Chapter 15. Definitions (Alphabetical)

This chapter contains an alphabetical list of definitions and commonly used terms.

49. Access Control

Displays the kind of access a user has to the selected project. Editing this attribute allows a user to provide Manage, Track or Observe access to another user of the selected project.

see also: Access control, Manager, Tracker, Observer.

44. Actual Cost

The cost actually incurred by this project. It is calculated as the fixed cost plus actual resource cost plus the actual material cost.

see also: Project actual cost.

43. Actual Duration

This is the time difference between the actual start and actual finish of a project.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

42. Actual Effort

The time actually taken for this project. This is typically entered by the person that the project is assigned to.

see also: Entering actual time spent, Project actual cost.

41. Actual Finish

For a bottom-level project, this is the date the project actually ended. This is typically entered by the person that the project is assigned to. For a project with subprojects, this is defined to be the maximum of the actual finish dates of its subprojects. A project is considered to be completed if this value is defined.Note: If the Actual finish of any of the subprojects is not defined, the Actual finish of the project is also undefined.

see also: Entering actual time spent, Project actual cost, Scheduled finish.

46. Actual Material Cost

For a bottom-level project this is calculated as the sum, over all materials actually used by the project, of the quantity of material used times the cost per unit of the material. For a project which has subprojects it is the sum of the actual materal costs of the subprojects.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Entering materials actually used, Project actual cost.

45. Actual Resource Cost

For a bottom-level project this is calculated as the sum, over all resources assigned to the project, of the number of actual effort hours for each resource times the cost-per-hour of the resource. For a project which has subprojects it is the sum of the actual resource costs of the subprojects.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Entering actual time spent, Project actual cost.

40. Actual Start

For a bottom-level project, this is the date the project actually started. This is typically entered by the person that the project is assigned to. For a project with subprojects, this field is not editable and the date displayed is defined to be the minimum of the defined actual start dates of its subprojects.

see also: Entering actual time spent, started project, Project actual cost, Scheduled start.

73. Allocation

The allocation of a resource to a task is the percentage of the resource's time that task is expected to take. An allocation of 100% implies that the resource will work exclusively on that task for the period that he is cheduled to work on it. On the other hand, if the resource is allocated to two tasks at 50% each, then these two tasks may run concurrently. The time taken by a resource to perform a task depends on the allocation. If the resource finished a task in 4 hours at 100% allocation, it will take him 8 hours at 50% allocation.

See also: Effort-driven, Auto-calculating allocation, Squeezable, Resources working on multiple tasks simultaneously, Changing dates, effort and allocation.

39. Assigned To

For a task that is assigned to a single resource, this is the name of the resource that the project is assigned to. For a task assigned to multiple resources, the field displays the names of all the resoures. The value is not editable for multiple-resource tasks, projects with subprojects, or projects that have already started.This is typically assigned by the scheduler.

see also: Single resource task assignment, Changing the assignment of a whole subtree.

7. Attribute table view

The center table in the main application window shows the project attributes for each project. This table is called the attribute table view. The attribute table can have a column for each of the project attributes. Editing of any attribute can be done by double-clicking the appropriate cell, or selecting the cell and entering F2.

see also: Customizing the view, Scrolling to a column, Hiding and showing columns, Defining new columns, Sorting columns, Column visibility.

65. String 1-3, Number 1-10, Date 1-3, Flag 1-5

These are auxiliary string, number, date and flag values. These may be used by the user to mark, or classify certain projects.

By renaming these columns, their role can be made more meaningful in the user's context.

52. Baseline Finish

At any time, the current schedule of a project may be saved as a baseline. This helps in later comparisons when the schedule has changed. This field stores the end date.

see also: Setting a baseline schedule.

51. Baseline Start

At any time, the current schedule of a project may be saved as a baseline. This helps in later comparisons when the schedule has changed. This field stores the start date.

see also: Setting a baseline schedule.

13. Billing codes

Billing codes are a way of associating rates with codes. A billing code has a name and an associated rate (per hour). All project costing is done via billing codes. For each resource working on a project, a billing code may be selected, and the project cost is calculated by multiplying the rate of the billing code with the number of hours the resource works. Billing codes may be defined in the Admin console.

see also: Billing codes, Project costing, Time tracking.

26. Budgeted Cost

The cost budgeted for this project. Only the owner may change this value.

