. Selecting this button removes the selected resource(s) from the currently selected
task(s).

Replace. Selecting this button allows a user to replace one resource assignment with another
on all selected tasks. This is equivalent to deleting the assignment for the resource being
replaced, and then assigning the new resource to the task. Any actual information associated
with the original resource's assignment is lost.

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 Figure 2. Project plan with resources assigned to tasks

Task Information Form

The Resources tab in the Task Information form allows resources to be assigned to a single task,
or a group of selected tasks.

Resource Name. Resources can be created by directly entering names into the Resource
Name field. The dialog box provides a drop-down list of resource names already in the project
plan, as seen in the below picture. When a name is selected, the resource is assigned to the
task.

Figure 3. Task Information form with Resource tab selected

Name. This field displays the name of the task selected. If multiple tasks are selected then no
name is displayed.

Duration. This is the task duration.

Estimated. If checked then the duration is an estimate.

Units. The Units field in this dialog box is parsed in the same way as the Units field in the Resource
Assignment dialog box. Work values can be entered in the Units field, and Project will calculate
the units based on the formula, Units = Entered Work / Duration.

If only a single task is selected when the dialog box is displayed, the resources assigned to that
task will be listed in the Resources tab. If multiple tasks are selected, the list will be empty.
Task Form Views

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The Task Form view can be displayed in the bottom half of most task views by splitting the
window. When a task is selected in the top half of the window the Task Form will display only
information for the selected task in the bottom.

Figure 4. Task Form default view

In the gray area of the Task Form is information about the selected task. The fields below display
a variety of fields that can be edited on the assignment level. To change which fields display
select the Format menu and click Details.

Figure 5. Details submenu

Selecting Resource Work will display the Overtime Work field (among other work fields) where
the amount of total work that will be charged at overtime rates can be entered.

Selecting Resource Schedule displays the Assignment Start and Finish fields, for editing.

No changes to tasks will take effect until the OK button is selected. The Previous button will
change to an OK button when edits are made to the view. Previous and Next buttons navigate
through the list of tasks in the project.
Editing Assignment Start and Finish Dates

The information in this section applies to projects that are scheduled from Start. The process in
this section is reversed between Assignment Start and Finish if the project is scheduled from
Finish.

Microsoft Project remembers if you edited the Assignment Start and Finish dates and uses this
information intelligently when you make future edits.
The Assignment Start, Finish, and Duration fields are related by the equation:
 
Assignment Finish = Assignment Start + Assignment Duration 

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When one of these three fields is edited, which one of the other two changes depends on
previous edits.

• If you edit an Assignment Start date (but not its Finish), then Microsoft Project adjusts the Assignment
Finish.

• If you edit an Assignment Start date after editing its Finish, then Microsoft Project adjusts the Assignment
Duration, unless you make the Start greater than the Finish, in which case it calculates the Finish.

• If you then edit the Finish date (regardless of whether you ever edited the Start), then the Assignment
Duration is calculated, unless you make the Finish smaller than the Start, in which case it calculates a new
Start.
 
Assignment Start Date before the Task Start Date 

Entering time-phased assignment work for a date before the current task Start, or entering an
Assignment Start earlier than the current task Start changes the task Start to this earlier date,
and any assignments without actuals move back in time too. There are no warning messages
pertaining directly to this change. There may be other warning if the new task Start will be
before the Project Start date, or the task duration must change to accommodate the
assignment duration, etc.

Assignments Overview

Assignments and assignment contours can be confusing, so it is important to gain a firm

understanding of them. Before we look at assignment contours, let’s take a look at assignments
and break them down into some simple parts that we can use to discuss assignment contours.
 
Parts of an Assignment 

An assignment is created when a resource is assigned to a task. An assignment consists of two

levels: the assignment level and the assignment time-phased level. Within each level exists fields
that display essentially the same information. For example, there is a work field in both levels.
The way the fields of each level are calculated, however, is different.

At the assignment level, we have three fields that we are concerned with for this discussion:
Duration, Units, and Work. As we know from Lesson 7: Scheduling, these three fields are
interdependent and a change in one can affect the others. At the assignment level, we can
summarize the interaction of these three fields via the following equation:

D = U ×W

Where D is duration, U is units, and W is work.

Note For the purpose of our discussion, when we refer to the assignment level, we are not
referring specifically to assignment fields. The assignment level is referring to that area that is not
time-phased. In other words, it incorporates task, resource, and assignment fields.

At the assignment time-phased level, we have time-phased information that essentially displays
the information displayed at the assignment level in more detail. Contours, by definition, exist at
the assignment time-phased level. However, to preserve predefined contours, changes can
only be made at the assignment level. When changes are made at the assignment time-
phased level, a contour instantly changes to an edited contour. Edited contours are discussed
later on in this lesson.

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To understand how changes at the assignment level affect contours, we must first understand
the changes that happen at this level. We shall then look at how Microsoft Project recalculates
the assignment time-phased level based on this data.

Assignment Contours

What is an Assignment Contour?

An assignment contour is the time-phased distribution of resource units on an assignment.

(Note: In most cases, assignment contours refer to the distribution of work. However, in order to
better understand how Microsoft Project calculates the work distribution in a contour, we will
define it as the distribution of units.) There are two main categories of contours in Microsoft
Project; predefined contours and edited contours.

Predefined Contours 

Understanding predefined contours and their behaviors will help us in understanding edited
contours, so let’s take a look at them first. Microsoft Project has eight predefined contours. Each
contour takes an assignment and divides it into ten segments. In each segment, work is
calculated using the units predefined per that contour’s definition. Below are the eight
predefined contours and a table showing how each distributes units in each of the ten
segments.

Note Tables show the percentage of the units a resource is assigned for a particular time-
phased segment in relationship to the units a resource is assigned to a task as a whole.

Example. If a resource were assigned to a task at 50%, it would be shown as being assigned at
5% for the first segment of an assignment with a back loaded contour applied. (See table for
back loaded contours.)

The eight predefined contours and their contour definition tables are:

1. Flat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

2. Back Loaded

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 10% 15% 25% 50% 50% 75% 75% 100% 100% 100%

3. Front Loaded

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 100% 100% 100% 75% 75% 50% 50% 25% 15% 10%

4. Double Peak
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 25% 50% 100% 50% 25% 25% 50% 100% 50% 25%

5. Early Peak

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Units 25% 50% 100% 100% 75% 50% 50% 25% 15% 10%

6. Late Peak

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 10% 15% 25% 50% 50% 75% 100% 100% 20% 10%

7. Bell

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 10% 20% 40% 80% 100% 100% 80% 40% 20% 10%

8. Turtle

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Units 25% 50% 75% 100% 100% 100% 100% 75% 50% 25%
 
How Assignment Contours Work 

Assignment contours work in the following manner:

• First, Microsoft Project takes the duration of a task and divides the assignment into 10 equal contour
segments. This is done on a minute-by-minute level.

• Next, Microsoft Project applies Units to each contour segment per the contour’s definition as shown in the
tables above. Remember, the contour definition tables show the percentage of the units a resource is
assigned for a particular time-phased segment in relationship to the units a resource is assigned to a task as
a whole.

• The work for each contour segment is then calculated based on units and duration for the segment.

• Finally, the above figures are calculated for display in the time-phased segment that is specified.
What Happens When Changes Occur 

Understanding the definition of a contour and its basic functionality is important, but seeing
how it really works when changes occur in a project is where we really begin to understand
assignment contours. And to understand this, it’s important to remember the two levels of an
assignment: the assignment level and the assignment time-phased level. Because predefined
contours, by definition, cannot be edited at the time-phased level, we shall only look at the
assignment level.
 
Making a Change at the Assignment Level 

At the assignment level, making a change to duration, units, or work will cause a change in one
of the other two variables, depending on the task type. This is accordance with the following
equation:

D = U ×W
 

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Where D is duration, U is units, and W is work 

The changes that can occur when a variable is changed are reflected in the three tables
below. Each table represents a task type as denoted in the upper left hand corner. The leftmost
column shows the variable that is changed by the user. Each subsequent column shows status
of the variable upon making the change. A changed variable is denoted by the Greek symbol
delta (Δ) that is generally used in mathematics as the symbol to denote change. When delta
(Δ) is followed by the variable’s first letter, it denotes the variable that has been changed by
the user. When delta appears alone, it means that Microsoft Project has calculated that
variable’s value based on the change by the user and the task type.

Fixed Duration task Duration Units Work

∆D ∆D No Change ∆
∆U No Change ∆U ∆
∆W No Change ∆ ∆W

Fixed Duration task Duration Units Work

∆D ∆D No Change ∆
∆U ∆ ∆U No Change
∆W ∆ No Change ∆W

Fixed Duration task Duration Units Work

∆D ∆D ∆ No Change
∆U ∆ ∆U No Change
∆W ∆ No Change ∆W
Calculated Changes at the Assignment Time‐phased Level 

At the assignment time-phased level, there are three possible scenarios. These are reflected in
the table below.

When this situation occurs… …Microsoft Project does the following for
contours.
Duration and Units have both changed at the 1. The 10 Contour Segments are re-calculated.
Assignment Level (ΔD & ΔU) 2. Units are applied to each contour segment per the contour
definition.
3. Work for each segment is recalculated.
Duration and Work have both changed at the 1. The 10 Contour Segments are re-calculated.
Assignment Level (ΔD & ΔW) 2. Units are applied to each contour segment per the contour
definition.
3. Work for each segment is recalculated.
Units and Work have both changed at the 1. Units are applied to each contour segment per the contour
definition.
Assignment Level (ΔU & ΔW)
2. Work for each segment is recalculated.

Other Possible Changes at the Assignment Level

Changing one of the three variables (duration, units, work) is not the only thing that can affect
a predefined contour.

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Assigning Additional Resources to a Task 

Assigning additional resources to a task can also affect a current assignment contour.
Assignment contours will only be affected if a task has the Effort Driven option turned on for the
task (double click the task, in the Task Information dialog box click the Advanced tab, check
Effort Driven). Assigning additional resources to a non-effort driven task does not affect an
existing resource contour at all

• When new resources are assigned to an effort driven task, the first thing Microsoft Project must do is
distribute work on the task amongst the assigned resources. To divide up the work amongst each resource
(or to calculate each assignment’s work), Microsoft Project does the following:

First, Microsoft Project calculates a temporary value for the newly assigned resource’s
assignment work by assuming it was assigned without the effort driven option being turned on.
It does this by using the following equation next to the equation is the same equation with
values to demonstrate the calculations:

Dt 40hr
Wat = 40 hr =
Ua 1

Where Wat is the temporary assignment work, Dt is the task duration, and Ua is the assignment
units.

Next, Microsoft Project calculates a temporary value for the total work on the task by summing
all temporary assignment work values. This gives a value that we will call the temporary task
work, or Wtt.

Microsoft Project then calculates a temporary value for the assignment units (or Uat) by using
the following equation:

Wat 40hr
Uat = .5units =
Wtt 80hr

Where Uat is the temporary assignment units, Wat is the temporary assignment work, and Wtt is
the temporary task work.

Next, the effort driven assignment work is calculated using the following equation:

Wa = Uat × Wt 20hr = .5 × 40hr

Where Wa is the assignment work, Uat is the temporary assignment units, and Wt is the original
task work.

Once the assignment work is calculated, Microsoft Project then makes the following
calculations depending on the task type:

For a fixed duration task, Microsoft Project recalculates the assignment units using the following
equation:

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 ⎛ Wa ⎞ 20hr
⎜ ⎟
Ua = ⎝
Dt ⎠
1unit = 40hr
Usa .5units

Where Ua is the assignment units, Wa is the assignment work, Dt is the task duration, and Usa is
the assignment units scaled average.

For a fixed units or fixed work task, Microsoft Project recalculates the task duration using the
following equation:

⎛ Wa ⎞ 20hr
⎜ ⎟
Dt = ⎝ Ua ⎠
20hr = 1unit
Usa 1unit

Where Dt is the task duration, Wa is the assignment work, Ua is the assignment units, and Usa is
the assignment units scaled average.

Note The Assignment Units Scaled Average (Usa) is the variable that takes predefined
contours into account. When assigning new resources to a task that has an assigned resource
with a predefined contour, this value maintains the contoured assignment’s relevancy when
calculating duration or assigned units. This value is calculated by taking the average value of
the units from each predefined contour segment.

Once the new values are calculated, Microsoft Project calculates the new assignment
contours as noted above, using the new values.

Changing Working Times 

Changing working times may also appear to affect assignment contours. However, when
working times change, assignment contours remain essentially unchanged. That is to say, when
working times are changed, the contour is simply moved around non-working times. For
example, if you had a two-day task with a flat contour, inserting a non-working day (day two)
between the two working days leaves the contour setting at “flat.” It does not change to
“contoured.”

However, that in a literal sense (and too many users), the contour has changed. This is because
units have gone from being distributed over two days at 100%, to being distributed over three
days in the following manner:

Day One Day Two Day Three

100% 0% 100%

Actually, the value for day two is blank in Microsoft Project. However, it is important to understand how
other users of Microsoft Project may view contours. As noted before, many users define assignment
contours as the time-phased distribution of work. If viewed from this viewpoint, the contour appears to
have changed. It is important to be able to understand both views in order to explain Microsoft Project’s
behavior to others.

Moving a task 

When a task start date is changed the entire task will be moved to the new start date and the
contour will remain the same because the duration has not changed. The same is true for
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changing the finish date. However, if the finish date is changed by dragging the task, this does
change task duration and therefore the assignment contour.
 

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Assignment Information dialog box 

In a usage view when an assignment is double clicked an Assignment Information dialog box
will display.

Figure 8. Assignment Information

The features function as follows:

Task. Displays the task name of that the currently selected assignment belongs to.
Resource. The resource name associated with this assignment. Only one name will ever display.

Work. The total work for the assignment over the duration of the task.

Work contour. Names the predefined contour selected.

Start. The assignment start or the date when the resource is scheduled to start work.

Finish. The assignment finish or the date when the resource is scheduled to finish.

Cost. The total cost calculated of the task as scheduled based on work x standard rate.

Units: The effort at which this resource has been assigned to the task.

Cost Rate Table. The current Cost Rate Table applied and used in cost calculations for this
resource.

OK and Cancel buttons. Click OK to apply changes and close, click Cancel to close dialog box
without changes.

Edited Contours

So far we’ve taken a broad look at predefined resource contours and what happens when we
make changes at the assignment level. On many occasions, however, we may want to make
changes to an assignment at the assignment time-phased level. Doing so changes our contour
from a predefined contour to an edited contour. In other words, an edited contour is, by
definition, a contour that has been edited at the time-phased level.

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Making Changes at the Assignment Level 

When a change is made at the assignment time-phased level, we are actually creating a new
edited contour. Once a contour is an edited contour, it has different behavior when
responding to changes made at the assignment level. To understand these changes, we must
first understand how edited contours differ structurally from predefined contours. (That is, we
need to understand how contour segments behave in edited contours.)

As discussed earlier, predefined contours are divided into ten equal contour segments. Each
contour segment has a predefined level of units that is applied to that segment based on the
contour definition table. Edited contours, however, differ in that they are not divided into ten
segments of equal duration. First, the number of contour segments in an edited assignment
contour depends on the actual edits made. The duration of each contour segment depends
on the timescale in which the edit was made.

For example, suppose you had a 12-day task and you edited the assignment contour as
follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
20% 15% 20% 15% 20% 25% 40% 25% 40% 25% 15% 20%
1.6h 1.2h 1.6h 1.2h 1.6h 2h 3.2h 2h 3.2h 2h 1.2h 1.6h

Note In the time-scaled view, you cannot directly edit the units assigned to each time-phased
segment; instead you would directly edit the work. However, to better understand edited
contour segments, we will look at the units assigned.

In this example, you have 12 contour segments of equal duration. However, if you changed
your minor timescale to weeks, you would end up with the following:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

20% 40% 25%

At this point the assignment contour still consists of 12 segments of equal duration. However, if
we then make an edit to Week 2, our contour segments change. The five segments that make
up Week 2 become one segment with a five-day duration, and we are left with a total of eight
contour segments. In our example, if we change Week 2 to 38%, we are left with the following
contour segments.

Contour 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Segment
Number
Units 20% 15% 20% 15% 20% 38% 15% 20%
Duration 1d 1d 1d 1d 1d 1d 1d 1d

Notice that Contour Segment Number 6 has a five-day duration. If we subsequently were to change our
timescale back to days, we would see that units are spread evenly over the segment. In other words,
each day of the second week would have 38%.

It is important to recognize that contour segments are independent from the timescale units
that we view time-phased information with. When we change our timescale units to days, we

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do not suddenly have additional assignment contour segments. We are simply viewing existing
segments differently. This will be shown in more detail in the following example.

Now that we understand how edited contours deal with contour segments, let’s take a look at
what happens when we begin to make changes to assignments with edited contours.

If both duration and work are changed at the assignment level, contour segment length
proportionality will not be maintained. Instead, Microsoft Project will simply extend or truncate
the right most contour segment as needed. All other contour segments will maintain the same
length.
The way that changes at the assignment level affects contour segments of edited assignment
contours is detailed in the following table. There are three distinct scenarios for edited contours
when making changes at the assignment level. They are as follows:

Changes at the Assignment Level Reaction of Contour Segment lengths

ΔD, ΔU Segment lengths recalculated, proportionality maintained.
ΔD, ΔW Last Segment Extended/Truncated
ΔU, ΔW Segment Length doesn’t change.

Example 

Let’s look at an example that shows some of the possible changes and calculations. Suppose
we had a fixed units task with a three-day duration and that we edited the assignment contour
as shown below.

Day One Day Two Day Three 

38% 88% 50%
3.03h 7.03h 4h

If we increase the assignment units from 88% to 100%, we get a time-phased assignment
information as shown in the following table:

Day One Day Two Day Three

100% 100% 57%
4h 7.17h 2.9h

At first glance, it may appear that Microsoft Project is randomly changing our assigned units. In fact,
however, it is being very consistent in how it maintains our assignment contour. Because the task is a
fixed units task and we are changing units at the assignment level, duration must be recalculated. This
will cause contour segment lengths to change, but their proportionality to be retained.

This gives us a situation where our timescale units (days) overlap our contour segments as
shown in the following table:

Day One – 100% Day Two – 100% Day Three – 57%

Contour One – 42.94% Contour Two – 100% Contour Three – 56.5%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Now let’s look at how Microsoft Project makes the exact calculations to come up with the
scenario shown in the above table. The first thing that Microsoft Project does in this situation is

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calculate duration. To do this, Microsoft Project first calculates the assigned units scaled
average (Usa) for the edited contour by using the following equation:

Usa =
∑ Us
Ns

Where Usa is the units’ scaled average, ∑Us is the sum of all of the segments’ units, and Ns is the
number of segments.

Note Contour segments units are usually not the units for the assignment during a period of
time. In other words, Us does not usually correspond to the % allocation values found in the
time-phased portion of the Task Usage view. Rather, Us values correspond to the values shown
in the definition tables for predefined contours. In equation form:

%A
Us =
Ua

Where Us is the units for the contour segment, %A is the % allocation for the time period and Ua
is the units for the assignment.

In our scenario, calculating the Usa value gives us the following:

42.94% + 100% + 56.5%
Usa =
3
OR

Usa = 66.48%
When segments are of unequal duration, Usa should be calculated as follows:

Usa =
∑ (Usx × Dsx )
Da
Note Where x is the segment number, Usx is the Units of the segment number x, Dsx is the duration of segment

number x, ∑ (Usx × Dsx) is the sum of all segment units multiplied by their segment duration that is,
(Us1× Ds1) + (Us2 × Ds2)... , and Da is the duration of the assignment.
Once Usa is calculated, Microsoft Project then recalculates the duration of the assignment according to
the following equation:

Where Dt is the task duration, Wa is the assigned work, Ua is the assigned units, and Usa is the
units’ scaled average.

In our example, this works out to the following:

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 ⎛ 14.07 h ⎞
⎜ ⎟
Dt = ⎝
100% ⎠
66.48% OR Dt = 21.16h OR Dt = 2.64d

Because duration changes, Microsoft Project is forced to recalculate the assignment contour segments
while maintaining their proportionality. This it does in two steps. First, it calculates a ratio for the change
in duration. This is done using the following equation:

Dt 2.64d
R= .88 =
Do 3d

Where R is the ratio, Dt is the new task duration calculated above and Do is the old task
duration. In our scenario, R = 0.88.

