Microsoft KB Archive/245956

= PRJ2000: Unexpected Behavior When You Level a Task with Deadline Date =

Article ID: 245956

Article Last Modified on 1/25/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Project 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q245956



SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Project, when you level resources in a project, tasks with a deadline date may level differently than expected. For example, you may see the following behavior:

Example 1: A task may be leveled beyond the task's deadline date.

Example 2: A task with a deadline date may be leveled to a later date than tasks with higher task ID numbers.



Cause for Example 1
This behavior may occur when a task meets the following conditions:
 * The task has a deadline date.
 * The task has no successors.
 * The task does not have a fixed date constraint.

Cause for Example 2
This behavior may occur when a task meets the following conditions:
 * The task has a deadline date.
 * The task has no successors.
 * The task does not have a fixed date constraint.
 * The task has a higher total slack value than other tasks that have higher task ID numbers.



WORKAROUND
To prevent a task from being rescheduled by resource leveling, use one of the following methods.

Method 1
To prevent a task from being leveled past a specified date, set a Finish No Later Than (FNLT) constraint on the task that is equal to the deadline date that you want. To do this, follow these steps:


 * 1) Select the task.
 * 2) On the Project menu, click Task Information, and then click the Advanced tab.
 * 3) In the Constraint type box, select Finish No Later Than.
 * 4) In the Constraint Date box, select or type the date by which the task must be completed.
 * 5) Repeat these steps for all tasks that you do not want to level past their deadlines.
 * 6) When you level your project, in the Resource Leveling dialog box, select for Leveling order either Standard or Priority, Standard.

Method 2
To prevent a task from being leveled, increase the task's priority. To do this, follow these steps:


 * 1) Select the task.
 * 2) On the Project menu, click Task Information, and then click the General tab.
 * 3) In the Priority box, type 1000 . Click OK.
 * 4) Repeat these steps for all tasks that you do not want to level.
 * 5) When you level your project, in the Resource Leveling dialog box, select for Leveling order either Standard or Priority, Standard.

When you level your project, a task with a priority of 1000 will not be leveled.



MORE INFORMATION
In Microsoft Project 2000, a deadline date is a target date that indicates when you want a task to be completed. Unlike setting a date constraint, setting a deadline does not affect scheduling and is not directly taken into account when you level resources.

In addition, under the conditions described under "Cause for Example 2", a task with a deadline date later than its scheduled finish date may have a higher total slack value. When there are no other constraining factors that affect the calculation of slack, total slack is increased by the difference between the scheduled finish and a deadline date that is later than the scheduled finish.

Additional query words: prj2000

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB245956

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