Progress Page of the Integration Wizard — Scheduling Tools

Use this page to select the options for assigning progress techniques to work packages.

Note: This page displays only when you select Control Accounts and Work Packages on the Action Selection page.

Contents

Field Description
Assign Progress Technique based on Work Package length Select this option to enable the Work Packages over two periods in length use Progress Technique drop-down list.
Note: If a progress technique is already assigned in Cobra, selecting a new progress technique using this field will not change the progress technique value during the integration.
Work Packages over two periods in length use Progress Technique This drop-down list displays all available progress techniques in Cobra. Select the progress technique you want to use for new work packages longer than two periods.

When you select the Assign Progress Technique based on Work Package length option, Cobra assigns a progress technique to work packages that the import process creates. These are as follows:

  • Work packages with a duration of one accounting period are assigned with 0-100 progress technique.
  • Work packages with a duration of two accounting periods are assigned with the User-Defined Percent progress technique. With this progress technique, Cobra considers how the budget is spread and automatically enters the opening percentages (for example, 60-40) to reflect the spread.
  • Work packages with more than two periods are assigned a progress technique that you define. The default progress technique is Percent Complete.
  • If Cobra encounters milestones associated with the work package, the weighted milestone progress technique is assigned.
Use this Progress Technique for all new Work Packages Select this option to enable a drop-down list of all available progress techniques in Cobra. Select a progress technique from the drop-down list. The selected progress technique is assigned to all new work packages created during the import.
Load Progress Technique from Schedule: Select this option to enable the lookup for all schedule fields. Click to select a schedule field where you want to map the progress technique.
  • User-defined character fields mapped to the activity or the baseline file
  • Codes mapped to the activity
  • Progress technique field mapped to the activity in the schedule

Cobra imports the progress technique from the mapped field into the Progress Technique field in Cobra. If a work package has milestones, the Milestones progress technique is automatically assigned, regardless of the progress technique assigned to the schedule activity. If the progress technique is already assigned in Cobra, selecting a new progress technique using this field will not change the progress technique value during the integration.

The progress technique assigned to a work package is updated in the following conditions:

  • If you create a new work package, Cobra will use the progress technique that you specify during the integration.
  • If the work package is unopened, Cobra will use the progress technique that you specify during the integration.
  • If the work package is open and the Allow changing of progress technique for an in-progress Work Package option on the Project Preferences tab of the Project Properties dialog box is selected, Cobra will use the progress technique that you specify during the integration.
  • If the work package uses a progress technique other than Milestones or Steps and the Allow entering milestones regardless of Progress Technique option on the Project — Preferences tab of the Project Properties dialog box is selected, Cobra will use the progress technique assigned to the work package in the schedule file and load the milestones.
Blank Progress Technique use: If the mapped schedule field is empty, Cobra assigns the progress technique based on the value in the Blank Progress Technique use drop-down list, which displays a list of all progress techniques in Cobra. Select a progress technique to use if the mapped schedule field is blank.
Load units to do: Select this option to use the Units to do field to enter the number of units that remain to be completed. Cobra calculates the earned value as the work package budget multiplied by the number of tasks completed and divided by the value in the Units to do field. Use this method when the work package contains a predefined number of similar tasks.

Click to select a schedule field containing the units to do. Units to do can be imported from Microsoft Project's task numeric, task_work, task_BAC, or task_cost fields.

Click to select a schedule field containing the units to do. Units to do can be imported from Open Plan's user numeric fields, BAC (Budget at Complete) cost, and BAC quantity. The available options depend on whether baseline or schedule dates are selected.

Click to select a schedule field containing the units to do. Units to do can be imported from Primavera's task numeric, task integer, Res_qty, Res_cos, and Res_bac fields.

Note: Values in this field are imported only for activities assigned with the Units Complete progress technique.
Load milestone weights:

Select this check box to enable the drop-down list and click to select the schedule field containing milestone weights.

You can import milestone weights from the Microsoft Project task numeric, task_work, task_BAC, or task_cost fields.

You can import milestone weights from Open Plan user numeric, the BAC_cost, or the BAC_quantity fields. The available options depend on whether baseline or schedule dates are selected.

You can import milestone weights from Primavera task numeric, task integer, Res_qty, Res_cos, and Res_bac fields.

If this check box is not selected, Cobra calculates the weight of the milestone based on the budget associated with that milestone. However, this applies only if budget data is imported with the activities; otherwise, milestone weights are set to zero.

  • All of the baseline data for the work package is imported and then the milestone weight is calculated using the same formula as the reconciliation in the project form. This formula is specified in the Reconcile milestones option on the Reconcile Milestone Weight Variance dialog box.
  • Cobra calculates the first milestone weight by taking the budget that is spread from the beginning of the work package until the first milestone, dividing it by the total work package budget, and multiplying the result by the milestone weighting factor.
  • Cobra calculates subsequent milestone weights by taking the budget that is spread between the previous and next milestone, dividing it by the total work package budget, and multiplying the result by the milestone-weighting factor.
  • If two or more milestones have the same scheduled finish date, Cobra divides the final weight calculated for the first milestone by the number of milestones with the same finish date. This weight is then applied to all milestones with the same scheduled finish date.
  • If the selected project or the template project uses the Earned value by Time method, the milestone weight is not calculated or imported because this method does not use milestone weighting.

Values in this field are imported only for activities with the Milestones progress technique.