Then Microsoft Project multiplies each contour segment’s duration by this ratio to determine the
new contour segment duration. In this scenario, all contour segments are equal and end up
being 7 hours in length.

Note When both duration and work change, contour segments are not recalculated. Instead,
the rightmost contour is extended or truncated. In such a scenario, if duration is increased, the
rightmost segment is extended. If duration is decreased, the rightmost contours are truncated
as needed.

Once segment durations are recalculated, Microsoft Project calculates a multiplier by which to
proportionately adjust our contour segment’s units. This is done using the following equation:

Uan 100%
M = 1.13 =
Ua 88%

Where M is the multiplier, Uan is the new assigned units and Ua is the assigned units. In our
scenario, M = 1.13 or

Next, Microsoft Project recalculates the assigned units for each contour segment by multiplying
the assigned units for each segment by the multiplier. The results for our scenario are shown in
the following table:

Contour One Contour Two Contour Three

42.94% 100% 56.5%

Microsoft Project then calculates what is displayed to the user based on what timescale is selected. In
our example, we are showing days. Because our contours are only 7 hours in duration, segment
contours overlap time-phased contours. Microsoft Project averages the contour segment’s units as they
overlap the time-phased segment and displays the value as the time-phased segment’s units. This is
demonstrated in the following table:

Day One – 100% Day Two – 100% Day Three – 57%

Contour One – 42.94% Contour Two – 100% Contour Three – 56.5%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Making Changes at the Assignment Timephased Level 

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When changes are made at the assignment timephased level, the change only affects the
timescale segment in which that edit was made. Note however, that the timescale segment
may overlap contour segments. Take the following table for example:

Day One – 100% Day Two – 100% Day Three – 57%

Contour One – 42.94% Contour Two – 100% Contour Three – 56.5%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

If you changed the units on day two to 50%, you would end up with the following:

Day One – 50% Day Two – 50% Day Three – 36%

Contour One – 42.94% Contour Two – 100% Contour Three – 56.5%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Notice that there are now have four assignment contours of varying length.

All edits to the timescale segment are spread evenly throughout the segment. For example, if
you assigned 50% units to a day and then changed the timescale to hours, you would see 50%
units for each hour as well.
 
Adding/Removing assignments on task with Actual Work 

If the task already has some actuals entered against it and then assignments are added or
removed, Microsoft Project keeps the task work at its original value and tries to preserve the
Actual Work values as well.

Adding an Assignment to an Effort Driven task that has Actual Work  

Regardless of the Effort Driven setting, the new assignment starts at the task current Resume
date (which is the earliest assignment resume date).

No actual work is added to the new assignment. Only remaining work is distributed among the
assigned resources. The task original remaining work value is distributed to the assignments
based on the ratios of their remaining work values.

Example 

This example illustrates the impact of the Effort Driven setting in combination with the different
Type settings, when adding an assignment to a task that already has actual work.

Resources R1 and R2 have already been assigned to the task T. Their time-phased work and
actual work contours have been edited as shown in the Task Usage view below.

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 Figure 9. Original Task Assignments

Notice that the assignments for R1 and R2 have resumes dates of Day4 at 8am and Day2 at 8am
respectively, so the task Resume date is Day2 at 8 A.M. (the task resume date is always the earliest
assignment resume date).

Next, resource R3 is assigned to the task without specifying the amount of assignment work or
units. Microsoft Project gives the new assignment the default units of 100% and gives it the
default amount of work, 24h, based on the current task resume and finish dates. It then
calculates the proportions of total task remaining work that each assignment would have had if
the task had not been Effort Driven. The picture below shows what the result would have been
for a fixed duration or fixed units task that is not Effort Driven. This picture is for illustration
purposes only. It is not displayed by Microsoft Project during its internal Effort Driven calculations.

Results if the task had not been Effort Driven.

Figure 10. Illustration of internal calculations

Microsoft Project internally uses the above hypothetical case to calculate the ratios that it uses to
distribute the original task remaining work value (48h remaining work, not the 65h work):

For R1: 8h/48h = 1/6

For R2: 16h/48h = 1/3
For R3: 24h/48h = ½

Because the task really is Effort Driven, the task remaining work does not change from 24h to
48h after R3 is assigned, but instead stays at 24h. Microsoft Project uses the above internally
calculated factors to distribute the original 24h of remaining work across the three assignments:

For R1: 1/6 of 24h = 4h

For R2: 1/3 of 24h = 8h
For R3: 1/2 of 24h = 12h

Once the assignment remaining work values are calculated, the final result depends on the
task Type as shown in the pictures below:

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 Figure 11. Task Type Effort Driven and Fixed Duration

Figure 12. Effort Driven and Fixed Units or Effort Driven and Fixed Work

Removing an assignment with actual work from an effort driven task

Microsoft Project displays an alert if you try to delete an assignment that has actual work. You
can choose to proceed with the operation or cancel it.

If you proceed, Microsoft Project removes the resource assignment and adds all of its work
(actual and remaining) to the task remaining work, which is then distributed to the other
resources in proportion to their remaining work. If all of the other assignments are already
completed, then the removed work is assigned as remaining work to all the resources in
proportion to their actual work.
 
Example 

This example illustrates the impact of the Effort Driven setting in combination with the different
Type settings, when removing an assignment that has actual work from a task.

Resources R1, R2 and R3 have already been assigned to the task T. Their time-phased work and
actual work contours have been edited as shown in the Task Usage view below.

Figure 13. Original task assignment

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Next, the assignment for R3 is selected and the Delete key is pressed, causing the alert shown
below to be displayed.

Figure 14. Alert when deleting an assignment with actual work

After clicking Yes to the alert, Microsoft Project then calculates the proportions of total task
remaining work that each assignment would have had if the task had not been Effort Driven
when R3's assignment was deleted. The picture below shows what the result would have been
for a fixed duration or fixed units task that is not Effort Driven. This picture is for illustration
purposes only. It is not displayed by Microsoft Project during its internal Effort Driven calculations.

Figure 15. Results of internal calculations

Microsoft Project internally uses the above hypothetical case to calculate the ratios that it uses
to redistribute R3's 12h of work.

For R1: 8h/24h = 1/3

For R2: 16h/24h = 2/3

Because the task really is Effort Driven, the task work does not change from 53h to 41h after R3 is
removed, but instead stays at 53h. Microsoft Project uses the above internally calculated
factors to redistribute the original 12h of work (actual and remaining) that R3 had before it was
removed. This increases the remaining work of R1 and R2 as shown below:

Remaining work for R1 increases by: 1/3 of 12h = 4h

New remaining work for R1 is its original plus the increase = 8h + 4h = 12h
Remaining work for R2 increases by: 2/3 of 12h = 8h
New remaining work for R2 is its original plus the increase = 16h + 8h = 24h

Once the new assignment remaining work values are calculated, the final result depends on
the task Type as shown in the pictures below:

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 Figure 16. Results on Effort Driven and Fixed Duration tasks

Figure 17. Effort Driven and Fixed Units or Effort Driven and Fixed Work tasks

Restrictions When Assigning a Resource to an Effort Driven Task

If you attempt to enter a work value when creating an assignment on an Effort Driven task, the
following alert is displayed:

Figure 18: Alert when specifying work

For example, the above alert is displayed in the following cases for an Effort Driven task:
In the Task Form view, you type an assignment resource name and assignment work before
clicking OK.

In the Assign Resources dialog box (displayed by the Assign Resources toolbar button), you
type a work value in the Units field before clicking the Assign button (if the task were not Effort
Driven, Microsoft Project would calculate the units for you based on the entered work).

If you attempt to enter a unit’s value when creating an assignment on an Effort Driven task that
has the fixed duration type, the following alert is displayed:

Figure 19. Alert when specifying units

 
Assigning Material Resources 

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Material resources can be assigned in the same dialog boxes and views as work resources. This
section discusses the general differences in behavior when a material resource is assigned.

• The option Show assignment units as a has no effect on material resources. Material resource
assignments are always displayed as a decimal value.

• If the resource is assigned in the Assign Resources or Task Information dialog box, the number of units to
be assigned are entered in the Units column. If the resource is assigned in the Resource Names column of
a task view, the number of units to be assigned are typed in square brackets ([ ]) following the resource’s
name; if no units are entered, 1 unit is assumed.
• When entering the units for a material resource, the user can simply specify the number of units, in which
case the resource’s default Material Label will be appended. For example, if the material resource has the
label “tons” and the user enters 4 in the Units field, the resulting assignment Units will display as “4 tons.” If
the resource has the label “gallons/hour” and the user enters 5 Units, the resulting assignment Units will
display as “5 gallons/hour.” Note, however, that this does not mean that a Variable consumption rate has
been set for this assignment. For more information, see Consumption Rate later in this lesson.

• The user can also enter both the units and the label, but in this case the label must match the current value
of the Material Label field; if the label does not match, an error message is generated. For example, if the
Material Label is “reams” and the user enters Units as “4 boxes,” the following message will be displayed:

Figure 20. Alert displayed for invalid unit lable

Consumption Rate 

When a material resource is assigned, the user has the option to specify whether the units assigned are
a fixed quantity regardless of the task duration (fixed consumption rate), or will change when the task
duration increases or decreases (variable consumption rate).

Fixed Consumption Rate 

Fixed consumption means that no matter the duration of a task, the same quantity of material
is consumed. The total work for the assignment will equal the units specified. To specify a fixed
consumption rate, the user simply enters either the number of units, or the number of units plus
the material label. The resulting assignment value will display as “<units> <label>”.
 
Variable Consumption Rate 

Variable consumption means that the quantity consumed is based on the length of the task,
that is, the longer the task, the more quantity is consumed. The total work for the assignment will
be calculated as:

Units x <time unit> x Task Duration

To specify a variable consumption rate, the user enters the assignment units followed by a
forward slash and a valid time unit. The resulting value will have the form “<units> <Material
Label>/<time unit>”. For example, if the Material Label is “gallons” and the user enters
assignment Units of “4/hr,” the resulting assignment value will be “4 gallons/hr.” In this example,
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if the task has a duration of 2 days and days are defined as 8 hours, the total assignment Work
will be calculated as 4 gallons per hour times 16 hours, or 64.

Note Because a slash is a valid character for a material label, it is possible that an assignment
may incorrectly appear to be a variable consumption rate. For example, if the user creates a
label such as “feet/day” and then assigns 4 units of the resource, the resulting assignment
would have the value “4 feet/day” but would still be a fixed consumption rate. For this same
example, if the Units were entered as “4/day,” the resulting assignment would have the value
“4 feet/day/day” and would then be a Variable consumption rate.

Regardless of whether the consumption rate is fixed or variable, in the time-phased assignment,
the total calculated assignment work will be spread across the time-phased segments
according to the assignment’s preset contour, just as for a work resource.
 
Consumption Rate Examples 

The following example illustrates a material resource assigned at a fixed consumption rate with
a flat work contour, as it would appear in the Task Usage view:

Resource Name Material Label Assignment Value Task Duration Assignment Work
Concrete Tons 5 Tons 5 Days 5 Tons

Figure 21. Material resource assigned at a fixed consumption rate

The next example duplicates the above assignment, except a front-loaded contour has been
applied:

Figure 22. Material resource with fixed consumption front loaded

The following example illustrates a material resource assigned at a Variable consumption rate
with a flat work contour:

Resource Name Material Label Assignment Value Duration Assignment Work

Concrete Ton 5 Tons/hr 5 days 200 Tons

Figure 23. Material resource with a variable consumption rate, flat contour

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Scheduling Issues and Calculations Related to Material Resources
Calendars 

Material resources do not have a resource calendar. Material resources are scheduled
according to the Project Calendar, unless a task calendar is assigned to the task, in which case
the material resource is scheduled according to the task calendar.

Effect of Task Types 

Task types affect only material resource assignments that have a variable consumption rate.
Behavior according to task type setting when a field is edited by the user is summarized as
follows:

Field that is changed Fixed Duration Fixed Units Fixed Work

Work Units are recalculated Duration is Duration is
recalculated recalculated
Duration Work is recalculated Work is recalculated Units are recalculated
Units Work is recalculated Work is recalculated Duration is
recalculated

This is the only case where material resources are not treated like work resources with respect to
task type. The assumption is made that users will regard the work value as a function of duration
and units.
 
Effect of Effort Driven Setting 

The Effort Driven setting has no direct relationship to material resources, because the work value
for material resources is not included in total task work. Thus, if a material resource is assigned or
removed, there is no effect either on task scheduling or on the assignments of any work
resources.

However, when a work resource is assigned or removed on a task that also has material
resources assigned, if the task duration changes due to the Effort Driven setting, the material
resource assignment duration will change. If the assignment units were Fixed consumption type,
total assignment work value will remain the same and timephased work will be redistributed
according to the assignment contour. If assignment units were variable consumption type, total
assignment work will change and will then be redistributed according to the assignment
contour.

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Effect of Changing Definition of “Day” 

If the definition of a day is changed (From the Tools menu select Options and click the
Calendar tab), the unit value for a variable consumption material resource assignment will be
recalculated to accommodate the new definition so that the total work value of existing
assignments is kept constant.

For example, if the definition of “day” is changed from 8 hours to 4 hours, that is, divided by 2,
an assignment that was originally 80/day will be changed to 40/day, and an assignment that
was originally 1/day will be changed to .5/day. If the definition is changed from 8 hours to 24
hours, that is, multiplied by 3, an assignment that was originally 80/day will be changed to
240/day.

Assignment Start and Finish 

Assignment Start and Finish can be edited, but this will have no effect on total work or units for
the assignment, only on when the start of the consumption will begin (see Effect of Task Types
above).

Behavior of Work Field 

Task Level Work (task views). At task level, work for a material resource is not included in
calculation of the Work field. Only work values for work resources are included. If only material
resources are assigned to a task, task level work will be 0 hrs unless the user has manually
entered a Work value.

Resource and Assignment Level Work (usage views). At resource and assignment level, the
Work column displays the number of units assigned, with the material label appended if
present. Resource-level work represents the sum of calculated work for all units assigned to all
tasks in the project. Assignment-level work represents the calculated Work value for the
assignment.

Time-scaled Work (usage views). Time-scaled assignment work can be edited and manually
contoured as for work resources, and edits will impact the resource’s total assignment work and
assignment unit values if the sum of the edited values is different than the work value before
editing. This is true for both fixed and variable consumption types.

The underlying assumption is that if the user deliberately edits time-scaled work, they want the
manually edited values to take precedence over the previous values, even if this means new
total work for a fixed-consumption assignment.

Leveling 
Leveling does not apply to material resources. The Max. Units field and Resource Availability
grid are not applicable to material resources, and the Over-allocated field is always set to No
for a material resource.

Importing material resource to a Resource Pool 

When a project is connected to an existing resource pool or imported into a pool or inserted
into another project plan, if a material resource has the same name as a work resource, they
will not be merged into one resource. Similarly, two material resources with the same name but

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with different material labels will not be merged. In either of these cases, the following message
will be displayed to alert the user that the duplicate names exist:

Figure 24. Alert when duplicate resource names are found

Entering Actuals for Material Resources

Behavior when tracking progress for material resources generally works the same as tracking
work resources, with the following exceptions:

• If there are both work and material resource assignments on a task, only work resources are considered in
calculation of task %Complete, task Actual Duration, and task Actual Work.

• If there are only material resource assignments on a task, task Actual Work is set to 0%. task %Complete
is calculated as the sum of all assignment actual durations divided by the sum of all assignment durations,
and task %Work Complete is set to equal task %Complete and is read-only.

• At the assignment level, if a material resource assignment with a fixed consumption rate has Actual Work
and the task Duration changes, the Remaining Work value will not change but will be redistributed over the
new remaining contour.

Resource Graph View

How the Resource Graph view displays material resources are summarized as follows:

• Because they do not apply to material resources, the following details are disabled for material resources in
the Resource Graph view:

• Overallocation
• Percent Allocation
• Availability
• Work Availability
• Unit Availability
• The availability line cannot be drawn for a material resource. If a graph is set to display any of the details
listed above, and the user switches from a work to a material resource, all bars will be drawn with 0 values.

• Unit totals only (without the associated material label or time unit) will be shown for the following details:

o Peak Units
o Work
o Cumulative Work

• For the following graph details, when in dual pane mode with a combination of resource types selected,
material resources will be ignored when calculating the total value for the Selected Resources bar:

o Peak Units
o Work
o Cumulative Work
o Overallocation

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 o Percent Allocation
o Remaining Availability
o Work Availability
o Unit Availability

If the selection includes only material resources, total value for these details will be zero.

Overtime Work

The following tables show the various work related assignment total and time-phased fields:

Assignment Fields 

Scheduled Field Corresponding Actual Field Corresponding Remaining Field

Work Actual Work Remaining Work
Regular Work Not exposed Not exposed
Overtime Work Actual overtime Work Remaining Overtime Work

Time‐phased Assignment Fields 

Scheduled Field Corresponding Actual Field Corresponding Remaining Field

Work Actual Work Not exposed
Regular Work Not exposed Not exposed
Overtime Work Actual Overtime Work Not exposed

The fields in these tables that are labeled not exposed, for example remaining regular work, can be
useful in discussing editing behavior, but these fields or values cannot be displayed and accessed in any
view. These unexposed values are mentioned in the following discussion. Refer to the above tables to
avoid confusion about which fields are exposed and which aren't.
 
Equations 

In general the following relationships exist in the above tables, across the rows ...

Scheduled = Actual + Remaining

and down the columns ...

Total = Regular + Overtime

Going across the rows in the Assignment Fields table:

Work = Actual Work + Remaining Work

Overtime Work = Actual Overtime Work + Remaining Overtime Work

You can also say that

Regular Work = Actual Regular Work + Remaining Regular Work

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Keeping in mind that the two fields on the right of the equation are not exposed.

Going down the columns in the Assignment Fields table:

Work = Regular Work + Overtime Work

You can also say that

Actual Work = Actual Regular Work + Actual Overtime Work

Keeping in mind that Actual Regular Work is not exposed.

Like regular actual work, overtime-actual values on the assignment level can be edited in non-
working periods. For example, it is possible to give actual overtime work that occurs on a
Saturday or other non-working days without first changing the resource calendar.

If a task or assignment that has overtime is moved to another point in time, then the contoured
actual overtime values are moved relative to the Start of the Assignment.
Overtime, Over‐allocation and Leveling 

Overtime work is ignored when Microsoft Project determines which resources are over-
allocated. If Leveling moves an assignment, the overtime work moves with it.

Splits 

If there is a split day on the Assignment contour, then that day does not get any overtime work.
 
Fixed Duration Tasks and Overtime 

You can have overtime on assignments on a fixed-duration task. The overtime shortens the
Assignment span, but won’t impact the overall duration of the task. For example, if a task has a
5d fixed-duration task and Bob is assigned to the entire task, then giving Bob 8h of overtime
work shortens his assignment to 4d with the 8h of overtime spread out over 4d. The duration of
the task stays 5d. In a Usage view, there is a blank for the assignment on the last day, not a
zero.
 
How Overtime is Scheduled 

Unless specified otherwise, this discussion assumes no actuals. The last two examples in this
section illustrate how remaining overtime work is scheduled when there are actuals.

When you enter overtime work, the regular work is calculated from

Regular Work = Work - Overtime Work

As you increase overtime work (but not bigger than work), the regular work decreases and
work is unchanged. The assignment span is adjusted to the lower regular work. Then the
remaining overtime work is distributed evenly over the new assignment remaining regular work
segments in proportion to their new spans, not proportional to their segment units

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For example, if due to calendar exceptions or detailed contour edits, an assignment is only
working for half a day, then the overtime work for that day is half of what it would be on a day
that the assignment is doing work over the entire day.

If you enter a value for overtime work that is bigger than work, then the work is set equal to the
overtime work and the regular work becomes zero.

Remaining overtime work is normally spread evenly over the remaining span of the assignment.
If there is no remaining regular work on an assignment, then the remaining overtime work is put
onto the last minute of the assignment.

