This section contains the following topics:
About Tentative Schedules and Subprojects
Unlock Projects in Tentative Schedule Mode
Autoschedule is an automated way to create project schedules. Autoscheduling helps model your plan and generate dates for your tasks and overall project. Autoschedule is designed to schedule project tasks while minimizing the delays and expansions that can cause deadline slippage, while eliminating or minimizing resource over-allocation.
Use Autoschedule to update the project schedule after you or others make small, quick changes to it. You can review your changes before publishing them as the plan or record (POR), and accordingly arrive at a practical result.
Autoschedule uses task duration, task date constraints, priority order, dependency information, and related date and resource logic to identify the project critical path and schedules tasks. Each task is scheduled:
The critical path determines the earliest finish date of the project. Autoschedule uses the critical path information to make the following scheduling adjustments:
Task date constraints are rules that help determine the project work sequence. For example, the task must start on, start or finish no later than. Set the date constraints on the task properties page.
Use the following process to work with Autoschedule:
Autoschedule a project to create a tentative schedule that you can own and edit. The project is locked and in tentative-schedule mode. Use a tentative schedule to see the effects of changes you make to the project. For example, estimate to complete (ETC) changes, before publishing the schedule as the plan of record (POR). You can review the tentative schedule and decide whether to accept them.
All locked project pages display the POR as read-only information. You can view and work with tentative schedules using the Gantt view, the task list page, and the task assignments page. You can change the tentative schedule by adjusting the scheduled tasks and assignment information, such as ETC.
The work breakdown structure (WBS) in the Gantt view displays the tentative schedule with redlining of POR information. Use the redlining to view the changes that you tentatively make to the schedule.
While the project is locked, the name of the resource holding the lock is displayed on the message bar. An Unlock button displays on this bar, which you can use to unlock the project. On the Gantt view, a lock icon is displayed on the toolbar, which you can use to unlock the project.
Autoscheduling a master project creates a tentative schedule for the master project and publishable tentative schedules for all of its subprojects. The subprojects are locked.
If a subproject is locked when you autoschedule the master project, an unpublishable tentative schedule is created for the subproject. A warning message appears with the names of the subprojects that are locked.
When you publish the tentative schedule for the master project, the plan of record (POR) for the subproject is replaced only if the tentative schedule is publishable.
You can specify scheduling criteria and begin scheduling tasks using Autoschedule. You can autoschedule an entire project or only tasks that occur between ranges of dates. Use this procedure to specify the deviations from the current schedule and automatically create a new tentative schedule.
You can also create a tentative schedule by running the Autoschedule Investment job.
You can discard a tentative schedule and delete projects that are tentative-scheduled. When you delete the tentative schedule, the project is unlocked and the plan of record (POR) information is displayed. To delete a tentative schedule, click the down arrow for the Autoschedule With Options icon on the Gantt view toolbar, and select Delete Tentative Schedule.
Follow these steps:
The list page appears.
The Gantt view appears.
The autoschedule page appears.
Displays the name for the project. The value for the field is based on the Project Name field on the project properties page.
Displays the start date. The value for this field is based on the Start Date field on the project properties page.
Displays the finish date. The value for this field is based on the Finish Date field on the general properties page.
Specifies the date to begin scheduling tasks. If you are scheduling from the finish date, enter the date on or before to begin scheduling tasks. If the project is not initiated, enter the project start date. If the project is already in progress, enter the first day after the last date actuals are posted.
Default: Current Date
Specifies the date before which to exclude tasks.
Example: Suppose, you enter 7/3/11 as the Ignore Tasks Starting Before date, and you have a task that starts on 6/20/11. The task is excluded from the schedule.
Specifies the date after which to exclude all tasks.
Example: Suppose, you enter 7/3/11 as the Ignore Tasks Starting After date, and you have a task that starts on 8/14/11. The task is excluded from the schedule.
Specifies if you want Autoschedule to consider resource availability when scheduling the project.
Default: Selected
Note: If you clear the check box, Autoschedule treats resources as if they have unlimited availability. Each task is scheduled against the total availability for the resource. But not against the remaining availability for the resource which takes other task assignments into consideration. This results in the shortest possible schedule, but it can also cause over-commitment of resources.
Specifies if you want Autoschedule to perform a backwards schedule from a defined deadline date. Use this option if the last task is required to be complete by the project finish date.
Default: Cleared
Note: If you schedule from the finish date, enter the finish date into the Autoschedule Date field.
Specifies to autoschedule to calculate the critical path for the entire project. When the field is selected, a separate critical path is calculated for each subnet.
Default: Cleared
Specifies to ignore started tasks during autoscheduling. Autoschedule schedules the remaining work according to normal autoschedule logic, including any task constraints.
Default: Cleared
Specifies autoscheduling. Accordingly, CA Technologies lets you exclude task resource assignment dates when the new dates stay within the task start and finish dates.
Default: Cleared
Note: This field works with the Exclude from Autoscheduling field on the task properties page.
Specifies to autoschedule to start successor tasks with zero lag the day after the predecessor task finishes. When cleared, successor tasks start the same day as the predecessor task finishes as long as the resource has availability left.
Default: Cleared
Specifies to publish the tentative schedule to the plan of record (POR) immediately. When selected, the tentative plan is created and immediately deleted, and the project gets unlocked.
Default: Cleared
Use the following procedure to set up your project to calculate separate critical paths. Subnets are a set of project tasks that have dependencies among themselves, or a single task with no dependencies. During autoschedule, you can calculate and display separate critical paths for each subnet and for each task that does not have dependencies. Otherwise, only one critical path, the longest path, is calculated for the project.
Scheduling subnets has several key benefits:
Follow these steps:
The list page appears.
The Gantt view appears.
The autoschedule page appears.
Specifies to autoschedule to calculate the critical path for the entire project. When the field is selected, a separate critical path is calculated for each subnet.
Default: Cleared
Select the check box.
Tentative-schedule helps to publish a tentative schedule. Publishing the tentative schedule replaces the plan of record (POR) with your tentative schedule and unlocks the project.
Follow these steps:
The list page appears.
The Gantt view appears.
The confirmation page appears.
Use this procedure to publish the tentative schedule using the default options. When you autoschedule and publish, the new schedule replaces the plan of record (POR) and the project is unlocked.
Follow these steps:
The list page appears.
The Gantt view appears.
You can unlock projects that are in tentative-schedule mode. When you unlock the project, the tentative schedule is deleted. Only the user who locked the project, or a resource with the Administration - Access right, can unlock projects in tentative-schedule mode.
Follow these steps:
The list page appears.
The Gantt view appears.
The confirmation page appears.
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