Juliane has attended:
Excel Advanced course
Project Intro Intermediate course
Summary task duration
Is there way of making the summary task show the sum of days from all the sub tasks rather than the actual duration of the project?
RE: Summary task duration
Hello Juliane,
Thank you for your question regarding summary task duration calculations in Project 2007.
There are two types of summary tasks. The main summary task is known as the Project Summary task and has to be added to your project by going to Tools > Options > View > tick the check box next to 'Show Project Summary Task'.
This nows appears at the top row and has an ID number of zero. The Project Summary task adds up all of the summary tasks below and will present you with the total duration of your project as well as the start date & time and finish date & time.
All the Summary tasks below calculate the total duration for each group of sub-tasks.
Note, each task has a duration. When tasks are linked and form a timeline then the summary task will add each task's duration and provide you with the timeline total.
If tasks have not been linked or all start at the same time then the summary task will automatically show the longest task's duration as a total.
When you talk about ACTUAL duration, please note that this term only refers to tasks that have been completed.
In conclusion, the summary task does show the sum of days for all the sub-tasks below it.
I hope this resolves your question. If it has, please mark this question as resolved.
If you require further assistance, please reply to this post. Or perhaps you have another Microsoft Office question?
Have a great day.
Regards,
Rodney
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer
RE: Summary task duration
thanks for the reply
as you said, the summary task does not add up tasks where durations are not linked but takes the longest one. This is what I wanted to know then: Is there a way of having the summary task add up also tasks that are not related? let's say I have 2 tasks, one is 1 day, the other one is 4 days. they are not linked. the summary task will show 4 days. is there a way of making it add up 1+4?
RE: Summary task duration
Hello Juliane,
You are not clear about what the summary task does. Its purpose is to determine the start and finish of a group of sub-tasks and therefore will not add up sub-tasks that begin on the same date, so the answer to your question is no, the summary task will only do what it has been designed to do.
Unfortunately, Project is unlike Excel where you can create your own formulas etc.
I hope this resolves your question. If it has, please mark this question as resolved.
If you require further assistance, please reply to this post. Or perhaps you have another Microsoft Office question?
Have a great day.
Regards,
Rodney
Microsoft Office Specialist Trainer
