Float fields

You can configure Asta Powerproject to check the integrity of the critical path when rescheduling. If you do, this field identifies any incomplete critical tasks that are linked incorrectly in such a way that the integrity of the critical path is broken. If a task breaks the integrity of the critical path, you should examine its links for logical errors.

If you do not configure Asta Powerproject to check the integrity of the critical path when rescheduling, this field's check box is cleared for all tasks.

For more information, refer to Checking the integrity of the critical path when rescheduling.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

A numerical value showing either:

• The percentage of the duration of a buffer task that has been consumed; a negative value indicates that a buffer has increased in duration.
• The duration of a buffer task that has not been consumed; a value greater than 100 indicates that a buffer has increased in duration.
• The actual duration of a buffer task that has been consumed; a negative value indicates that a buffer has increased in duration.
• The actual amount by which the duration of a buffer task has increased; a negative value indicates that a buffer has been partially-consumed.

Careful monitoring of this field, for example by displaying it in the spreadsheet and sorting on it, enables you to keep track of buffer tasks that are shrinking or growing to undesirable durations.

You can also use this field to monitor the consumption of interruptible tasks if required.

For more information, refer to Working with buffer tasks.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Buffer consumption - whether to display buffer consumption factor, buffer remaining factor, buffer incursion or buffer usage.
• Override time unit - the time unit in which to display the information.

Whether or not a task is on the critical path.

For more information, refer to Understanding the results of rescheduling.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

Critical path drag (Devaux's Removed Activity Gauge) can be thought of as:

• The amount of time that a task or constraint on the critical path is adding to the total project duration.
• The maximum amount of time that the duration of a task can be shortened before the task is no longer on the critical path or before its duration becomes zero.
• A way of identifying the tasks that should be addressed first in an attempt to shorten the duration of a project - ie those with the greatest amount of drag.

You can calculate the drag of critical tasks when rescheduling.

For more information, refer to Calculating the drag of critical tasks when rescheduling.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Override time unit - the time unit in which to display the information.

The earliest date that a task can finish, within the logical constraints of the plan.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

The earliest date that a task can start, within the logical constraints of the plan.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

A task's finish date, using up any period of free float.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

The period that a task can be delayed before any successor task is affected.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Override time unit - the time unit in which to display the information.

A task's start date, using up any period of free float.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

The latest date that a task can finish, within the logical constraints of the plan.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

The latest date that a task can start, within the logical constraints of the plan.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

Whether or not a task is on the longest path through the project network.

A task is computed to be on the longest path if one or more of the following is true:

• Its finish date is equal to the latest finish date of the network.
• It has an outgoing link that is driving and that finishes on a task that is on the longest path.
• It has an immediate successor on the same bar line that is on the longest path.

If a summary task contains tasks that are on the longest path and the summary task has an incoming driving link, the summary itself is also on the longest path.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

Whether or not a task has an amount of total float at or below the critical gap that has been defined on the Schedule tab of the Format Bar Chart dialog. You can use the critical gap to display tasks that have a specified amount of total float (or less) as if they are critical. This alerts you to tasks that are almost critical as well as ones that are actually critical, so that you can take action to ensure that they are completed on time. Note that when you choose to display nearly critical tasks as critical, they appear without float in the bar chart.

Note that the status of this field is unaffected by whether you choose to display nearly critical tasks as if they were critical, using the Show nearly critical tasks as critical check box on the Schedule tab of the Format Bar Chart dialog. Note also that as the critical gap is defined on a per-view basis, this field may display different values for the same task in different views.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.

For buffer tasks and interruptible tasks, the duration that a task had at the point at which it was defined as a buffer task or an interruptible task. You can change the value of this field by editing it in the spreadsheet, or by removing the buffer task or interruptible task designation from a task, then redefining it as a buffer task or interruptible task - at which point the field takes the current duration of the task.

For more information, refer to Working with buffer tasks and Working with interruptible tasks.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Override time unit - the time unit in which to display the information.

The period that a task can be delayed before the project finish date is affected.

For more information, refer to Bar and Task Properties dialog - Task tab.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Override time unit- the time unit in which to display the information.

The difference between the total float of a task in the live data and its total float in the specified baseline. You can display the total float variance in a time unit of your choice.

You may find this field useful if you use logical paths to monitor the erosion of total float: once you have identified those tasks that are most likely to affect the project finish date if they are delayed, you can monitor the total float variance of these tasks to ascertain whether it is increasing or decreasing as a project progresses.

For more information, refer to Using logical paths to monitor the erosion of total float.

• Data - whether you want to display information relating to the live data or to a specific baseline.
• Specific task - specify specific task(s) on a multi-task bar to which you want the field to refer if required.
• Override time unit- the time unit in which to display the information.