PSS Learning Services Module 2.

Contents

Lesson 2: Entering Tasks 23

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 Module 2.2 23

Lesson 2: Entering Tasks

Overview
In this lesson we will discuss some new features of Microsoft Project 2000 such
as Task Calendars, Deadlines, and WBS and Outline Codes.

What You Will Learn

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
 Set up a task calendar
 Describe how task calendars affect scheduling
 List troubleshooting steps to determine which calendar is driving a task’s
schedule
 Describe what effect scheduling has on deadlines
 Describe steps to troubleshoot scheduling issues related to deadlines
 Create a complex Outline code given a scenario
 Troubleshoot WBS issues related to scheduling
Task Calendars
Task calendars, a new feature in Microsoft® Project 2000, allow you to create
schedules that affect only the tasks to which they are assigned. This feature was
added to Microsoft Project 2000 in response to customers’ requests for a
capability similar to some of our competitors' products.

What Is a Task Calendar?

Task calendars allow you to schedule a task based on working and nonworking
times that are unrelated to either the Project Calendar or the calendars for the
resources assigned to the task. When a task calendar is assigned, resources will
not be scheduled during task calendar nonworking periods. Thus it is not
necessary to edit the resources' assignments in order to make them available for
other tasks.
For example, 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 four hours. During this time no other
resources can do any work on the task. In Microsoft Project 98 you would have
to edit each resource's individual assignment to make them available for other
tasks during the equipment downtime. In Microsoft Project 2000, you can
create a base calendar (that will be used as a task 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 just as for any base calendar.
 Module 2.2 25

How Task Calendars Are Assigned

Task calendars are assigned on the Advanced tab of the Task Information
dialog.

Figure 1 - Task Information, Advanced Tab

The new dialog items related to task calendars are described below:
 Calendar – Contains a dropdown list where the user can select any base
calendar currently defined in the project. The default is "None".
 Scheduling ignores resource calendars – A checkbox that controls whether
resource calendars will be taken into consideration when scheduling the
task. This option is unavailable if no task calendar is selected. When a task
calendar is first specified, the option is unchecked by default.

New Task Fields Related to Task Calendars

Two new task fields, "Task Calendar" and "Ignore Resource Calendar," have
been added to store the current task calendar settings. Columns for both of these
fields can also be added to any task sheet. If modified in a task sheet, the new
settings are reflected in the corresponding locations in Task Information.
 Task Calendar – Contains the name of the base calendar assigned to the task.
When a column for the Task Calendar field is inserted into a task table, the
user can click a cell in the column and then select from a dropdown picklist
of base calendars defined in the project.
 Ignore Resource Calendar – A Boolean (Yes/No) field. If Task Calendar is set
to None, then Ignore Resource Calendar is set to No and is read-only.
How Task Calendars Work with the Project Calendar and
Resource Calendars

General Rules for Task Calendar Scheduling

The basic rules that govern how the Project Calendar, resource calendars, and
task calendar combine to affect task scheduling are as follows:
 When no task calendar is assigned, there is no change from the scheduling
behavior in Microsoft Project 98.
 A task calendar always takes precedence over the Project Calendar for
scheduling the task to which it is assigned.
 When a task calendar is assigned and Ignore Resource Calendar is set to No,
the task is scheduled based on the intersection of the task and resource
calendars. Nonworking time in the task calendar always takes precedence
over working time in the resource calendars. How this intersection works is
illustrated in Examples 1 and 2 below.
 When a task calendar is assigned and Ignore Resource Calendar is set to
Yes, the task calendar takes precedence over the resource calendars for both
working and nonworking time. In this situation resources will be scheduled
for periods that are nonworking in the resource calendar if the same periods
are working time in the task calendar. This scenario is illustrated in
Example 3 below.
A resource that is scheduled during nonworking time in this fashion is not marked as
overallocated.

The above rules are summarized in the following table:

Task Resource Ignore
Calendar Calendar Resource
Assigned Assigned Calendar Impact on Schedule
Schedule based on the Project Calendar
X Schedule based on the task calendar
X Schedule based on resource calendar
X X Schedule based on intersection of
working time of task and resource
calendars, with possible error condition
set
X X X Schedule based on task calendar, with
possible error condition set
Table 1

Effect of Ignore Resource Calendar Option

The following table shows the effect of the Ignore Resource Calendar option
when both task and resource calendars are assigned:
 Module 2.2 27

Ignore
Resource
Calendar
Scenario Option Response
(A) Both calendars Off or On Normal schedule
match
(B) Nonworking time Off or On Schedule based on task calendar
in task calendar, but
available in resource
calendar at the same
time
(C) Working time in Off Schedule based on resource
task calendar, but calendar
nonworking time in
resource calendar at
the same time
(D) Same as above On Schedule based on task calendar
(E) Task calendar and Off Schedule based on task calendar;
resource calendars do alert message generated and error
not intersect; there is indicator set
no period where both
the task and resource
calendars have
working time
(F) Same as above On Schedule based on task calendar
Table 2

Scenario E represents the only situation that cannot be resolved by the general
rules for task calendar scheduling. When this occurs, an error indicator is set
and the following error message is displayed:

Figure 2 - Not Enough Working time

When multiple resources are assigned at once and more than one resource has a
calendar that conflicts with the task calendar, the error message is displayed
only once.
Examples
For Examples 1, 2 and 3, let's use a 3-day task with a task calendar assigned.
The task starts on a Monday, and Saturday and Sunday are nonworking periods
in all calendars.

