Data Date

1. A Data Date (sometimes as a two-letter abbreviation DD), is the reference date, to start the scheduling calculations (Forward/Backward Pass). The Data Date is a calendar date that you report schedule progress on, which separates actual (historical) data from future (scheduled) data.
2. In SYNCHRO, the Data Date is the blue vertical dash line.
   
   
   
3. The Data Date in our file (F06.sp) was imported from the P6 XML file (Training Project Schedule (P6).xml).
4. Alternatively, the Data Date can be set by right clicking in the timescale, choose Edit Data Date.
   
   
   
5. In the Data Date dialog, type in the desired data date, or click C to choose a date from the calendar, and click OK button to set the date.
6. You can also set the Data Date through Navigator tab, then click Project. This will open the Project window on the left. Under the Data Date section, click C to choose a date from the calendar.
   
   
   
7. And the Focus Time is the red vertical dash line which can be moved forward (and backward) so you can see 3D objects being highlighted based on the planned or actual dates.

Reschedule

1. Reschedule allows to recalculate the schedule to take account of any changes to Tasks, Links (task relationships), Task Constraint or changes that may have been made.
2. In SYNCHRO, you can manually Reschedule by the Reschedule button in Plan ribbon, or F9 on your keyboard.
   
   
   Note: If you do NOT want to Reschedule the entire project, you can use Reschedule Selected (or CTRL + F9) to reschedule the selected tasks only.
   
   
   
3. To enable Automatic Rescheduling. open Options. In Gantt Chart > Rescheduling > Parameters, check the box for Enable Automatic Rescheduling. Click OK button to apply this setting.
   

Task Relationship or Link

You can link any two tasks in a project to show their relationship (also called a task link in SYNCHRO). The links drive the project schedule. Once you link the tasks, every change you make to the predecessor affects the successor, which affects the next one, and so on.

In this training project, Links have been imported along with the Tasks when we imported the schedule.

1. There are four types of Task Relationships or Links available in SYNCHRO, which are FS, SF, SS, FF.
   
   
   
2. To review the existing Links, you can customize columns in Task List to display Predecessors, Successors, Predecessor Details and Successor Details column.
   
   
   Note: You can also review the Links for the selected Task in Task Properties window on the right, Links tab.
    
   

3. To modify an existing link or add a new link for a selected task, you can either double-click in the Predecessor cell or right-click then Add. Either way allows you to open the Add/Delete Links window.
   
   
   
4. Another quick way to add an FS Link between two selected Tasks is:
   
   
   • Select the 1st Task, then select the 2nd Task, choose the FS Link from the Fast Options Toolbar.
   • Then right-click, choose Link Tasks > Link as Chain. Or, use CTRL+L from keyboard to create the FS link based on the selection order.

 

Calendars

Calendars are used to assign working time and non-working time to an activity or task. Every project will have a default calendar that is used when new tasks are created or scheduled. Other calendars can be added to define different working periods for different Tasks or Resources. For example, you can have one calendar that defines a 5-day work week for concrete placement and another calendar that defines a 7-day work week for concrete curing.

In the training project, Calendar(s) have been imported along with the Tasks and other attributes when we imported the schedule.

1. To review the imported or existing Calendars, go to Plan ribbon > Edit panel > click Calendars. This will open the Calendars window on the left of the screen.
   
   
   
2. To assign a calendar to task.
   
   
   • Left click to select the calendar in the Calendars window, right click then choose Assign to Selected Task.
   • Or hold left click and drag the selected Calendar in the Calendars window, move mouse onto the target task, then release left click.
   • Or in Task List, Customize Columns to display the Calendar column, and click in the cell to select a calendar.
     

3. To add a new Calendar, you can right click to Add.
4. To modify Work Hours for any selected Calendar.
   
   
   1. For any selected date of the selected calendar, you can right click to Add day type, which will create a new day type and asks you to further work on the details in the Add day type window.
   2. For any selected date of the selected calendar that already has an existing day type applied (such as Normal Working Day), you can right click to select Edit day type, to modify the working hours in a day.
   3. In the either Add day type or Edit day type window, you can working on the following, then click OK to apply the changes:
      • Edit Description
      • Select Color for this day type
      • Create or Delete Time Block
        
        
        
        
   4. You can right-click on any date in the calendar to quickly apply any existing day type to many days in the selected calendar.
      

Activity Code

Activity codes are used to organize tasks by grouping, sorting, and/or filtering. Each task can have an unlimited number of activity codes assigned to it. This allows greater flexibility for organizing, sorting, and filtering.

Plan Ribbon

Plan ribbon has a series of panels, drop-down and buttons available for planning and scheduling purposes. The screenshots below provide an overview of the Plan ribbon for you to explore.

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5.