Status of Phases

The following statuses exist for phases:

Status	Meaning
Created	The phase has been created in the system (initial status).
Released	You can configure the system so that this status is set automatically after the approval for the preceding phase has been granted. For more information, see Releasing Project Elements.
Locked	The phase is temporarily protected against changes. You can set the status parallel to the status Created or Released.
For Approval	The phase is to be approved.
Approval Granted	The phase has been approved. You can configure the system so that this status is set automatically after the last individual approval has been granted.
Approval Rejected	The phase has not been approved.
Completed	The phase has been completed. No further changes can be made. You can configure the system so that this status is set automatically after the approval has been granted.

Prerequisites for Phase Processing

If you want to enable non-sequential phase processing, you have made a corresponding entry for area 0012 Scheduling and Project Structuring, setting 0002 Non-Sequential Phase Processing in Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Basic Settings Override Default Global Settings .
In Customizing for SAP Portfolio and Project Management under Project Management Structure Define Phase Types , you have specified the following:
- Whether phases should be completed automatically once they have been approved
- Whether a phase must be approved before its successor phase can be released

Processing Sequence of Phases

If non-sequential phase processing is enabled in your system, you can specify for each project whether or not phases need to be released in the sequence defined in the project structure. You can make this setting using the Non-Sequential Phases checkbox on the Basic Data tab page of the project definition. Depending on the processing mode you choose, phase statuses are processed in different ways:

Phase statuses during sequential phase processing:
- A phase can only be released after the predecessor phase has been released. If the phase type has been configured accordingly, a phase can only be released after the predecessor phase has been approved.
- A phase is released automatically once the predecessor phase has been confirmed. If the phase type has been configured accordingly, a phase is confirmed and thus automatically released once the predecessor phase has been approved.
- Once a phase has been released, you can no longer move it. You cannot insert other phases before or between phases that have already been released.
Phase statuses during non-sequential phase processing:
- Phases are not released automatically.
- You can release a phase regardless of the status of the predecessor phase. Phase types that require a phase to be approved before its successor phase can be released are not supported in combination with non-sequential phase processing.
- You can change the phase sequence in the project structure even if the phases have already been released.
Note that if this processing mode is active and your project is linked to a portfolio item, you cannot map and synchronize the decision points of the portfolio item with the phases of your project.

The processing mode can no longer be changed once the project definition has been released.

Integration

Dependencies between the status of the project definition and the status of phases:

Phases can only be released if the project definition has been released and is not locked. In the case of sequential phase processing, the first phase is released automatically when the project is released.
Phases may only be added, modified, or deleted if the project definition has the status Created or Released.
If a phase has not been approved, the project cannot be completed, but only canceled.
Locking a phase does not influence the status of the project definition. When a project definition is locked or unlocked, the status Locked is not set or removed for the released phases.
The project definition can only be completed if the last phase has been approved.
If a project definition, a phase, or a template is locked, you cannot change any dependent data (for example checklist items) either. The project definition can only be unlocked.

Dependencies between the status of tasks, status of checklists, status of checklist items, and the status of phases:

The release of the phase leads to the release of all the tasks and checklists. It is possible to release tasks and checklists before releasing the phase.
Locking a phase does not influence the status of the tasks or checklist items. However, it is not possible to process the tasks or checklist items if the phase is locked.
The release of a checklist item leads to the release of the assigned tasks.

More Information

For information about how status processing can be adjusted to customer-specific needs, see Status Management.