This topic includes an overview of each date type. For additional information, see:
Rules for Editing Change Details Data to learn about editing control account, work package, and activity dates.
Respread Costs to learn how costs are respread when work package requested baseline dates are changed.
Current dates represent the existing/approved dates in the cost and schedule system before any changes are made. They cannot be edited through the Change Management process.
The current dates for work packages and control accounts are the baseline and forecast dates in the source project; therefore, they will change during the approval process if the source project changes.
The current dates for activities are saved in the change request when the Change Details view is saved. They do not change throughout the approval process. You have to delete the change request to refresh the current dates.
Requested dates are the new dates resulting from changes made to activities or work packages in the Change Details View or in the schedule approval step (if there is a schedule approval step). The requested dates on the form update after returning to the Form View from the Change Details view or after opening the form following the scheduler approval step.
Work package and control account baseline dates represent the dates over which the time phased budget is spread. Activity baseline dates are created when a baseline is saved in the schedule.
The control account and work package current baseline dates come from the source project.
For existing activities, the dates come from the selected baseline indicated on the Schedule Integration tab for the schedule project at the time Change Details is saved. If Microsoft Project is the scheduling tool, the dates imported into the baseline start and baseline finish dates are displayed for the current baseline dates.
New activities have no current baseline dates.
If the change class is a budget class, you are adjusting requested baseline dates. The requested control account baseline dates automatically expand to encompass the work package requested baseline dates.
When a work package is not linked to activities, you manually enter the requested baseline dates when the work package is added or edited in any way. When the baseline dates are edited, the costs are automatically respread. When you edit the baseline dates and the Update the Forecast with the Budget Change option on the Change Details on Form Tab of Workflow Type Configuration is selected, the forecast dates are automatically updated and the costs are automatically respread.
When a work package is linked to activities, the work package baseline dates are created by automatically spanning the activity dates ; These dates automatically expand to encompass the activities.
The requested WP and CA dates are adjusted when they come back from the scheduler.
Existing and new activities do not display requested baseline dates on the General tab. You can add columns for the Forecast date. These won’t be updated until they come back from the scheduler.
Note: An activity doesn’t have Requested Baseline dates, even if the change class is a budget class, until it comes back from the scheduler.
Forecast dates represent the best estimate of when the work will begin/end. These date columns can be added to the Change Details grid or viewed on the Change Details General tab.
Current forecast dates for a control account and work package come from the source project. Current forecast dates for activities are based on the Schedule Forecast Date Set that is set on the Progress tab in the Project Details view:
Early — The early dates calculated by the forward pass in time analysis are displayed.
Late — The late dates calculated by the backward pass in time analysis are displayed.
Scheduled — The dates calculated by resource leveling are displayed. If this option is selected, new activities display the early dates.
If the change class is a forecast class, you are adjusting requested forecast dates. The requested forecast dates for control accounts are created by automatically spanning the work package dates. When the requested forecast dates for a work package are outside the control account dates (that is, if the start date is less than or the finish date is greater than the control account dates), the dates for the control account are updated to exactly span the activities.
If the work package is not linked to an activity, the requested dates are the dates you manually enter as part of the change request.
If the work package is linked to an activity, then the work package requested forecast dates are created by automatically spanning the activity dates. When the dates for an activity are outside the work package dates (that is, if the start date is less than or the finish date is greater than the work package dates), the dates for the work package are updated to exactly span the activities.
The requested work package and control account dates are adjusted when they come back from the scheduler.
If there are activities, the requested forecast dates for activities are calculated by PM Compass using critical path analysis and the Schedule Forecast Date Set that is set on the Progress tab in the Project Details view:
Early— The early dates calculated by the forward pass in time analysis are displayed.
Late— The late dates calculated by the backward pass in time analysis are displayed.
Scheduled— If this option is selected, activities display the early dates.
Learn about date calculation differences in Open Plan and PM Compass
Review the rules for editing change details data
Learn about the Change Baseline