Target Dates
The target dates on the General tab of the Activity Details Dialog Box are constraints that you can impose on an activity.
The target dates affect the dates that the program calculates for activities when performing time analysis or resource scheduling.
The default target date type is None. This gives Open Plan maximum flexibility in its time calculations.
Open Plan allows you to specify four additional types of target dates for activity start and finish dates.
Use target dates sparingly, particularly in the early stages of the planning process. Extensive use of target dates often artificially distorts the patterns of float within a project, making analysis of the network more difficult. Instead, allow Open Plan as much flexibility as possible to produce the most efficient set of project dates during your initial calculation. Then, you can assign the necessary target dates and see how they affect the network schedule as a whole.
Target Dates
| Target Date | Description |
|---|---|
| Not Earlier Than | This constraint affects the early dates calculated by time analysis. If you enter a Not Earlier Than target date that is earlier than or equal to the date that would otherwise be calculated by time analysis, the target date has no effect. If you enter a Not Earlier Than date that is later than the date that would be calculated by time analysis, the result is either to delay project completion, to reduce the float on the activity, or both. |
| Not Later Than | This constraint affects the late dates calculated by time analysis. If you create a Not Later Than target date later than or equal to the date that would otherwise be calculated by time analysis, the target date has no effect. If you enter a Not Later Than target date that is earlier than the date that would be calculated by time analysis, the result is a reduction in the amount of float on this activity. If this float becomes negative as a result, this indicates that the target date is not achievable for the activity as planned and that replanning may be required. |
| On Target | This constraint combines the effects of both Not Earlier Than and Not Later Than target dates and affects both the early and late dates calculated by time analysis and resource scheduling. |
| Fixed Target | Fixed Target dates affect both the early and late dates calculated by time analysis and resource scheduling. However, unlike On target dates (which simulate Not Earlier Than target dates on the forward pass of time analysis and Not Later Than target dates on the backward pass), Fixed Target dates require that the activity take place on the given date even if the logic of the project says that it cannot happen, and both the early and late dates are set equal to the target. As a result, activities with Fixed Target dates have zero total float and can be used, for example, to designate a point from which any prior float in the project (either positive or negative) does not affect the float of subsequent activities. |