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
In Model Changes, when you select the workflows that you want to model, if you have a master schedule with subprojects and are creating a change that includes external relationships, it is important that you also open all subprojects so that they can be correctly analyzed. If you don't open the subprojects, PM Compass will create a temporary milestone to represent the changes to the relationship.
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.
This operation is best performed when in the Modeling Session view by opening the master project and both external subprojects before loading the change request. At this point, you can create the relationship between the two external subprojects.
You can create the relationship while in the Change Details view. For the dates to be calculated correctly in the Change Details view, you must have time analyzed and saved the results in the database of the external subproject before accessing Change Details.
PM Compass simulates the external relationships by adding a milestone activity for each relationship that you added in the Change Details view.
Note:
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 Change Log.
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. |
Use the Change Log Grid |
When you add an external relationship to a change request, the relationship is added to the Change Log 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>.
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 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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.1.25/06/25.9.6 |
|
|
2.1.17/02/5.9.17.2 |
|
|
2.14.7/06/14.7.6.3 |
|
|
|
2.25 |
|
|
|
|
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 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.12.4/04/5.12.4.1 |
|
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 Model Changes before approving the change request.
Add a relationship to an activity
Delay the start of an activity
View details of external activities
Predecessor