Dates and Work

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You can make settings for scheduling on the Dates and Work tab page of the project definition.

You can edit the dates for the following project elements:

Project definition
Tasks including milestones
Checklist items
Phases
Versions (simulation or snapshot)
Project templates

You can edit the work for the following project elements:

Checklist item
Task

You can display aggregated project data as defined in Customizing.

Prerequisites

If you want to change the scheduling type in the project definition of projects and project templates, you have made a corresponding entry for area 0012 Scheduling and Project Structuring, setting 0005 Changing Scheduling Type in Project in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Basic Settings Override Default Global Settings .
In you user settings, you can specify whether the system should display the earliest or the latest project dates in the multi-project monitor, the Graphic view of the project structure, and other project views (see Making User Settings). If you want to select a user-independent date type on the Dates and Work tab page for individual projects, you have made the appropriate entry for area 0013 Additional Features, setting 0009 Project-Specific Display of Earliest or Latest Dates in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Basic Settings Override Default Global Settings .
If you want to display aggregated project data on the Dates and Work tab page, you have enabled data aggregation in your system and configured your project types accordingly. For more information, see Evaluations.
You have specified how milestone tasks are to be scheduled by making the appropriate entry for area 0007 General Default Values, setting 0041 Activate Fixed Values for Milestones in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Basic Settings Override Default Global Settings . For more information, see the documentation of the Customizing activity.
In Customizing under Project Management Structure Define Task Types , you can specify that the system sets the value for Percent Completion to 100% automatically when you complete a task (see Status of Tasks). The 100% completion value persists even, if the status Complete is recalled.
You have created one of the project elements listed above (see Creating Project Elements) and are in the maintenance view of this project element on the Dates and Work tab. You cannot make any changes if you have opened a snapshot. You have created roles (see Creating a Role). In the Language field (upper right-hand corner), you have selected the language you want to use for creating language-dependent texts (see also Multilingual Capabilities).

Features

Forecasted and Constraint Dates

You can define the earliest and latest dates as forecasted or constraint dates for a project element. To do this, choose Copy to Forecasted or Copy to Constraints.

If you want to copy to forecasted for a project element and all its lower-level elements, choose Copy to Forecasted in the toolbar and define if the earliest or the latest dates shall be set. You can only copy to constraints for the currently selected project element.

You can reset constraints for a project element by choosing Reset Constraints. To reset constraints for a project element and its lower-level elements, select the parent project element and choose Reset all Constraints in the toolbar. Note that you cannot reset constraints for project definitions, snapshots, and templates.

Milestones

Unlike normal tasks, milestone tasks do not represent a processing step but points that are significant for the progress of the project. For this reason, you can decide in Customizing whether or not milestones should have the same dates and be scheduled in the same way as normal tasks (see Prerequisites). The following options exist:

Milestones can be treated as a single point in time. In this case, the milestone task has a fixed duration of 0. It only has one date, the finish date, which is displayed in the graphical view of projects using the special milestone symbol.
Milestones can have a fixed duration greater than 0. In this case, the milestone task has a start date and a finish date, but it can only have a start constraint. In the graphical view, only its start date is displayed.
Milestones can have the same dates and be scheduled like normal tasks. In the graphical view, only their start date is displayed.

For more information, see Creating Basic Data for a Task.

Aggregated Data

If data aggregation is active for a project type, attributes of project elements are aggregated within the project structure and displayed in the Aggregated Data screen area on the Dates and Work tab page of the higher-level project elements. Project data is aggregated by means of an evaluation. Depending on your Customizing settings, the following attributes can be aggregated:

Duration
Planned, confirmed, and remaining work
Percentage of completion

The aggregated attribute values can be displayed for the project definition, phases, tasks, checklists, and checklist items. If you have excluded one of these attributes from data aggregation in Customizing, the system hides the corresponding field on the Dates and Work tab page. If you have excluded a project element category, the Aggregated Data screen area is not displayed in the corresponding project elements. For more information, see Evaluations.

