If you have used previous versions of Microsoft Project, you’re already familiar with automatically scheduled tasks. When you type the name of a task that’s identified for automatic scheduling, the default estimated duration of 1 day is entered, the default start date is the same as the project start date, and the finish date is calculated from the start date and duration. (See Figure 5-3.)

Figure 5-3. Default scheduling information is filled in for automatically scheduled tasks.

As you refine the durations, link tasks, and possibly enter date constraints or assign resources, Project 2010 calculates your schedule to reflect those controls.

Automatically scheduled tasks are marked with the Gantt bar icon in the Task Mode field of the Gantt Chart. You can also add this field to other sheet views when you need to distinguish between manually and automatically scheduled tasks.

Automatically scheduled task icon

The chart area of the Gantt Chart shows traditional Gantt bars in their default medium blue. This is in contrast with the various visual cues associated with a manually scheduled task, which might show a start date marker, a finish date marker, a duration, or some combination of the three in a variegated light blue (by default). (See Figure 5-4.)

Figure 5-4. By default, the Gantt bars of automatically scheduled tasks are medium blue without start or end markers.