You can view the dependencies you set in your schedule in a couple of ways—and visualizing the dependencies can help you get a handle on the structure of your project.
Throughout this chapter, I’ve shown you dependencies in the Gantt Chart view, and we’ve focused on the position of the link lines and the arrows. You also can use the Task Drivers feature to help you evaluate dependencies in your project. On the Project menu, click Task Drivers, and Project displays information that describes what affects the start date of the currently selected task in the Task Drivers pane at the left edge of the project (see 2-12). The task driver information can include the currently selected task’s start date, the number of the predecessor task, the type of link that exists between the two tasks, the amount of lag or lead time between the tasks, leveling delay information, constraint information, and assignment information.
Figure 2-12. You can get information that helps you determine what affects the start date of any given task using the Task Drivers feature.
Tip
Don’t forget that the Entry table in the Gantt Chart view contains the Predecessors column by default and supplies you with predecessor information.
If you want to focus on the flow of your project, use the Network Diagram view. 2-13 displays a Network Diagram view of the same project shown in 2-12. To display this view, on the View menu, click Network Diagram.
Each box in the Network Diagram represents a task in your project and displays information about that task. By default, you’ll find start and finish dates, task duration, task ID, and resource information, but you won’t find the type of dependency that exists between tasks. The arrows on the Network Diagram do imply predecessor/successor relationships, but the lines don’t by default indicate the type of dependencies linking the tasks.
If you want to view dependency information while using the Network Diagram view, you have two choices:
You can display the Task Drivers pane by clicking Task Drivers on the Project menu, or
You can add link labels to the lines between the Network Diagram boxes, as I did in 2-13.
To add link labels to the boxes on the Network Diagram, right-click any white area in the Network Diagram view and click Layout. In the Layout dialog box (see 2-14), select the Show Link Labels check box and click OK. Project adds codes representing the type of dependency to the lines in your Network Diagram.
