The behavior of Duration, Start Date, and End Date fields when dependencies are enabled

Felipe S
Felipe S ✭✭
edited 11/12/21 in Smartsheet Basics

Thought sharing what I learned about editing these fields in a sheet vs a report could be helpful to others. Please note that this only applies when dependencies are enabled on the project settings.

On the sheet

  • when they are all blank, indicate any 2 and Smartsheet calculates the third
  • After there's already data on these 3 fields:
    • ​If there is no predecessor set in Smartsheet
      • if the end date changes, the duration is recalculated
      • if duration changes, the end date is recalculated
      • if the start date changes, the end date is recalculated
    • If there is a predecessor, the type of relationship will dictate the behavior
      • If it is Finish-to-Start (most common and default relationship) or Start-to-Start:
        • The start date of the item with a predecessor cannot be changed without losing the predecessor relationship
        • Changing duration will recalculate the end date and vice-versa
      • If it is Finish-to-Finish or Start-to-Finish
        • The start date of the item with a predecessor cannot be changed DIRECTLY without losing the predecessor relationship
        • Changing the end date will recalculate the duration and update the start date, and the end date will remain the same
        • Changing the duration will update the start date

On the report:

  • when they are all blank, anything can be filled in (I imagine because it is not committed to the DB yet)
  • But once there is data on these fields:
    • If there is no predecessor
      • the end date cannot be changed
      • the start date and duration can be changed
    • If there is a predecessor, the type of relationship will dictate the behavior
      • If it is Finish-to-Start (most common and default relationship) or Start to Start:
        • start date and end date cannot be changed
        • changing duration will recalculate the end date (can only be seen in the report after the report is refreshed)
      • If it is Finish-to-Finish or Start-to-Finish
        • ​start date and end date cannot be changed
        • changing ​duration will recalculate the start date (can only be seen in the report after the report is refreshed)


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