fastProject 4.10.3 Released

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General

  • Date problem fixed where in some instances, when selecting a date, the date did not appear in the correct format for the region

  • Fixed issue where a user upgrading from fastProject with the old licensing scheme to fastProject with the new licensing scheme would get an “Invalid Timeout” message and be unable to request a license key

  • Added a “Hide Summary Tasks” to the Toolbar

  • Problem fixed with versions of MS Project 2019, Build 13801 and later, where the MS Project Feedback window would open vs. invoking the Inspector

Report

  • ** NEW **

  • All reports moved to a new Report Tab for which there are two groups: Team reporting and Executive reporting

  • New step-by-step utility to walk through generating the reports for a project

Update

  • When importing LARs:

    • Can now select multiple LARs when importing “Only Updated Tasks”

    • At the end of an import, Update Progress is only invoked if an import occurred, i.e. it won’t be invoked if there was an error importing a LAR or an import did not occur

    • Fixed a problem where some milestones were not being exported

  • Number of tasks to be updated in the Update Progress startup window now better reflects the number of tasks that will be updated

  • Added an option to display Progress in the Update window status bar, which shows the number of tasks that have been updated and the total to be updated (e.g. 7 of 56)

  • Fixed problem highlighting a task from within the Update window when navigating away from the task being updated (bit the task being updated and the selected task were highlighted)

  • Fixed problem when updating a Touchpoint/Checkpoint or Deliverable where the milestone would move to 8:00am (beginning of the day) of the date rather than 5:00pm (end of the day)

  • Fixed problem importing a PreFresh report, where the Core Team Leader (Text1) and Function (Text3) values were overwritten based on the value in the Activity Owner (Text2) column.

  • Fixed bug where the report under Last Update Info was incorrect reporting some tasks that had not been updated

  • Bug fixed where the core team owner was not imported when importing a PreFresh report

  • Bug fixed where the Notes weren’t being imported when importing the PreFresh report

Macro-micro Roll-up

  • Activity Owner from and Notes now roll-up from Micro > Macro rather than Macro > Micro

  • Roll-up now leaves all micros open unless the roll-up is successful

  • Change Report now not generated by default

  • Fixed problem where a micro task was not started (sub-tasks updated as not started), but the rolled-up macro task was not rolled-up as not started

  • Fixed problem where -ve lags were not being calculated properly in the macro schedule

  • Fixed problem where a summary was being incorrectly reported as being without and end milestone when the last task was an external task

  • If an error was found rolling up, the micro files are left open (this saves having to re-open them again to fix the problem)

Inspector

  • Target dropdown now includes a health icon against each Target

  • Icon for the critical path to “Project” changed

CP Analysis

  • Can now set the default location to save the CP Analysis chart and works according to the following rules:

    • If a location is not set, the default Excel save location will be used

    • If a location is set, the location will be used and the file will automatically be saved in that location with a date stamp in the filename

  • CP Analysis & Actions.xltx renamed to CP Analysis and Actions.xltx to avoid problems with Sharepoint

Wigglechart

  • fastProject Options > Wigglechart now allows you to customer performance to schedule by using a custom absolute +/- weeks or a likelihood of hitting target metric (same was Wigglechart)

  • Hidden Wigglecharts are now not reported in the Dashboard

  • Update and Analyzer stats now not reported in the Dashboard

Analyzer

  • Improved “Fix all Targets” under the Target test dropdown

  • Removed ability to view and set Target and Wiggle milestone settings

Reporting

  • New REPORT tab added

  • Exec View now includes Completed tasks and Summary rows now hidden

fastProject 4.10.2 Released

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General

  • Moved the Open all (+) and Close all (-) buttons on the toolbar over to the far left, next to the Incomplete tasks button.

  • Minor change to the Context menu when selecting the entire task

  • Fixed bug where legitimate date constraints would be identified as incorrect date constraints and removed

  • Typos fixed

Tools

  • Adding a Touchpoint/Checkpoint/Deliverable milestone before the selected task automatically applies the date constraint to the new milestone and deletes the old date constraint

  • When exporting Marked tasks, Notes or Actions, defaults now to show them in the Gantt chart and export them

  • Fixed export report when exporting Marked tasks, Notes or Actions

  • Fixed bug in Breakdown when a predecessor to the task being broken down was an external task

Analyzer

  • Fixed bug where tasks that were resource leveled would have their date constraints removed if one had been set

  • Fixed bug where the Analyzer wold crash if the only sub-tasks within a group were external tasks

Refresh

  • Roll-down milestones are now excluded from the PreFresh report. This means some legitimate milestones may be omitted when importing he report - these should just get updated after the import.

