Connecting tasks with dependencies

When you have a task which requires something from another task, you can represent their relationship with dependency lines. A dependency line is drawn from the beginning or end of one task (or group, or milestone) to the beginning or end of another.

When you create a dependency, the dependent task automatically reschedules itself to respect the dependency. With further changes to the schedule and leveling, the tasks continue trying to follow the dependencies. If a dependency becomes impossible or you manually make a task stop obeying its dependencies, a violation occurs, and you should resolve it with the Violations window.

There are a few ways to connect tasks:

Select two or more tasks in the outline view or the Gantt chart, then click the Connection button

to create a Finish to Start dependency.

Select two or more tasks in the task outline or the Gantt chart, then click the triangle in the corner of the Connection button—or click and hold the Connection button—to summon a menu of dependency types; choose the type you want.

Put the mouse pointer over a task bar in the Gantt chart, then drag one of the lines that appears at the beginning or end of the bar. It becomes a dependency line, which you can then drop onto the start or end of another task, group, or milestone. Whether you drag from the start or the end of the prerequisite task, and whether you drop onto the start or end of the dependent task, determines the type of dependency.

In the Dependencies column of the dependent task (not the prerequisite task), type a dependency code. These codes combine the IDs of the tasks involved and the type of dependency like so:

A Start to Finish dependency from task ID 1

A Start to Start dependency from task ID 1

A Finish to Start dependency from task ID 4.1. FS is the most common type of dependency, so a task ID by itself without any letters is assumed to be FS.

A Finish to Start dependency from task ID 4.2, with a lead time of 1 day.