Microsoft KB Archive/126988

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Invalid Predecessor Set for Summary Task

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Q126988

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Project for Windows, version 4.0
 * Microsoft Project for the Macintosh, version 4.0

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SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Project, when you use the Predecessors tab in the Summary Task Information dialog box to set a predecessor for a Summary task, a start-to-start, finish-to-finish, or start-to-finish relationship may be set for the Summary task even though the predecessor of a summary task must have a finish-to-start relationship.

CAUSE
This behavior occurs in the Gantt Chart view if you cancel an invalid predecessor entry for a summary task in the Summary Task Information dialog box, and then choose OK.

For example, if you select the Predecessors tab in the Summary Task Information dialog box, and you select Start-to-Start (SS) for the relationship type, you receive the following error message:

Predecessors of summary tasks must have a finish-to-start relationship

When you choose OK, if you then cancel the predecessor task entry (by pressing the Cancel button in the Entry bar or the ESC key) and then choose OK, the Start-to-Start relationship is set for the Summary task even though it is not a valid relationship for this task.

Note that if you use the Task Dependency dialog box to set the relationship between a summary task and a predecessor task in your project, the only relationship that is allowed is finish-to-start. The Task Dependency dialog box will not close until you select this relationship, or (None), or cancel the dialog box.

If you use one of the Task forms to set the relationship between a summary task and a predecessor task, only an FS relationship is allowed. If you select any other relationship, you receive the error message indicating that predecessors of summary tasks must have a finish-to-start relationship and the relationship changes to a FS relationship. Additionally, if you use the Summary Task Information dialog box in one of the Entry forms, only the finish-to-start relationship is allowed.

WORKAROUND
To avoid setting an invalid relationship between a summary task and a predecessor task, select only Finish-To-Start on the Predecessors tab in the Summary Task Information dialog box. If you select any other relationship type, and you want to cancel the selection, choose Cancel in the Summary Task Information dialog box.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

"Q84314 Project: Using Summary Tasks in Task Relationships"