Activities

You carry out the following activities for the project elements:

Project Element	Activities
Project definition Version (simulation or snapshot)	Dates Area If enabled in Customizing , you can specify the scheduling type to be used for the project (see Scheduling). Otherwise, the scheduling type assigned to the project type is used. You enter dates in the Start Constraint and Finish Constraint fields, as required. If you do not enter any dates, the system uses the current date as the start date. The field for the finish date remains empty. The system calculates the finish date from the remaining project data during scheduling. Depending on your user settings and the status of the project, the system automatically carries out scheduling and displays the result in the Calculated Start and Calculated Finish fields. Otherwise, you can trigger scheduling manually. If there is a conflict of dates, the system issues an appropriate message. For more information, see Scheduling. You select the Calendar you want to use for this project. The calendar influences scheduling. You use it to determine, for example, whether all weekdays or only working days are taken into consideration. You can choose Copy to Forecasted to set the earliest and latest dates as forecasted dates for the project definition, if required. If enabled in Customizing, you can use the Earl./Latest Dates drop-down box to select the date type displayed for a project in the multi-project monitor, the Graphic view of the project structure and other project views. This setting, which is valid for all users, overrides the corresponding entry in the user settings and ensures that all users see the same dates (see Making User Settings).
Phase	Dates Area You select constraints. You enter a start date and a finish date, as required. The fields are only ready for input if you selected the Must start on or Must finish on constraint. The current date is entered for both dates by default in the standard system. You enter a Duration, as required. The field is taken into account only if you have not entered a date or have only entered one date in the Start Constraint and Finish Constraint fields. Otherwise the system calculates the duration automatically. You select the Calendar you want to use for this phase. You can choose Copy to Constraints to set the earliest and latest dates as constraint dates for the phase, if required. You can choose Copy to Forecasted to set the earliest and latest dates as forecasted dates for the selected phase, if required. If you want to do this for the selected phase and all its lower-level elements, choose Copy to Forecasted in the toolbar and define whether the system should set the earliest or the latest dates.
Task	Dates Area You select the calendar that you want to use for this task. You select a constraint type for the start or finish date and specify the corresponding constraint dates as required. You can also choose Copy to Constraints to set the earliest and latest dates as constraint dates for the task. You can reset the constraints by choosing Reset Constraints. If you want to do this for the selected task and all its lower-level elements, choose Reset All Constraints in the toolbar. You specify the forecasted dates. You can also choose Copy to Forecasted to set the earliest and latest dates as forecasted dates for the selected task. If you want to do this for the selected task and all its lower-level elements, choose Copy to Forecasted in the toolbar and define whether the system should set the earliest or the latest dates. You enter a duration, as required. The start or finish dates of the task are adjusted automatically. Note, however, that you cannot change the duration if the task has both a Must start on and a Must finish on constraint. Note If your task is a milestone, you may not be able to maintain all this data. Depending on your Customizing settings, the duration or one of the constraints may not be available for input. For more information, see above in the Features section under Milestones. End of the note. Confirmation Area The fields in this area only become relevant once you confirm a task (see Confirming Tasks). They are ready for input once the task has the status Released. Note The tab Dates and Work only contains the following fields if the task is in a template: Calendar, Duration, Work. End of the note.
Checklist Item	Dates Area You select a constraint for the finish date. You enter a finish date, as required. This field is only ready for input if you have chosen the Must finish on constraint. You can choose Copy to Constraints to set the earliest and latest finish date as constraint date for the checklist item, if required. You can choose Copy to Forecasted to set the earliest and latest finish date as forecasted dates for the checklist item, if required. If you want to do this for the selected checklist item and all its lower-level elements, choose Copy to Forecasted in the toolbar and define whether the system should set the earliest or the latest dates. Confirmation Area You leave the Actual Finish field empty. The field becomes relevant once you confirm the checklist item. The field is ready for input once the checklist item has the status Released. You enter a value for the severity (see Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)). You enter a value for the detection (see Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)). You enter a value for the occurrence (see Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)). Note The three FMEA fields are ready for input once the checklist item has the status Released. In the Risk Priority Number field, the system displays the product of the description, detection, and occurrence values (see FMEA). End of the note.

Note Note

You can also edit the dates in the graphical view (see Graphical View) or in the table view (see Table View).

End of the note.

More Information

Editing Project Structures

Creation of Data for the Project Definition

Creation of Data for a Phase

Creation of Data for a Task

Creating Data for a Checklist Item