Link Activities

Define the relationships between activities

Usually, you create a link graphically by selecting a predecessor activity and dragging the link arrow to a successor activity. Depending on which end of the successor you link to, a Finish-to-Start or Finish-to-Finish link is created. An activity can have links to multiple other activities.

Steps

Create a link between activities

  1. Select an activity in a time-distance view and do one of the following:

    • Click-and-drag the link icon to the next activity until the cursor changes to look like the cursor shown to the right. You can set the Link type when you create the link or afterwards in the Object Properties pane > Details tab.

    • Right-click and select either Create Predecessor or Create Successor from the context menu.

Note: In a project with many activities, it is helpful to have this non-graphical way to link activities. Depending on whether you are creating a predecessor or successor, the Link type field is automatically filled. You simply need to click in the other field and (using the enhanced activity information) select the other activity.

Edit link properties

  1. Select a link between two activities.

  2. In the Object Properties pane > Link tab, select a Link type.

  3. If appropriate, define a Lag between the linked activities.

  4. Right-click in the time-distance cell and select Reschedule from the context menu (or press F9 on your keyboard).

Figure: Linking Activities

Define distance-related dependencies between activities

  1. Select an activity in a time-distance view.

  1. Click-and-drag the link icon to the next activity until the cursor changes to look like this.

  2. Edit the properties for the selected link in the Object Properties pane > Links tab.

  3. For the Link type, select Start to Start.

  4. In the Calculate lag by list, select Distance to successor.

  5. Specify the Distance lag, e.g., 500 (meters).

  6. Right-click in the time-distance cell and select Reschedule from the context menu (or press F9 on your keyboard) to calculate the activity.

The time interval for the Start to Start link is calculated over the distance interval of 500 meters.

Figure: Linking Activities