The before/after examples below illustrate how overtime work is distributed, and how entering
overtime work reduces regular work and can allow the task to finish sooner. Overtime work is
distributed.
Example 1 

Figure 25. Before entering Overtime

Figure 26. After entering 9h assignment Overtime

In the above picture, note that the units on Day3 is 5h/8h = 63% and the units on Day1 and
Day4 are both 8h/8h = 100%, but that the overtime work was distributed evenly across all the
days that had work. Here's what happened:

• The increase in overtime work by 9h caused the remaining regular work to decrease by 9h to 21h.

• The reduction in remaining regular work truncated the contour from the right end, leaving only three nonzero
segments, Day1={8h over 1d}, Day3={5h over 1d} and Day4 = {8h over 1d}.

• The units and work of each of the three segments doesn't matter when distributing the 9h of overtime work.
It only cares that there are 3d total of remaining segment contours left and it spreads the 9h overtime
uniformly across those 3 days.

In Example 2 the same task from the previous example was used and 8 hours of work is added
to Day 5. Remaining overtime work will be redistributed over the new remaining duration of the
task.
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Example 2 

Figure 27. Enter time-phased assignment work in Day 5

 
Hereʹs what happened 

• When the span of the assignment increased from 4d to 5d, the remaining overtime was redistributed over
the new remaining assignment span. That's 9 hours of overtime spread over 4d of remaining assignment
span which is 2.25 hours of overtime per day.

Example 3 

The pictures below illustrate how assignment remaining overtime work is scheduled when
actuals are involved. Only the assignment record is shown. Work, actual work, overtime work,
and actual overtime work column titles are abbreviated.

Figure 28. Before the Actuals are entered

Figure 29. After entering 16h for assignment Actual Work

Figure 30. Next enter 4h for Overtime Work

 
Hereʹs what happened 

• After entering the 16h of actual work, there was 28h-16h = 12h of remaining regular work, spread over 3
days.
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 • When the 4h of overtime work was entered, the remaining regular work decreased by 4h leaving 8h. The 2h
in Day5 and 2h on Day4 were truncated. That leaves a day and a quarter over which the remaining regular
8h of work is spread.

• The 4h of remaining overtime work is distributed evenly over the remaining regular work span of 1.25 days.
Because Day3 has 1d of the 1.25 day span and Day4 has 0.25d of the 1.25 day span, the overtime work is
distributed in a ratio of 1d to 0.25d over those two days. I.e. Day3 gets four times as much of the overtime as
Day4. Also, the sum of overtime has to be 4h. That's where the 3.2h and .8h come from.

• Another way to look at this is that the 4h of overtime is spread over 5 quarter days. That's equivalent to 4h
divided by 5 half days = .8h per quarter day. That's 4*.8 = 3.2h for Day3 and .8 for Day4.

How Changes to Task Duration impacts Overtime 

If you change the task duration, then the overtime on an assignment only changes when the
change in task duration impacts the span of the assignment. This does not impact the total
amount of scheduled overtime work, but it impacts when that overtime work is done

• If the task duration is increased, Microsoft Project redistributes the remaining overtime evenly over the new
longer remaining span of the assignment.

• If the task duration is reduced, then Microsoft Project truncates the regular work contour of the task.

How Changes to Assignment Units impacts Overtime 

If an assignment has some overtime, and you change the units on the assignment, Microsoft
Project redistributes the remaining overtime work over the new span of the assignment. This has
the impact of keeping the overtime work and the regular work totals the same.

How Overtime is Scheduled Within a Day 

How overtime is distributed within days depends on whether that day is working or nonworking
in the resource calendar for the resource involved in the assignment. Overtime is never
scheduled on nonworking days, but actual overtime can be entered on a nonworking day.

• Working day. Calculated scheduled overtime and entered actual overtime are spread evenly over the
resource worktime for that day. So if Monday 8:00am to 4:00pm is working time in the resource calendar,
then any overtime on Monday is spread evenly over 8:00am to 4:00pm.

• Nonworking day. Entered actual overtime is displayed over the default task Start time and default task
Finish time.

Actual Overtime 

There are assignment total and timephased Actual Overtime Work fields. You can enter
overtime actuals for the assignment as a whole or on a timephased basis. When you edit any
regular Actual Work values, some of that Actual Work is given to overtime Actual Work, if any
was scheduled on the assignment.

The assignment Overtime and Actual Overtime fields can both be edited. The timephased
Overtime field cannot be edited, but the timephased Actual Overtime work can.

Edits to the %Work Complete or the %Complete fields impact the assignment Actual Work and
Actual Overtime Work values.

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Note There are assignment total and timephased Actual Work and Actual Overtime Work
fields, but no total or timephased Actual Regular Work fields.

How Overtime is related to other Assignment Fields 

This section discusses how various assignment total and timephased fields are related to
assignment overtime work and actual overtime work.

Editing Work 

The Work field shows the sum of regular work plus overtime work on the assignment. Editing the
Work field only impacts regular work data. The exception is when Work is set below the
overtime work value, then regular work is set to zero and overtime work is set to the Work value.

The table below shows sample data and a sequence of edits to the assignment Work field and
the resulting changes to assignment overtime work or regular work. The Regular Work field is
displayed in the table, but keep in mind that there is no time-phased Regular Work field.

Sequence o Edits Work Overtime Work Regular Work

Original Work, Overtime Work, and 20h 5h 15h
Regular Work values entered.
30h is entered for Work. This causes 30h 5h 25h
Regular Work to change.
4h is entered for Work This causes 4h 4h 0h
Overtime Work to change.
24h is entered for Work. This causes 24h 4h 20h
Regular Work to change..

Editing Actual Work 

The pictures below illustrate how editing assignment actual work impacts related assignment
and time-phased fields. Only the assignment record is shown. work, regular work, overtime
work, actual work, and actual overtime work column titles are abbreviated.

Figure 31. Before any Overtime Work is entered

Figure 32. After 6h of Overtime Work is entered

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 Figure 33. Next 5h of Actual Work is entered

Figure 34. Next change Actual Work back to 0h, and then change it to 30h

Figure 35. Next change Actual Work directly from 30h to 34h

In all of the above cases, notice that if actual work is nonzero, then:

Ratio of Actual Overtime Work to Actual Work = Ratio of Overtime Work to Work

This is true for time-phased values as well in the pictures, except for the picture Figure 13-30.

In Figure 13-29, the task assignment is done (Actual Work = Work = 30h). In Figure 13-30, the
actual work was then increased from 30h to 34h. The existing timephased actuals were left
alone, and the additional 4h of actual work was placed after the current end of the
assignment.
Editing Remaining Work 

Edits to this field can impact the span of the assignment, causing any remaining Overtime Work
to be redistributed over the new remaining span.

If you enter remaining work that is lower than the current remaining overtime work, then the
overtime work is set to the new lower remaining work, and the regular remaining work goes to
zero.

The pictures below illustrate how editing assignment remaining work impacts related
assignment and time-phased fields. Only the assignment record is shown. work, overtime work,
remaining work, and remaining overtime work column titles are abbreviated.

Figure 36. Before any Remaining Work is changed

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 Figure 37. After Remaining Work is edited from 30h to 26h

This causes the assignment work to be truncated by 4h. The remaining scheduled overtime
changes in proportion to the scheduled remaining work.

Figure 38. Next change Remaining Work back to 30h, and then change it to 34h

This causes additional work to be added to the regular work after the current end of the task.
The remaining scheduled overtime is redistributed accordingly.
 
Editing Actual Overtime Work 

If you decrease actual overtime work, then remaining overtime work is increased.

If you increase actual overtime work (but not greater than remaining overtime work) then the
remaining overtime work is decreased.

If you enter a value for actual overtime work that is larger than the current remaining overtime
work, then the remaining overtime work goes to zero and remaining regular work will decrease

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%Work Complete:

%Work Complete is actual work divided by (total scheduled) work. This is a task and assignment
field.

Edits to %Work Complete impact Actual Overtime Work and vice versa.

If you edit %Work Complete, Microsoft Project sets actual regular work to be that percentage
the total regular work, and sets actual overtime work to be that percentage of the total
overtime work. Changes in these assignment fields impact the time-phased fields as discussed
in previous sections.

Note Changing the %Work Complete may change time-phased actual work values that were
previously entered.

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 Chapter 9 - Costing
In the first lesson when the project budget was mentioned, we noted there are always costs
associated with any project. The budget can determine the final scope of the project. If there
are cost overruns then the project manager needs to take corrective action for the completion
of a successful project.

There are two general types of costs that can be tracked in Microsoft® Project, costs
associated with tasks, or fixed costs, and the cost of resources. Microsoft Project can calculate
costs for the project or they can be entered manually by setting specific options in the
application. This lesson will focus on how costs are entered and calculated; later lessons will
discuss how to analyze cost information once it has been captured.

Task Cost Fields and Calculations

Cost field. This field is the scheduled or estimated cost of the task. It includes task fixed cost and
resource costs. Microsoft Project uses the Cost field to add up fixed cost and resource costs to
display the total scheduled cost for a task, summary task or project summary task. The equation
used to calculate cost is:

Cost = remaining cost

The Cost field is saved to the baseline for historical information. The Cost field will recalculate
when changes are made to assignments or task duration.

Remaining Cost. This field is calculated based on the following:

Remaining Cost = (Remaining Work x Standard Rate) + (Remaining Overtime Work x Overtime
Rate) + Cost per Use + Fixed Cost
 
Fixed Cost 

Fixed costs can be associated with each outline level of a project for tasks. There is a Fixed cost
field that can be edited for the project summary task, summary tasks, and subordinate tasks.
Fixed cost can represent such items as renting a hall, travel by resources, or the cost for a
permit.
 
Fixed Cost Accrual 

The field Fixed cost accrual is used to determine when costs should be totaled. The options are
Start, End, and Prorated.

Fixed cost is prorated over the task duration. The Default fixed costs accrual can be changed
on a per project basis. The Default fixed costs accrual setting in the Calculation tab (from the
Tools menu select Options) allows the Default fixed cost accrual to be set for all new tasks in the
project, and the Set as Default button changes the default setting for new projects.

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 Figure 1. Setting fixed cost accrual default

When this value is changed, all new tasks created after the setting is changed, have their Fixed
cost accrual property set to the default value.
 
Fixed Cost Accrual setting for individual tasks 

The task Fixed cost accrual field allows the fixed cost accrual to be set for each task
independently. This field is in the default task cost table.

Figure 2: Fixed Cost accrual for individual tasks

 
Accrual Choices 

Start. The entire fixed cost is allocated at the beginning (first minute) of the task. It is added to
the actual cost as soon as there is an actual start date.

End. The entire fixed cost is allocated at the end (last minute) of the task. It is added to the
actual cost as soon as there is an actual finish date.

Prorated. The fixed cost is uniformly allocated over all project calendar working days within the
task, including over split task gaps, and regardless of resource calendars.
These settings also affect the way the task timephased fixed cost is distributed in the Task Usage
view.
 
Example 

Figures 3, 4, and 5 illustrate how timephased fixed cost is distributed for the different accrual
types. In each of the pictures, the Gantt Chart view is in the top pane, and the Task Usage view
is in the bottom pane, formatted to show timephased fixed cost.

The task has a split gap on Thursday, and the project calendar shows Saturday and Sunday as
nonworking days. Note that the fixed cost in the prorated example includes the split gap in the
calculation, spreading the $10 over 4 days instead of the 3d task duration.

Figure 3. Accrue from Start

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 Figure 4. Prorated

Figure 5. Accrue from End

 
Prorated Fixed Cost Contribution to actual cost 

There is no separate Actual Fixed Cost field.

When fixed cost is prorated, the % Complete of each task is used to calculate the portion of
fixed cost to be added to actual cost for the task.

Actual Fixed Cost = Total Fixed Cost * % Complete

Resource Cost Fields and Calculations

Cost per use field. Resources have a Cost per Use field. This field shows the cost that accrues
each time a resource is used. It is added each time a work resource unit is assigned to a task. It
does not vary with the amount of time the resource is used.

Standard Rate. This field value is entered for each resource and is used to calculate the cost of
regular hours of work as follows:

Regular work cost = Regular Work x Standard Rate

Regular work cost is not an exposed field in Microsoft Project’

Overtime Rate. This field value is entered for each resource and is used to calculate the cost of
overtime hours of work as follows:

Overtime Cost = Overtime Work x Overtime rate

Accrue at. This field determines when resource standard rate, overtime rate, and cost per use
will be charged to the cost of the task. The options are Start, End, or Prorated.

Remaining Overtime cost. This field is calculated based on the following:

Remaining Overtime Cost = Remaining Overtime Work x Overtime Rate

Remaining Cost. This field is calculated based on the following:

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Remaining Cost = (Remaining Work x Standard Rate) + Remaining Overtime Cost + Cost per
Use

Cost. This resource field is the scheduled or estimated cost of the resource. When a resource is
first assigned to a task cost equals remaining cost. As progress is reported the equation used to
calculate cost is:

Cost = Actual cost + Remaining Cost.

Actual Cost Calculations

Actual costs are calculated by Microsoft Project by default when updates to task % Complete
or actual work are made. The defaults can be overridden using the following options.

In Microsoft Project there is the option to edit task and assignment total and time-phased
actual cost (see Figure 6). There are three settings in the Calculation tab (from the Tools menu
select Options) that affect actual cost calculations:

Figure 6. Cost Calculations tab settings on Options dialog box

 
Updating task status updates resource status 

This option is selected by default. The Updating task status updates resource status option,
allows edits to % Complete to affect actual work, which in turn affects actual cost.
 
Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project  

This checkbox setting is selected by default. It is a local setting and is saved with each
individual project file. The Set as Default button can be used to change the default settings for
new projects.

If this option is selected then Microsoft Project calculates task and assignment total and time-
phased actual cost and you cannot edit them.

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The option, Edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date does not apply and is
inaccessible (grayed out).

If this option is not selected, then Microsoft Project does not calculate task and assignment
total and time-phased actual cost (for example, when you change % Complete or actual
work). This option allows edits to task and assignment total and time-phased actual cost. Actual
costs will have to be manually updated.

Microsoft Project still calculates remaining costs based on the normal calculations of remaining
work multiplied by resource rates. Microsoft Project continues to roll up entered actual costs
appropriately from assignments to tasks and resources, and from child tasks to summary tasks.

Edits to Total Actual Cost will be Spread to the Status Date

The option, Edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date is used to control how
time-phased actual cost is distributed when you edit task or assignment total actual cost. If this
option is selected then entered values will spread to the status date.
How Changing Options Affects Existing Data 

Changing the option Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project has the following
effect on existing actual cost data:

Changing the setting from on to off (selected to unselected)

If the setting is currently selected, then any existing actual cost data is calculated by Microsoft
Project. If the setting is unselected, existing data is unchanged, and edits are allowed to actual
costs.

Changing the setting from off to on (selected to unselected)

If the setting is off, then any existing actual cost data was either calculated by Microsoft Project
earlier when the setting was on, or the data was manually entered. If the setting is then
selected, all existing actual cost is thrown out and Microsoft Project recalculates actual costs.
The user will be alerted before any actuals are recalculated (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Actual costs calculated by Microsoft Project alert

 
How edits to total actual cost are distributed  

When the option Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project is turned off, then
edits to actual cost are allowed. If there are no time-phased edits to actual cost, and a total
actual cost is entered, then it is spread between the task and assignment start and stop date
(stop date is the date where the actuals for a task end).

When total actual cost is increased for a task or assignment and the current stop date is later
than the latest date of existing entered or calculated time-phased actual cost, then the
increase in the total actual cost spreads between the latest date with calculated or entered

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actual cost and the task or assignment current stop date. However, if the current stop date is
earlier or the same as the latest date with calculated or entered actual cost, then the total
actual cost spreads between the task or assignment start and stop dates, overwriting existing
actuals.

If task or assignment total actual cost is decreased, then it is spread between the task or
assignment start and stop dates, overwriting existing values.

If the Edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date option is selected:

If there are no time-phased edits to actual cost and you edit the total actual cost, then it is
spread between the task and assignment start and the status date (as defined in the Project
Information dialog box).

If you increase task or assignment total actual cost, and the status date is later than the latest
date with actual cost, then the increase in actual cost is spread between the latest date with
actual cost and the status date. However, if the status date is earlier or the same as the latest
date with actual cost, then the total actual cost is spread between the task or assignment start
and the status date, ignoring existing values.

If you decrease task or assignment total actual cost, then it is spread between the task or
assignment start and the status date, ignoring existing values.

In all cases, if the status date is before the task or assignment start date, then the total actual
cost occurs on the status date.
 
Examples 

Figure 8 illustrates the impacts of the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project
option and the Edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date option. All parts of the
example involve the resource R assigned to the 4d task T. The resource has a Standard Rate of
$10.00/hour. The Task Usage view is shown in each picture.

A. Initially, the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project option is not selected, and the Edits
to total actual cost will be spread to the status date option is not selected. No actuals have been
entered yet.

Figure 8. Before entering actuals

B. In Figure 9, 16h is entered for the assignment total actual work. Microsoft Project is now only calculating
timephased actual cost corresponding to the Remaining Work.

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 Figure 9. Actual work entered

C. In Figure 10, $150 is entered for the assignment total actual cost. Microsoft Project distributes it only over
the part of the assignment that has time-phased actual work, because the edits to total actual cost will be
spread to the status date option is not selected.

Figure 10. Actual cost entered

D. In Figure 11, $400 is entered for the assignment total actual cost. Microsoft Project again distributes it
only over the part of the assignment that has timephased actual work.

Figure 11. Additional actual costs entered

E. In Figure 12, the edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date option is selected, and the
status date in the Project Information dialog box is set to 02/08/02.

Then $700 is entered for the assignment total actual cost. This time Microsoft Project
calculates the amount of the increase, $700 - $400 = $300, and distributes that amount
between the previous latest date that had actual cost (2/5) and the status date (2/8). So,
the $300 increase is spread over 2/6, 6/7, and 6/8, resulting in $100 per day for those 3
days.

Note that the assignment finish date is irrelevant. The actual cost gets spread to the status
date, which happens to be greater than the assignment finish in this case.

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 Figure 12. Actual costs spread to the status date

The finish date for the assignment and the task is still 2/7. But the status date is 2/8. The actual
cost is literally spread to the status date even though no work is occurring on 2/8.

F. In Figure 13, $0 is entered for the assignment total actual cost.

Figure 13. New actual costs entered

G. In Figure 14, $700 is entered again for the assignment total actual cost. Now the increase is the full $700.
Because there wasn’t any previous timephased actual cost the $700 is distributed between the start of the
assignment and the status date. That results in $140 per day for the five days from 2/4 to 2/8.

Figure 14. New actual costs entered

H. In Figure 15, the Actual costs are always calculated by Microsoft Project option is selected, rendering the
edits to total actual cost will be spread to the status date option irrelevant.

An alert is displayed and then timephased actual cost is recalculated based on the
distribution of actual work. Previous edits to actual cost are lost. Note that the assignment
total actual cost is recalculated as $160.00 (8h of actual work multiplied by $10/h standard
rate).

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 Figure 15. Actual costs calculated by Microsoft Project selected

Edits to time‐phased actual cost 

When you edit the value in a time-phased actual cost cell, the value is distributed uniformly
within the cell as follows:

If there is working time in the cell, the value is distributed only over the working time. For
example, if you are using standard working times, and if the timescale is formatted so one cell is
one week long, then entering a value for time-phased actual cost in a cell distributes the value
uniformly across the five standard working days within the cell.

Task Start and Finish not considered 

Unlike time-phased work edits that take the task start and task finish into consideration, time-
phased edits to actual cost do not depend on whether or not a cell contains the task start and
task finish, so you could end up distributing actual cost outside of the task. This is consistent with
the fact that you are allowed to enter actual cost in a cell that is entirely outside the task or
that consists entirely of nonworking time.

Actual cost calculations that roll up or down 

Edits to assignment total or time-phased actual cost, roll up to the parent task and from there
up to summary tasks if any.

Edits to task total or time-phased actual cost roll up to the parent summary tasks if any and also
roll down to the assignments if any.

Task total or time-phased actual cost rolls down to assignments in proportion to total actual
work on the assignments, or in proportion to the total Work on the assignments if there is no
actual work. This is true for both total and time-phased actual cost roll downs.

The proportion of assignment time-phased actual work or work is never used to roll down task
total or time-phased actual cost. This is different from the way task time-phased Work rolls
down. Assignment time-phased Work proportions are used to roll task Work down to
assignments.

