Creating a Task from Scratch

When you add a task from scratch, the task's estimated start date is the same as the start date for the parent task for subtasks or the project's start date for top-level tasks. The types of tasks created here include Task, Phase, Gate, and Milestone. To add a subtask to a task assigned to you, view your tasks; see Working with Tasks Assigned to You.

Here are some typical strategies for creating a task:

  • Enter only the Duration. The Start Date and End Date are calculated depending on the Constraint Date of the project. In this case, the default constraint type for the task is "As Soon As Possible" for forward scheduling and "As Late As Possible" for reverse scheduling.
  • Enter the Constraint Date and Constraint Type. The task will be created with the constraint type, date, and duration.
  • Enter the Constraint Date, Constraint Type, Duration, Start Date, and End Date. The Start and End Date are ignored. The task is created with the Constraint Date, Constraint Type, and Duration.

    The constraint is given priority when the Constraint Type is other than "As Soon As Possible" and "As Late As Possible." Otherwise, the task is created with Start and End dates.

  • Enter the Start Date and End Date. The Duration is calculated based on the dates. The default Constraint Type for the task is set to "Finish No Earlier Than" for forward scheduling and "Finish No Later Than" for reverse scheduling.
    Note: If you enter the Start Date, End Date, and Duration, the entered Duration is ignored and the task is created with a Duration based on the dates.
  • Enter the Start Date and Duration. The End Date is calculated based on the Start Date and Duration. The default Constraint Type for the task is set to "Start No Earlier Than" for forward scheduling and "Start No Later Than" for reverse scheduling.
  • Enter the End Date and Duration. The Start Date is calculated based on the End Date and Duration. The default Constraint Type for the task is set to "Finish No Earlier Than" for forward scheduling and "Finish No Later Than" for reverse scheduling.
  • Add a task under a task having constraints "Finish No Later Than" or "Start No Earlier Than": the subtask’s constraint date is reflected, but the Start and End dates are ignored. Task dates are set with respect to the parent's constraint dates.
  • Add a task under a task having a dependency: if the subtask does not satisfiy the parent's constraints, the subtask’s constraint date is reflected but the start and end dates are ignored. The task dates are set with respect to the parent.

  1. In the Structured View for a project, from the toolbar, click Create Task or right-click an existing task and click Create Task.
  2. Enter details for the task:

    Type. Select this from the list. You can choose Task, Phase, Gate, or Milestone.

    Note: You cannot select a task type specific to Market Registration, such as an Interactive Review, Review Question, or Regulatory Milestone. Create those specific task types in Market Registration.

    Number. The number of tasks to create.

    Name. The name of the task, which cannot exceed 127 alphanumeric characters. Click Autoname to have the system assign the task name.

    Description. A brief description of the task. Must be alphanumeric characters.

    Insert. Choose to insert the task Above or .

    Duration. An estimate of the task length. The Duration must be less than 10,000 days. Sub Level Enter a number (can include a decimal value) and select units (days or hours) from the list. If a Duration Keyword is specified, the value for the Duration is populated with the default duration value defined with the keyword. Milestones/Gates created with the Project Review policy always has a zero duration. Task (Task/Phase/Gate/Milestone and their subtypes) created with the Project Task policy always has a nonzero duration.

    Start Date. The start date of the task. Available only for types "Task" and "Phase." Not available for a template.

    End Date. The end date of the task. Available only for types "Task" and "Phase." Not available for a template.

    Constraint Type. The type of constraint for this task, which specifies when the task is expected to be completed within the project.

    For nonsummary tasks, values can be "As Late as Possible," "As Soon as Possible," "Start No Earlier Than," "Finish No Earlier Than," "Start No Later Than," "Finish No Later Than," "Must Finish On," or "Must Start On."

    For summary tasks, values depend on whether the project schedule is from the start date or finish date.

    Constraint Date. Constraint types other than "As Soon as Possible" or "As Late as Possible" have a constraint date.

    Calendar. You can select the calendar for scheduling the task. If a task does not have a calendar connected to it and has only one assignee, the assignee's location calendar is used for project scheduling. If a task does not have a calendar connected to it and has multiple assignees, the default project calendar is used for scheduling. The project calendar overrides a task calendar if scheduling conflicts occur between calendars. For example, if a project has a start time at 9.00 Hr and its subtask has another calendar connected which has a "Work Start Time" at 8.00 Hr, then the task starts at 9.00 Hr.

    Policy. Select the policy for the selected task type. Gate and Milestone task types follow the "Project Review" policy. Task and Phase task types follow the "Project Task" policy.

    Task Requirement. Indicates whether this is an optional or mandatory task. The system's default behavior requires all tasks, even optional ones, to complete before the project itself can be complete.

    Owner. Click the check box to search for the person who is the task owner. If you do not choose this option, you become the owner and be included in the assignees list.

    Assignee. Click the box to search and find persons you want to assign this task to. You do not have to assign the task now. After creating the task, an assignee from outside the project can be added.

    Needs Approval. Indicates whether the task requires approval. If "Yes" the task goes to the "In Approval" state when the "Percent Complete" for the task is 100%. If "No" the task goes to the "Completed" state directly when the "Percent Complete" for that task is 100%. Available only if the Policy is "Project Task."

    Note: If you promote all leaf tasks to the "Completed" state, the summary task moves to the "Completed" state if the "Needs Approval" attribute for the summary task is "No."

  3. Click Apply to keep adding more tasks. Click OK when finished.