Hammock task - possible? 3

[MikeF49]

Hi,

I would like to create what is sometimes called a "Hammock" task, because it hangs between two points.

Specifically, I would like to have the start and end of the task (hence, it's duration) driven by predecessor relationships to other tasks. The units would be fixed, the duration is determined by the duration of the other tasks, and the work is calculated.

My purpose is to capture the cost of an oversight task, and to let project calculate that cost based on the duration of other tasks.

So, Task1 would be the oversight task. Task2 and Task3 would be the work tasks. Task1 would be fixed units, and would have the predecessors of 2SS,3FF.

Task 1 |==========================|
Task 2 |==========| |
Task 3 |===============|

(Hopefully this is clear - I can't get these to line up exactly due to the proportional font, and it may render differently in your browser - the idea is that task3 starts at the end of task 2, and task1 is the duration of task2 and task 3 together (like a summary task, but with it's own resource units and work calculation))

I can't get MSProject to behave this way, but I'm assuming it's a fairly common requirement. Is this possible?

I'm using professional 2003, non-server.

Thanks


Mike

 

[PDQBach]

It can be done. It's ugly.

Create 4 tasks:
[ul]
[li]"T0" 1d duration (let Project determine the Start and Finish)[/li]
[li]"T1" 5d duration (let Project determine the Start and Finish)[/li]
[li]"T2" 5d duration (let Project determine the Start and Finish)[/li]
[li]"Hammock" and let Project use the defaults[/li]
[li]link T0 and T1 with T0 as the predecessor to T1[/li]
[li]link T1 and T2 with T1 as the predecessor to T2[/li]
[/ul]

Not it gets ugly
[ul]
[li]Click on T1 StartDate, Ctrl+C, click on Hammock task StartDate, click on Edit | Paste Special..., click on PasteLink radio button click on OK.[/li]
[li]Click on T2 FinishDate, Ctrl+C, click on Hammock task FinishDate, click on Edit | Paste Special..., click on PasteLink radio button click on OK.[/li]
[/ul]

To show that this is working:
[ul]
[li]Change the start of T1 by changing the duration of its predecessor. The start of the Hammock should change[/li]
[li]Change the duration of T1. The duration of the hammock should change[/li]
[li]Change the duration of T2. The duraion of the hammock should change[/li]
[/ul]
You'll see a faint triangle in the lower right corner of the HammockStart and HammockFinish -- that's to tell you that there is a dynamic link between those fields and ... yeah, see, you can't tell which fields.

You also need to be careful about setting the Type (Fixed Duration is probably not a good idea); changing Resources and Work may also be problematic. I'd tell you specifically what to look for and how to correct things if they go wrong but there are lots of possiblities here. Just watch carefully and you'll detect things when they go awry.

 

[MikeF49]

I've tested it, and you're right about the limitations, but for some of the things I want to do, it works great. Thank you very much for taking the time to document this.

Mike