25. Budgeted Effort

The time budgeted for this project. Only the owner may change this value. The value is not editable for milestones.

72. Completed project

A task or project is considered to be completed if its Percent Complete value is 100.

see also: Started project, Marking a project as complete, Archiving projects.

22. Constraint

A constraint ties a project to a specific date. There are six types of constraints, each associated with a date. When applied to a project, they force the scheduler to have the following effect:

  • Start before: The project must start before the given date

  • Start on: The project must start on the given date

  • Start after: The project must start after the given date

  • Finish before: The project must finish before the given date

  • Finish on: The project must finish on the given date

  • Finish after: the project must finish after the given date

see also: Adding and removing constraints, Changing the start and end dates, Default scheduling policy, The scheduling timeframe, Freezing and unfreezing schedules.

53. Cost variance

The difference between Actual Cost and Estimated Cost.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

69. Critical path

A critical path consists of that set of dependent tasks (each dependent on the preceding one) which together take the longest time to complete.

The dependency may be explicit , i.e. one task cannot be started before the previous is finished because of functional requirements (for instance, testing cannot start before prototype development is complete).

Alternatively, the dependency may be because of resource limitations (for instance, consider two tasks - painting the house, and landscaping the garden, and only one person to do the tasks).

see also: The Critical path view.

11. Department

Every user may belong to a department. Departments form a hierarchy, at the root of which is the default department called Organization . Departments are used to classify users and to collect statistics on projects. Use of departments is optional. Departments may be defined in the Admin console.

see also: Creating Departments.

10. Dependencies and Lags

A dependency is a relationship between two projects known as the predecessor and the successor. A dependency may be of the following types: Finish-Start, Finish-Finish, Start-Start. The type of a dependency determines which end (start or finish) of the predecesor is related to which end (start or finish) of the successor. For example, a Finish-Start dependency specifies that the start of the successor must be after the finish of the predecessor. A Finish-Finish dependency specifies that the finish of the successor must be after the finish of the predecessor. All Dependencies put restrictions on projects of the form - this project must not start (or finish) until ... The project can start (or finish) at any time after the limit specified by the dependency.

A dependency has an associated Lag value. A dependency indicates that when the predecessor and successor are being scheduled, the relevant event of the successor (start or finish) should not occur until Lag units of time after the relevant event of the predecessor. Lags may have negative values. Lag times are always measured in elapsed time, and not working time.

The simplest case, a Finish-Start dependency with a lag value of zero simply says that the successor should not start until the predecessor has finished. With a lag of -8 hours, the interpretation is that the successor should not start until 8 hours before the end of the predecessor.

For example, if you wish to order a part by mail and then install the part, and the part takes two days to arrive by mail, the you can create a Finish-Start dependency with a lag of two days between the tasks Order the part and Install the part

Dependencies serve as a way of ensuring a relative order among projects. They cannot be used to ensure that a project starts (or finishes) before an absolute date. (Use Constraint for that purpose.)

see also: Adding and removing dependencies, Default scheduling policy.

[Note] Note

If dependencies between superprojects exist, then they are interpreted as all of the bottom-level tasks of one being dependent on all of the bottom-level tasks of the other.

67. Documents

One may attach arbitrary files or documents to a project. Double-clicking in this column will open a Documents window with the option of uploading a document, deleting a document or downloading a document. Uploading a document attaches the document to the particular task and downloading it displays the directory in which the document is placed for the user to access from. The Documents column in the hierarchical view shows the number of documents in the corresponding project and all of its subprojects.

55. Duration variance

The difference between the Actual Duration and the Estimated Duration.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

54. Effort variance

The difference between Actual Effort and Estimated Effort. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

14. Email address

A user can have an associated email address. This email address is used in Project Enterprise to send out notifications. It is not used in Project Desktop. Email addresses may be defined in the Admin console.

57. End variance

The difference between the Actual Finish time and the Scheduled Finish time. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

32. Estimated Cost

This is the sum of the fixed, materal and resource costs of a project. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

See also: Estimated project cost.

28. Estimated Duration

This is the time difference between the scheduled start and scheduled finish of a project, in elapsed time, not working time. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

27. Estimated Effort

This is the number of working hours it will take to complete the task. For a bottom level task, the value is the estimated effort the task requires, as entered by a manager of the project. For a project which has subprojects, this number is calculated to be the sum of the estimated effort of all the subprojects.

see also: Effort-driven, Auto-calculating effort, single and multiple resources, Project estimated cost, Actual effort.

