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#381 Task not active when pre-requisite task completed
Hi,
Either I'm having a (very) dull moment and I'm missing something obvious
or
There is something «wrong»...
Pretty simple:
Let say I create "Task 1" and then I create "Task 2" with a pre-requisite of Task 1.
When I complete Task 1, Task 2 doesn't become active, it remains inactive.
I understand that the normal behaviour should be Task 2 becomes active when Task 1 is completed.
Same behaviour on 2 different computers.
Using TaskCoach 1.3.36 with Windows 7 Pro.
Thanks for your help!
I think it depends on the dates you set for Task 2. If it doesn't have a start date, it will remain inactive.
I had a better look at that:
When I create a task, the "Actual Start Date" gets the current time/date (this is my default settings)
When I link the task to a pre-requisite task, it becomes inactive.
But when I complete the pre-requisite task, it does not become active.
Now, if I created a task with a "Planned Start Date" and link it to a pre-requisite task, it becomes inactive and when I complete the pre-requisite task, it does become active.
So it seems that a dependent task only gets active when the pre-requisite task is completed AND it has a planned start date.
But I don't necessarily have a planned date for my tasks; I would like my task to be active with or without a planned date, as soon as the previous task is complete.
Isn't it the whole idea of pre-requisite tasks?
You'll only start when you have finish the previous one?
Thanks!
When a "planned start" is in the past, an item is not considered "active" but is "late". Active means "actually started".
Your point, however, makes sense. It is very easy to do with the current system though. Because "late" is any planned-start in the past, just mark the planned date for any dependent tass as NOW (or yesterday for that matter). The result will be that they show up when the prerequisites are done.
This has the advantage of showing a distinction between regularly active tasks and ones that showed up because prerequisites are done.
I have lots of tasks that I mark as all having the same planned start, which is often immediate, but then dependents get hidden so I only see the prerequisites that are doable first.
In other words, a planned start in the past but being a dependent effectively means you aren't going to do it yet.
I hope that answers your question. Let us know if there's further issues.
Personally, I'm glad there is flexible ways to do this. Few programs respect prerequisites clearly at all. But there's tons of room for improvement in Task Coach if we could just get more developers volunteering…
Cheers,
Aaron
Thanks for that!
Your tip works and by ticking "Planned start date", the dependent tasks get "activated" (or should I say "late") when prerequisites are completed.
So I'm happy with that!
One of the main reason I use Task Coach is the ability to have prerequisites. As you mentioned not many task managers allow for this.
I tried the child/parent nested tasks but that doesn't work for me as the task I see listed is the end result, not the next task I need to tackle.
In my workflow, I break down my tasks in small bits, and what I want to see is the next step to carry out.
So for me, prerequisite/dependent are the way to go and bonus is I can re-organised them easily (just by changing the prerequisite/dependent tasks)
I would have like to be able to have my tasks activated without having to use "Planned start date" and only using "Actual start date" but I understand that developers need to sleep at night and, as I say, the work around works fine.
As for the distinction between prerequisite/dependent tasks which are showing in purple instead of blue, since most my tasks are broken down in small bits, it doesn't really apply here :P
Anyway, keep the good work and thanks for your help!
Cheers,
ST
Glad that will work for you. To be clear, this is not a workaround as it is intended to work the way it does. I understand that it isn't exactly how you envisioned, but it has some real benefits.
By making a distinction between planned and actual start, you can distinguish things in valuable ways. For example, actual start is automatically marked when you do effort tracking. Also, if you use the gear icon in the Task pane's toolbar, you can get a view filter tool specifically for hiding and showing late tasks vs active tasks.
There's some argument for offering other ways to work, but, yes, any decision has pros and cons and there's value to appreciate in the way it works now.
Cheers