Predecessor, Successor, and External nodes in the Change Details grid indicate relationships between activities in the selected control account and activities external to the selected control account. The predecessors are listed above the selected control account and the successors are listed below the selected control account.
Predecessor — External activities with a predecessor relationship to an activity that rolls into the selected control account.
Successor — External activities with a successor relationship to an activity that rolls into the selected control account.
When you expand the Predecessor node, an External node displays, indicating that the activities below it are external to the selected control account. These predecessor activities drive the start date for activities in the selected control account. When you expand the Successor node, an External node displays, indicating that the activities below it are external to the selected control account. These successor activities can be used to determine what control accounts will have a downstream change, or can be used as a list of handoff activities that occur after the selected control account.
The information for these activities is limited to:
External Activity IDs — The activity ID for external activities depends on whether or not it is linked to a work package or control account.
If the activity is not linked, the activity ID is displayed in the Activity ID column.
If the activity is linked, the full control account/work package/activity ID is displayed in the Activity ID column.
In the example below, all of the activities are linked to a work package except for activity ID 2.25. That activity is probably a milestone without resource assignments. It drives the schedule but does not have costs, so it is not linked to a work package.
External Activity Dates — External activities only have current forecast dates. These dates do not change based on changes made in the Change Details view.
In the table below, all rows are expanded to display three predecessor activities, followed by the selected control account, followed by two successor activities.
CA |
WP |
Activity ID |
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1.1.25/06/25.9.6 |
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2.1.17/02/5.9.17.2 |
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2.14.7/06/14.7.6.3 |
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2.25 |
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20 |
|
1.4.6.2 |
20 |
1.1.20.2 |
1.4.6.2 |
20 |
1.1.20.3 |
|
21 |
|
1.4.6.2 |
20 |
1.1.20.4 |
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|
|
|
|
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5.12.4/04/5.12.4.1 |
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5.12.9/05/5.12.9.5 |
You cannot edit any information on the Relationships tab grid for an external activity.
If your Open Plan project has external relationships to subprojects, they will not be visible in the Change Details view. Required changes to external information can be made in Open Plan after the change has been applied using the PM Compass Change Requests Add-In before approving the change request.
Add a relationship to an activity
Delay the start of an activity
View details of external activities
Predecessor