For example, if there are three assignments on a task and only one of the assignments has
actual work, then any edits to the task actual cost are only rolled down to the assignment that
has an actual work value. If two assignments have actual work values, then the task actual cost
is distributed to those two assignments in proportion to the amount of actual work that each
has.

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Roll down calculations affect only existing assignments at the time of the edit to task actual
cost. Roll down calculations do not automatically recalculate each time you add a new
assignment to a task.

If you remove an assignment that has actual cost from a task, the assignment costs roll up
again to the task. The task ends up with a lower actual cost value. An alert is displayed to warn
you that you are about to lose some actual cost data.

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 Chapter 10 - Leveling Overview
What is Resource Leveling?

Resource leveling is a way to resolve having too much work assigned to resources, known as
resource over-allocation.

One way to level is to delay a task until the assigned resource has time to work on it.

Another method is to split a task, so that part of a task is done when planned, and the rest of it
is done later when the assigned resource has time.

Resources can be leveled by the user or Microsoft Project can level resources. The Microsoft
Project leveling feature examines the following factors to determine which tasks should be
delayed or split:

• Task ID
• Available slack time
• Task priority
• Task duration
• Task constraints
• Scheduling dates
• Resource availability
• Resource assignment units

When Microsoft Project levels resources, it does not change resource assignments, and it does
not change task information. It only delays or splits tasks.

When the user levels resources, the same factors should be taken into consideration, and the
task or resource adjusted to resolve over-allocations. For example, the task can be delayed, or
additional resources assigned.

The methods chosen to reduce over-allocations depend on the limitations of the project,
including budget, resource availability, finish date, and the amount of flexibility available for
scheduling tasks.

Over‐allocated Resource Defined 

An over-allocated resource has more work assigned than can be done in the resource's
available time. When Microsoft Project schedules tasks, it calculates the schedule based on the
requirements of the task, not the availability of resources assigned. For example, Susan's
availability is eight hours a day; however, Microsoft Project might still schedule one four-hour
task and one eight-hour task assigned to her for the same day. It's not until Susan's over-
allocation is leveled that this conflict is resolved.

Over-allocations can result from the following:

• A resource being assigned to work full-time on more than one task simultaneously.
• Increased duration of tasks.
• Increased assignment units to resources.
• Decreased unit availability for resources.
• A resource being assigned to a summary task as well as one or more of the subtasks.

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When and Why Resources should be Levelled 

Resources should be leveled when there are known over-allocations and only after all
information about task scheduling and resource availability has been entered. Resource
leveling should not be relied on to schedule a project. Leveling will not optimize a project
schedule.

Over-allocations can be identified when reviewing any Resource view (such as Resource Usage
view, Resource Sheet, or Resource Graph), over-allocated resources are highlighted in red.
Over-allocations can be seen in single projects as well as resources shared across multiple
projects.
When entering information about task scheduling, the following should be kept in mind to help
reduce over-allocations:

• If tasks occur in a sequence, enter task dependencies to create that sequence.

• Use date constraints (such as must start on and must finish on) only when required. Constraints limit the
adjustments that Microsoft Project can make when determining which tasks to level.

• Use priorities sparingly. Use a task priority 1000 (meaning do not level this task) only when a task absolutely
cannot be delayed or split or when other tasks have the flexibility to be delayed or split if leveling is
necessary. The following guide can help you decide what priority to set to a task:

Microsoft Project Value

Do not Level 901 – 1000
Highest 801 – 900
Very High 701 – 800
Higher 601 – 700
High 501 – 600
Medium 401 – 500
Low 301 – 400
Lower 201 – 300
Very Low 101 – 200
Lowest 1 – 100

Priority values can also be used to set the priority of project summary tasks (set in the Project
Information dialog box). Because of this, inserted projects can contain a priority level and this
priority can be taken into account when leveling multiple inserted projects.

Note Leveling ignores any overtime work when looking for over-allocations that need to be
resolved.
 
Leveling Results 

When Microsoft Project levels an over-allocated resource, certain tasks assigned to this
resource are split or delayed. The split or delayed tasks are then scheduled for when the
resource has time to work on them

You can see the results of leveling in the Leveling Gantt, which graphically shows pre-leveled
values compared with post-leveled values, including newly added task delays and splits.

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Which tasks are delayed or split first depends on the leveling order chosen in the Resource
Leveling dialog box: Standard, ID Only, or Priority and Standard. With the standard leveling
order, Microsoft Project examines predecessor dependencies, slack time, dates, constraints,
and priorities. When leveling by ID, Microsoft Project simply goes down the task list in order by
task ID. When leveling by Priority and Standard, Microsoft Project first examines any task,
summary task, or a project priority set, and then examines the standard factors.

Two types of delay can be added in your schedule: assignment delay and leveling delay.
Assignment delay indicates how much time an assigned resource should wait after the task’s
start date before starting work on the assignment. Assignment delay can be added by the user
to relieve resource over-allocations. Be aware that when leveling delay is added manually, this
value is cleared when the

Clear Leveling or Level Now button in the Resource Leveling dialog box is clicked.

Keep in mind that leveling does not:

• Reassign tasks
• Reassign units
• Level material resources, only people and equipment resources
 
Manual Leveling 

Resolving over-allocations manually can be useful when Microsoft Project's leveling doesn't
result in the schedule or assignment adjustments desired or when more control over exactly
how over-allocations are alleviated is required.

To resolve over-allocations, tasks can be adjusted to:

• Reduce a task's duration, so the assigned resources have more time for other tasks.
• Delay a task using the Leveling Delay field.
• Split a task

Note With these methods, the finish date may be extended, which also happens when you use
Microsoft Project to level resources.

• Change the resources assigned to the task.

• Change a resource's unit availability.
• Assign more resources to tasks to redistribute the work.
• Replace an over-allocated resource with an under-allocated one.
• Remove an over-allocated resource from an assignment.
• Adjust or contour the amount of work assigned to the resource.
• You can also account for over-allocations, rather than resolve them, by adding overtime.

You should aim to delay tasks first with free slack and then total slack (see Figure 1):

Free slack. Time a task can be delayed without affecting another task.

Total slack. Time a task can be delayed without affecting the critical path.

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 Figure 1. Table View showing Free Slack and Total Slack

Leveling Basics

To Carry Out Basic Leveling

1. From the View menu, click Resource Sheet.

2. Select the rows or names of the resources you want to level. To select multiple adjacent resources, click the
first resource, hold down SHIFT, and then select the last resource. To select multiple nonadjacent
resources, click the first resource, hold down CTRL, and then click the other resources.

3. From the Tools menu, click Resource Leveling. Make sure that the Manual leveling option is selected,
this means that Microsoft Project will level only when you click the Level Now. Automatic leveling levels
resources instantaneously when you change a task or resource.

4. Under Leveling range for… select whether the entire project should be leveled or only those tasks falling
within a specific time range.

5. After clicking Level Now a dialog box will display, Choose to level selected resources. Note that it is
possible to level the entire resource pool as well.

6. Microsoft Project will level your selected resources accordingly (Figure 2).

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 Figure 2. Resource Leveling dialog box

Note Leveling tasks in projects scheduled from a finish date will have negative delay values
applied to them. This will cause a task or resource assignments finish date to occur earlier
because the delay will be applied from the finish of the task or assignment.

Resource Leveling Dialog Box Controls 

As previously described, the Resource Leveling dialog box can be accessed from the Tools
menu. A discussion of the controls in the Resource Leveling dialog box follows below.
 
Automatic/Manual 

The default setting is Manual. This option determines whether leveling is done all the time or
only when initiated by choosing the Level Now button. When the setting is set to Automatic,
leveling uses the existing settings to perform automatic leveling between the Level From and To
dates. This is a global setting. Any change to this setting affects all projects that are open or
that will be opened while this setting is still enabled.

Tip: If you choose Automatic leveling, make sure the Clear leveling values before leveling
checkbox is empty. This checkbox is selected by default, but when leveling automatically, this
can significantly slow down your work in the schedule.
 

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Look for over‐allocations on a <... by ...> basis 

The default is Day by Day (Figure 3). This setting is also referred to as the leveling granularity or
leveling sensitivity. This setting establishes the point at which you want leveling to intervene:
when you have an over-allocation within just one minute, one day, one week, or one month.

Figure 3. Resource Leveling – look for over-allocations command

In Microsoft Project, the Look for over-allocations on a ... by ... basis option allows you to control
the leveling sensitivity. A resource is leveled only if the resource is scheduled to do more work
than they have capacity in the specified period. See more detailed information later in this
section.

Leveling range for '<project>'

The default is setting is Level entire project. It is a per project setting.

 
Level From/To  

You can change the dates so that leveling only operates on over-allocations that fall within the
specified date range.
 
Resolving over‐allocations 

These settings are saved to the global and will persist for all project files until changed. For
Enterprise project you must have permissions to save settings to the global file.
Leveling order 

The default is Standard. Figure 4 shows the leveling order choices available.

Figure 4. Resource Leveling – leveling order

ID Only. Levels tasks as needed in ascending order of their ID numbers before considering other
criteria.

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Standard. The default leveling order, first examines predecessor dependencies, slack, dates,
priorities, and constraints to determine whether and how tasks should be leveled.

Priority, Standard. Levels by checking task priorities first, and then checking the standard
criteria.
There is a further discussion of leveling order later in this section.
 
Level only within available slack 

The default is off (not selected).

This setting levels by delaying tasks only within slack and also restricts new leveling features
regarding how tasks and assignments can be split during leveling.
In addition, if the Calculate multiple critical paths setting in the Calculation tab (from Tools
menu select Options) is selected, tasks that normally have slack to the end of the project (no
successors or future limiting constraints) instead have zero slack. This makes it even more difficult
to level if the Level only within available slack option is selected.
 
Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task 

The default is on (selected).

When the Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task setting is selected then leveling
can move or split individual assignments for a task. However the option can be overridden if
the task field Level Assignments is set to No. Yes is the default for this field.
 
Leveling can create splits in remaining work 

The default is on (selected)

When this setting is on there is an equivalent task level field that allows you to control on a per
task basis whether leveling can create splits in remaining work or not. This field is called Leveling
Can Split, and its default value is Yes.
 
Level Now 

When you click the Level Now button in Microsoft Project (Figure 5), resource assignments will
be delayed based on the options selected in the Level Resources dialog box, except for in
tasks with the Do Not Level priority.

If a Resource view such as the Resource Sheet view is active when you level, you get a choice
to level the entire project, or selected resources (default is selected resources).

Figure 5. Level Now dialog box

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Clear Leveling 

The Clear Leveling command clears all the values in the task Leveling Delay field and any splits
created by leveling for the selected tasks or for all tasks in the project, except for tasks with the
Do Not Level priority. It does this across all time. It does not use the From/To date range settings.
You cannot clear leveling for a specified date range.

With Clear Leveling off, any previous leveling delay remains and can only be added to which
means the result of a previous leveling will likely be unchanged and only newly over-allocated
assignments and their tasks will be leveled. For example, if a task currently has 3ed of leveling
delay, with this option turned off, during subsequent leveling passes, this value may increase,
but will not decrease.
Discussion on the Look for over‐allocations on a <... by ...>basis Option 

This is a global setting that impacts all projects. It is not saved per project.

In deciding whether to resolve an over-allocation, Microsoft Project looks at the work capacity
for the resource on time periods of the size determined by the previously mentioned granularity
setting. If the scheduled work for the period exceeds the work capacity for the period then
Microsoft Project’s leveling tries to resolve the over-allocation. Otherwise it moves on to the next
period, even if there is some over-allocation within the period at a finer granularity.

The time slices that leveling examines start on integral time boundaries. For the Hour by Hour
settings it looks at whole hours (starting at 12 A.M., 1 A.M., and so on), and for the Day by Day
setting it looks at whole days. For the Week by Week setting, it looks at whole weeks as defined
by the Week starts on setting in the Calendar tab from the Tools menu under Options. For the
Month by Month setting it looks at whole months.

Microsoft Project compensates for project start dates and calendar working times that do not
align with the period by period setting. For example, if the Week starts on setting is Sunday and
the granularity setting is Week by Week, and if the project starts on a Wednesday, then leveling
knows that the resource capacity is 24h that first week, not 40h. Likewise, if the working day
begins at 8:30 A.M. instead of 8:00 A.M., then when using the Hour by Hour granularity, leveling
knows that the resource capacity is 0.5h during the hour starting at 8A.M.

Example 

Figure 6 illustrates the leveling granularity feature, controlled by the Look for over-allocations on
a ... by ... basis option. Default working times are used in the schedule shown below. Executive
is assigned uniformly at 1 unit to both Review papers and Approve process.

Figure 6. Example of looking for over-allocations

Leveling takes the following actions depending on the granularity:

Day by Day or lower. Approve process is shifted one day to the right.

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Week by Week. Depends on the Week starts on setting in the Calendar tab (from the Tools
menu select Options). If the week starts on Sun or Mon, then Approve process is shifted one day
to the right, but if the week starts on any other day then leveling does not resolve the over-
allocation. For example, if the week starts on Tue, then Executive does a total of 16h on the
week that ends on Mon 6/2/97, and does a total of 32h on the week beginning on Tue 6/3/97.

Month by Month. Leveling does not resolve the over-allocation.

Splitting Task Assignments Option

Leveling can split assignments multiple times. In a practical sense, there is no limit on the
number or size of splits that leveling can perform on an assignment, so it's possible in some very
complex cases to have a task or assignment split so many resources or with such wide gaps as
to not be practical. In that case leveling should be cleared and the Leveling Can Split field set
to No for individual tasks. Or, unselect the Leveling can create splits in remaining work setting.
This prevents any task or assignment in the entire project from being split by leveling.

Microsoft Project internally keeps track of the leveling splits (splits created by leveling), so that
when you use the Clear Leveling command in the Resource Leveling dialog box, the splits
created by leveling are undone, and the task and assignment Leveling Delay fields are
cleared.
Examples where leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task
The following examples look at cases where Microsoft Project is required to carry out leveling to
resolve the over-allocation of the assistant in the Gantt Chart shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Gantt Chart view of an over-allocation that will need to be leveled

 
Example 1 

Figure 8 shows the results of leveling if the setting.

• Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task, is ON (selected).

• Leveling can create splits in remaining work, is OFF.

Figure 8. Gantt Chart view of result of leveling

 
Example 2 

Figure 9 shows the results of leveling if the setting.

• Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task, is OFF (selected).

• Leveling can create splits in remaining work, is ON.

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 Figure 9. Gantt Chart view of leveling result in example 2

In Microsoft Project, leveling can delay and split individual assignments instead of entire tasks
when resolving over-allocations. It does this by using the assignment Leveling Delay field. The
standard assignment Delay field is only used for manual delay of assignments and it is not used
by leveling.
Note The assignment Delay field is titled Delay in the Task Form or Resource Form view with
Details set to show Resource Schedule, but is named Assignment Delay when inserted in a task
or resource tables (normally displayed in a Usage view to see assignment records).

Figure 10. Part of the Task Form view with Details set to Resource Schedule

Task, Resource and Assignment Fields Related to Leveling 

The following table lists some of the Task, Resource, and Assignment fields that are related to
leveling and describes what each field does. The fields can be seen for Assignment records in
the Task Usage view.

Field Description
Level Assignments This Yes/No task-only field controls whether leveling is
allowed to adjust assignments. Default is Yes.
When the Level Assignments field is Yes, then leveling is
allowed to adjust the task's assignments only if the Leveling
can adjust individual assignments on a task setting is also
selected in the Tools Resource Leveling dialog box. An
adjustment to an assignment is either a move or split. See the
Leveling Can Split field that follows for possible restrictions to
assignment splitting.
When the Level Assignments field is No, it
means leveling cannot adjust the task's
assignments, regardless of the Leveling can
adjust individual assignments on a task setting.
Leveling Can Split This Yes/No task-only field controls whether or not leveling is
allowed to create splits in the remaining portion of a task or
one of its assignments*. Default is Yes.
When the Leveling Can Split field is Yes, then leveling is
allowed to split the remaining work on the task or one of its
assignments* only if the Leveling can create splits in
remaining work setting is also selected in the Tools Resource
Leveling dialog box.
When the Level Assignments field is No, it means leveling
cannot split the task or any of its assignments, regardless of
the Leveling can create splits in remaining work setting.
See the previous comments on the Level

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 Assignments field for settings that can prevent
assignment adjustments, including splitting.
Leveling Delay If leveling decides to solve an overallocation by moving an
entire task or assignment, it puts an elapsed Duration in the
Leveling Delay field for the task or a working Duration for the
assignment.
You can also manually edit these fields. In the
Task Usage picture below, the task has been
shifted 0ed, and the assignment 1d, as shown
in the figure below
Can Level This Yes/No resource-only field controls
whether a specific resource can be leveled or
not. Default is Yes.
Priority Used by leveling as a tiebreaker when deciding which task or
assignment should be moved or split to solve an
overallocation. The priority column can be inserted into the
table view so that priority of different tasks can be displayed.
The 500 priority prevents any changes from being made to a
task or its assignments. The same priority is displayed for
tasks and assignments (in the Task Usage view), but can only
be edited for tasks.

Tools Options Settings that Affect Leveling 

The following table lists some of the settings in the Tools Options dialog box that impact leveling:

Setting Description
Tasks will always honor their constraint dates Located in the Tools Options If selected, then leveling cannot
make adjustments to tasks that violate their constraints, such
as MSO (Must Start On).
If not selected, then leveling can adjust tasks
regardless of their constraints.
Split in-progress tasks Located in the Tools Options Schedule tab. If
selected, then leveling can split the remaining
portion of a task from the completed portion,
even if the Leveling can create splits in
remaining work setting is not selected in the
Tools Resource Leveling dialog box.
Schedule tab Calculate multiple critical pathsLocated in the
Tools Options Calculation tab.
If selected, then tasks that normally have slack
to the end of the project (no successors or
future limiting constraints) will instead have 0
slack. This makes it more difficult to level if the
Level only within available slack option is
selected in the Tools Resource Leveling dialog
box.

After Leveling

Leveling Gantt View 

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The Leveling Gantt view (Figure 11) was designed specifically to show before and after leveling
bars on the same chart, making it easy to see the impacts of leveling. It saves dates to the
Preleveled Start and Preleveled Finish task fields. It also saves split dates (internal only, not
accessible) so the preleveled splits can be shown.

To view the Leveling Gantt

1. From the View menu, click More Views.

2. Click Leveling Gantt, and then click Apply.

3. Review tasks in the Leveling Gantt. This view displays what effect the leveling has had, and how much
leveling delay has been added to tasks.

Figure 11. Leveling Gantt view

Note You can also use the Resource Allocation view with the Leveling Gantt applied in the
bottom pane. This shows the effect of leveling on both task and resource details at the same
time. On the View menu, click More Views, click Resource Allocation, and then click Apply.
Click in the bottom pane then on the View menu, click More Views and click Leveling Gantt.

Constraints

Microsoft Project can do partial leveling in cases when it can't completely resolve an over-
allocation due to task constraints. For example, if there are three or more tasks causing an over-
allocation and two of them have MSO (Must Start On) constraints. Microsoft Project can resolve
part of the over-allocation by moving or changing some of the unconstrained tasks or
assignments, even it can’t resolve all of the over-allocations.
 

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Example 4 

Figure 12 illustrates how Microsoft Project can level part of an over-allocation even if it can't
solve the over-allocation completely. It also shows the impact of the new tasks will always
honor their constraint dates setting in the Tools Options Schedule tab.

Figure 12. Leveling with Task Constraints example 4

Before leveling

If on the Schedule tab (from the Tools menu select Options,) Tasks will always honor their
constraint dates setting is selected, then Review papers and Approve process cannot be
moved because of their MSO (Must Start On) constraints. Microsoft Project displays the
message shown in Figure 13 when you level:

Figure 13. Error message generated when over-allocations cannot be resolved

If you choose the Skip button, then another message is displayed for 6/3/97. If you choose Skip
again, or if you chose Skip All in the first message then leveling provides the partial solution
(Figure 14).

Figure 14. Partial solution to over-allocation problem in Figure 9

Microsoft Project solution if the Tasks will always honor their constraint dates setting is selected.
If the tasks will always honor their constraint dates setting is not selected, then Review papers
and Approve process can be moved despite their MSO (Must Start On) constraints, and
leveling provides the following full solution without any messages. Note that in this case, leveling
has resulted in split tasks (Figure 15).

