Settings at the activity level

Last but certainly not least, the activity level settings are paramount for schedule calculations. Most people know the activity settings and forget to look into all other settings when dates do not seem to calculate as expected.

Activities are the major component of a schedule, and there are several aspects to each activity that must be considered. Activity components can be categorized as Mandatory or Optional, and several of them together represent the chain that affects dates in P6.

Activity components that affect schedule calculation:

MANDATORY	Affects Dates	OPTIONAL	Affects Dates
WBS and OBS		Expenses
Activity ID and Description		Steps
Activity Type	Yes	Notebooks/Feedback
Duration	Yes	WP & Documents
Date (input)	Yes	Activity Codes
Calendar Assignments	Yes	Relationships	Yes
Duration Type	Yes	Constraints	Yes
Percent Complete Type	Yes	Role and Resource Assignments	Yes

Activity types

Each type will react differently to scheduling...