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Use the General tab to see global information on activities. This tab is displayed for activities and for activity templates. Some fields differ if the tab is used in context to an activity template.
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Name - The input field displays the name of the activity. Normally the name of an activity is not entered within the activity template. Therefore, the identifier of the template is used.
Calendar - Inherit the working time of the calendar settings. The end date of an activity is calculated.
Normally a calendar is not present within an activity template, so the Default Calendar settings from Tools > Options > Activity are used.
Select from the drop-down menu a required calendar sequence to set a different calendar to an activity template.
Show calendar - Click the icon to edit the calendar.
Clash detection - Enable the check box to check activities for overlaps. Should an activity be created based on an activity template, the existing settings of the activity template are taken for the new activity.
Layer - Indicates the current selection of an activity. New activities apply the settings of the default layer inside a view if no different layer is assigned to the selected activity template. Select from the drop-down menu a required layer to apply a different layer to an activity template.
Other attributes - List of additional free fields of the type text or integer. These additional fields (Property name | Custom name | Value) can be set user-defined.
User-defined Activity fields - Click the icon to edit the confirmed User-Defined Activity Fields.
Activity ID - User-defined identification of an activity. The index is automatically assigned for new activities and can be subsequently regenerated. The Activity ID is needed to identify an activity for data exchange.
Parent Activity - Should the Activity be within a summary, the drop-down menu indicates the identifier of the current summary activity. Select from the drop-down menu a required type of Parent Activity to apply a different Parent Activity to an activity template.
Type - Indicates the current type of an Activity. New Activities are set as 'Normal Activity'. Select from the drop-down menu a required Type of Activity to apply a different type.
Progress by - Select from the drop-down menu a method that should be used to measure the progress for a current activity.
Percent - Quantity - Distance - To define the global settings for an Activity use Tools > Options > Progress.
Normal Activity - A 'Normal Activity' with a duration > 0.
Hammock activities are similar to summary activities, but they can summarize activities from different sub-projects that might not be related. Here is a synopsis:
A summary activity is a parent activity that integrates/groups multiple regular activities within a sub-project. The coordinates of a summary activity (time and distance) are always defined by the position and duration of its subordinate activities. If a summary activity is moved, all subordinate activities are moved in relation. Summary activities can be linked in the same way as regular activities.
In a time-distance cell, a summary activity can be displayed either expanded (subordinates are shown) or collapsed (subordinates are hidden). The display changes depending on the status of the summary activity.
A hammock activity is a parent activity that monitors activities from one or more sub-projects. The distance positioning can be calculated either from the allocated activities or freely. Hammock activities summarize only the total duration of grouped activities. Activities contained in hammock activities are not moved from their original position.
A hammock activity can also be displayed expanded or collapsed.
A summary activity is a parent activity that integrates various single (regular) activities. The coordinates of a summary activity (time and distance) are always defined by its subordinate activities. If a summary activity is moved, all subordinate activities are moved in relation. Summary activities can be linked in the same way as regular activities.
In a time-distance cell, a summary activity can be displayed expanded (subordinates are shown) or collapsed (subordinates are hidden). The display changes depending on the status of the summary activity.
A hammock activity is a parent activity that monitors activities from one or more sub-projects. A hammock activity always uses the time period of the allocated activities. The distance positioning can be calculated either from the allocated activities or freely.
Buffer Activity - A Buffer Activity fills the time gap between two e.g. normal Activities to which it is linked on the one hand as a successor and on the other hand as a predecessor.
There are two types of Buffer Activities: The Determined Buffer Activity that is assigned with a constraint and a conditional Buffer Activity that is not.
The determined Buffer Activity has no successor, but a constraint as a finish date:
As the end of the normal Activity ("normaler Vorgang") approaches the finish date, the length of the buffer Activity (Puffervorgang) decreases.
If the normal Activity ("normaler Vorgang") ends after the finish date of the buffer Activity (Puffervorgang) there will be a warning after the calculation of the Activities ( via F9). The constraint indicator (e.g. blue flag) will stay at its primary position.
In the picture below, you see a conditional buffer Activity (Puffervorgang) (without constraint) that is linked with its predecessor ("normaler" Vorgang A) and its successor ("normaler" Vorgang B). The successor is linked with another Activity to fix its position.
As the duration of the predecessor decreases, the buffer Activity (Puffervorgang) increases - and the other way around.
The increase of the predecessor ("normaler" Vorgang A) can also have the effect of a translation of the successor ("normaler" Vorgang B), as you see in the picture above. Then the buffer Activity (Puffervorgang) no longer has duration.
Intermediate Activities - Activities that have both an incoming link at the start and at the end can be used as accompanying Activities. The duration of the Activity is controlled by the links.
An accompanying Activity cannot be calculated using the field Calculate the entry Duration, as the duration should be calculated using the links.
An intermediate Activity (Begleitvorgang) is linked to a predecessor ("normaler" Vorgang A) at its beginning and its end:
The duration of the intermediate Activity (Begleitvorgang) depends on the duration of its predecessor ("normaler" Vorgang A) (and the lags of the links)
End Milestone - Select from the drop-down menu to assign an End Milestone as Activity Type.
Start Milestone - Select from the drop-down menu to assign a Start Milestone as Activity Type.
WBS Summary Activity - Behaves similar to Summary Activity or Hammock Activity. During the rescheduling process, The WBS Summary Activity gets its time and distance coordinates from the assigned Activities. In this case, all Activities in the same WBS level and below are assigned. WBS Summary Activities can be displayed in Gantt and Time-Distance Diagrams.
Category Summary Activity - Behaves similar to Summary Activity or Hammock Activity. During the rescheduling process The Category Summary Activity gets its time and distance coordinates from the assigned Activities. In this case, all Activities in the same Category level and below are assigned. Category Summary Activities can be displayed in Gantt and Time-Distance Diagrams.
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