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 Figure 15. Solution if 'Tasks will always honor their constraint dates' is not selected

Contouring Resource Availability

We know that contoured resource availability does not change work. Instead, it changes the
percentage a resource is allocated. When this percentage is over 100%, the resource is marked
as over-allocated.

Like manually editing a resource contour, contoured resource availability spreads evenly
throughout the segment in which it’s designated. In other words, if you set a resource’s
availability at 50% for a week, that availability is 50% from the minute level on up through the
week. If an assignment is made at 100%, leveling cannot schedule any work during that week
and will move it to another time where resource availability is 100% or greater.

For example, suppose we had a 10-day task and assigned a resource to it so that the resource
has 80 hours of work and is assigned at 100% every day of the task. If we then contoured the
resource’s availability so that the resource is only available 50% of the time during the first 5
days of the task, the resource will appear as over-allocated. (Note: the resource is available
100% of the time for all other periods.) If we then level the task, the resource will not be
scheduled to work during the week at which he is available 50% of the time. Instead his work
will begin in the second week.
This behavior may be different from what you might first expect. Because the resource has four
hours of available time each day during the first week, you may assume that leveling should fill
those hours first. It is at this point that we must remember that leveling only adds delay or splits
work. It cannot change work or units. Thus, leveling cannot schedule four hours of work each
day during the first week. Instead it must move the assignment to an availability contour that
can accommodate the assigned units.

Leveling from a Finish Date

In Microsoft Project Leveling Delay uses negative numbers to level tasks and assignments
backward when a project is scheduled from Finish.

Recurring Tasks Default to Do Not Level

Because of the complexity of leveling all the subtasks in a recurring task, by default recurring
subtasks are created with a priority of Do Not Level and the task Leveling Can Split and Level
Assignments task fields are set to No. This means that all other tasks and assignments are
leveled around recurring tasks.

However, these settings can be changed to allow the subtasks of the recurring task to level.

Leveling Progress Indicator

A standard progress meter is displayed in the Status bar at the bottom of the Project window
during leveling, indicating approximately how far along the leveling process is (Figure 16).

This progress indicator does not correspond to the amount of time involved. It approximates
leveling progress, not time. It shows how far along the leveling date- range the leveling process
is. The number of assignments that need to be checked may vary from one date to the next,
and require more or less calculation time.

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 Figure 16. Leveling Progress Indicator

Leveling and Task Calendars

In Microsoft Project, the calendar used by an assignment is not necessarily the resource
calendar. It may be the task calendar. When leveling, Microsoft Project now looks at any
applied task calendars and also checks to see if the Ignore Resource Calendar setting is
enabled.

Leveling and Material Resources

Material resources are normally not leveled by Microsoft Project. This is because they have no
way of measuring capacity (that is, max units) and thus cannot tell when they are over-
allocated.

Leveling will affect material resources, however, when they are assigned with other resources
and those resources’ assignments are delayed. In this situation, material resources use the task
delay value to move their assignments.

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 Chapter 11 – Tracking Progress
Overview

Tracking and reporting are two very powerful features within Microsoft® Project. Used correctly
the information provided can be invaluable both to the project manager and to the company.
Before tracking progress determine why the information should be tracked and what will
happen with the information. Tracking and reporting should be planned at the project outset –
during the outlining phase of the plan.

Tracking progress reveals the immediate effect actuals have on the rest of the project. A late
start on just one task may result in having to re-scope the project, and review the availability of
key resources. This information can be used during project meetings to help educate other
team members and to discuss tactics.

Accurate information will help to estimate durations for the next project plan and can also help
pre-empt problems on future projects.

Who Will Track Progress

The resources assigned to tasks will report their progress to the project manager. The project
manager will then update the project plan with the actual data provided by the resources.
Several methods for reporting and updating progress will be discussed in this lesson. The project
manager should decide which method will work best for their project plan.

Saving the Baseline for the Project

Overview

At the point where the plan is scheduled as far as possible and is ready to commence, a
baseline of the entire project should be saved. Saving a baseline is like taking a snapshot of the
project. Saving a baseline does not stop additional tasks or other information from be added to
the plan. As the project progresses actual data should be entered so that the plan can be
updated and compared against the plan. Adjustments to the schedule should be made as
needed.

Comparing the adjusted schedule with the baseline is good practice, even if formal tracking
and reporting on progress is not required. The data that a baseline provides can help evaluate
the effectiveness of the plan for future projects.

How to Save a Baseline

From the Tools menu select Tracking, then click Save Baseline.

Figure 1 shows the dialog box and descriptions of the features available in the Save Baseline
dialog box.

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 Figure 1. Saving a Baseline

Save baseline. This feature saves all baseline fields up to 11 times for one project. The dialog
box has a drop-down list for each of the 11 baselines. When a baseline is saved, the last date
saved is stored with the baseline and will be displayed in the dialog box next to the baseline
name for future reference.

When this option is selected, choosing OK copies the Start, Finish, Duration, Work, and Cost
fields for the appropriate tasks into the corresponding Baseline fields. If there are resources
assigned to the tasks, the Work and Cost fields for each resource assignment are copied into
the corresponding Baseline fields as well.

Save Interim Plan. If this option is selected, the Copy and Into lists will become available. This
feature manages baseline information and stores baseline data for historical purposes. Data
stored in one set of fields can be copied into another set of fields so that the information can
be compared over time with the original plan. Copying the data into other Baseline fields is
also useful when viewing and reporting information. For example, it is easier to move Baseline
data into Baseline1 data fields and then resave the Baseline, as most views and reports are set
up to show data from the Baseline fields not Baseline1 fields.

Choosing to copy Start/Finish into Start1/Finish1 saves the plan’s schedule start and scheduled
finish into the fields Start1 and Finish1 fields. If Baseline is selected to be copied into
Start1/Finish1, only the data in Baseline Start and Baseline Finish will be copied.

For. This option determines what information will be saved, the Entire project or Selected tasks. If
Selected tasks is checked then the tasks whose baseline data is to be saved, should have
already been selected before entering the dialog box.

Prompting for a Baseline 

Under certain circumstances, Microsoft Project will prompt the user to save or update their
baseline information. When a user closes their project and none, or only some, of the tasks or

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assignments have baseline information, Microsoft Project will prompt with a Planning Wizard
dialog box (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Prompt for A Baseline

The user can then specify that baseline information for all tasks be set before actually closing
the project file.

Clear Baseline

There are situations where the baseline data for the project plan needs to be removed. For
example, when using one project plan to start a new project plan. However, resaving the
baseline to the same set of baseline fields will overwrite the data in the corresponding baseline
fields, but the prompt to save a baseline for the new project would not be invoked.

Figure 3. Clear Baseline dialog box

The features in the Clear Baseline dialog box (Figure 3) function as follows:

Clear baseline plan. This option determines which Baseline fields are to be cleared of data. The
drop-down list contains Baseline through Baseline10.

Clear interim plan. This option determines which fields are to be cleared of data. The drop-
down list contains Baseline through Baseline10 and Start/Finish through Start10/Finish10.

For. This option indicates whether the Entire project or Selected tasks will have their baseline
and interim plan data cleared.

OK and Cancel function as in other dialog boxes.

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How to Track Progress

Overview

Anytime values are edited in the following fields, Actual Start, Actual Finish, Actual Duration, %
Complete, and Physical % Complete, this indicates that the task has started. There are several
options that effect how these fields and there interrelated fields are recalculated. Below is a list
of different methods or features used to track progress in a project plan.

• Editing fields that affect progress.

• Using the Update Project or Update Task commands.

• Microsoft Project Server.

Each of these methods will be discussed as well as dates and options that effect how Microsoft
Project calculates progress.

Editing Fields That Affect Progress

Task Fields

When any of the following fields are edited Microsoft Project considers the task to be started or
in some cases, complete. These fields can be accessed in any Task view or form as well as in
Resource views where assignment information is displayed. Each field is discussed in detail
below.
 
Actual Start 

Editing this field changes the scheduled start date to equal the Actual Start date. If resources
are assigned to the task, their assignment start dates may be affected.
Scheduled finish will be recalculated.
 
Actual Finish 

Entering an Actual Finish date in this field means:

• The % Complete and % Work Complete fields for the task are set to 100%.

• The scheduled finish date is set to equal the Actual Finish date.

• The Actual Duration field is calculated and changed if necessary, and the Duration field is set to match
Actual Duration.
• The Remaining Duration and Remaining Work fields are set to zero.

• The Actual Work and Actual Cost fields are calculated based on the Actual Duration.
 
% Complete 

When the % Complete field is edited, Microsoft Project performs the following:

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 • The Actual Start date is set equal to the scheduled start date, unless an actual start date was already
entered. If a task does not start on schedule, then the start date should be updated with the Actual Start
date, before % Complete is entered.

• The Actual Finish date is set to match the scheduled finish date if the value entered for percent complete is
100%. If the Actual Finish date is not the same as the calculated date, the Actual Finish date should be
entered before 100% is entered (Once a task is 100% complete Microsoft Project stops calculating other
fields in the task record.)

• The Actual Duration field is set to equal the percent value times the scheduled Duration. Therefore, if a
task is marked 60% complete when the scheduled Duration was 10hrs, the Actual Duration field is
calculated and set to 6hrs.

• Remaining Work and Remaining Duration are recalculated. Total Work – Actual Work = Remaining Work,
the same equation is used for Duration.

• The % Work Complete for the task is set of match the % Complete, by default.

• The Actual Work and Cost fields are set to match the percent value times the scheduled work and cost
rates, by default.

Note If the checkbox for Updating Task Status is unchecked, then % Work Complete, Work and
Cost are independent of % Complete. To find this option go to the Tools menu, click Options,
and click the Calculation tab.

% Work Complete

As noted above, % Work Complete is set to match % Complete by default.

 
Actual Duration 

If a value is entered that is less than or equal to the scheduled Duration, Microsoft Project
assumes that everything is going as planned.

• Actual Start date is set to schedule start, unless it has been set previously.

• The % Complete is calculated, Actual Duration x 100/ Duration.

• The Remaining Duration field is calculated by; using this equation: Total Duration –Actual Duration =
Remaining Duration.

• Work or Resource Units may be recalculated based on the task Type field.
If a Duration is entered that is greater than the original Duration, Microsoft Project assumes that
the task is finished and took longer than scheduled.

• The scheduled Duration is changed to match the new, longer Actual Duration.

• Work or Resource Units may be recalculated based on the task Type field.

• The % Complete and Remaining Duration fields are set to 100% and 0, respectively, to indicate that the
task is complete.
 
Actual Work 

If a value is entered that is less than or equal to the scheduled work, Microsoft Project assumes
that everything is going as planned. Refer to Actual Duration as these fields are interrelated and
recalculate based on task Type.
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Remaining Duration 

Editing Remaining Duration only affects progress if the task has already started.

• Scheduled and Actual Duration is recalculated and in turn % Complete, % Work Complete, scheduled
Finish, Work, and Remaining Work are recalculated based on the new duration.

• Entering zero in the remaining duration field is the same as entering 100% complete.
 
Remaining Work 

Editing this field causes the same behavior as Remaining Duration.

Assignment Fields
 
Assignment Actual Start 

If one resource is assigned to a task, editing the Actual Start for the assignment will change the
Actual Start for the task.

Scheduled Start for the resource will be set to the Actual Start.

Scheduled Finish for the resource is recalculated, possibly recalculating the Scheduled Finish for
the task.
 
Assignment Actual Finish 

If a single resource is assigned to the task, entering an Actual Finish date sets the % Complete
to 100%. See % Complete for information on the other fields effected.

If multiple resources are assigned to a task,

• Task % Complete and task and Assignment % Work Complete recalculate.

• Task Actual Duration and task and assignment Remaining Duration recalculate.

• Actual Start for the task and assignment are set to match the scheduled Start respectively.

• The task Type determines whether Duration, Work or Units is recalculated for the assignment effected.
If the task finish date changes indirectly due to an edit to an assignment finish date then only
that assignment is affected. Any other assignments on the task are not impacted by resultant
change in the task finish date.

Editing an existing assignment Actual Finish date 

The assignment Actual Work is recalculated based on the new assignment Actual Duration, the
corresponding task fields are also changed if the assignment duration increases the task
duration. Microsoft Project extends work using the last known non-zero work rate, or it truncates
the Actual Work. This behavior applies regardless of the task type setting.
 
Assignment % Work Complete 

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This field reflects assignment Actual Work as a percentage of total Work. Editing the Assignment
% Work Complete field causes

• Task and assignment Actual Work and Remaining Work recalculate based on total assignment Work.

• Sets Actual Start for both the task and assignment if not previously set.

• If 100% is entered, then assignment Actual Finish is set as scheduled.

• Task Actual Duration, task, and assignment Remaining Duration all recalculate.

• Task % Complete is calculated based on task Duration/ Actual Duration x 100.

 
Assignment Actual Work 

If a single resource is assigned to the task then Assignment Actual Work field behaves the same
as the Task Actual Work field.

If multiple resources are assigned to a task then:

• Task % Complete and task and Assignment % Work Complete recalculate.

• Task Actual Duration and task and Assignment Remaining Duration recalculate.

• Actual Start for the task and assignment are set to match the scheduled start respectively.

• The task type determines whether duration, work, or units is recalculated for the task or the assignment
effected.
 
Remaining Work 

If a single resource is assigned to the task then editing assignment Remaining Work behaves the
same as task Remaining Work.

If multiple resources are assigned then:

• Task and assignment Actual Start is set to schedule start unless previously set.

• Assignment Actual Finish is set if zero Remaining Work is entered for the assignment.
• Task Work, Remaining Work, and assignment Work are recalculated if a value greater than the original
task total work is entered.

• Task % Complete, task and assignment % Work Complete are recalculated.

• Task Actual Duration and Remaining Duration are recalculated. Task duration may be recalculated if the
value entered is larger than total Work, if the task is not fixed duration.

If assignment Remaining Work is edited, Microsoft Project adjusts the assignment work and
leaves actual assignment work unchanged.

Editing Actual Work in Time-phased Cells

Actual Work can be edited for both assignment and task Actual Work in a Usage view. The
edited work is distributed between the dates that begin and end the cell

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After entering the Actual Work any Remaining Work is rescheduled after the end date. This
includes any Remaining Work that had previously been scheduled earlier than begin date.

If the previous assignment Start was earlier than the begin date of the cell and there was no
previous Actual Start, then the Start and Actual Start are set to the begin date of the cell.

If there is no Remaining Work after the edit, then the assignment Finish and Actual Finish are set
to the end date, otherwise, the assignment Finish is rescheduled after the end date based on
the Remaining Work.

The following rules apply if the amount of time-phased assignment or task Actual Work entered
in a cell does not match the scheduled time-phased assignment:

• If the entered Actual Work is less than the Work for that cell period, then the Remaining Work is rescheduled
after the end date.

• If the entered Actual Work is greater than the Work for that cell period, then segments are truncated from the
end of the contour to account for the excess of Actual Work entered in the cell.

Figures 4 and 5 show examples of entering less Actual Work than was scheduled at the
assignment level.

Figure 4. Example Before entering Actual Work on Day1

Figure 5. Example After entering 1h Actual Work on Day1

Originally the scheduled Work on Day1 for R1 was 4h at 50% Units. After entering 1h of Actual
Work for Day1, 3h at 50% had to be scheduled after the original end of the assignment, after
Day2.

Example of entering more Actual Work than was scheduled at the assignment level

This example (Figure 6) starts with the same Before picture as the previous example, for
example, the original contour was 4h at 50% on Day1 and 8h at 100% on Day2.

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 Figure 6. After entering 7h Actual Work on Day1

After entering 7h of Actual Work on Day1, the 3h excess is automatically removed from the end
of the assignment, leaving only 5h at 100% on Day2.

Editing Task Timephased Actual Work 

Edits to task timephased Actual Work roll down to the assignment level in proportion to the
assignment Work scheduled for that time period. Any existing timephased assignment Actual
Work for that time period is overwritten.

The rolled down timephased assignment Actual Work is treated as if it had been entered
directly and behaves as described in the previous section, Editing Assignment Timephased
Actual Work.
If any days are skipped when entering actuals, then the skipped days get zero timephased task
Actual Work, and the zeroes roll down to timephased assignment Actual Work. The work
originally scheduled for those zeroed days is rescheduled at the end of the task as described in
previous sections.

Figures 7 and 8 show examples of entering less Actual Work than was scheduled at the task
timephased level.

Figure 7. Before entering task time-phased Actual Work

Figure 8. After entering task time-phased Actual Work in Day1 and Day2

Summary Task Total and Time-phased % Complete

Summary tasks can have both totaled and time-phased % Complete values (see Figure 9).
These values are calculated when various values for the subordinate tasks change. The reverse
is also true, edits to summary task total % Complete will calculate % Complete for the
subordinate tasks.

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 Figure 9. Summary task has total and time-phased % Complete
 
Calculating Summary task total and time‐phased % Complete 

The total % Complete of a summary task equals the sum of the Actual Duration’s of the
subordinate tasks divided by the sum of the duration’s of the subordinate tasks.

The time-phased % Complete for a specific period for a summary task is the sum of the
subordinate time-phased Actual Duration’s for that period divided by the sum of the total
duration’s of the subordinate tasks.

Note The summary Actual Duration does not appear in the above formulas. It is calculated
separately as summary task % Complete times summary task duration, but plays no direct role
in the timephased calculations.

Editing Summary task total % Complete 

If you edit the total % Complete for a summary task, any previous edits to timephased %
Complete for subordinate tasks is lost. The new total % Complete for the subordinate tasks and
the new timephased % Complete for the subordinate tasks and summary task are computed as
mentioned above.

Status Date  

Microsoft Project has a Status date field in the Project Information dialog box (Figure 10)
(accessible from the Project menu).

Figure 10. Status date setting in the Project Information dialog box

Status date defaults to NA for new files and when importing previous versions Microsoft Project
files or other file types.

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A date or NA can be entered for Status date. If Status date is NA, then any calculations that
depend on it will use the current date instead.

In the remainder of this lesson, when the term Status date is used, it is understood that this
means the current date if the Status date setting is blank.

Status date is a project-level field, which can be used in the following ways:

• Earned value field calculations. The timephased earned value fields are blank on dates later than the
Status date.

• Timephased % Complete distribution. If the option, Edits to total task % complete will be spread to the
status date is selected (from the Tools menu select Options, select the Calculation tab). Edits to task
total % Complete are distributed as timephased % Complete up to the Status date specified in the
Project Information dialog box.

• Progress Lines. The Status date can be used to draw progress lines on the Gantt Chart if the At project
status date option is selected in the Progress Lines dialog box (accessible from the Tools Tracking
submenu). More on Progress lines later in this lesson.

• Gridlines. Status date is included in the Lines to change list in the Gridlines dialog box (accessible from
the Format menu), so you can have a vertical line drawn at the Status date in the Gantt Chart and
Resource Graph views.
• Header, Footer, and Legend. An earned value analysis is one way to find the answer. The list of predefined
items at the bottom of the Page Setup, Header, Footer, and Legend tabs includes Project Status date.

Status Date and the Update Project dialog box 

The Update Project dialog box (accessible from the Tools menu select Tracking) includes two
date fields that are related to the Status date field in the Project Information dialog box.

Every time the Update Project dialog box is displayed, the two date fields default to the greater
of the Current date or Status date (if not NA). It doesn't matter what the settings were the
previous time the dialog box was displayed.

Status Dates and Inserted Projects  

For a parent project containing inserted projects, the Current and Status dates from the parent
project are used in the Gantt Chart and Update Project dialog box features listed previously.
Earned value is calculated using the individual project’s Status date (or Current date if the
Status date is NA).

Calculation Options That Affect Progress on Tasks

There are seven options that affect how progress on tasks is calculated. The first two affect all
tasks, while the remaining five effect tasks that already have actual work reported, they are as
follows:

• Updating Task Status Updates Resource Status (available through the Tools menu, click Options then
select the Calculation tab): If this option is selected, then edits to % Complete cause assignment Actual
Work to recalculate at that percentage of the assignment Work. This is a two-way setting. Edits to Actual
Work and Stop dates cause % Complete to be calculated. When the setting is not selected, % Complete
is independent of Actual Work and Stop dates. More information on Stop and Resume date in Lesson 10:
Splitting Tasks.

