P6 Professional User Guide

4)Select the percent complete type:

To indicate that the activity's percent complete will be entered by the user for this activity, select Physical. In this case, Activity % Complete = Physical % Complete.

To specify that the activity's percent complete be calculated from the original or planned and remaining durations, select Duration. In this case, Activity % Complete = Duration % Complete = (Original or Planned Duration – Remaining Duration) ¸ Original or Planned Duration.

To specify that the activity's percent complete be calculated from the actual and remaining units, select Units. In this case, Activity % Complete = Units % Complete = (Actual Labor Units + Actual Nonlabor Units) ¸ (Actual Labor Units + Actual Nonlabor Units +Remaining Labor Units + Remaining Nonlabor Units).

Assign a calendar to an activity

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose calendar you want to define.

3)Display Activity Details, then click the General tab.

4)In the Activity Calendar field, click .

5)Choose the calendar that you want to assign to the selected activity, then click the Select button.

Tip

To choose whether to display global or project calendars in the Select Activity Calendar dialog box, click the Display Options bar.

Enter activity durations

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose duration you want to enter.

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3)Display Activity Details, then click the Status tab.

To enter original or planned duration for the activity, in the original or planned field, type the amount of time followed by the time period.

To enter the actual duration for the activity, in the Actual field, type the amount of time followed by the time period. You can only enter actual duration for activities that are completed.

To enter the remaining duration for the activity, in the Remaining field, type the amount of time followed by the time period. You can only enter remaining duration for activities that are in progress.

To enter at completion duration for the activity, in the At Complete field, type the amount of time followed by the time period. You can only enter at completion duration for activities that are not started or in progress.

Note

A time period does not display if the Show Duration Label checkbox is not marked in the User Preferences, Time Units tab.

The following limitation applies to dates: Do not enter a date equal to or later than December 31, 2049 or a duration that causes the date to be equal to or later than December 31, 2049.

Tips

P6 Professional automatically recalculates the time value and period you enter according to the project's calendar and the standard time period defined by your system administrator.

To view the available time period abbreviations, choose Admin, Admin Preferences, then click the Time Periods tab when P6 Professional is connected to a P6 Professional database and choose the Application Settings in P6 when connected to a P6 EPPM database.

Enter activity start and finish dates

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose start and finish dates you want to enter.

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3)Display Activity Details, then click the Status tab.

To enter the activity's start date, in the Started field, click , then select a date.

To enter the activity's actual start date, mark the Started checkbox, then type the actual start date in the Started field or click to select a date.

To enter the activity's finish date, in the Finished field, click , then select a date.

To enter the activity's actual finish date, mark the Finished checkbox, then type the actual finish date in the Finished field or click to select a date.

Note

When you enter a start or finish date, depending on your application settings, a dialog box may prompt you to enter a constraint. To accept the constraint, click Yes in the Confirmation dialog box. If you specify start and/or finish dates without applying Must Start On or Must Finish On constraints, the dates you enter may be changed when the project is scheduled.

Enter a physical percent complete for activities

A percent complete that is entered manually by the user instead of being calculated by the module is known as a "physical" percent complete.

The default method is to calculate percent complete according to activity duration.

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose physical percent complete you want to enter.

3)Display Activity Details, then click the General tab.

4)Select Physical as the percent complete type.

5)Click the Status tab.

6)In the Physical % field, type a physical percent complete.

Note

You may enter a percent complete value for in progress activities only. If the activity has not started yet or has already finished, you will not be able to specify a percent complete value.

Enter unit information for resource assignments

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose unit values you want to record.

3)Display Activity Details, then click the Resources tab.

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4)To enter the budgeted or planned units for the activity, type the value in the budgeted or planned Units column.

To enter the actual units for the activity, type the value in the Actual Units column. You can only enter actual units for activities that are in progress or completed.

To enter the remaining units for the activity, type the value in the Remaining Units column. You can only enter remaining units for activities that are in progress.

Note

A time period does not display if the Show Unit Label checkbox is not marked in the User Preferences, Time Units tab.

Tips

P6 Professional automatically recalculates the time value and period you enter according to the standard time period defined by your system administrator.

To view the available time period abbreviations, choose Admin, Admin Preferences, then click the Time Periods tab when P6 Professional is connected to a P6 Professional database and choose the Application Settings in P6 when connected to a P6 EPPM database.

Enter cost information for resource assignments

1)Choose Project, Activities.

2)Select the activity whose costs you want to enter.

3)Display Activity Details, then click the Resources tab.

4)To enter the budgeted or planned cost for the activity, type the value in the Budgeted or Planned Cost column.

To enter the actual cost for the activity, type the value in the Actual Cost column.

To enter the remaining cost for the activity, type the value in the Remaining Cost column. You can only enter remaining cost for activities that are in progress.

Notes

When you enter an actual cost on an activity that is not in progress, and the Cost Units Linked checkbox is not marked on the assignment, the budgeted or planned cost and remaining cost will not be linked.

The budgeted or planned cost will remain untouched and the remaining cost will change. To maintain the same value for the at completion cost, set the When Updating Actual Units or Cost option (found on the Calculations tab in the Project details) to Subtract Actual from At Completion.

Dissolve an activity

To dissolve an activity, you select the activity and then choose Edit, Dissolve.

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