| Calculate Dates
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When you select this action, the planned starting and ending dates are calculated. As described in the introduction to this window, Maconomy makes a linear calculation based on the first starting date entered in the table part (the topmost starting date appearing in the table). Any sum-level structure applied to the lines does not affect the calculation, and the calculation is based on the order in which the lines appear in the table part. Dates are calculated according to the following formulas:
| Starting Date 1 (that is, the first task)
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Entered by user
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| Starting Date 2 (that is, subsequent tasks)
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Starting Date 1 + Suggested Duration + Suggested Delay
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| Ending Date 1
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Starting Date 1 + Suggested Duration
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| Ending Date 2
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Starting Date 2 + Suggested Duration
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Dates are also calculated for tasks preceding the first task for which a starting date has been specified. For instance, your timing plan may look as follows:
| Line No.
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Starting Date
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Ending Date
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Duration
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Sugg. Delay
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Sugg. Duration
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| 1
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2
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| 2
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3
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5
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| 3
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June 16
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June 17
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2
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2
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| 4
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June 18
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June 18
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0
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1
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Line 3 is the first line with a starting date. Using this starting date and the suggested delay and duration for lines 1 and 2, Maconomy is able to calculate starting and ending days for these lines as well.
If no starting dates have been specified, but one or more ending dates have been specified, Maconomy starts by calculating a starting date for the first line with an ending date. Based on the calculated starting date, Maconomy then proceeds, calculating starting and ending dates for the remaining lines using the method described above. This allows you to calculate dates of all tasks based on the preferred ending date of the last task.
Tasks for which the field “Fixed Date” is marked will not be moved in time by this action, and the starting date of tasks following fixed-date tasks will be calculated relative to the day after the planned ending date of the fixed-date task. All days are working days according to the week calendar selected for the job in the job parameter attribute “Standard Week Calendar.” If no calendar is selected there, Maconomy uses regular calendar days.
The dates are calculated in a linear fashion, meaning that Maconomy assumes that the first task in the table part should be carried out before the next, and so on. This is the same as saying that task 2 is dependent on task 1, task 3 is dependent on task 2, and so on. You can, however, add other dependencies in the field “Depending on Line No.” For more information, see the description of that field.
The dates can be altered in other windows as well, including the detailed resource plan and the Portal Gantt Chart component.
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| Create Dependencies
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When you select this action, Maconomy creates or restores the original dependencies between tasks in the table part. As explained above in the description of the action “Calculate Dates,” Maconomy assumes that the first task in the table part should be carried out before the next. The action is based on the order in which the lines appear in the table part. Choosing this action creates a dependency of a task to the preceding task, if the task has a starting and ending date, and if the task is either a milestone or has an activity number specified. For more information about manipulating dependencies, please see the description of the window Job Budget Line Dependencies and the section on “Graphical Resource Planning” in the Portal Modules reference manual.
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| Create Teams
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When you select this action, Maconomy attempts to create teams for the team fields (“Team 1-6”) that have not already been completed. This is done using the team generators defined in the window Team Generators. There is a team generator for each of the six team fields.
The team generator for a given team field defines which of the employees referenced on the job in question (for example, the project manager, sales representative, and the employees in the fields “Employee 1-10”) should be members of the team assigned to the team field to which the team generator pertains. For instance, team generator 3 may indicate that the team in the field “Team 3” should consist of the project manager of the job in question and the sales representative.
For each blank team field, Maconomy checks the corresponding team generator to see if it will result in any team members. If not (for instance, if the generator specifies that the team should consist of the employees in the fields “Employee 1” and “Employee 3,” but none of these fields has been completed for the job, or if none of the checkboxes in the island Members of the generator has been marked), no team is created and assigned to the team field in question. If the generator specifications will result in a set of team members, Maconomy then checks if a team with exactly the same members already exists. If it does, this team is assigned to the team field in question. Please note that if this team is blocked, it is automatically unblocked before being assigned to the job.
If no team with the members indicated by the team generator exists, a team is automatically created with these members, according to the specifications in the team generator, and assigned to the team field in question.
For further information about setting up team generators, see the window Team Generators in the Set-Up module.
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