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 • Edits to total task % Complete will be Spread to the Status date (available from the Tools menu, click
Options then select the Calculation tab). By default this option is not selected. Actual Duration is
calculated by taking duration and multiplying by % Complete. With the option selected, % Complete is
spread evenly from the task start to the Status date. Details on how this option functions is the section
below on How edits to total % Complete are distributed.

• Split In-Progress Tasks (available from the Tools menu, click Options then select the Schedule tab): If
selected, then remaining work on an in-progress successor task that violates a relationship with a
predecessor task is automatically rescheduled to honor the relationship with the predecessor. Also, the
setting must be selected in order for the Reschedule Uncompleted Work to Start feature to have any impact
on in-progress tasks.

• Move end of completed task parts after status date back to status date (available through the Tools
menu click Options and select the Calculation tab): If this option is selected, then edits to % Complete
move the completed part of the task to end at the status date, which is the same as the Stop date. The
Resume date equals the original scheduled start.

• A subordinate option, And move start of remaining parts back to status date becomes available when
the parent option is selected. When selected there will be no split in the task. The Resume date equals
the status date.

• Move start of remaining parts before status date forward to status date (available through the Tools
menu, click Options then select Calculation tab): If this option is selected, then edits to % Complete will
reschedule uncompleted work immediately after the status date. The Resume date equals the Status date
+ 1 minute. Stop date equals Actual Start plus Actual Duration.

• A subordinate option, And move end of completed parts forward to status date, becomes available
when the parent option is selected. When selected there will be no split in the task. The Stop date is
equal to the Status date.

Constraints on tasks will be ignored with the last four options; actual start always overrides a
constraint. The options will not apply when actuals are set on Summary tasks. These options
only apply when making total actual value edits such as: Task total actual work, task actual
duration, total % Complete and % Work complete.

Here is an example of how the first pair of options work:

• The Status date is 5/9 (8:00 am is the default time).

• The task has a start date of 5/14 and duration of 4 days.

• Move end of completed task parts after status date back to status date is enabled.

• 50% is entered for the task.

Actual start is now 5/7 and the remaining work is scheduled for 5/16, the Resume date.

Figure 11. Move end of completed task parts after status date back to status date

• Using the same task, remove the % Complete.

• And move start of remaining parts back to status date is enabled

• Enter 50% complete.

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The Actual Start is 5/7, the percent complete is 50%.and the start of the remaining work is
changed to 5/9, the Resume date.

Figure 12. And move start of remaining parts back to status date

Here is an example of how the second pair of options work:

• The Status date is 5/9 (8:00 am is the default time).

• The task has a start date of 5/1 and duration of 4 days.

• Move start of remaining parts before status date forward to status date is enabled.

• Enter 50% complete.

Actual start remains at 5/1, the percent complete is 50% and the remaining work is schedule to
start on 5/9, creating a split in the task.

Figure 13. Move start of remaining parts before status date forward to status date

• Using the same task, remove the percent complete.

• And move end of completed parts forward to status date is enabled.

• Enter 50% complete.

Actual start is moved to 5/7, the percent complete is 50% and the remaining work is scheduled
to start on 5/9, the Resume date.

Figure 14. And move end of completed parts forward to status date

How Edits to Total % Complete are Distributed

When you edit the task total % Complete, that value is distributed over time in the task
timephased % Complete row. How it is distributed depends on whether there were already
some task timephased % Complete values for some days, and whether the option Edits to total
task % complete will be spread to the status date is selected or not. By default the option is not
selected. To access this option, from the Tools menu select Options and click the Calculations
tab.

Edits to Total Task % Complete will be Spread to the Status Date Option is Not Selected

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If % Complete is originally zero, and if this setting is not selected, then task % Complete is spread
uniformly from the task Start date to the task Stop date, including across task split gaps if any.
The project Status date in the Project Information dialog box is not used.

If there are already task timephased % Complete values, then any subsequent increases to
total % Complete are spread uniformly from the latest date currently containing a timephased
% Complete value to the task’s new Stop date resulting from the increased Actual Duration and
Actual Work. This is a two step process and is calculated as follows:

• First the new Actual Duration is calculated from the task % Complete times the task Duration. The
increase in Actual Duration sets assignment timephased Actual Work equal to the assignment timephased
scheduled Work during the span of the task Actual Duration. The new assignment Actual Work distribution
produces new assignment Stop and Resume dates, and therefore new task Stop and Resume dates.

• The increase in task % Complete is spread uniformly from the previous latest date that contained a
timephased % Complete to the new task Stop date.

Note Decreases to total task % Complete throws out exiting timephased values and behaves
as if there were no existing timephased values.

Example 

This example illustrates how timephased % Complete is distributed when you edit the task total
% Complete, when the Edits to total task % complete will be spread to the status setting is not
selected.

Figure 15 shows the original task before task total % Complete is entered. The task has a split
gap that spans Days 2 and 3.

Figure 15. Example Before entering task total % Complete

In Figure 16, 40% is entered in the task total % Complete. This produces an Actual Duration of
40% times 5d = 2d. So assignment timephased Actual Work is set equal to assignment
timephased (scheduled) Work for two working days, which is Day 1 and Day 4 because of the
task split gap that spans Day 2 and 3.

Figure 16. Example After entering 40% for task total % Complete
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Edits to task % Complete will be Spread to the Status date option is selected 

If % Complete is originally zero, and if this setting is selected, then distribution of the task %
Complete depends on the project Status date in the Project Information dialog box.

• If the status date of the project was earlier than the start date of the task, then the timephased value for %
Complete is placed exactly on the status date. It is not spread over any time period.

• If the status date of the project is later than the task Start date, then the task % Complete is spread from the
task Start date to the Status date. The tasks Stop, Resume, and Finish don't matter.

If there are already edited task timephased % Complete values, then any subsequent increases
to total % Complete are spread uniformly from the period after the latest date currently
containing a timephased % Complete value to the project Status date, with restrictions similar
to those above.

The Status date should be set appropriately before entering in any total % Complete values.

• If the Status date is increased, any farther increases to the task total % Complete are distributed over the
new date range that runs from the previous Status date to the new one.

• If the Status date is decreased, then % Complete is spread from the task Start to the new Status date.

Example 

This example illustrates how timephased % Complete is distributed when you edit the task total
% Complete, when the edits to total task % Complete will be spread to the status option is
selected.

A. Figure 17 shows the original task before task total % Complete is entered. The Project Information Status
date is 6/4 at 5 P.M..

Figure 17. Before entering task total % Complete

B. 15% is entered in the task % Complete. It is distributed from the task Start to the project Status date of 6/4
at 5 P.M. (Figure 18).

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 Figure 18. Example After entering 15% for task total % Complete

C. The task % Complete is changed to 30%. It is again distributed from the task Start to the
project Status date of 6/4 at 5 P.M. (Figure 19).

Figure 19. After entering 30% for task total % Complete

D. Now the project Status date is changed to 6/6 at 5 P.M. and then the task % Complete is increased from
30% to 70%. The extra 40% is distributed from the old Status date of 6/4 5pm to the new Status date of 6/6
at 5 P.M. (Figure 20).

Figure 20: After changing the Status date to 6/6 and entering 70% for task total % Complete

The Update Project Command

To access the Update Project command select the Tools menu, click Tracking and select
Update Project from the submenu (Figure 21)

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 Figure 21. Update Project dialog box

The Update Project dialog box has the following options:

For:. This option determines what tasks will be updated, the Entire Project or Selected tasks.
Help, OK and Cancel buttons function as in other dialog boxes.

Update work as complete through:. This date is initially pulled from the Current date setting in
the Project Information dialog box (from the Project menu select Project Information) unless a
Status date has been set.

Set 0% - 100% Complete. This feature calculates the % Complete for the indicated tasks based
on the update date's relation to the task's Start and Finish dates. The calculation goes
something like this:

% Complete = (Update date - Start) / (Finish - Start)

Set 0% or 100% Complete Only. Tasks with (Finish < update date AND Actual Finish = NA) are set
to 100% complete, while tasks with (Start < update date AND Finish > update date AND Actual
Start = NA) have their Actual Start set equal to their Start.

Reschedule uncompleted work to start after: This date is initially pulled from the Current date
setting in the Project Information dialog box. The date specified can be earlier than the Current
date or Status date but can not be earlier than the earliest end date (Stop date) of actual work
already reported for the task.

Applying this feature has the following effect on tasks without progress:

Any task that meets all three of the following criteria will be rescheduled to start on or update
date + 1 minute, using a Start No Earlier Than constraint.

• Actual Start = NA

• Start < update date)

• Constraint type = As Soon As Possible

This feature has no effect on in-progress tasks unless the Split In-Progress Tasks option is
selected. For detailed information on the calculation options that affect in-progress tasks refer
to the Calculation Options section earlier in this lesson.

This may leave the project plan in an infeasible situation; a scheduling message will display to
alert users that some tasks with constraints will not be rescheduled.

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The Update Tasks Command

This command (see Figure 22) provides an interface for editing all the actual fields in one place.
Keep in mind that changing one field can recalculate another, not all fields need to be edited
to track progress. One process should be used consistently for best results.

For example, entering both a Finish date and a % Complete is redundant. Entering a finish date
sets the percent complete to 100%.

Figure 22. Update Tasks command

The Name, Duration, Start, and Finish fields are non-editable for any task selected. For summary
tasks, none of the fields are editable; for subproject summary tasks, only the % Complete and
Actual Finish fields are editable. For most tasks, all the other fields are editable, and when OK is
selected, the information is entered for the selected task(s).

Because users can enter conflicting information into the dialog box, Microsoft Project will
arbitrate the entered information based on the following rules:

• Actual Start and Actual Finish take precedence over Actual Duration, Remaining Duration, and %
Complete.

• Actual Duration and Remaining Duration take precedence over % Complete. Additionally, the task's
duration is changed to the total of the Actual Duration and the Remaining Duration.

• If only Actual Duration and % Complete are entered, the task's Duration is changed to.

1
Actual Duration ×
% Complete

Additionally, the Remaining Duration is calculated based on the new task Duration.

• If only Remaining Duration and % Complete are entered, the task's Duration is changed to.

1
Remaining Duration ×
1 - % Complete

Additionally, the Actual Duration is calculated based on the new task Duration.

Notes. The Notes button is only enabled if a single task is selected. When selected, it will bring
up a Notes dialog box displaying the contents of the task's Notes field.

Help, OK and Cancel: function as in other dialog boxes.

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Editing % Complete Using the Mouse

On views with timescales such as the Gantt Chart or Tracking Gantt, the mouse can be used to
draw a progress line for a task, thus setting the percent complete.

To use the mouse to set % Complete

1. Hover the mouse over the starting end of the task bar. The cursor will change to a % sign with an arrow.

2. Click and drag the % cursor along the task. A tooltip will display the date identifying how far the progress bar
will be drawn. The date will change as the mouse is dragged along the task bar.

3. Release the mouse when the desired complete through date has been reached.

A progress line now appears on top of the task bar and the % Complete field is populated with
the new value (Figure 23).

Figure 23. Tooltip when extending progress line

Using Collaboration Features to Track Progress

Collaboration features in Microsoft Project automate and facilitate the communication

between a project manager and resources assigned to tasks in a project plan. Collaboration
commands can send messages to resources about what tasks they have been assigned to in
the project plan from the project manager. Likewise, resources can send tracking information
back to the project manger for updating the project plan.

There are two ways to enable Collaboration features in Microsoft Project, they are:

• Through a connection to Microsoft Project Server.

• Through a MAPI compliant e-mail system.

In order to have the Collaboration features enabled for use with Microsoft Project additional
software applications need to be installed.

Microsoft Project Server. A Web application that is installed on an Internet Information Server
with Microsoft SQL™ Server used as the backend database. Microsoft Project Web Access
client is used via Microsoft Internet Explorer® (5.5 or better) to interface with the server. For
detailed information see Microsoft Project Server documentation.

E-mail. When using a MAPI compliant e-mail system, WGSETUP.EXE needs to be installed. This file
is shipped with Microsoft Project.

Progress Lines

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A progress line is a feature in the Gantt Chart that provides a visual representation of project’s
progress.

The line starts just below the timescale at a specified progress date and runs down the screen
connecting progress point markers on those tasks that have them, forming a zig-zag line,
sometimes referred to as a lightening bolt. The progress point for a task is determined by the
task timephased cumulative % Complete for the progress date. No markers are drawn for a
task if the cumulative % Complete of a task is zero on the progress date, even if the task has
progress starting farther to the right (this could happen if the task assignment start was later
than the task start).
 
Example 

This example (Figure 25) illustrates the main features of progress lines. In this example, the
progress date is the Status date, and the option, Edits to total task % Complete will be spread to
the Status date (from the Tools menu select Options and click Calculation), is selected. Total
task % Complete is entered for various tasks. The '... spread to the Status date' option caused
task timephased Cumulative % Complete to build up before or on the Status date. Progress
points to the right of the progress date indicate tasks that are ahead of schedule. Progress
points to the left of the progress date indicate tasks that are behind schedule. This is one of the
more useful ways to use progress lines.

Figure 25. Progress Line feature applied in the Gantt Chart

 
Multiple Progress Lines 

Many progress lines can be displayed simultaneously. The options on where to display progress lines
include the following:

• Display one of the progress lines at the Current date or Status date.

• Display custom progress lines at an arbitrary date that you specify.

• Display recurring progress lines at regular recurring dates where you specify the pattern, like every Friday.

Each progress line has its own set of progress points determined by the value of each task
Cumulative % Complete on the progress date for that progress line.

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Custom and recurring progress lines are discussed in detail later.

Setting Progress Dates and Formatting Progress Lines

The Progress Lines dialog box allows selection of the progress dates and the progress lines will
draw.

The Progress Lines dialog box is displayed by selecting the Tools menu, then select Tracking and
click Progress Lines on the submenu. Also right clicking on the Gantt Chart will display a shortcut
menu, and finally by double-clicking an existing progress line on the Gantt Chart.

Figure 26 shows the Progress Lines dialog box with all checkboxes selected for clarity, but by
default, all three checkboxes are initially unchecked and progress lines are not drawn.

Figure 26. Dates and Intervals tab in the Progress Lines dialog box

The Progress Lines dialog box contains the following two tabs:

• The Dates and Intervals tab is where you turn progress lines on and off and specify the progress dates
where they are drawn.

• The Line Styles tab is where you indicate the visual style of the progress lines.

Progress lines can only be displayed in Gantt Chart views, and all progress line settings are on a
view-by-view basis. When you accesses the Progress Lines dialog box to turn on the display of
progress lines and set various attributes, everything applies only to the current view.

Dates and Intervals tab in the Progress Lines dialog box 

There are three categories of progress lines that can be displayed and they are controlled in
the Dates and Intervals tab by the three-checkbox frames. Each checkbox enables or disables
all of the controls associated with that particular category and each category can be turned
on and off independently of the others. The categories are:

• Always display current progress line.

• Display progress lines at recurring intervals.

• Display selected progress lines.

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Actual versus Baseline 

You can also specify whether progress points should be drawn relative to the Start and Finish
fields or the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish fields. This is discussed in detail later.
 
Line Styles tab in the Progress Lines dialog box. 

The Line Styles tab in the Progress Lines dialog box (Figure 27) provides a number of options that
control the following:

• The style of the Progress Lines (Progress Line type options).

• The pattern and color of the Progress Lines.

• The shape and color of the progress point markers.

• Whether dates should be displayed, and if so, the date format.

Figure 27. Progress Lines dialog box, Line Styles

Progress Lines dialog box, Line Styles tab determines type and format of lines and date labels.

Progress Line Drawing Calculations

This section discusses the details of how progress points are calculated and some special cases
that might arise.

Filtering and Sorting 

Progress lines are based only on visible tasks in the order that they are displayed. When you
change the active filter or re-sort the tasks the progress lines are redrawn.

Progress Line Ordering 

Progress lines are always drawn in front of visible bars, link lines, and nonworking time shading.
The only items that draw in front of progress lines are the gridlines for Current Date, Status Date,
Project Start and Project Finish. When date labels are displayed, they are drawn at the same
level as the progress lines.

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How to Calculate Progress Points 

The calculation 

The location of a progress point for a task is determined as follows:

• For a non-summary task

The task timephased Cumulative % Complete on the progress date is used to proportionally
locate the progress point from the start of the task, considering only working time. For example,
if the Cumulative % Complete on the progress date is 43%, the progress point is 43% of the way
across the bar (taking nonworking time into account).

• For a summary task

The progress point is calculated as follows:

For each subordinate, take its Cumulative % Complete on the Status date times its Duration.
Keep a running sum of these results across all the subordinate tasks.

Minute by minute, move left to right from the start of the task. Keep a running count of how
many tasks scheduled working time that minute. When the count of minutes is equivalent to the
sum in step 1 above, that date is the progress point for the summary task.

Affects of the ʹ... spread to the Status dateʹ setting, and edits to timephased values 

Because a progress line's progress points (where it crosses the tasks) depend heavily on the
Cumulative % Complete values of the subordinate tasks on the Status date, then in order to
meaningfully interpret progress lines, you should adhere to the following rule:

For normal Progress Line behavior, the option, Edits to total task % complete will be spread to
the Status date, should be selected, and timephased % Complete should not be edited.

The reason that the above rule gives the best results is that when you enter total % Complete for
tasks, the timephased % Complete will be distributed to the left or on the Status date. This allows
the progress lines to be drawn to the right for a task that has a % Complete and a Start date
after the Status date. If the Edits to total task % Complete will be spread to the Status date, is
not selected, then when you enter task % Complete, the % Complete can extend to the right
of the Status date and the progress points won't be drawn any farther right than the Status date.

Note Changing the Edits ... spread to the Status date setting has no affect on existing progress
points or timephased % Complete. It only affects new changes that you make. If you change
the setting hoping to correct your progress lines, then you will have to change each task's %
Complete (to any value different from the current value) and then change it back to the its
original value.

Regardless of the Edits ... spread to the Status date option, if you choose to edit timephased %
Complete yourself, then the interpretation of the progress lines depends completely on which
dates you entered the values. Microsoft Project allows you to enter timephased % Complete on
any dates, even outside of the task. If you make completely arbitrary edits to timephased %
Complete, then it is impossible to interpret the resulting progress lines in any meaningful way.
 
Summary Progress Bars 

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The Bar Styles dialog box (Figure 28) in Microsoft Project has a From/To field choice called
Summary Progress.

Figure 28. Bar Styles From/To Summary Progress choice

The Summary Progress choice is used to draw progress bars on summary tasks more realistically.
Microsoft Project calculates the Summary Progress dates for summary tasks and uses them to
draw the corresponding progress bars.
The Summary Progress field is only accessible in the Bar Styles dialog box. It is not exposed
anywhere else. You cannot insert it into a task table or in the details of a Task Usage view.

Example 

This example illustrates the computation of Summary Progress dates for a summary task in
which all the subordinate tasks are statused through the same date. This is the easy case to
interpret. It also highlights the difference between the Bar Styles CompleteThrough date and
the Summary Progress date.

Part A and B both use the Bar Style definitions shown in Figure 29. Notice that the
CompleteThrough and Summary Progress bars have the numbers 2 and 3 in the Bar Styles Row
column. They are displayed as follows in the summary bar (for clarity) (Figures 29 and 30).

Figure 29. Bar Styles used

Figure 30. Values were entered into the % Complete of the subordinate tasks

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The Complete Through summary bar draws until it reaches 50% of the summary task bar, which
is day 4.

The Summary Progress bar is drawing to a point that represents completed work for the
summary task because the progress bar takes into consideration when the subordinate tasks
are scheduled.

Note The CompleteThrough bar not the Summary Progress date uses the summary Actual
Duration. Also note that the summary Duration is the full span of all subordinate tasks, not the
sum of the subordinate Durations.

To calculate the Summary Progress bar shown in Figure 31, think of the sum of subordinate
Actual Durations (6d) as being distributed over the Actual Duration of the summary task.

Figure 31. Subordinate tasks of Summary 2 were statused through the same date
 
Example 

This example illustrates the computation of Summary Progress dates for a summary task in
which the subordinate tasks have been statused out of chronological order.

Parts A and B both use the Bar Style definitions shown in Figures 16 through 22.

