Tasks that must start on a specific date

Is there a way to set the predecessor for a task to "start no sooner than a specific date"?

Tags predecessor-relationship
Asked by Ed Puckett on Tue 6/6/23 5:59 PM
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Answers (2)

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Mark Sayers Wed 6/7/23 9:18 AM

Hi Ed,

Perhaps if you give the context of what you're asking for it might reveal itself as more apparent, but to me this just sounds like the "start date". You can't tell the predecessor of a task, from the task that proceeds it, when to start though, no.

I may be misunderstanding the question though, so additional insight would be welcomed if available.

Sincerely,
Mark Sayers
Sr Support Consultant, CS

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I provided more context. But replied to my original post instead of replying to your comment. - Ed Puckett Wed 6/7/23 9:54 AM
Ed Puckett Wed 6/7/23 9:52 AM Last edited Wed 6/7/23 9:52 AM

Let's say you have several project tasks to work through; Initial Welcome Call, SDW worksheet, Project Kick-off, various implementation activities, testing (See attachment).  All of these tasks are set finish to start.  Once these tasks are completed you are in position to switch over to the new campus credit card.  BUT, the stakeholders want to switch over to the credit card no sooner than Feb 1st.  Essentially, there are are two conditions for the credit card switch.  

  1. Complete all prior tasks
  2. Start no sooner than Feb 1st.  

If I set the credit card switch's predecessor to the testing task. TDX will automatically change the credit card date to Tue, 08/08 (refer to attachment).  If I leave the predecessor blank, then the credit card switch stays Feb 1st even if the previous tasks start slipping past Feb 1st. 

For comparative purposes, MS Project has the following date-based constraints Set a task start or finish date (constraint) for a task - Microsoft Support, in addition to the standard dependency relationships (FS, SS, FF, and SF).

 

 

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Ah, ok there isn't any feature or predecessor relationship option in TDX currently that would prevent a task from starting before a certain date AND be reliant on a predecessor(s) having been completed as well. You *can* add days to your predecessor relationship though so if you know a certain predecessor to this switch over is always the last task completed, and it'll be completed by a specific date, you could set an end-to-start relationship to it + the number of days that it'll take to span from that end date to Feb 1st (or whatever the target date is). This I think would be similar, though not exactly like, the function you're talking about in Project. - Mark Sayers Wed 6/7/23 10:32 AM
Yep, I've used the X + Number method before. Not the same thing because if the task prior to the credit card switchover finishes after the original due date, it will push the switchover out 1 more day, even though the previous task finished before Feb 1st and we could legitimately wait until Feb 1st to start.

Are date constraints on the TDX road map? - Ed Puckett Wed 6/7/23 11:14 AM
That I do not know, but in that case I would suggest adding it as an enhancement idea ticket here: https://solutions.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1965/Portal/Requests/ServiceDet?ID=2148 - Mark Sayers Wed 6/7/23 11:16 AM