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Manage dependencies

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Birdview Support
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Overview

Birdview comes with a useful feature and great time saver: activity dependency. It means that you can choose an activity (called master activity) which will determine the starting or finishing point of another activity depending on the type of dependency. The two activities can belong to one and the same or different projects, in the latter case it is called inter-project dependency.

Two activities are called ‘dependent’ if one’s timing is dependent on that of the other, such as when one finishes the other one starts, or when one is to start exactly in a week after the other is complete.

In activity dependency, the following definitions are used:

  • Master activity - the one whose start or end date is used as a reference for another activity.
  • Dependent activity - the activity that starts/ends according to a rule, called dependency, linking it with a master activity's start or end date.

Adding a dependency

To set a dependency between two activities, follow this procedure:

  1. Log in as user with "Add new activities" permission (e.g. Project Manager). If you are already logged in, skip this step.
  2. Open Activity center.
  3. Locate the activity whose dependency you want to change.
  4. Click the dependency attribute button (ac_dependence_gray_btn.gif).
  5. Select among three types of dependency available: Start to finish, Finish to start, and Start to start.  Selecting any of the three options other than No dependency opens additional fields.
  1. Start to finish dependency means the dependent activity will finish the same day the master activity starts.
  2. Finish to start dependency means the dependent activity will start on the day following the master activity's end date. And,
  3. Start to start one means the dependent activity will start the same day the master activity starts.
  1. Use the slider, or type in the required lag in days. This will set the dependent activity to start/finish # days after/before the first one finishes, depending on whether the delay is a positive or negative integer (e.g. -3).

Examples

Below are examples of how each type of dependency would be used, in a real world example. We've chosen making and selling home-made jam from freshly picked berries to illustrate each type:

  1. Finish to Start (F-to-S): You need to "Finish the task of picking the berries" before you can "Start the task of crushing and mixing the berry mixture" for cooking.
  2. Start to Start (S-to-S): You need to cook the berries, and then put them into sterilized jam jars. You can "Start the task of cooking the berries" and "Start the task of sterilizing the jars" at the same time.
  3. Start to Finish (S-to-F):Your Jam is very popular, and you have many orders from interested shop owners. This kind of dependency is best used when you know when your customers need to have the jam delivered and in their stores (for Christmas or Thanksgiving, for example).  So, you know the end date of the last task, and your predecessor tasks will have their start dates created by working backwards from there. Further, durations become more important than actual start dates or end dates for preceding tasks, in this type of dependency.

Multiple dependencies

You can have two or more dependencies (up to 10) created for an activity. Only activities that can be linked with it by dependency will appear on the Depends on drop down list.

  1. To create another dependency for the activity, click Add more dependencies. A new tab will appear.
  2. Follow steps 3 to 5 above to create a new dependency.
  3. If more dependencies are needed, use the green + button.
Instead of the names of the master activities, the tabs carry their ID numbers.
One of the effects of setting a dependency is seen in that the second activity’s start date is set automatically in its Start Date field.
If an activity does not appear on the Depends on drop-down list, consider the following rules that apply to master activities:
  • user must have the ability to view all, or at least be able to view the activity they want to make the master,
  • master activity must have a start or end date, to correspond with the type of dependency, i.e. 'starts when finished' needs the master activity to have an end date,
  • the relationship must not create a circular reference, i.e. A depends on B which depends on C which depends on A, this includes Parent tasks.
  • Parent Tasks - related to dates and circular references is the fact that you can't make a parent task a master task because parent task start/end dates reflect the dates of its child / subtasks, so adding a parent as a master task would create a circular reference - double-check the master task you want to set is not a parent task to child tasks dependent tasks.

Deleting dependencies

To delete a dependency:

  1. Enter the dependency editor as described above for the activity you want to edit.
  2. For multiple dependencies: Select the dependency you want to delete by clicking the respective tab.
  3. Click Remove dependency.

For instructions how to delete a dependency when in Gantt view, see here.

Undo dependency management action

If you've made a mistake it is possible to undo your last action while managing dependencies. Please note that the undo action is only available within the current session (before the page has been refreshed or Birdview has been re-signed in). 

Make sure you do not refresh the page (Activity center) to be able to undo actions done within the current session.

To undo an action:

  1. Click .
  2. Last recorded undoable action will be cancelled. 
To check out which action will be cancelled with the click of the Undo button, hover over the button and read the tooltip. See picture below.

The following actions related to dependencies can be undone, providing the undo limitations are met (see below):

Action Undo results
Add dependency
  • The dependency has been removed.
  • All dates that were recalculated due to the dependency have been reset to their original values.
Change master activity
  • The previous master activity has been restored.
  • The dates of the dependent activities have been recalculated based on the actual master activity.
Edit dependency type
  • The previous type has been restored.
  • The dates of the dependent activities have been recalculated based on the restored type.
Edit dependency lag
  • The previous lag has been restored.
  • The dates of the dependent activities have been recalculated based on the restored lag.
Remove dependency 
  • The dependency has been recreated.
  • The dates of the dependent activities have been recalculated based on the actual dependency properties.

Undo button

When an undoable change occurs — e.g. a dependency is set — the Undo button appears on the tab bar.

  • The button can undo one action at a time.
  • To check out the last action to be cancelled, use the tooltip associated with the button, as shown:

  Undo.png

  • You can continue undoing actions on the undo list, until the button disappears indicating that no more undoable actions are available.
  • Check out the undo limitations below to make sure when the button cannot be expected to appear.  

Undo limitations/capabilities

 

  • Actions can only be undone within the current session (before the user refreshes the browser page or logs back into the system).
  • The Undo button cancels the current user's own actions only (for example, user 1 edited name of Task 1 to Task 2, then user 2 edited the same name to Task 3. If user 1 then clicks Undo, the name will revert to Task 1).
  • An action can be undone even if the user has performed any non-undoable action afterward (e.g., a user edited task name and then its estimated hours. If the user then clicks Undo, the name will be returned by its previous value, but the hours will remain the same).
  • Multiple actions can be undone in a reverse sequence (starting from the most recent).
  • A tooltip on the Undo button carries a message about the action that will be reversed on the next click.
  • If, for some reason, it’s impossible to undo an action, the system will return an error message (for example, a user edited the task name. At the same time, someone else deleted the task. If the first user clicks the Undo button, the system will show an error message).

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