30. Estimated Material Cost

For a bottom-level project this is calculated as the sum, over all materials used by the project, of the quantity of material used times the cost per unit of the material. For a project which has subprojects it is the sum of the estimated materal costs of the subprojects.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

See also: Estimated project cost.

31. Estimated Resource Cost

For a bottom-level project this is calculated as the sum, over all resources assigned to the project, of the number of estimated effort hours for each resource times the cost-per-hour of the resource. For a project which has subprojects it is the sum of the estimated resource costs of the subprojects.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

See also: Estimated project cost.

61. EV Cost Efficiency

The ratio of Earned Value to Actual Cost. Used in Earned Value calculations. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

60. EV Cost Variance

The difference between Earned Value and Actual Cost. Used in Earned Value calculations. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

59. EV Earned Value

The cost of a project prorated by the progress upto now. It is calculated as the product of the Percentage Complete and the Estimated Cost attribute divided by 100. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

58. EV Planned Value

The cost of the work scheduled from the start of a project upto the current time. Also called BCWS (Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled). This attribute is used in Earned Value calculations. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

63. EV Schedule Efficiency

The ratio of Earned Value to Planned Value. Used in Earned Value calculations. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

62. EV Schedule Variance

The difference between Earned Value and Planned Value. Used in Earned Value calculations. This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

see also: Earned value management.

29. Fixed Cost

This is the duration independent cost of the project. For example if a project requires the purchase of some machinery, this is part of the fixed cost of that project.

see also: Project costing.

8. Gantt chart

The right hand side panel in the main application window shows a visual representation of the schedule for each project. This panel is called the Gantt chart.

see also: Adjusting the scale, Creating dependencies in the Gantt chart, Deleting dependencies.

9. Lag

see Dependencies and Lags

33. Level Resources

If this field is checked, the scheduler will take care not to exceed the maximum workload of the resource when scheduling this task. The value is not editable for projects that have already started.

see also: Resource levelling, Editing an entire subtree.

12. Location

Every user may have a location assigned to them. This is helpful for organizational and classification purposes. Use of locations is optional. Locations may be defined in the Admin console.

17. Manager

A Manager is a type of user in the software who can add and delete projects, and modify any aspect of projects they manage.

see also: Tracker, Observer, Resource, Access control, Creating and editing resources.

48. Materials

Tasks may use materials, and the quantity of the materials used is a property of the task. The task's material costs are measured by the quantity of material used by the task.

see also: Defining materials, Adding estimated material usage, Entering materials actually used.

66. Messages

One may attach threaded discussions to a project. These may be viewed by double clicking in the messages column.

21. Milestone

Milestones are used as checkpoints in the progress of a project, rather than to represent real tasks. Milestone projects are special projects that cannot have subprojects, and whose estimated effort is zero. A project can be set as a milestone project by double-clicking in the Milestone column in the Attribute table view and selecting the checkbox. Milestone tasks appear as a diamond shape on the Gantt Chart.

see also: Moving a project hierarchy into the future.

64. Notes

A project may have notes associated with it. Notes can be entered by editing the Notes column in the Attribute table.

19. Observer

An Observer is a type of user in the software who cannot add or delete projects, and can only modify Messages and Documents.

see also: Manager , Tracker, Resource, Access control, Creating and editing resources.

50. Owner

By default, the creator of the project is its Owner . The owner can change the ownership of the project.

Only the owner of a project may change the Budgeted Cost and Budgeted Effort values.

47. Percent Complete

What percent of the work has been accomplished. For a bottom-level project, this field is editable and is typically entered by the person that the project is assigned to. For a project with superprojects, the field is not editable and the number displayed is calculated from the total work and the respective amounts completed of the subprojects. A project is considered to be started if this value is more than 0. A project is considered to be completed if this value is 100.

see also: Started project, Completed project, Entering percent complete for a subtree, Marking projects as completed.

75. Predecessor

see dependencies

38. Priority

This can be any positive integer that is used by the scheduler for scheduling. A larger priority implies an earlier schedule. The value is not editable for projects with subprojects and projects that have already started. The default priority value for any project is 100.

see also: Using priorities, Default scheduling policy.

