Creating and Editing Projects

The PM Procedure

Creating and Editing Projects

The PM Window provides an easy to use interface to enter basic project information such as a list of activities, their durations, order of precedence, resource requirements, and so forth. You can also use the "Edit" pull-down menu (see Figure 6.22) to add or delete progress, baseline, and other information. All these functions are described in the following sections.

Figure 6.22: Edit Pull-down Menu

Add Activities

An activity (or task) can be added to the Project in the PM Window by clicking the right mouse button in the Table View. If "Add Task" is chosen from the pop-up menu, then an activity is added at the same level as the selected activity. Subtasks of an activity can be added by selecting "Add Subtask." These actions are also available from the "Edit" pull-down menu (Figure 6.22) whenever an activity is selected in the Table View. Note that the selected activity is highlighted.

To add a new task at the topmost level of the project hierarchy, choose "New Task" from the "Edit" pull-down menu.

Add Precedence Constraints

To add precedence constraints, point the cursor at the right edge of the predecessor activity till it changes to a cross hair and drag it vertically up or down to the left edge of the successor activity. By starting and dropping at different ends of the activity bar, you can create nonstandard precedence relationships between the activities.

Add Baseline Information

Baseline information is saved in a project so that the current status of a project can be measured against some base schedule. The baseline information can be set in several different ways; most of the actions relating to the Baseline schedule can be performed using the selections available from the "Edit" pull-down menu (see Figure 6.22).

If the project data include a Baseline schedule, saved in the variables B_START and B_FINISH, the PM Window displays the Baseline schedule when it is first invoked. This schedule can be replaced choosing "Replace Baseline" from the "Edit" pull-down menu. This selection can be used to reset the Baseline schedule to a new schedule corresponding to one of the current schedules.
If the project data do not include a Baseline schedule, it can be set in the PM Window by selecting "Set Baseline" from the "Edit" pull-down menu (see Example 6.3). This selection can be used to set the Baseline schedule to one of the current schedules (see Figure 6.23). Thus, selecting "Resource" from the pull-down menu sets the baseline schedule to the current resource-constrained schedule. By saving the current resource-constrained schedule, you can perform some what-if analysis by changing some of the resource requirements or other parameters of the project and comparing the resulting schedule with the saved baseline schedule.

Figure 6.23: Set Baseline Pull-down Menu
The individual Baseline values can also be edited in the Table View by changing the values in the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish columns.
If new activities are added to the project, the Baseline values for the new tasks are missing. These can be set to correspond to the current schedule values by selecting "Fill Missing Baseline" from the "Edit" pull-down menu.
If you want to delete the Baseline information from the project data, you can select "Delete Baseline" from the "Edit" pull-down menu.

Add Progress Information

Progress information can be included by using the ACTUAL statement, which is similar to the one for PROC CPM. If the PM Window is invoked without the ACTUAL statement, then Progress Information can be added to the Project from the "Edit" pull-down menu (Figure 6.22) by choosing "Add Progress."

Progress Information is updated by dragging the actual schedule bars horizontally (in a manner similar to the one for changing durations) in the Gantt View or by modifying the values in the Progress columns in the Table View. See the "Modify Progress Information" section and the "Edit Progress Information" section.

For details on how the progress information is used to update the project schedule, see the "Progress Updating" section in Chapter 2, "The CPM Procedure." See also Example 6.6.

Change Duration

The duration of an activity can be changed either by typing in the Duration column of the Table View or by dragging the activity bar at the right edge by using the left mouse button in the Gantt View.

Copy Activities

An activity (or task) can be copied in the PM Window by clicking the right mouse button in the Table View. If "Copy Task" is chosen from the pop-up menu, then a copy of the selected activity is added at the end of the activities listed in the Table View. The new task has the same duration and calendar as the selected task. If the selected task is a supertask, all its subtasks (and any internal precedence constraints) are copied as well.

Create Milestones

Milestones can be created by adding an activity and assigning it zero duration.

Create Nonstandard Precedence Relationships

A Finish-to-Start relationship between two activities is considered to be a standard precedence constraint. It is created when the precedence constraint is drawn by dragging the cursor from the right end of the predecessor activity bar to the left end of the successor activity bar. Nonstandard precedence constraints are created by starting and ending at different ends of the two activity bars. For example, a Start-to-Finish relationship is created by dragging the cursor from the left end of the predecessor activity bar to the right end of the successor activity bar.

In addition to specifying the type of the precedence constraint, you can also specify a lag or lead time between the two activities. This lag value can be edited from the Gantt View. See the "Modify Precedence Information" section.

Create Subtasks

Subtasks can be created only if the PM procedure is invoked with the PROJECT statement or from the PROJMAN application. To create a subtask, click the right mouse button on the parent activity in the Table View. Then choose "Add Subtask" from the background menu. The newly created subtask has one more little square box than the parent task in the Job Nbr column in the Table View. The empty square boxes denote that it is a leaf activity (a task with no subtasks). The number of boxes denote a task's level in the project hierarchy starting with level 0 for the Project Summary task.

Delete Activities

An activity can be deleted in the Table View by clicking the right mouse button anywhere in the task row and choosing "Delete Task." If the selected task is a supertask, all its subtasks are deleted as well. Note that, in this case, a Confirmation Dialog confirms the "Delete Supertask" action.

Delete Precedence Constraints

To delete a precedence constraint, click anywhere on the arc with the right mouse button and choose "Delete" from the pop-up menu.

Edit Activity Alignment Constraints

Activity alignment constraints can be added/modified as described in the "Edit Alignment Constraints" section and in the "Modify Activity Alignment Constraints" section.

Edit Baseline Information

To edit the baseline schedule, scroll to the Baseline Start and Baseline Finish columns, and type in the new values of the baseline start and finish times. Note that you cannot change the baseline values by moving the Baseline Schedule bars. See the "Add Baseline Information" section.

Edit Calendar Specifications

Calendars are defined by the CALEDATA= option in the PROC PM statement. This option is similar to the corresponding option in PROC CPM. Once calendars are defined in the Project, an activity's calendar can be changed or set in the Table View by editing the Activity Calendar or Calendar Name columns. You can either type the values or select them from the pull-down menu displayed by pressing the right mouse button in either of the Calendar columns. See the "Edit Calendars" section.

Edit Resource Requirements

The resource requirement information for an activity can be edited in the Table View. A column for a resource is created in the Table View when it is specified in the RESOURCE statement.

The resource requirement information for each activity is displayed and can be edited in the Table View. A column for a resource is created in the Table View when it is specified in the RESOURCE statement of the PROC PM invocation, or it is created by the Resource Manager of PROJMAN. For details about the RESOURCE statement, the Resource data set, and Resource Allocation, see Chapter 2, "The CPM Procedure." Changing the resource requirement causes the project to be rescheduled using the new resources.

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