Example 1 (Ignore Resource Calendar Set to No)

M T W Th F
Task Calendar Nonworking
Resource Working Working Working Working Working
Calendar
Intersection Working Nonworking Working Working Working

In the above example, because Tuesdays are nonworking time in the task
calendar, they will also be treated as nonworking time for the resource. This is
how the task would look in the Gantt Chart:

Figure 3 Example 1

Example 2 (Ignore Resource Calendar Set to No)

M T W Th F
Task Calendar Nonworking
Resource Working Working Nonworking Working Working
Calendar
Intersection Working Nonworking Nonworking Working Working

In this example, Tuesday is nonworking in the task calendar and Wednesday is

nonworking in the resource calendar, so both Tuesday and Wednesday are
treated as nonworking time for the resource. Here is how the task would look in
the Gantt Chart:

Figure 4 Example 2
 Module 2.2 29

Example 3 (Ignore Resource Calendar Set to Yes)

M T W Th F
Task Calendar Nonworking
Resource Working Working Nonworking Working Working
Calendar
Intersection Working Nonworking Working Working Working

Example 3 has the same calendars as in Example 2, but because Ignore

Resource Calendar is set to Yes, the resource will be scheduled as if
Wednesday were a working day in the resource calendar. Here is how the task
would look in the Gantt Chart:

Figure 5 Example 3

Example 4 (Ignore Resource Calendar Set to No)

M T W Th F
Task Calendar Working Nonworking Working Working Nonworking
Resource Working Working Nonworking Nonworking Working
Calendar
Intersection Working Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking

In this example, let's again assume a 3-day task with a task calendar is assigned.
With the intersection described in the following table, the 3-day task will not
finish until two weeks after it starts!
Here is the task, as it would appear in the Gantt Chart:

Figure 6 Example 4
 Example 5 (Illustrates Scenario E in the table shown under
Effect of Ignore Resource Calendar Option)
The example below illustrates Scenario E, the irresolvable schedule, in the table
shown in the section "Effect of Ignore Resource Calendar Option." In the
calendars shown below, the intersection of the task and resource calendars
results in nonworking time for all periods. If Ignore Resource Calendar is set to
Off, then there is no period in which the resource can be scheduled.
S M T W Th F S
Task Nonworking Nonworking Working Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking
Calendar
Resource Nonworking Working Nonworking Working Working Working Nonworking
Calendar
Intersection Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking Nonworking

Effect on Fixed Duration Tasks

Fixed Duration is the only task type whose behavior is directly affected by
assigning a task calendar. Under normal circumstances, the Start and Finish
dates of a Fixed Duration task will not change unless the user modifies the
Duration. However, if the user assigns a task calendar to a Fixed Duration task,
and the task calendar has nonworking periods that fall within the time frame of
the task, the Finish date may move out. This behavior is by design; in
Microsoft Project 2000 the task calendar takes precedence over the task type, no
error or alert is generated.

Important
Although the task may be rescheduled and have a different finish date, the
duration of the task does not change. This behavior is the same as if a task
being scheduled by the Project Calendar had a non-working day in the middle
of the task.

For example, we have a 5-day Fixed Duration task that starts on Monday and
ends on Friday. When a task calendar is applied which has Wednesday as
nonworking time, the task would finish on the following Monday.

Effect on Constraints
A task calendar takes precedence over constraints for scheduling purposes.
When there is nonworking time in the task calendar, the task is not scheduled to
work during that nonworking time. This has the potential of rescheduling a task
despite a hard constraint.
For example, a 1 day task has a constraint of Must Start On with a Constraint
Date of Tuesday 12/7/99 and a scheduled Finish of 12/7/99. When a task
calendar is applied which has Tuesdays as nonworking day, the constrained
Start date will remain 12/7/99, but the Finish will move to Wednesday 12/8/99.
 Module 2.2 31

Using Task Calendars with Recurring Tasks

On recurring tasks, a task calendar can be assigned to both the summary task
and its subtasks. The Recurring Task Information dialog has been updated as
shown below to include the "Calendar" and "Scheduling ignores resource
calendars" options.

