Successors (task field)

Data Type    Integer List

Entry Type    Entered

Description    The Successors field lists the task ID numbers for the successor tasks to a task. A task must start or finish before successor tasks can start or finish. Each successor is linked to the task by a specific type of task dependency and a lead time or lag time.

Best Uses    Add the Successors field to a task sheet when you want to display or update task successors. Each successor is represented by its task ID number, which may be followed by a dependency and the lead or lag time. The dependency types for successors are FS (finish-to-start), FF (finish-to-finish), SS (start-to-start), and SF (start-to-finish). To enter lead time, type a negative number. To enter lag time, type a positive number.

Example    You want to review the successors of tasks in your project to analyze and refine the schedule. You add the Successors field to the Task Sheet view. In the Successors field for the "Develop estimate" task, you see the entry "14FS+3d," which means that task14 is a successor of this task, with a finish-to-start dependency, and a three-day lag time. Before task14 can start, it must wait three days after the finish of this task. You also see that the Successors field for the "Conduct client meetings" task is blank. You type "15FS" to link this task to task15 with a finish-to-start dependency.

Remarks    If you enter only the task ID number in the Successors field, Microsoft Office Project assumes a finish-to-start dependency with zero lag time. If there is more than one successor, they are all listed and separated by the list-separator character, which is typically the comma or semicolon.

You can use the Link Tasks command on the Edit menu to link the selected tasks with finish-to-start dependencies and zero lag time. You can also link tasks by dragging from one task to the other on the chart portion of the Gantt Chart or Network Diagram view.

If a successor is a task in another project, the Successors field also contains the path to the linked project, in addition to the task ID and dependency type. An example is: C:\My Documents\Bldg E Construction.mpp\3FF.