'Start to Finish links' quality metric
Use this constraint to check the proportion of links of a type other than Start-to-Finish. It is not good practice to link tasks with Start-to-Finish links, as these are counter-intuitive.
With the pass and fail boundaries set to 100%, this metric meets the requirements of DCMA test 4 (Relationship types).
Example of Start-to-Finish links
In the following illustration, the link between tasks 3 and 4 is a Start-to-Finish link. This link would fail this metric. All the other links are of different types (Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start and Finish-to-Finish) and would pass this metric:
You can change the impact that this metric has on the weighted total result of a quality check by entering a factor by which the quality metric should be multiplied in the Weighting field. For the weighting to have any effect, a quality check must have more than one quality metric.
Pass and fail criteria
| Pass or fail? | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Pass |
A project passes this metric if the percentage of links that are not Start-to-Finish is greater than or equal to the pass boundary percentage.
For example, if the pass boundary was set to 100.00%, a project would pass this metric if 100.00% of links were not Start-to-Finish. |
| Fail |
A project fails this metric if the percentage of links that are not Start-to-Finish is less than the fail boundary percentage.
For example, if the fail boundary was set to 100.00%, a project would fail this metric if less than 100.00% of links were not Start-to-Finish. |
| Neither pass nor fail | If the percentage of links that are not Start-to-Finish falls between the pass and fail boundary, the result is neither a pass nor a fail, but somewhere in between. |
Suggested settings to meet the requirements of DCMA test 4 (Relationship types)
- Pass boundary: 100.00%. A project will pass this metric if no links are Start-to-Finish.
- Fail boundary: 100.00%. A project will fail this metric if any links are Start-to-Finish.
The following table shows whether some example projects would pass or fail this metric using these settings:
| Percentage of links that are not Start-to-Finish | Pass or fail? |
|---|---|
| 0.00% | Fail |
| 50.00% | Fail |
| 99.99% | Fail |
| 100.00% | Pass |
Does the metric force a project to be rescheduled?
No.
Suggested actions if a project fails this metric
If a project fails this metric, select the metric in the Quality Check Results dialog and click Show Failing Tasks to view the links that have failed the metric, together with the tasks at either end of the links.
Examine the links to determine whether it is appropriate for them to be Start-to-Finish. If not, delete the links and replace them with links of other types.