1. Project

A project is a task or a collection of tasks. It is represented by one line in the Summary view. Projects have a hierarchical structure, in order to break down complex tasks into pieces of manageable size. A project may have a number of subprojects, which, in turn, may have further subprojects. A project that has subprojects is simply a representation of the collection of its subprojects.

see also: Working with projects

16. Resource

A resource is an entity that can have a task assigned to it, and that expends time on the task. When a resource is spending time on a task it is generally unavailable for other tasks. Typically a resource is a person, but it does not have to be, for example a machine can be a resource because in the time that a machine is working on one job, it is unavailable for another job. Similarly a meeting room could also be a resource in an organization.

From the perspective of user types in the software, a resource may not log into the system, but may have tasks assigned to it.

See also: Manager, Tracker, Observer, Working with resources, Allocating resources to tasks.

37. Scheduled Finish

For a bottom-level project, this is the date the project ends. This is typically calculated by the scheduler. For a project with subprojects, this is defined to be the maximum of the start dates of its subprojects.This value is not editable for projects with subprojects, or projects that have already started. Note: If the Scheduled Finish of any of the subprojects is not defined, the Scheduled Finish of the project is also undefined.

see also: Changing the start or end date, The scheduling timeframe, Actual finish.

36. Scheduled Start

For a bottom-level project, this is the date the project starts. This is typically assigned by the scheduler. For a project with subprojects, this is defined to be the minimum of the start dates of its subprojects. This value is not editable for projects with subprojects, or projects that have already started. Note: If the Scheduled start of any of the subprojects is not defined, the Scheduled start of the project is also undefined.

see also: Changing the start or end date, The scheduling timeframe, Actual start.

70. Scheduler

The scheduler is the internal engine in the software that calculates when each resource whould work on each task. The scheduler always attempts to schedule the tasks so that all the tasks finish as soon as possible. For more information see this section .

34. Splittable

If this field is checked, the scheduler may split the work for this task into separate time periods.(see Squeezable and Splittable tasks.)

35. Squeezable

If this field is checked, the scheduler may assign the resource for less than the allotted availability (see Squeezable and Splittable tasks.)

56. Start variance

The difference between the Actual Start time and the Scheduled Start time.This is a derived value and cannot be edited.

71. Started project

A task or project is considered to be started if it has a valid Actual Start date, or if its Percent Complete value is more than zero.

see also: The scheduling timeframe, Changing a project plan midway through execution.

3. Subproject

A project that is a part of a bigger project is called a subproject.

74. Successor

see dependencies

6. Summary view

The leftmost column in the main application window shows a tree hierarchy of projects. This column is called the summary view.

see also: Customizing the view, Filtering in the summary view, Finding a project by summary

24. Summary

A short description of the project, that is displayed in the Summary view.

see also: Quick-Add.

2. Superproject

A project which contains subprojects or tasks is referred to as a superproject. A superproject does not represent a specific task to be performed, it is simply a representation of the tasks in the collection of its subprojects.

4. Task

A project that has no further subprojects is called a task and represents a piece of work that has to be performed by a resource.

see also: Working with projects, Working with resources, Allocating resources to tasks

15. Time Template

A Time Template is a pattern of working and nonworking hours for each day in a week. For example, a Time Template may set only the hours 8AM to 12PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to be working hours. The default time template used by the system assigns the working hours of 8AM to 5PM with a break from 12PM to 1PM, Monday through Friday.

Time templates may be defined in the Admin console.

See also: Organizational time templates, Change a user's working time.

68. Time tracking

Displays the time tracked for the selected project. This allows the users to track time more precisely than entering values in the Actual start and Actual finish columns. One can also define different billing rates for each 15-minute tracked and create billing reports for customers. You can also use Time Tracking to track overtime hours of a resource for the selected project.

see also: Time tracking.

18. Tracker

A Tracker is a type of user in the software who cannot add or delete projects, and can modify only tracking attributes of projects.

see also: Manager , Observer, Resource, Access control, Creating and editing resources.

20. Tracking attributes

The tracking attributes of a project are Actual start, Actual Finish, Actual Effort, Percent Complete and actual Materials used.

23. User

All resources in the system that have a user type of Manager, Tracker or Observer are called users.

5. WBS - Work Breakdown Structure

The hierarchical project structure that is shown in the Summary view is sometimes known as a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).