The Schedule — importing from P6, the critical path, and the data date

Where: open a project, then Schedule in the left menu.

The tabs

Overview, Schedules, P6 Import/Export, PF Activities, PF Resources, Critical Path, EVM, Visualization and PF Leveling. The Assignments, Team, Conflicts, SOQ and Analytics tabs have been removed; they had no content.

Importing a P6 schedule

1. Press Import P6 on the Overview (or Import P6 File on the P6 Import/Export tab) and choose your schedule file: .xer, or P6 XML (.xml, .pmxml).
2. Check the preview and the Import Options (relationships, resources, baselines).
3. Start the import. A large schedule can take up to a minute; the dialog shows that it is working until the import finishes.

What comes in: the activities, their links, the WBS (with the same dotted WBS codes P6 shows), and, from an .xer file, the schedule's data date. You become a member of the new project, so you can recalculate it straight away.

The Critical Path tab

The tab reads the same activities the Gantt draws.

• The summary row: how many activities are critical, how many are near-critical (5 working days of float or less), Float computed (how many activities have a float value yet), and the schedule's early finish.
• Critical path: the critical activities in order of their early start, each with its ID, early start, early finish, total float in days and progress.
• Near-critical: activities with a little float, smallest float first. Watch these: a short slip puts them on the critical path.
• Source: where an activity's critical flag came from. P6 flag means the flag came in with the P6 file. PF CPM means the platform calculated it.

If some activities show not computed for float, the amber note says how many. They are not counted as critical until the schedule is calculated; press Recalculate (below).

The data date

The data date is the "as of" date of a progressed schedule. Work before it is history; work after it is the plan. The bar at the top of the Critical Path tab shows:

• Data date — the current date, and where it came from: (from the P6 file) after an import, or (set here) when you changed it. Not set means the schedule is calculated from the planned start and actual progress is not applied.
• Change data date — pick a new date.
• Progressed work — how started-but-unfinished work is scheduled:
  • Retained logic (the default, as in P6) — unfinished work still waits for its predecessors.
  • Progress override — a started activity ignores its predecessors.
• Recalculate — saves the date and the choice, recalculates the schedule, and reloads the activities. Finished work keeps its actual dates; unfinished work is scheduled from the data date.

Common questions

Why does my imported schedule start today instead of on the P6 data date? The data date was not set (an XML import does not bring one). Check the bar on the Critical Path tab; set the date and press Recalculate.

Why does an activity say P6 flag but the platform disagrees after I recalculate? After Recalculate the flag shows PF CPM, the platform's own result. Small differences from P6 can come from calendars and settings the two programs read differently.

Where did the Conflicts or Analytics tab go? They were removed because they never showed anything.