A. 80% is entered for the % Complete of task T1 (Figure 32). To calculate the Summary Progress bar that
follows, think of the sum of subordinate Actual Durations (4d) as being distributed over the summary Actual
Duration.
B.

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 Figure 32. 80% was entered for task T1

The Summary Progress date in Figure 32 is calculated as follows:

• First, the sum of the subordinate Actual Durations is 4d +0d + 0d + 0d + 0d = 4d.

• Next, count the tasks occurring each day, day by day, until the count reaches the sum of the subordinate
Actual Durations, 4d:
Day1: Task T2 occurs on that day which adds 1d to the count. The count is now at 1d. Note that
it does not matter that task T2 has no Actual Duration on Day1. Microsoft Project counts
Duration, not Actual Duration during this calculation.

Day2: Tasks T1, T2, and T3 occur that day, which adds 3d more to the count, so the count is now
at 4d. That matches the sum or the subordinate Actual Durations, so the Summary Progress
date must be the end of Day2.

B. Next, 50% is entered for the % Complete of tasks T5 (Figure 33). To calculate the Summary Progress bar
that follows, you can think of the sum of subordinate Actual Durations (5d) as being distributed the
summary task Actual Duration.

Figure 33. 80% is entered for T1 and 50% is entered for T5

The Summary Progress date in the previous picture is calculated as follows:

• First, the sum of the subordinate Actual Durations is 4d +0d + 0d + 0d + 1d = 5d.

• Next, count the tasks occurring each day, day by day, until the count reaches the sum of the subordinate
Actual Durations, 5d:

Day1: Task T2 occurs on that day, which adds 1d to the count. The count is now 1d.

Day2: Tasks T1, T2 and T3 occur that day, which adds 3d more to the count, so the count is now
4d.

Day3: Tasks T1 and T3 occur that day. However, there is only 1d remaining before the count
matches the sum or the subordinate Actual Durations, 5d. So the remaining 1d of count has to
be divided among T1 and T3. That means that only half of Day3 is needed for the count to
reach 5d. So the Summary Progress date must be the middle of Day3.

Analyzing Progress Information

Microsoft Project has predefined views, tables, filters, groups, and reports that will assist a
project manager with analyzing project data to better manage projects. This section is a listing
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of those predefined items. These items can be used as is, customized or new ones created, to
better suit the business need. How to go about modifying and customizing is discussed in other
lessons, see Related Reading for those references.

Views

The Tracking Gantt view is used to compare baseline data with actual data in the project plan.
To access this view select the View menu, click More views, select Tracking Gantt and Apply.
The Tracking Gantt can also be selected off the View bar.

The Tracking Gantt view bars styles have been defined to show baseline information in grey,
critical task information in red and normal tasks in blue. Figure 34 shows an example of a
project plan whose tasks have been modified since the baseline was saved.

Figure 34. Tracking Gantt view

Other views that show baseline data are Detail Gantt and Baseline Gantt.
 
Tables 

Task Tables include; Tracking, Variance, Work, and three Earned Value tables
Resource Tables include; Cost Work, and Earned Value tables
 
Filters 

Task Filters Resource Filters

Completed Tasks Cost Greater Than
Cost Greater Than Cost over Budget
Cost Over Budget In-progress Assignments
Critical Should Start By…
In progress Tasks Should Start/Finish by
Incomplete Tasks Slipping/Late Progress
Late/Overbudget Tasks Assigned To… Slipping Assignments
Should Start By… Unstarted Assignments
Should Start/Finish by Work Complete
Slipping/Late Progress Work In complete
Slipping Tasks Work Overbudget
Tasks with deadlines
Unstarted Tasks
Work Overbudget

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Groups 

Groups useful for analysis include; Complete and Incomplete Tasks, Critical, and Complete,
and Incomplete resources.
 
Reports  

Budget reports Over Budget Tasks

Cash Flow Cash Flow
Completed Tasks Completed Tasks
Critical Tasks Critical Tasks
Earned Value Earned Value
Over Budget Resources Over Budget Resources

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 Chapter 12 - Multiple Projects
Overview

There are situations where a project plan may become very difficult to manage due to its size
or complexity. In order to ease this problem organizing the project plan into smaller subprojects
can be very helpful, but the plan still needs to be managed in it entirety. That is where the use
of a master project and inserted subprojects comes in.

A master project is basically a container project that has smaller subprojects inserted into it.
When the subproject files are inserted into a master project, an Object Linking and Embedding
(OLE) link is created to the subproject, when the subproject is updated the master project
reflects the updates.

Some ways in which an oversized plan can be organized include:

• Tasks in separate phases can be broken out into subprojects.

• Different project managers managing different parts of the plan.

• Task cost being covered by different budgets.

• Tasks grouped by location or division.

The table below lists terminology associated with multiple projects and their definitions
 
Multiple Project Definitions 

Consolidated Project Container Projector Master
Project
Inserted Project Source Project or Subproject
Cross-Project Link
Ghost Task Or External Task
A project that contains one or more other projects.
Every project (MPP) is capable of being a Consolidated
Project.
A project contained within another project.
A task relationship (or link) between tasks that exist in
different projects.
A representation of a task from a different project in the
current project. Ghost Tasks are created for both Cross-
Project links and inserted projects.

User Interface

Inserting a Project 

From the Insert menu, select the Project command to create an inserted project (see Figure 1).

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 Figure 1. Insert Project menu command

This displays a version of the File Open dialog box with options for the inserted project(s). The
dialog box supports multi-select so that more than one project can be selected for insertion.

Figure 2. Insert Project dialog box

Most controls in this dialog box are supplied by the standard File Open dialog box. The
differences are:

ODBC. If the ODBC button is selected, the ODBC Data Source dialog box appears. Once the
data source has been selected, if there are full projects saved in the database, they are
presented in the dialog box shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Insert Project dialog box for ODBC link

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The list box displays all of the full projects in the database. The list box is multi-select so that more than
one project can be chosen for insertion. The order of selection is used to determine the order of
insertion.

The label for the list box reflects the Data Source Name that is selected.

The rest of the controls are the same as in the standard Insert Project dialog box. Note that the
controls are not linked to the controls in the standard dialog box (for example, if Read Only is
checked in the standard dialog box, it will not be checked in this dialog box).

Insert. This button inserts a project file into the currently open file. This button has two options,
Insert and Insert Read Only.

Insert Read Only. The Read Only option is unchecked by default. This control determines
whether the inserted project is read-only in the master project. If the inserted project is read-
only, then changes cannot be made from the master project. If the inserted project is not read-
only, then changes can be made in the master project and the changes are reflected in both
the master project and the source project.

If Link to Project is unchecked, then this control is disabled.

Link to Project. This checkbox is selected by default and creates an OLE link between the
subproject and master project. The link makes it possible to update the subproject and when
the master project is opened the updates are reflected in the master project. If the option is not
selected then the subproject tasks are pasted into the master project and no longer have any
relationship with the original subproject plan.

Locating Master and Subproject files

In Microsoft® Project, relative Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths are used in addition to
full UNC paths to reference inserted projects and resource pools. The relative paths are used
first. For example, if the file project1.mpp were inserted into a project stored in the same
directory, it would be referenced by both “\project1.mpp” and “C:\My Documents\Client
1\project1.mpp.” Microsoft Project would use the relative path first to locate the project. If it
could not be found using the relative path, the full path is used.

Because of this additional relative path, it is easy to move groups of projects from one location
to another and still maintain cross-project links or links with resource pools and inserted projects.
The only requirement is that files relative locations remain constant. So if a group of project files
was originally located in the same directory, they will now need to be placed in the same
directory in the new location.

Project files can also be stored to a shared folder on another machine. In which case the path
would be: \\<server name>\<shared folder name>\<project file name>.

Project files can be stored to a database using a system DSN. The path to that file would be:
<system DSN name>\<project file name>.

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Figure 4 shows a master file that has projects inserted each source.

1. Database

2. Shared folder on another machine

3. Local file

The subproject field has been inserted that includes the path where the files came from to
demonstrate the naming conventions Microsoft Project uses to locate subproject files.

Figure 4. Subproject field displays the full path for inserted project files

When opening a master file in which an inserted project cannot be located, the following
dialog box is offered to locate the missing file. Notice the title of the window.

Figure 5. Cannot find inserted project

Microsoft Project uses a general flexible Insert Project command that allows a project to live at
any outline level within a container project.

Master projects can be further included in other projects (nested) to develop a project
hierarchy. Figure 6 illustrates nested inserted projects in the Gantt Chart view. Notice the ID
numbers and cross-project links.

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 Figure 6. Example of nested inserted projects and cross-project links
 
Inserting a project with a different currency setting 

If the user tries to insert a project that has a different currency setting than the master project, the alert
shown in Figure 7 is displayed.

Figure 7. Alert over currency clash

If OK is chosen, then it continues normally. To the master project, the cost information is rolled
up using the currency setting in the master file. The information within the inserted project is
displayed as it would normally (in its currency format).

Window/New Window

Microsoft Project supports “on-the-fly” consolidation via the Window/New Window command.
The user is provided with a list of the open projects and can choose multiple projects to be
displayed in the same window.

If the user chooses to consolidate two projects that are already related, then there is no alert,
but the relationship is preserved in the new consolidated project.

For example, if ProjA contains ProjB which contains ProjC. The Window/New Window dialog box
lists ProjA, ProjB, and ProjC. If the user chooses ProjB and ProjC, then the new consolidated
project would have both ProjB and ProjC. ProjB would be at outline level 1 and ProjC would be
contained in ProjB as it normally is.

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Inserted Project Information dialog box 

When a project summary task for an inserted project is selected and the Task Information
command is selected from the Project menu (or the inserted project name is double clicked),
the Inserted Project Information dialog box is displayed instead of the Task Information dialog
box. Some properties are disabled and some special properties are available.

Figure 8. Inserted Project Information dialog box

All tabs have a Project Information button that tunnels to the Project Information dialog box for
the inserted project. This function allows the settings on the project to be changed (calendar,
schedule from start/finish, and so on).

The controls that are disabled are on the General tab, they include the Duration, Percent
Complete, Start, and Finish fields.

Figure 9. The Advanced tab

The Advanced tab has the following controls for the inserted project:

Link to Project: When checked, this indicates that the inserted project is linked back to its
source project. The edit control allows the user to change the path to the source project (to
correct it if the file has moved, and so on).
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When unchecked, the OLE link is broken to the original file. Also the edit control, the Browse
button, and the Read Only checkbox are disabled. When OK is selected, the information from
the inserted project is copied into the master project as normal tasks.

Browse Button: When pressed, the Browse button displays the standard File Open dialog box
with the title Insert Project. The default directory and path are taken from the edit control.

Read Only: When unchecked, edits made to the inserted project in the master project are
reflected in the source project.

When checked, edits are not permitted to the inserted project (the inserted project is read
only). If changes are made to the read-only file, a prompt to save with a new file will be
displayed on save or close.

Inserted Project Display Behavior 

In general, formatting information is pushed down from the master project onto the tasks in the
subproject (text styles, bar styles, and so on).

In addition, direct cell or bar formatting is lost when a project is viewed from within another
project (because formatting is stored with the view).

Indicator (Task Sheet/Gantt) 

The Project Summary Task for an inserted project has an inserted project indicator in the
Indicator column. This enables the user to easily distinguish between normal tasks and inserted
projects. The indicator is modified when the inserted project is read-only and/or when the file
cannot be found.

Figure 10. Indicator of an Inserted Column

 
Task Bars 

Task bars are drawn using the formatting from the master project. Direct formatting of bars in
the individual project is not displayed in the master project. Direct formatting is stored in the
view, not in the task.

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Resource views

Microsoft Project provides a Project field for Tasks, Resources, and Assignments

Figure 11: Example of the Project Field in a Resource Sheet view

Editing Rules for Inserted Projects

 
Inserting Tasks near Inserted Projects 
When the user chooses to insert a task or project at the boundary between an inserted project
and tasks in the master project, it follows the Smart Insert functionality rules. The Smart Insert
feature controls where and at what outline level the task or project will be inserted.

If the Inserted Project Summary task is selected, the insert occurs immediately above the
inserted project.
 
Task Below Inserted Project Summary Task Selected 

There are two cases here:

• The Inserted Project Summary task is collapsed so that it is the only task of the inserted project being
displayed. In this case, the new task is inserted into the master project at the same level as the inserted
project.

• The Inserted Project Summary task is expanded. The new task is inserted into the inserted project. The
outline level is determined by the Smart Insert behavior.

Deleting an Inserted Project 

If the Inserted Project Summary task is selected and Edit/Delete (or press the Delete key) is
chosen, the Project Summary task and all of its children (the entire project) are deleted from
the master project (just like deleting a normal summary task). The deleted project file still exists
and contains all of its child tasks, but it is no longer part of the master project. If however,
specific child tasks are selected without selecting the Inserted Project Summary task, then the
child tasks are deleted from the Inserted Project.

Navigating Around an Inserted Project

Outlining is the most natural way to navigate around an inserted project is through the outline
commands.

Show Subtasks (Expand). Displays the next outline level of details in the inserted project.
Hide Subtasks (Collapse). Collapses the inserted project so it displays only the Project Summary
task without showing the child tasks.
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Show All Subtasks (Expand All). Works on only the selected project. This allows the display of
subtasks to be more finely controlled.

To show all subtasks for all summary tasks and inserted projects, the user can select everything
by clicking a table column and using the Show All Subtasks command.

Indent & Outdent. Can indent or outdent tasks within a particular project. Tasks cannot be
moved between an inserted project and its master via outdenting (or vice versa via indenting).

If the user attempts to indent a task in the master project that follows an inserted project’s
summary task, Microsoft Project 2002 does not allow the action and no alert is displayed.

Saving Inserted Projects

The user is prompted to save each unsaved inserted project as well as the container file.

Custom Fields

In Microsoft Project, custom fields can be renamed for ease of use. For example, the
predefined Text1 field could be renamed or given the alias, OBS. Then, instead of referring to
the Text1 field, the user could refer to OBS instead. The aliases appear in all drop-down lists of
fields.

In a master project, the aliases used are the ones defined in the master project and the aliases
that are defined in inserted projects are ignored while the master is active. For example, if the
alias OBS is assigned to Text 1 in the master project, but it is given the alias Cost Code in the
inserted project, then while the master project is active the alias OBS is used, because it is the
alias defined in the master project.

Multiple Projects - Effects on Standard Project Commands

Resource Assignment 

The Assign Resources dialog box can be used with master projects containing inserted projects.

Figure 12. Resource Assignment dialog box

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The Resources From label in the Assign Resources dialog box always displays the name of the
current file. No pool is displayed even if multiple tasks are selected and they do not all come
from projects using the same pool. The Resource Assignment list changes when the selected
task uses resources from a different file, but the Resources From will remain the same.

If multiple tasks are selected from multiple projects and those projects share the same resource
pool, then that pool is displayed by the Resources From label in the Assign Resources dialog
box.

If the tasks selected do not share the same pool, then no pool is displayed in the dialog box
and all buttons are disabled except the Close button. This eliminates the possibility of the user
attempting to assign a resource from one pool to a task in a project that is not using that pool.
 
Find/Replace 

The Find and Replace commands in the Edit menu work across all projects in a master project.
The Replace command does not work on a selection, but it does work on filtered tasks. To
apply it only to a specific inserted project, activate that project, or apply a filter that only
displays that inserted project.
 
Link Tasks/Unlink Tasks 

Tasks in a master project can be linked using the mouse as in a stand-alone project. If the link
involves tasks in separate files, a cross-project link is automatically created.
 
Sort 

Consolidation allows sorting to occur as it does in a stand-alone project. Tasks from different
projects can become intermingled if the Keep Outline Structure is unchecked.
 
Filtering 

Filtering works the same as it does in a stand-alone project.

 
File Properties 

The Properties command in the File menu displays the properties for the master project. To view
the properties for an inserted project, the inserted project needs to be opened into its own
window then the Properties command in the File menu can be selected.
 
Project Information 

The Project Information command in the Project menu displays the project information for the
master project. To view the project information for the inserted project the user can either

• Display the Inserted Project Information dialog box and use the Project Information button to tunnel to the
Project Information dialog box for that project.

Or

• Double click the inserted project summary task

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File ‐ Send 

If only the master project is sent, then the references to the inserted projects will be incorrect.
Drawing Objects and OLE Objects on the Gantt Chart 

Drawing and OLE Objects are stored in the master project.

 
Change Working Time (Project Calendars) 

The Change Working Time dialog box (and other places where calendars are listed) displays
calendars from all projects inserted into the master project. The calendar will be listed with the
project name enclosed in square brackets after the calendar name.

It is possible to open the inserted project in its own window in order to edit its calendars.
 
Status Date, Current Date, and Update Project dialog box 

Microsoft Project presents the concept of the Status date that allows project managers to track
the last time they entered actuals for their project. The Update Project dialog box uses the
entered Status date (by default) to calculate progress information. If the Status date is not
entered, then the Current Date is used.

For Consolidated Projects, it uses the Current and Status dates from the master project for
display on the Gantt Chart and for the Update Project dialog box.

Calculations based on the Status/Current date, such as Earned Value calculations when the
Edits to total task % complete will be spread to the status date option is selected, are
calculated using the individual inserted project's Status/Current date.

The Current date gridline in the Gantt Chart and the default date in the Update Project dialog
box use the Status date from the master project.

Cross‐Project Links 

Cross-project linking enables the user to link tasks in one project to tasks in another project.
Microsoft Project supports true cross-project linking. The user can include a path and filename
in the Predecessor and Successor fields, followed by a slash and the usual relationship syntax.
For example, if C:\MyFiles\P1.mpp\24FS+3d is entered in the Predecessor field, then the
predecessor has ID 24 in the file C:\MyFiles\P1.mpp, and the relationship is Finish-to-Start with 3
days of lag.

Cross-Project Linking Terminology

The term internal is used to describe those tasks that exist in a project. External relates to those
tasks outside of a project. Use of either of these terms depends on the specific project in
question. To avoid confusion, this discussion assumes the active project is the internal project
unless stated otherwise.
When an external link is created in the active project, replicated tasks are created in both the
external and active projects.

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The term ghost task is used to refer to an external (replicated) task, however, an external task is
not displayed with the ghost task formatting in the active project if the parent of the external
task has been inserted into the active project.

One project gets an external successor task and the other gets an external predecessor task.
When either project is displayed alone (for example, does not contain the other as an inserted
project), the external task is displayed with special light gray ghost formatting so it can be easily
distinguished from other tasks.
If an external task is displayed as a ghost task in the active project, it gets its own ID in the
active project (not necessarily the same ID it has in its parent project). A predecessor ghost task
is inserted just before the corresponding internal successor task, and a successor ghost task is
inserted just after the corresponding internal predecessor task. However, if a ghost task
representing the external task already exists, then that ghost task is used to represent the
external task in all the relationships it may have with tasks in the active project. In other words, if
two tasks in the active project both have the same external predecessor, there is only one
ghost task representing that external task in the active project.
 
Example 

This example illustrates the relative use of the terms internal and external, in relation to cross-
project linking.

Figure 13. Task Test1T5 is the predecessor in Test1.mpp

Figure 14. Task Test2T3 is the successor in Test1.mpp

From the perspective of Test1.mpp, task Test1T5 is the internal predecessor of the external
successor task Test2T3.

From the perspective of Test2.mpp, task Test1T5 is the external predecessor or the internal
successor task Test2T3.

The task in each individual project that represents an external task is also called a ghost task.

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Creating and Editing Cross-Project Links

The Gantt Chart in the master project can display tasks from many different projects, including
tasks from the master project, projects inserted directly into the master project, tasks in nested
inserted projects, and ghost tasks from external projects that are not contained in the master.
It is possible to create cross-project links by dragging between any two task bars in the Gantt
Chart, regardless of what project they belong to. However, link lines are not displayed if the
predecessor and successor are both ghost tasks.
The predecessor and successor can be in different projects. If they are visible, they can be
linked (subject to the normal linking restrictions, such as not being allowed to link a summary
task to one of its child tasks). Cross-project links can also be created in a master project the
same way as in a stand-alone project.
 
Example 

This example illustrates cross-project links among tasks that are part of a master project file.

Note The inserted projects Test1, Test2, and Test3 are displayed as ghost/external summary bars
in Main1. Also, Test2 is a nested inserted project under Test1, which is inserted into Main1.

