Microsoft KB Archive/182899

= Unexpected Late Finish, Slack, or critical path in Project =

Article ID: 182899

Article Last Modified on 1/22/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
 * Microsoft Office Project Standard 2007
 * Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003
 * Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003
 * Microsoft Project 2002 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Project 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Project 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Project 98 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q182899



SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Project, when you enter a Finish No Later Than (FNLT) constraint on a task, you may notice one or more of the following behaviors:


 * Slack may be calculated for the task, beyond the finish date of the project.
 * Late Start or Late Finish for a task may be after the project finish date.
 * No critical path or an unexpected critical path may be shown for the project.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs when the FNLT constraint date for the task is after the project finish date.



MORE INFORMATION
When a task has a FNLT constraint, the constraint date becomes the new Late Finish date for the task, even if the constraint date is later than the scheduled finish date for the task, or is later than the project finish date.

Besides the Late Finish field, the Critical and Total Slack fields' calculations can be affected by a FNLT constraint, as described below:
 * Late Finish: The Late Finish date is the latest date to which a task can be delayed without affecting the project finish date or the last constraint date, whichever is later.


 * Critical: A task will display "Yes" in the Critical field if delaying the task will affect the project finish date or the last constraint date, whichever is later.


 * Total Slack: The number of days displayed in the Total Slack field reflects the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting the project finish date or the last constraint date, whichever is later.

Example
To see an example of this behavior, follow these steps:


 * 1) In a new project file, create a task with one-day duration.
 * 2) Select the task.
 * 3) On the Project menu, click Task Information, and then click the Advanced tab.
 * 4) Under Constrain Task, in the Type list, click Finish No Later Than.
 * 5) Under Constrain Task, in the Date box, select a date that is two days later than the task's finish date.
 * 6) Click OK.
 * 7) On the View menu, point to Table and then click Schedule.
 * 8) Scroll the table until you see the Late Finish and Total Slack fields.

You will notice the task's Late Finish date is two days later than the task's finish date, and the value of Total Slack is 2 days even though it is the only task in the project.

Additional query words: PRJ2002 PRJ2003 PRJ 2007 prj2000

Keywords: kbbug kbnofix KB182899

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