  • Back by popular demand, the Highlight button has been added back to the Update window (next to the activity name)

Inspector

  • Refinements to the formatting of the Critical Path Analysis chart

  • Added the ability, under the Late Simulator, to set (and clear) the Deadlines on all Wiggle milestones to be the Target date. Any late tasks relative to their Target milestone will create negative float.

  • Bug fixed when setting Deadlines = Target dates for sub-projects

Macro-Micro Roll-up

  • Now works with sub-projects

  • A task is re-updated of both macro and micro tasks are complete but their Start or Finish dates don’t align

  • A date constraint is now added to a task to take into account different calendars and leveling delays on the micro task

  • Only non-completed macro predecessors are required in the micro schedule - this allows roll-down Touchpoints to be removed from the micro schedule when done

  • Fixed a problem where completing a Touchpoint in the future could cause a split task from the start of the project to the actual Finish date

  • Fixed problem where a completed roll-up task in the micro schedule did not alight with the completed task in the macro schedule. If the roll-up task in the micro schedule was a summary task where the end milestone had a Target, and the Target date was later than the milestone, then the Target date was reported as the Finish date vs. the end milestone date.

  • Fixed problem where two dependent roll-up tasks could generate negative float in the macro schedule

  • Fixed problem where the finish date of a completed macro task rolled up from a completed micro task did not align, generating a “Roll-up Start/Finish dates did not match” error

  • Fixed Dropbox link when going to a roll-up task in a micr-schedule that exists on Dropbox

Documentation

  • Added “PreFresh Report on Google Docs.pdf” to the Refresh documentation

fastProject crashes every time I click on a fastProject tab

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Overview of the Problem

In a few of instances, we’ve found after installing fastProject, fastProject crashes every time you click on any of the fastProject tabs in the ribbon. The problem is due to an update in Microsoft Project that was released in the June 2020.

image001.jpg

Solution

The solution is to update your Microsoft Project. At a minimum, it should be later than the above update.

fastProject 4.10.1 Released

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General

  • Fixed setting a Target Date problem when dates are in UK date format (dd/mm/yyyy), where a Target date would default to today if was an invalid US date (e.g. 31/08/2020).

  • Baselines

    • Color changed to a light orangey-yellow to make it more visible

    • Baseline bar for summary tasks now appears above the Summary bar (same as task bar). Note: you will need to update your Views: Tools > Restore > Restore Views

Critical path

  • Bug fixed where a critical path was not displayed if it started with a Touchpoint task (not a milestone)

Update

  • Can now import a duration on a non-started task which has the effect of changing the duration in the schedule

  • Improved the scenario when no tasks are updated. The user is now informed that all tasks are updated to the current date and there is no additional dialog box to “quit” from.

  • Fixed bug when generating the PreFresh report if the lookahead number of days was greater than a few hundred

  • Fixed bug where the “Last Update” info returned no results of run on the same day as an update and there were no in-progress tasks

  • Fixed problem where the number of days to Lookahead in the PreFresh report couldn’t be changed (shortcut added so can just double-click an manually enter a number) a new value

Analyzer

  • Added “Remove All Deadlines” option under the Negative Float test

Macro-micro Roll-up

  • Going to a task in the linked schedule now automatically displays the critical path to that task

  • Fixed bug where a non-started roll-up task that was part of a different schedule got it’s date constraint removed, putting it back to the beginning of the project

fastProject Fix Due To Recent Microsoft Project Update

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Background

On July 14th, 2020, Microsoft released an update for Microsoft Project for 2010, 2013 and 2016. This update causes fastProject to not open when double-clicking on the fastProject icon.

This problem has been addressed with the release of fastProject 4.10.0. After installing, there are now two ways to open fastProject:

  1. Double-clicking on the fastProject icon (as usual) or

  2. Double-clicking on a Microsoft Project (mpp) file. There is now no need to open fastProject first.

fastProject still doesn’t work after installing

After installing version 4.10.0, if fastProject doesn’t work, it can be one of two things:

  1. You need a license key. If you have an older version of fastProject that required the PC Name rather than a license key, you need to go through the following steps to obtain a license key (https://lateralworks.com/tools/2020/3/23/activating-fastproject).

  2. The Global did not get installed in the correct location and may have to moved manually:

    • First, navigate to the folder:

      • For MS Project 2013: c:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MS Project\15\1033

      • For MS Project 2016: c:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MS Project\16\en-US

    • Second, look at the file size of the file Global.mpt.

      • If it is less than 2 MB, it means the Global.mpt did not get installed and can be installed by navigating to c:\Program Files\fastProject\System (or c:\Program Files (x86)\fastProject\System) and copying the Global.mpt file to the location in the previous step

      • If it more than 10 MB, then the Global.mpt file has been installed correctly. In this case, please contact us directly to resolve this problem.

