1          Introduction

In P6 Version 20 and earlier users could not see the time when setting a date when the User Preferences were set not to show the time. Often when setting an Actual Start of Finish date, Suspend or Resume date, constraints dates etc. P6 would pick an irrelevant time such as midnight. This is because P6 does not have the feature of Default Start time or Default Finish time found in other products like Microsoft Project.

2          Issues Created by not seeing the time when setting a date

As a result:

• Actual dates were set at midnight and one day activities had a zero actual duration,
• Suspend dates were set at the beginning of the day and not the end and Resume dates were set and the end of the day not the start of the day and
• Constraints were set at midnight, so there was one extra day of negative float.
• Project Must Finish dates were set at midnight allowing one day less for the project.

3          P6 Version 21 Date Picker Enhancement

P6 Version 21 introduced a function titled Users may See and Set Activity Start and Finish Times in the Date Picker box when the User Preferences are set only to show the date.

This function allows the user to see the time when setting a date even when the User Preferences are not set to show the time.

4          P6 Version 20 and earlier the time is not available

The picture below shows in P6 Version 20 and earlier the time is not displayed when setting a date:

5          P6 Version 21 the time may be set from the Date Picker box.

The picture below shows in P6 Version 21 that the time is now displayed when setting a date:

6          Authors Comments

This is a great enhancement as P6 usually picks the wrong time when setting Actual dates, Constraints, Suspend and Resume dates when the time is not set to be displayed from the User Preferences.

But, I still recommend that users should always display the time when editing a schedule, so they are able to see if activities are not starting at the start of the day of finishing at the end of the day.

A pdf of this article may be downloaded by clicking on this link: >>>>>>>>>>>

Accelerate your understanding of scheduling software to advance your scheduling career and be able to prepare better schedules with Eastwood Harris books, online videos available through Udemy and training material on:

• Microsoft Project,
• Oracle Primavera P6 and
• Elecosoft (Asta) Powerproject

Details at  https://www.eh.com.au

Paul E Harris

Director Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd

10 June 2022