Lecture 3

MS project 2003
(Important Terminologies)
Engr Ayesha Hakim

MicroSoft Project
Ms project is a specialized database that
stores and presents thousand of pieces of
data related to your project
(tasks,duartion,links,resource names
,calendars, assignments ,costs ,deadlines)

Base calendar
A calendar that can serve as the project calendar or a
task calendar. A base calendar defines the default
working times for resources. Project includes three
base calendars named Standard, 24 Hours, and Night
Shift.
Baseline
The original project plan, saved for later comparison.
The baseline includes the planned start and finish
dates of tasks as well as their planned costs.
Flexible constraint
A constraint type that gives Project the flexibility to
change the start and finish dates (but not the
duration) of a task. As Soon As Possible (ASAP) and As
Late As Possible (ALAP) are both flexible constraints.

Free slack
The amount of time that a task can be delayed without
delaying the start date of another task
Gantt Chart view
A predefined view in Project consisting of a table (the
Entry table by default) on the left and a graphical bar
chart on the right that shows the project plan over
time
Hyperlink
A link to another file, a specific location in a file, a
page on the World Wide Web, or a page on an intranet.

Inflexible constraint
A constraint type that forces a task to begin or end on a
certain date. Must Start On (MSO) and Must Finish On
(MFO) are both inflexible constraints.
lag time
A delay between tasks that have a task relationship. For
example, lag time causes the successor task in a finish-tostart relationship to begin some time after its predecessor
task concludes.

lead time
An overlap between tasks that have a task relationship. For
example, lead time causes the successor task in a finish-tostart relationship to begin before its predecessor task
concludes.

Note
The information that you want to associate
with a task,
resource, or
assignment.
Ongoing operation
An activity that has no planned end date and is
repetitive in nature. Examples include accounting,
managing human resources, and some
manufacturing
Over allocated
The condition of resources when they are
assigned to do more work than is their normal
work capacity.

 Patent

defects
It seems to occur during the construction
stage
Latent defects
It seems to occur after the completion of
construction

Predecessor
A task whose start or end date determines the
start or finish of another task or tasks, called
successor tasks.
Project calendar
The base calendar that is used by the entire
project.The project calendar defines normal
working and nonworking days and times.
Project summary task
A summary task that contains top-level
information such as duration, work, and costs for
the entire project.

Resources
People, equipment, and material (and the
associated costs of each) needed to complete the
work on a project.
Risk
An event that decreases the likelihood of
completing the project on time, within budget, and
to specification,
Semi-flexible constraint
A constraint type that gives Project the flexibility
to change the start and finish dates of a task
within one date boundary. Start No Earlier Than
(SNET), Start No Later Than (SNLT), Finish No
Earlier Than (FNET), and Finish No Later Than
(FNLT) are all semi-flexible constraints

Slack
The amount of time that a task can be delayed
without delaying a successor task (free slack) or the
project end date (total slack). Slack is also known as
float.
Split
An interruption in a task, represented in the Gantt
bar as a dotted line between segments of a task. You
can split a task multiple times
Stakeholders
The people or organizations that might be affected by
project activities . These also include the resources
working on the project as well as others (such as
customers) external to the project work.

Standard base calendar

A base calendar included with Project designed to accommodate
an 8:00 A.M.5:00 P.M. Monday through Friday work shift.

Successor
A task whose start or finish is driven by another task or tasks,
called predecessor tasks.
Summary task
A task that is made up of and summarizes the subtasks below it.

Variance
A deviation from the schedule or budget established by the
baseline plan

THANKS