[sidlinger]

Newbie question:

I have a subproject consisting of three, consecutive tasks:

1.1 Specify options then compose and submit the order, Joe@100%, 4 hours duration and 4 hours effort
1.2 Wait 1 month for delivery, nobody, 0 effort but 1 month of clock time elapses
1.3 Receive, insrtall and configure the item, Joe@100%, 2 days duration and 2 days effort

1.3 cannot start until 1.2 completes and 1.2's 1 month clock doesn't start running until 1.1 is completed.

Joe already has a lot to do in the project so 1.1 can't start on a fixed day -- it depends on the actual completion of Joe's higher-priority work. Therefore, 1.2 can't be expressed as a milestone because I can't fix a date certain.

So, how do I do this? I have read every word of the manual and the only possible clues were references to "Drawing constraints on tasks" (i.e., do I drag a month-long start constraint on 1.3 and get rid of 1.2 entirely?) and, earlier in the manual on page 30, a mention of "lead time". Are those the same thing? Is that what I want?

I also read every topic on all 10 forum pages but did not find this exact question.

I'd be happy with any solution but for maximum elegance I'd like a solution that would accept working days or calendar days, irrespective of company or resource vacations (or whatever), so I could enter delivery times in vendor format (e.g., allow 30 days for delivery).

After just a few hours I love the product but I can see already that the manual is way too thin. Hopefully a FAQ and a much more comprehensive manual will be forthcoming.

Thanks!

-Bruce

[Lizard]

There are two ways to do it, depending on the exact results you want. One is a bit hackish, but is probably closer to what you want.

1) Dependency with lag time: Draw a Finish->Start dependency from task 1.1 to task 1.3. Now in the task dependency inspector, set the lag time for this task to whatever number of work days will give you 30 days of calendar time. (Task 1.2 does not need to exist.)

2) "calendar time" resource: Draw a Finish->Start dependency from task 1.1 to 1.2 and another from 1.2 to 1.3. Set task 1.2 to 30 days of effort. Create a resource called something like "Calendar Time" and customize its work schedule to be all 7 days of the week. Assign task 1.2 to this resource.
(Disclaimer: I haven't actually tried option 2 yet, but will try it soon.)

[Lizard]

update: confirmed that option 2 worked as I expected -- clumsy but I think gives you what you're looking for.

[sidlinger]

Originally Posted by Lizard

update: confirmed that option 2 worked as I expected -- clumsy but I think gives you what you're looking for.

Thank you very much. I went with your first option because I didn't want wait time to add to "Effort" totals.

-Bruce