Resolving dependencies

After defining dependencies for the tasks in a project, you must resolve the dependencies for the project. By resolving dependencies, the schedule dates of the dependent tasks are adjusted to their earliest possible start dates to accommodate the dependency relationship. For example, two tasks with the start date January 1 and finish date as January 5 are linked with a Finish to Start dependency. After you resolve the dependency, the predecessor task is moved to its earliest possible start date, and the successor task is moved to start after the predecessor task is complete.

Before you begin

Use the Schedule Gantt viewlet to perform this task. In the navigation bar, click Work, and click the Schedule tab.
Before resolving dependencies, define the dependencies for the project tasks. For more information about creating dependencies, see Creating dependencies.

About this task

Resolution of dependencies is based on the calculation of the earliest possible start dates for the dependent tasks. When dependencies being resolved belong to the same project, and the project start date is a future date, the earliest possible start date is determined by the project start date. However, when the project start date is a past date, the earliest start date is determined by the current date. When dependencies being resolved are between different projects, the earliest possible start date is always determined by the current date, irrespective of the project start date.

To resolve dependencies for a project:

Procedure

  1. In the WBS tree, click the project to resolve dependencies for.
  2. In the Schedule Gantt viewlet, click the Resolve Dependency icon Resolve dependency.
  3. At the confirmation, click Yes. If the dependency resolution causes a task constraint date to break, an error is displayed, and you must modify the constraint date or remove the constraint to resolve the dependency.

Results

Example

For examples of how schedule dates are adjusted when dependencies are resolved, see Examples: Resolving dependencies.

What to do next

When a resource assignment exists for a task, resolution of dependencies might cause resources to be overallocated. Review the resource assignment dates, and modify them if required.

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