Figure 7 Recurring Task Information dialog

The behavior is summarized as follows:

 When a task calendar is assigned in the Recurring Task Information dialog,
the same task calendar is automatically assigned to all of its subtasks.
Subtasks that already have a different task calendar will not be modified.
 When a recurring summary task is edited to select a different task calendar,
every subtask currently using the same task calendar will also be changed to
the new calendar.
 A task calendar assigned or removed for a recurring subtask affects only
that task.
Using Task Calendars with Summary Tasks
Task calendars can be assigned to summary tasks; however, unlike with
recurring tasks, the Summary task's calendar does not roll down to the subtasks.
A summary task’s calendar calculates the working span of the summary task
based on the working times in the task calendar.

Comparison to Microsoft Project 98 Behavior

In Microsoft Project 98, summary task working spans are calculated against the
Project Calendar, so in cases where the subtasks are calculated against resource
calendars that are different than the Project Calendar, the summary task
duration might not make sense to the user.
For example, in a Microsoft Project 98 project using the 24-Hour Calendar,
with a day defined as 24 hours, a summary task could have subtasks whose
resources are based on the Standard Calendar. The Gantt Chart might look like
this:

Figure 8 Summary Working duration

Note that the subtasks each have a duration of 2 days, but the Summary Task
duration calculates as 10.13 days.
In Microsoft Project 2000, you could assign the Standard Calendar to the
summary task, so that the summary task would calculate its duration in a
manner consistent with its subtasks. The previous example would then look like
this:

Figure 9 Summary using Standard calendar

 Module 2.2 33

What Happens When a Base Calendar Is Deleted?

When the Organizer is used to delete a base calendar that is in use by existing
tasks, the following alert will be displayed:

Figure 10 Deleting Base Calendar

For all tasks that used the deleted calendar, the Task Calendar will be changed
to the Standard Calendar. "Undo" is not available for this action.

When the calendar is deleted, the user is first asked to confirm whether they really
want to delete the calendar. They are not notified that the calendar is in use by the
project until it is too late to undo the result.
Try This: Non-working Time and Task Calendars
Experiment to see how changing non-working time affects a task’s schedule when it
has a task calendar.
1. In the Task Name field, type a task name.
2. Press TAB to move to the Duration field.
3. In the Duration field, type 3d and press ENTER.
4. On the Insert menu, click Column.
5. In the Column Definition dialog box, select Task Calendar as the Field
name from the drop-down list.
6. To set the column width to the longest item in the column, click Best Fit.
7. In the Task Calendar field, assign a task calendar from the drop-down list
(e.g., Standard).
8. In the Resource Names field, type R1 to assign a resource named “R1” to
the new task.
9. Note the finish date for the task.
10. On the Tools menu, click Change Working Time. Select the second day of
the task on the calendar and click Nonworking time.

Does the finish date change? If yes, why does it change?

Yes it does; the finish date slips by one day.

11. On the Project menu, click Task Information, and then click the
Advanced tab. Select the Scheduling ignores resource calendars check
box.

Does the finish date change? If yes, why does it change?

No it does not; the finish date is the same as the scenario in number 10.
 Module 2.2 35

Deadlines
In Microsoft Project 2000, tasks may now include a Deadline date that allows
an indicator to be displayed if a task’s Finish date is later than the Deadline. No
indicator displays if a task finishes before the Deadline. This provides the user
with a visible yet unobtrusive notification that the current scheduled Finish is
later than the planned Deadline. The indicator tip reads as follows:

Figure 11 Deadline Date indicator

Figure 12 Deadline indicator tip

Deadline dates can be added to any task, with the exception of the Project
Summary Task, a summary task representing an inserted project, or the
summary task of a recurring task series. Deadlines are entered in the “Constrain
task” grouping on the Advanced tab of the Task Information dialog:

Figure 13 How to Create Deadline

A column for the new Deadline field can also be added to any task table. Like
other date fields, if no Deadline date has been entered, the field contains “NA.”
 Module 2.2 37

New Features Related to Deadlines

New Row Definition and Appearance in Gantt Chart
A new row definition for Deadline date has been added to the Bar Styles
definitions for the Gantt Chart:

Figure 14 Bar Styles, Deadline styles

Note that the bar is defined at the lowest position in the Bar Styles list, so that it
will always draw on top of other bars for the same task. Because the Show For
… Tasks column is left empty, the definition will be applied to tasks, summary
tasks, and milestones.
The Deadline field is available in the From and To columns of the Bar Styles
dialog, as well as in the Text tab.
The first Task in the Gantt Chart below shows a 5-day task as originally
scheduled. The task’s Deadline marker appears as a downward pointing green
arrow, and appears at the rightmost end of the task’s Gantt bar. In the second
Task in the Gantt Chart, the task’s Finish date has moved past the Deadline
date, so the Deadline now appears at a midway point on the task’s Gantt bar.

