Baseline work fields

The Baseline Work fields show the total planned person-hours scheduled for a task, resource, or assignment. The timephased versions of these fields show values distributed over time.

There are several categories of Baseline Work fields.

Data Type    Duration

Baseline Work (task field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the task's total scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the task.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to a task sheet when you want to compare baseline work amounts to scheduled or actual work for tasks.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of tasks to currently scheduled work. You add the Baseline Work and Work fields to the Task Sheet view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field contains "0 hours" until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value for the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields.

Baseline Work (resource field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the resource's total scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the resource.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to a resource sheet when you want to compare your planned work amounts to the scheduled or actual work for resources.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of resources to currently scheduled work. You add the Baseline Work, Work, and Actual Work fields to the Resource Sheet view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field contains "0 hrs" until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value for the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields.

Baseline Work (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the assignment's total scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the assignment.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to the sheet portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view when you want to compare baseline work amounts to scheduled or actual work for assignments.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of assignments to currently scheduled work. You add the Baseline Work, Work, and Actual Work fields to the Task Usage view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field contains "0 hrs" until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value of the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields.

Baseline Work (task-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the task's timephased scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the task.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view when you want to compare timephased baseline work amounts to timephased scheduled or actual work for tasks over time.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of tasks to the currently scheduled work distributed over time. You add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field contains "0 hrs" until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value for the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit any baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields. Edits to total baseline work values do not affect timephased baseline work values, and vice versa.

Baseline Work (resource-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the resource's timephased scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the resource.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view when you want to compare timephased baseline work amounts to timephased scheduled or actual work for resources.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of resources to the currently scheduled work as distributed over time. You add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Resource Usage view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field is blank until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value for the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit any baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields. Edits to total baseline work values do not affect timephased baseline work values, and vice versa.

Baseline Work (assignment-timephased field)

Entry Type    Calculated or entered

How Calculated    As soon as a baseline is saved, the assignment's total timephased scheduled work at that point in time is copied into the Baseline Work field for the assignment.

Best Uses    Add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage or Resource Usage view when you want to compare timephased baseline work amounts to timephased scheduled or actual work for assignments.

Example    You set a baseline for your project 3 months ago, and you want to compare the baseline work for a number of assignments to the currently scheduled work distributed over time. You add the Baseline Work field to the timephased portion of the Task Usage view to analyze your progress and performance to date.

Remarks    The Baseline Work field contains "0 hrs" until you set a baseline for the project. You set a baseline in the Set Baseline dialog box. This copies the current value for the Work field into the corresponding Baseline Work field.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit any baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields. Edits to total baseline work values do not affect timephased baseline work values, and vice versa.