Project Tasks › Update the Task Properties › Define the General Properties

Define the General Properties

Use the General tab on the Task Properties dialog to define the basic attributes of a task, and to identify the task as a key task on the project. You can also use this tab to apply properties to more than one task.

The following task schedules are displayed on this tab:

• Current. The values that are displayed are the current values when calculating the critical path.
• Baseline. The values that are displayed are automatically generated during project baselining and are read-only.
• Early. The values that are displayed are automatically generated when you autoschedule your project and they are read-only. An early schedule indicates the earliest a task can be completed, based on all the dependencies and constraints.
• Late. The values that are displayed are automatically generated when you autoschedule your project and they are read-only. A late schedule indicates the latest a task can be completed, based on all the dependencies and constraints.

Follow these steps:

1. Open a view that displays the task detail pane.
2. Right-click the task you want to define, and click Modify in the shortcut menu.
3. Complete the fields. The following fields require explanation:

   Category

   Defines the name of the group or class to which this task belongs.

   Type

   Defines the task type.

   Values: Milestone, Task, Phase, Activity

   Default: Task

   Key Task (Type)

   Specifies whether the task is essential to the project and if it is a key task. When you mark a task as a key task, the task is listed on the Key Tasks tab on the Project Properties dialog. You can always revert tasks to standard tasks.

   Duration

   Defines the length of time, in number of business days that the task (if this task is fixed) takes to complete.

   Values: 1 through 20,863.

   Fixed (Duration)

   Specifies whether the task duration is fixed or variable.

   Default: Cleared (Variable)

   Priority

   Defines the task priority or priority inheritance if the task does not inherit the priority from parent or any higher WBS level.

   Default: 10 if the parent task priority or any higher WBS level has not been set.

   Values: 0 through 36. The lower the number, the higher the priority.

   For example, if the task has a priority of 0 through 9, it is given the highest priority during scheduling. If the task has a priority of 11 through 36, it is given the lowest priority during scheduling.

   Inherited (Priority)

   Specifies whether you want this task to assume the priority of its parent task, or the next highest WBS level. When selected, the Priority field is not available.

   Default: Selected

4. Complete the fields. The following fields require explanation:

   Start

   Defines the task start date for the current schedule.

   Default: Today's date or the next business date after today's date.

   Finish

   Defines the task finish date for the current schedule.

   Note: If you do not enter a finish date, Open Workbench calculates the date based on the tasks duration and start date.

   Status

   Defines the task completion status.

   Values: Not Started, Started, or Completed

   Default: Started

   % Complete

   Defines the progress of the task as a percentage. Regardless of the setting for the % Complete Calculation Method on the Description tab of the Project Properties dialog, you can always edit the percent complete value for any milestone tasks. This value can also be used in the earned value calculations.

   • If % Complete Calculation Method is set to Manual, you can edit this field for the project and for all summary and detail tasks. The status of a summary level task changes only if either the status or the % Complete value is manually modified.
   • If % Complete Calculation Method is set to Effort, the value in this field is automatically calculated for the project and for all summary and detail tasks.
   • If % Complete Calculation Method is set to Duration, the value in this field is automatically calculated for the project and summary tasks based on the values manually entered for the detail tasks.

   Values: 0 through 100.

5. Click OK.

More information:

Task Duration

Define Resource Actual Usage on Tasks

Baselines and Earned Value Computations