Figure 15. Example of Cross Project linking displayed in a master project

Linking Between Projects

There are two ways to link information between Microsoft Project files; by using dependency
links between project files, or by using object linking and embedding via Copy/Paste Special.
When a project relies on a task that is in another project, cross-project links can be used to
create a dependency between them. When a dependency between tasks in different projects
is created in this way, any changes to the start or finish dates of the external task are
automatically reflected in the successor task of the other project.

When links between only certain fields of information need to be created, links between fields
in two project files can be pasted by using the Paste Special command instead. For example,
where the same job descriptions and pay rates exist in two projects, but the tasks occur in both
projects, the Paste Special command enables the user to connect the selected fields in the
two plans so that the information stays synchronized.

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To create a dependency between tasks in different projects 

1. Open both projects - the file containing the task you want to link to and the file containing the task you want to
link from. (If necessary, you can search for your file.)

2. In the Window menu, click Arrange All.

3. Use the mouse to drag a link between two tasks.

or

4. In the Task Name field, click the task for which you want to create a task dependency to an external
predecessor.

5. Click Task Information and then click the Predecessors tab.

Figure 16. Creating cross project task dependency

6. In the ID field, type the full path of the project location, the project name, and ID number of the external
predecessor, separated by a backslash, for example: \\<full path>\Project1\1 for Task ID 1 in a file
named Project 1.

7. To change the dependency to a type other than finish-to-start, select a different dependency type in the Type
field.

8. To enter lag time for the dependency, enter a value in the Lag field.

9. To enter lead time, enter a negative value in the Lag field, such as –2 for two days of lead time.

Links between Individual Projects 

A link between two projects can be created by editing the Successor or Predecessor field in
the sheet or in the Task Information dialog box Predecessors tab.

The format of the external link is either:

pathname\filename\task_id

or

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pathname\filename\project_name\task_id

or

DSN\project_name\task_id

followed by the usual link type and lag/lead values, where:

• pathname is the UNC path to the directory containing the project file.

• filename is the name of the project file. This could be an .mpp or .mdb file.

• DSN is the ODBC Data Source Name (like <SQL Server>).

• project_name is a specific project name. This is used in cases where the source file can store multiple
projects (such as MPD and ODBC). It indicates to which project within the given file or DSN the user is referring.

• task_id is the external task ID (the normal ID that would be displayed in the external project).

For example, the following could be entered into the Predecessors column:

\\proj1\plans\Project 2002\long file name.mpd\long project name\44 SS+1d

When creating a link, the project name and task name can be typed in to create an FS cross-
project link to the external task if the project is in memory (open). Microsoft Project can fill in the
path and filename of the open project. If no link is specified, Microsoft Project creates an FS link
by default. It is a predecessor or successor link depending on whether the user is typing in the
predecessor or successor field.

If the file is not in memory, the user must enter the path (and any other required information if
the source is a DSN). Microsoft Project then loads the file. If the filename is entered without an
extension, it assumes .MPP. If it cannot find the file, it displays the normal alert and then displays
the File browse dialog box.
 
Example 

This example illustrates how external predecessors/successors in a stand-alone project are

inserted as ghost tasks after the internal task, causing ID numbers to shift.

Task P3T2 in project P3.mpp will be given an external predecessor from P1.mpp and another
from P2.mpp. Figures 17, 18, and 19 show what each of the projects looked like after the links
were created. The Project field shows the parent project of each task.

Figure 17. P3.mpp AFTER the link is created

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 Figure 18. P1.mpp AFTER the link is created

Figure 19. P2.mpp AFTER the link is created

Task Information dialog box 

Cross-project links can be created in the Task Information dialog box Predecessors tab by
specifying the appropriated external predecessor information in the ID column. The path is not
required if the predecessor parent file is open. The Type and Lag fields cannot be edited until
OK is clicked and the external file is opened.

Figure 20. Cross Project Links in the Task Information dialog box

The ID column accepts ID for internal tasks. For external tasks, it accepts the same syntax as the
Predecessor column in a task table: path\filename\ID or
path\filename\project_name\ID or DSN\project_name\ID.

Because Microsoft Project cannot open the external project while the dialog box is displayed, it
puts “External Task” as a placeholder name for the task name, Type and Lag. Type and Lag
cannot be edited until OK is chosen in the dialog box, which opens the external project.
In a master project, the Task Name drop-down list other tasks in the same project. This list
includes external tasks that have cross links to the internal project.

Task Dependency Dialog Box

The Task Dependency dialog box is displayed by double-clicking a link line in a consolidated or
stand-alone project.

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There are two versions of the Task Dependency dialog box, one version if the link does not
involve a ghost task (but may involve inserted external tasks), and a different version for a link
between an internal task and a ghost task.
To display a Task Dependency dialog box, double-click a link line between two tasks that are
not ghosted.

Figure 21. Link between two internal tasks

If one or both of the non-ghosted tasks is in an inserted project, then the inserted project names
are appended in parentheses after the external task names. In Figure 22, the project P2.mpp is
inserted into the active project, and the task P2T3 in the inserted project P2.mpp is the
predecessor of P3T2 in the active project.

Figure 22. Link from a Task in an inserted project to an internal task

For a link between an internal task and a ghost task, the full path and filename of the ghost task
are appended in parentheses after the ghost task name. In Figure 23, the project P2.mpp is not
inserted into the active project. The task P2T3 in project P2.mpp is the ghost predecessor of P3T2
in the active project.

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 Figure 23. Link from a ghost task to an internal task
 
Manipulating Ghost Tasks 
Editing Ghost Tasks 

If a cell of a ghost task is double-clicked, Microsoft Project opens the external project, if it is not
already open, and places the cursor at the top of the file. If the file is already open, double
clicking the ghost task will activate that file and place the cursor at the proper task.
The cross project link can be edited in either project.

The ghost task can be deleted from the internal task's project. This removes the link and
removes the ghost task from the internal project. This action has no affect on the external task
in the external project except to remove the cross-project link (and the appropriate ghost task)
when that project is updated. For example, deleting a ghost task breaks the link, but does not
delete the task record from the parent project.

Synchronized and editable ghost fields 

Some information in a ghost task is synchronized with the information in the external project,
and some information is editable in the internal project. In general most fields are synchronized
except for custom fields, notes, and baseline fields (so that the user can set a baseline in the
internal project) and some fields are only used to show assignment fields.

Cost and work fields are synchronized, but they are not included in rollup calculations because
they are not counted against the internal project. Also, fields that are synchronized are not
editable because the synchronization would wipe out any edits.

The following split table shows what information is synchronized with the information in the
external project. It also shows what information can be edited in the internal project. The X at
the end of some of the field names in the table is a placeholder for numbered fields. For
example, TextX means Text1, Text2, and so on.

Name Sync Editable Name Sync Editable

Actual Cost Yes No Marked No Yes
Actual Duration Yes No Milestone Yes No
Actual Finish Yes No Name Yes No
Actual Overtime Yes No Notes No Yes
Cost
Actual Overtime Yes No NumberX No Yes
Work
Actual Start Yes No Objects No No
Actual Work Yes No Outline Level No No
Baseline Cost No Yes Overallocated No No
Baseline Duration No Yes Overtime Cost Yes No
Baseline Finish No Yes Overtime Work Yes No
Baseline Start No Yes % Complete Yes No
Baseline Work No Yes % Work Complete Yes No
BCWP No No Predecessors No No
BCWS No No Preleveled Finish Yes No
Confirmed No No Preleveled Start Yes No
Constraint Date Yes No Priority Yes No
Constraint Type Yes No Project Yes No
Contact No Yes Recurring No No
Cost Yes No Regular Work Yes No
Cost Rate Table No No Remaining Cost Yes No
Cost Variance No No Remaining Yes No
Duration

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CostX No Yes Remaining Yes No
Overtime Cost
Created No No Remaining Yes No
Overtime Work
Critical Yes No Remaining Work Yes No
CV No No Resource Group No No
DateX No Yes Resource Initials No No
Assignment No No Resource Names No No
Delay
Duration Yes No Resource No No
Phonetics
DurationX No Yes Resume Yes No
Early Finish Yes No Rollup No Yes
Early Start Yes No Start Yes No
Effort Driven Yes No Start Variance No No
External Project No No StartX No Yes
Name
Finish Yes No Stop Yes No
Finish Variance No No Subproject File No No
FinishX No Yes Subproject Read- No No
Only
Fixed Cost Yes No Successors No No
Fixed Cost Yes No Summary No No
Accrual
FlagX No Yes SV Yes No
Free Slack Yes No TeamStatus No No
Pending
Hide Bar No Yes TextX No Yes
Hyperlink No Yes Total Slack Yes No
Hyperlink No Yes Type Yes No
Address
Hyperlink Href No Yes Unique ID No No
Hyperlink No Yes Predecessors No No
SubAddress Unique ID
ID No No Unique ID No No
Successors
Indicators No No Assignment Units No No
Late Finish Yes No Update Needed No No
Late Start Yes No WBS Yes No
Level No No Work Yes No
Assignments
Leveling Can No No Work Contour No No
Split
Leveling Delay Yes No Work Variance No No
Linked Fields No No
 
Formatting Ghost Tasks 

To allow formatting of the ghost tasks, the following items are included in the following dialog
boxes:

View Dialog box Item Default formatting

Calendar Text Styles external task Color: Gray
Calendar Bar Styles external task Color: GrayBar Type:
BarPattern: Hollow
Gantt Text Styles external task Color: Gray
Gantt Bar Styles External (Show For) Color: GrayBar: Light
Dither
Network Diagram Text Styles external task Color: Gray
Network Diagram Box Styles external task Color: GrayBox: Dotted
Box
Task Sheet Text Styles external task Color: Gray
Task Usage Text Styles external task Color: Gray
Task Report Text external task Color: Gray
Crosstab Report Text external task Color: Gray

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Gantt Chart Wizard  

The Gantt Chart Wizard preserves ghost task formatting, but provides no options to change it.
Formatting for ghost task bars must be carried out using the Format Bar or Format Bar Styles
menu commands.
 
Baseline Information for Ghost Tasks 

Unlike all other information about the ghost task, the baseline information comes from the
internal project rather than the external project.
An external task has two independent sets of baseline field values. One set is in its parent
project, and the other set is in the internal project. This allows the user to see how much the
ghost task has moved or changed from the last time the internal project baseline was set.

Link Updates and Maintenance

 
Cross Project Linking Options 

The View tab of the Options dialog box available in the Tools menu contains options to control
how links are updated when files are opened, as well as whether or not ghost tasks are
displayed.

Figure 24. Cross-Project Linking Options in Tools Options View tab

The first two settings, Show external successors and Show external predecessors, determine if
the ghost predecessors or successors are displayed as tasks or hidden in the current project. This
setting does not impact the predecessor or successor fields of the linked internal task that show
the external links as text.

If the parent project of an external task is inserted into the active project, then the external task
is not displayed as a ghost task, but is instead displayed as any other task in an inserted project.

If the Show Links Between Projects dialog box on open option is ON (selected) then the
Automatically accept new external data option is disabled and unchecked. If Show Links
Between Projects dialog box on open is OFF (not selected), then the Automatically accept new
external data option is enabled and this option can be turned ON or OFF.

If the Show Links Between Projects dialog box on open setting is ON, then Microsoft Project
displays the Links between Projects dialog box whenever the file is opened, but only if there has
been a change to an external task or link. If this setting is OFF, then Microsoft Project does not
display the dialog box on file open even if there have been changes to the external tasks or
links. In that case, choose the Links between Projects command from the Tools menu to display
the dialog box.

If Automatically accept new external data is ON, then Microsoft Project automatically accepts
any new external link information without prompting the user. Because it automatically
synchronizes the data, if Microsoft Project cannot find the external link (because the link was
removed or the project file was moved), then the external task is deleted.
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By default, the first three checkboxes are ON.

These options are saved per project and cannot be saved globally.
 
Behavior on Open 

Suppose there is a link between a task in project Test1 and a task in project Test2, and project
Test2 is opened. Various scenarios are discussed as follows.
 
Project Test1 in Memory 

If project Test1 is already open in memory, then the linked task in project Test2 reflects the
current information from project Test1, and Test2’s ghost in project Test1 reflects the current task
data of that task in project Test2.

Provided calculation is ON, any open project reflects the current data of the external tasks and
links.
 
Project Test1 Not in Memory and ʹShow ... dialog box on openʹ is ON 

If project Test1 is not currently open, then Microsoft Project looks for the external data in the
external project (which would cause the project to be loaded in the background). If this
external data is different than the current data stored in the first project being opened (project
Test2) then Microsoft Project displays the Cross-Project Links dialog box that shows all external
links. Those links that have changed can be easily found by looking in the Differences column.
 
Project Test1 Not in Memory and ʹShow ... dialog box on openʹ is OFF 
 
Automatically accept new external data is ON 

When opening the project, it looks for the external data in the external project. Any changed
data automatically is updated in the current project without prompting from the user.
 
Automatically accept new external data is OFF 

When opening the project, it does not look for the external data. If the Links Between Projects
dialog box is displayed, at that point it looks for the external data.

Links Between Projects Dialog Box

The Tools menu, Links Between Projects command is used to see the cross-project links.

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 Figure 25. Tools Links Between Projects command

Figure 26. Links Between Projects dialog box

The Links Between Projects dialog box displays all the cross-project predecessors and
successors for the current project with information about what changed in the current project.
This dialog box also shows links whose source project cannot be found, or whose source task
cannot be found.

From this dialog box it is possible to repair broken links, choose to accept or refuse new data
concerning a cross project link, and edit or delete a cross-project link (and thus the ghost task
as well).
When the dialog box is displayed, if it hasn't already retrieved the external information, it opens
up all the external projects in order to obtain this external information.

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 Figure 27. Successor and Predecessor links between projects

The dialog box has one tab that shows the External Predecessor tasks and another that shows
the External Successor tasks.

If an internal task has a predecessor and successor external link, then that task appears on both
tabs.

Task. Shows the internal and ghost task pair that constitutes a cross-project link. The internal
tasks are aligned to the left and have an ID number. The ghost task is indented under it. On the
same line as the ghost task is Type, Date, % Complete and Difference information. The name,
type, date and % Complete fields reflect the old information for example, the information
stored in the current project. The differences field is used to inform the user what data has
changed in the external project and its new value. The current project's internal data on the
external task and cross-project link changes to this new value when the user accepts the
change.

Type. Shows the link type and any lag or lead information about the external link.

Date. Either the start date or the finish date of the external task. If the link is connected to the
start date of the external task, then the date is start date. If the link is connected to the finish
date of the external task then the date is the finish date of the external task. It uses the date
format selected in the Internal Project.

%Comp. Shows the % Complete value for the external task.

Differences. Provides information about what has changed in the external task from the
external project since it was last updated in the internal project, or it lets the user know that the
external task or project file could not be found. If more than one piece of information
changed, then the changes are listed on separate lines.

Kinds of information displayed in the Differences column:

• Name to <new name> is displayed when the task name changed.

• Finish to <new finish> is displayed when the finish date changed and the link depends on the finish date.

• Start to <new start> is displayed when the start date changed to a new date X and the link depends on the
start date.
• Type to <new type> is displayed when the link type changed.

• Link Deleted is displayed when Microsoft Project detects that the link is deleted from the other project.

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 • Task Not Found is displayed when Microsoft Project cannot find the external task within the external
project.

• Project Not Found is displayed when Microsoft Project can find the project file or DSN but not the project
name specified. The user can use the Browse dialog box to find a renamed or moved project.

• File Not Found is displayed when it cannot find the project file or DSN. The user can use the Browse dialog
box to find a moved or renamed external project file.

• File Located is displayed when a File Not Found or Project Not Found condition has been manually
corrected. Note that if there are any changes in the file that it finds, it automatically accepts them.

• None is displayed to indicate that no changes have been made to the external task or link.

The Accept button accepts all the changed information for the selected task.

The All button accepts the changed information for all links in the dialog box.

The Browse button lets the user repair the path for an external project file that may have been
moved or renamed.

The Delete Link button deletes the selected cross-project link and removes the external task
from the current project.
 
Deleting external links 

In Microsoft Project, it is possible to delete external predecessor links to files that cannot be
found. The dialog box shown in Figure 28 will appear enabling the user to delete the external
link or relocate the file.

Figure 28. Links could not be found

Project Calculations

No project is recalculated unless it is opened.

Suppose that project A has links to project B and B has links back into A, and only project B is
opened. Microsoft Project reads in dates from project A (provided the user says it's ok to

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update links). Microsoft Project does not recalculate tasks in project A, even though their
predecessors in project B may have changed.

All the appropriate projects must be reopened before everything can be recalculated.

Circular Loop Detection

The definition of a circular loop or circular task relationship in Microsoft Project is when a series
of task links, link back to the first task in the series. Circular links are not allowed in Microsoft
Project as they will cause Microsoft Project to stop calculating field values and therefore must
be avoided.

If the user tries to create a circular link loop in a single project, Microsoft Project can detect this
condition and does not allow the link to be created. This is more difficult to detect and solve
when the links are spread among a number of different projects.

It is possible to create such loops by creating links while not having all the projects open. For
example, assume that x, y and z represent single tasks in projects A, B and C. If x is linked to y
and y is linked to z, and then B is closed, and link z is linked to x, a circular link is created.
x -> y -> z -> x

Microsoft Project only detects such loops among currently opened projects.

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Microsoft Project – How to create a Project, Define WBS, Define Resources,
Assign Resources, Reports and Filters

1. Create a New Project

2. Define the Start date – Project Menu, Project Information, Define Start
Date
3. Define a New Calendar – Tools Menu, Change Working Time, Click on
New Tab, Define the Calendar name, OK Define the Working days by
selecting the row, define holidays, Click on Options, Define the number
of days in the week, define, no of days in a month, OK, Ok
4. How to attach a calendar to the project – Project Menu, Project definition,
select the calendar tab, pick the appropriate calendar, OK
5. How to define the screen – double click mouse on holiday
(Sunday/Saturday), Select the Calendar tab, Pick up the appropriate
Calendar, OK
6. Define the WBS of the Project
7. Define relationships as FS, SS, FF with leas and lag period (for eg. Task
no, then relationship type and then lag (+) number of days/weeks/Months
or (-) no of days/weeks/months
8. Define the duration of the tasks (m-minutes, h-hours, d-days, w-weeks,
Mo-months)
9. Fine tune your durations & relationships if necessary
10. Define resources in the Resource View
11. Define their Resource Types
12. Define Max Units
13. Define Std. Rate / Cost/Use
14. Define Calendar for the resource
15. Assignment of Resources
16. Click on Gantt view, Gantt view will be displayed.
17. Split the screen – Windows menu, Click on Split, Window gets split, take
the vertical split bar to the left (middle of then screen)
18. Open Resource Assignment window (Tools – Assign Resources) or click
on Assign resources icon
19. Take the assign resource dialogue box to the left of the screen
20. Click on the task on which you want to assign the resource
21. Then select the resource from the assign resources dialog box and
define the units of work in the unit column (50% - if resource I working for
4 hrs per day till the completion task)
22. Format spreadsheet – add columns Fixed Cost & Cost columns. Select
any column, right click the mouse, select ‘Insert’ column dialogue box
will appear, select fixed cost and say OK. Do the same procedures for
Cost field also.

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23. Apply the appropriate cost to the appropriate task in the “Fixed Cost’
field. It will be rolled up in the Cost column
24. Save the project into baseline. Tools – Tracking – Save Baseline – entire
project - OK
25. Click on the “Tracking Gantt”. Now you will be able to see the baseline
for each task
26. Tracking project. Tools – Tracking Update Task – Define the Actual Start
Date & then put some percentage as the progess. When the task is
finished provide the Finish Task. This way single task updating takes
Place
27. For Multi Task updation – Tools – Tracking – Update Project. In this MS
Project assumes that every task is starting as per schedule. There are 2
options. Update complete 0% - 100%. This option updates the task with
some % till the date of updation given by you.
28. The second option updates those activities which are finishing before the
date and will not update with %, those tasks which are finishing later.
29. Reschedule uncompleted work to start later option provides the option of
rescheduling the project once there is no work for a certain period of
time. Here in this option provide the date from which the project work is
again starting.
30. Progress Lines – shows the progress against the planned project.
31. Reports can be seen from – View Menu – Reports. There are 7 – 8 reports
which are useful to any organization at any point of time.

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