You can set options to manage the project schedule according to your requirements.
When you access scheduling options from the Projects > Tools page, the options you choose apply only to the project you are currently working with. When you access scheduling options from the Projects > Activities page, the options you choose apply to all open projects. In either case, all options are saved with the project(s), except for the option to level resources.
Use the General tab to specify various scheduling options such as schedule progressed activities, calculate start-to-start lag, and the method (Total Float or Longest Path) by which you want to analyze critical activities.
Use the Advanced tab to specify whether you want to calculate multiple critical float paths. Calculating multiple critical float paths enables you to determine the most critical path, along with the sub-critical paths that affect the completion of the most critical path.
General Tab Options
- Ignore relationships to and from other projects
- Mark to ignore activity relationships between projects.
- Make open-ended activities critical
- Mark to label open-ended activities as critical activities during the scheduling.
- Use Expected Finish Dates
- Mark to schedule activity finish dates as the expected finish dates.
- Level resources during scheduling
- Mark to level resources automatically each time you schedule
a project.
This is the only scheduling option that is saved at the user level, so will likely vary among project users, generating inconsistent results.
Note: This option is not available unless the Oracle Primavera Job Service is used for scheduling. Based on administrative settings, scheduling jobs are run using either the Web Scheduler or Job Service. The Web Scheduler, which is enabled by default does not provide the option to level resources when scheduling. To level resources, you must use the Primavera Job Service. Contact your P6 administrator for information and assistance.
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- Recalculate assignment costs after scheduling
- Mark to recalculate the costs of resource or role assignments
that use multiple rates.
Using this option ensures that costs remain accurate when rescheduled dates reflect a rate change.
- When scheduling progressed activities use
- Choose the type of logic used to schedule dependent
activities with out-of-sequence progress, for example, a Finish to Start
relationship in which the predecessor has not finished but the successor
has started.
Retained Logic - The remaining duration of a progressed activity is not scheduled until all of its predecessors are finished.
Progress Override - The schedule ignores network logic and allows the activity to progress without delay.
Actual Dates - Backward and forward passes are calculated using actual dates.
- Calculate start to start lag from
- When a start to start relationship exists and the predecessor
starts out of sequence, the scheduler delays the successor activity until
the lag expires and all predecessor relationships have been satisfied.
Use this option to specify whether to subtract the lag from the predecessor's internal early start date or its actual start date.
Early Start - Choose this option when the successor's start depends on the amount of work that the predecessor activity accomplishes.
The scheduler calculates the expired lag as the number of work periods between the actual start and the data date and determines the successor's start date as the predecessor's internal early start plus any remaining lag.Actual Start - Choose this option when you want the successor's start to depend on the time elapsed from the predecessor's actual start (regardless of the amount of work that has been accomplished in the predecessor activity).
The scheduler determines the successor's start date as the data date plus any remaining lag. - Define critical activities as
- Choose the method used to identify critical activities.
Total float less than or equal to - Choose this option to identify critical activities based on the flexibility of scheduled dates.
Type a number and time unit to specify the minimum float time for activities before they are marked critical.Longest Path - Choose this option to identify activities based on network logic that determines the project end date.
- Calculate float based on finish date of
- Choose the method used to calculate the float period.
Each Project - Choose this option to schedule external relationships on the backward pass using each project’s finish date for open-ended activities, including activities that have an external relationship.
Opened Projects - Choose this option to schedule external relationships on the backward pass using the latest finish date of all opened projects and external relationship dates to calculate late dates of activities. Float for open-ended activities is calculated using the latest finish date of all opened projects, allowing for more float than the Each project option. Each Project's Scheduled Finish date field is calculated as the latest finish date of all opened projects.
- Compute total float as
- Select the method to calculate total float for all activities. ; ; and Smallest of Start Float and Finish Float is the most critical float value.
Start Float - Start Float is the difference between the early and late start dates (Start Float = Late Start – Early Start).
Finish Float - Finish Float is the difference between the early and late finish dates (Finish Float = Late Finish – Early Finish).
Smallest value - Select to use the most critical value, which is the smaller of the start float and finish float values.
- Calendar for scheduling Relationship Lag
- The calendar used to calculate relationship lag.
Predecessor Activity Calendar - Choose this option to calculate lag based on the predecessor activity's calendar.
Successor Activity Calendar - Choose this option to calculate lag based on the successor activity's calendar.
24 hour calendar - Choose this option to use a calendar that specifies work time 7 days/week and 24 hours/day.
Project Default Calendar - Choose this option to use the calendar that is designated as the default for new activities.
The default calendar for new activities is specified on the Administration > Calendars page or in the Project Management module.
Advanced Tab Options
- Calculate multiple float paths
- Mark to calculate multiple critical float paths (sequences of activities) in the project schedule. You can specify the number of critical float paths to identify in the Specify the number of paths to calculate field. If you do not select this option, you cannot edit the remaining fields.
- Calculate multiple paths using
- Choose one of the following methods:
Total Float - If you choose this option, then, based on the activity you want the paths to end on, P6 Web Access determines which predecessor activity has the most critical Relationship Total Float on the backward pass.
This process repeats until an activity is reached that has no relationship. P6 Web Access begins the forward pass from this activity and determines which successor activity has the most critical Relationship Successor Total Float.
This process repeats until an activity is reached that has no relationship. These activities represent the most critical float path. The process begins again until the remaining sub-critical paths are calculated.Free Float - Choose this option to define critical float paths based on longest path. The most critical path will be identical to the critical path that is derived when you choose to define critical activities as Longest Path on the General tab.
In a multi-calendar project, the longest path is calculated by identifying the activities that have an early finish equal to the latest calculated early finish for the project and tracing all driving relationships for those activities back to the project start date.
After the most critical path is identified, P6 Web Access will calculate the remaining sub-critical paths. - Display multiple float paths ending with activity
- Click
to choose the activity in the WBS that you want to represent the end of the float paths. Typically, this is a milestone activity or some other significant activity that has a start date or end date that cannot change.
- Specify the number of paths to calculate
- Type the number of critical float paths
to calculate. If you specify 5, P6 Web Access will calculate
the five most critical float paths ending with the activity you selected.
Each float path is ranked from most critical to least critical and
stores the value for each activity in the Float Path field. For example,
if you calculate five float paths, a value of 1 is stored in the Float
Path field for each activity in the most critical float path; a value
of 5 is stored for each activity in the least critical float path.
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Note: To view the critical float paths after you schedule the project, on the Projects > Activities page, create a view that groups activities by Float Path and sort them by Float Path Order. A Float Path value of 1 indicates that those activities are part of the most critical float path. The Float Path Order value indicates the order in which the activities were processed.