Figure 15 Deadline Indicator

New Filter – “Tasks With Deadlines”

A new filter definition, “Tasks With Deadlines,” has been added to make it easy
for users to see which tasks have Deadlines. The Filter Definition for the filter
is shown below:

Figure 16 Deadline filter

 Module 2.2 39

Effect of Deadlines on Scheduling

Deadline Not Used When Calculating Schedule

The Deadline field affects only the Late Finish date, and is not used when
calculating the project schedule. However, because Late Finish is used in the
calculation of Total Slack, deadlines can affect the critical path. For more
information on the effect of the Deadline field on Late Finish, see “How a
Deadline Affects Late Finish” later in this lesson.

Comparison of Deadlines and Constraints

A constraint tied to a specific date is used when calculating the schedule, and,
depending on the Constraint Type and option settings, can contribute to
scheduling conflicts that generate scheduling error messages.
Deadlines, on the other hand, are not used when calculating the schedule, and
do not generate scheduling errors. Also, the user is not notified if a Deadline
conflicts with a task’s Constraint Date, even when originally entering the
Deadline or the constraint.

Effect of Deadlines on Schedule From Start

and Schedule From Finish Projects
In a Schedule From Start project, a Deadline behaves like a Finish No Later
Than constraint, except that scheduling is not affected. In a Schedule from
Finish project, a task (the task has a ALAP constraint) will finish on its
Deadline date unless a constraint or link pushes the task Finish to an earlier
date.

How a Deadline Affects Late Finish

Microsoft Project 2000 Help defines the calculation of Late Finish as follows:
“When you first create a task, its Late Finish date is the same as the project
finish date. As you link the task to predecessors and successors and apply any
other constraints, Microsoft Project calculates the late finish date as the latest
possible date this task could be finished, if all predecessor and successor tasks
also start and finish on their late start and late finish dates. These calculations
are based on a fixed task duration. If there is a leveling delay on the successor
task, this delay is also figured into the date in the Late Finish field.”
When a Deadline is added to the task, Late Finish equals the earlier of the
Deadline date or the date calculated according to the preceding definition,
except for the following special cases:

 When a task has a MSO or MFO constraint and

Tools/Options/Scheduling/ Tasks will always honor their constraint
dates is set to ON, the Late Finish equals the Early Finish.
 When one of the task’s successors Late Start minus lag is earlier than the
Deadline, the Late Finish equals that successor’s Late Start minus the
lag.
 When a task has a SNLT or FNLT constraint, Late Finish is the earliest
of Early Finish, Deadline, and any successor’s Late Start minus lag.
 When a task has no successor and
Tools/Options/Calculations/”Calculate Multiple Critical Paths” is set to
on, the Late Finish equals the Early Finish.

Slack may be increased or decreased according to the effect of the Deadline on

Late Finish. This means that it is possible to have positive or negative slack that
is greater than if the Deadline was not present.

Start Slack & Finish Slack Fields

Although not strictly related to Deadlines, Microsoft Project 2000 has two new
calculated fields “Start Slack” and “Finish Slack.” These fields are used to
store and display the start and finish slack calculations of a task. Previously
these fields were used only in internal scheduling calculations and were not
permanently stored. The new fields are also related to leveling.
Start Slack and Finish Slack are calculated as follows:
 Start Slack = Late Start minus Early Start
 Finish Slack = Late Finish minus Early Finish

For more information, see the Microsoft Project  2000 Online Help Topics Start
Slack and Finish Slack.
 Module 2.2 41

Try This: How a Deadline Affects the Late Finish

On the previous page, we reviewed four scenarios where Deadlines do not affect
how Late Finish is calculated. Here you will recreate one of those scenarios.
1. With a partner, select one of the four scenarios as reviewed on the previous
page.
2. In a new Project, recreate the scenario.
3. With another group, explain how you created the scenario and discuss the
following questions:

Why does it make sense for Late Finish not to equal the earlier of the
Deadline or the Late Finish Date?

How does this affect the calculation of the critical path?

How does this affect the way this task is scheduled?

How does this affect leveling?

Outline Codes and WBS

Microsoft Project 2000 includes enhanced functionality of the WBS (Work

Breakdown Structure) field. In addition, ten new custom Outline Code fields,
Outline Code1 through Outline Code10, have been added for both tasks and
resources.

WBS Field Enhancements

The enhanced 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.

Outline Codes
Custom Outline Codes give users the following new features:
 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 can optionally 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.
 Module 2.2 43

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 2000 generates a unique code for the task that adheres to
the code mask. Maintaining the WBS codes is much easier now because of
intelligent behavior of the codes, plus the ability to renumber all or selected
tasks.
 Different groups in the company want to view the 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 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

Definitions Across Projects
A new tab labeled “Fields” has been added to the Organizer which 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 dialog.
Module 2.2 23