7. Gantt umbrella tasks and baseline view
Contents
7.1 How do you create an umbrella task?
Umbrella tasks are also known as parent tasks, summary tasks, or container tasks. Umbrella tasks act as a task grouping within the project. For example, let's say that your project plans to build an office building and you want to track the installation of all HVAC items together. The umbrella task can be called HVAC. The subtasks can be Install Furnaces, Duct Mains, Seal Ducts, and so on, and are tracked as a part of the HVAC umbrella task. The HVAC umbrella task is not considered complete unless all of the tasks that are contained within it are completed.
An umbrella task is displayed for the task immediately above the selected group of tasks that are indented under it. Any change in any task within the subtask group affects the umbrella task. For example, if a task is increased or decreased in length, the umbrella task also increases or decreases accordingly.
You can expand or collapse the child tasks of an umbrella task in the Gantt scheduler by clicking
the folder icon next to the umbrella task in the Task Name column. You
can expand or collapse all rows in the Gantt scheduler by clicking the Expand all
rows
and Collapse all rows
buttons on the Gantt scheduler toolbar.
a. Create by drag-and-drop
To create an umbrella task by drag-and-drop, perform the following steps:
Step 1. Create a standard task by clicking the Add row
button on
the Gantt scheduler toolbar and save it.
Step 2. Drag an existing task bar to the new task and drop it when you see an arrow. The new task converts to an umbrella task.
The task bars that you drop onto the intended umbrella task will indent under the umbrella task. New task bars are not draggable until you save them. When you drag an umbrella task on the Gantt chart, its children move accordingly.
b. Create by indenting
To create an umbrella task by indenting, perform the following steps:
Step 1. Create a standard task that you want to be the umbrella task by clicking the
Add row
button.
Step 2. In the task table, click the new task that you created to give it the current focus. Create another task under it and save it.
Step 3. Click the Indent
button to
indent (or demote) the task as a child of the task above it. The task bar that represents the first
task in the Gantt chart converts to an umbrella task.
If a task exists in the next row under the umbrella task and you want that task to be a part of
the umbrella task, you can indent the task to include it under the umbrella task. Click the task row
and click the Indent
button.
c. Create nests, remove child tasks, or add dependencies
To create nested umbrella tasks, you can drag an existing umbrella task beneath an individual task or another umbrella task.
To remove a child task from under an umbrella task, you can drag it out from under the
umbrella task and drop it at the top level when you see an arrow. You can also select the
task and click the Outdent
button.
If you move all child tasks under an umbrella task back to the same level as the umbrella task, the
umbrella task becomes a standard task.
button to correct the violation, the umbrella task
and its children might shift in the project calendar to address the violation.d. Umbrella tasks
7.2 How do you view the baseline for tasks?
The baseline is a way of comparing a task's current planned start and planned end dates to its originally scheduled planned start and planned end dates. The baseline for a task is set when the task is created. The specific baseline information for a task can be viewed in the read-only Baseline section of the task record. The baseline can also be viewed on the Gantt chart.
7.3 Gantt chart
To view the baseline for tasks in the Gantt chart, perform the following steps:
Step 1. Select the Show Baseline check box in the Gantt scheduler toolbar. A baseline bar is added within each task bar in the Gantt chart. Any change to the Show Baseline check box refreshes the Gantt scheduler. A warning is posted if there are In Progress changes.
Step 2. To view the Baseline Start and Baseline End dates for a specific task, hover your mouse over the baseline bar. The dates display in the format that is specified in your user profile.
a. Gantt chart with Show Baseline enabled
7.4 Task record
To view the baseline in the task record, perform the following steps:
Step 1. Open the task in the Gantt scheduler by using one of the following methods:
- Click the Edit task
button
in the task table. - Double-click the task bar in the Gantt chart.
- Click the task in the Project Tasks section.
Step 2. On the General tab of the task record, scroll down to the Baseline section. The Baseline section includes the Baseline Start and Baseline End dates, Baseline Duration, Baseline Working Days, and Baseline Working Hours.
a. Work Task > General tab > Baseline action and Baseline section
7.5 Resetting baseline
The baseline can be reset on a task. For example, resetting the baseline might be necessary if a dependency was created on the task. Setting a dependency on a task might shift the Planned Start and Planned End dates away from the original dates. In this case, you might want to reset the baseline for the task to the new Planned Start and Planned End dates in the project timeline.
To reset the baseline in the task record, click the Baseline action. To reset the baseline for one or more tasks, go to the Project Tasks section of the project, select the tasks, and select the Baseline action.