This topic includes the following topics relating to external relationships:
Relationships in different projects within the same master project
Relationships within the same project but external to the selected control account
Open Plan supports master projects with external subprojects and it is not uncommon to have relationships between external subprojects. After you add the Open Plan master project on the Project Schedule Integration tab, you can create relationships to subprojects within the same master project.
All of the projects involved in the change request must belong to the same Open Plan master project and none of the subprojects can have external subprojects. Before you get to the Apply or Approve Change Open Plan Add-In step in the workflow, all of the master project subprojects must be time analyzed and the results saved to the database.
When the Scheduler approves the change request in the Open Plan Add-In, PM Compass simulates the external relationships by adding a milestone activity for each relationship that you added in the Change Details view.
Note:
After the first change request is complete, you must create a subsequent change request to see the downstream effects of successor external relationships. The subsequent change request has the successor project selected on the workflow form.
You cannot see the downstream effects in other subprojects until the change request is approved.
You can only create external relationships in the Change Details view; not in the Open Plan Add-In step.
You cannot open the master project while you are in the Open Plan Add-In step.
If you open the other subprojects while you are in the Add-In step, you cannot see the effects of the interconnecting relationships.
You cannot create a change request where the only change is the addition of an external successor relationship. Since only the successor activities are baselined, and the successor activity doesn't exist in the selected project, there is no change in the project selected on the workflow form. Instead, on the workflow form, select the project where the external relatinoship is a predecessor. This will baseline the activity in the selected project.
You must save your changes to see the updated relationships in the Gantt chart.
If an external activity ID contains a period, the period is replaced with an underscore.
It is possible for an externally-related activity to be both a predecessor to one activity in the change, and a successor to another activity. In this case, two milestones are created - one with an S suffix and one with an F suffix.
When the change is applied to the project, the new milestones are automatically added and Time Analysis calculates the dates and float the same way it would if you opened a subproject with external relationships. These simulated activities are not included in the change baseline or the live project, and if you edit any of these activities, the changes are not included in the View Summary grid.
During the Add-In step, since the master project is not opened, the external relationships are simulated by creating milestones with relationships. The attributes of the milestones are listed below.
When the external activity is a predecessor, the newly added milestone has the following attributes:
Activity ID: <Subproject> - <external activity ID>_F
Activity Description: External - <external activity description>
Activity Type: Finish Milestone
Target Finish Type: Fixed Target
Target Date: The Early finish of the external activity
Relationship: The newly added milestone activity will be a predecessor, and the activity in the change is a successor
When the external activity is a successor, the newly added milestone has the following attributes:
Activity ID: <Subproject> - <external activity ID>_S
Activity Description: External - <external activity description>
Activity Type: Start Milestone
Target Start Type: Fixed Target
Target Date: The Early start of the external activity
Relationship: The activity in the change is a predecessor, and the newly added milestone activity will be a successor
These steps outline what is required to support adding external relationships.
Step |
Description |
Add a Master Project |
In order to add a relationship to an activity from another project, you must first add the master project on the Schedule Integration tab. |
Add an External Relationship in a change request |
After adding a master project to the Project Schedule Integration tab, you can add external relationships using the Predecessor/Successor Search dialog box that you can access on the Change Details Relationships tab. The External Subproject field on this dialog box lists all of the Open Plan projects within the master project, except for the project selected on the Projects form. After you have selected an external subproject, the activity list in the dialog box displays all activities (<project>.<activity ID>) in that project. While you can add external successor relationships, Deltek recommends that you add successor relationships in a workflow with the successor activity project. Using this process, the effects of the external relationship can be analyzed and the baseline of the successor activities can be updated. You cannot add external relationships while in the Add-In step. |
Use the View Summary Grid |
When you add an external relationship to a change request, the relationship is added to the View Summary grid in the External Predecessor or External Successor column and displays as <Project Name>.<Activity ID>. |
Confirm the Relationship |
After you complete the workflow, you can confirm the relationship in Open Plan in one of two ways:
|
You can add (or edit) a relationship to an activity that is not linked to the control accounts selected on the workflow form.
On the Change Details View Relationships tab, when you click Insert,
and then click the lookup icon (
) in the Predecessor
or Successor cell, by default, the Predecessor/Successor
Search dialog box only displays the activities linked to the control
account on the workflow form. To see all activities in the project, select
the Show All Activities option
on the Predecessor/Successor
Search dialog box.
The Predecessor / Successor Search dialog box also includes an External Subproject field that is available after you add an Open Plan master project on the Project Schedule Integration tab. It lists all of the Open Plan projects within the master project, except for the project selected on the Projects form. Select the external subproject that includes the activity for which you want to add the relationship. After you select the external subproject, the external subproject activities display in the grid. After you select an activity and click Select, the Activity ID column in the Change Details grid displays <project>.<activity ID>.
Add a relationship to an activity
Delay the start of an activity
View details of external activities