  3. If you have been sent a Global.mpt file from lateralworks, please also install it it either:

    • c:\Program Files\fastProject\System (64-bit MS Project) or

    • c:\Program Files (x86)\fastProject\System (32-bit MS Project)

fastProject 4.10.0 Released

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General

  • Fixes problem starting fastProject after recent Microsoft Security Update released on July 14, 2020 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4484441/security-update-for-project-2016-july-14-2020)

Inspector

  • Fixed problem where a roll-up critical path was incorrectly identified as a near-term critical path

Update

  • Fixed problem where ignored Touchpoints/Checkpoints/Deliverables were still listed in the PreFresh report, bu as tasks

  • Fixed bug where importing a PreFresh report with an invalid UID would cause a crash

  • Fixed bug where an invalid UID would not be reported in the report

Roll-up

  • When using a file list:

    • When there’s only one file in the list, the file is now opened directly, but they are still copied to the Downloads folder prior to the roll-up as a backup. They will only be deleted if the “Delete schedules after update” is checked on the start-up window.

    • Delete schedules after update option removed

    • Timing analysis option removed

    • If the files are located on Dropbox, local Dropbox path is automatically substituted for the Dropbox path the schedule were rolled-up with whenever rolling up and or using the “Goto task in micro schedule” function.

  • Fixed crash when a micro schedule was not found (could happen due to drive mapping)

Effort Updater

  • Fixed problem where importing the Effort Lookahead Report when there was only one task would cause a crash

  • Fixed problem reporting the Baseline in the Effort Report

  • Fixed bug where going back to a previous task would go back to the beginning of the project

fastDecision 4.2 Released

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Objectives

  • Improved performance in calculation of the objectives and inconsistencies

  • Improved calculation of the inconsistencies - gap between current judgement and best fit now measured, and when below a threshold, the inconsistency highlight is removed

  • Consistency threshold changed to 90%

  • Fixed bug where light-grey numbers could appear below the pair-wise

Ratings

  • Bug fixed where changing a rating could cause fD to crash if the alternatives had not yet been ranked

fastProject 4.9.2 Released

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General

  • Exporting Touchpoints, Checkpoints and Deliverables now only exports non-completed milestones

  • Filter task added to context menu

  • Fixed problem with the “All tasks” filter not found when performing a Reset when in the Resource Pool view

  • Fixed “flashing” when perform a Reset

Update

  • Overflow bug fixed when generating the Effort Report, which could happen when all tasks are earlier than the current date.

  • Fixed Find being set to “equals” rather than “contains” after going to linked task in the macro-micro roll-up

  • Fixed problem when running the PostFresh report where the PreFresh report was generated instead

Macro-Micro Roll-up

  • Improved functionality in macro-micro roll-up where predecessor dependencies now don’t have to flow down (a.k.a. in a waterfall fashion)

  • Going to a linked task in a macro-micro scenario, now only displays the task and subtasks if the roll-up task is a summary task. In addition, it setups up the screen with the splitter and position of the current date to the left.

  • Fixed bug in macro-micro roll-up where the start date of a macro task that doesn’t have a rolled-up predecessor and when the start/finish dates didn’t match with the micro task, would be set to the finish date of the micro task rather than the start date

  • Fixed problem when updating the progress of a macro task, where the micro task was a summary task with no current in-progress tasks (they were either not started or all in the future)

Inspector

  • Improved critical path interface in the Inspector when the number of Targets > 40

  • Minor formatting changes of the Critical Path Analysis chart

  • Added name of custom column in title when exporting Touchpoints/Checkpoints/Deliverables

Analysis

  • Bug fixed in duration analysis where blank lines would appear

fastProject 4.9.1 Released

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General

  • Filter Task/Filter 2 Tasks fixed

  • New filter added to filter on all incomplete tasks within a date range and no summaries

  • Modified unique code generation when requisition a license to avoid hidden characters

Update

  • New (simpler and faster) PreFresh report along with a new improved (faster) PreFresh import (both default default and advanced)

  • Improved LAR formatting when uploaded to Google Docs

  • Added new function/filter in sub-menu: “Show tasks updated on”

  • Fixed bug where the Start date of tasks with their Touchpoint flag set would get moved to their Finish date

Macro-Micro Roll-up

  • Fixed bug where the roll-up dates of a Summary task in the micro schedule were being reported as not matching with the macro due to a Target in the Summary task (specifically, when the Target was later than the finish date of the Summary)

  • Fixed similar bug when the Target date was earlier than the start date of any subtask, and thus reported an incorrect start date of the roll-up summary task

  • Fixed bug where the update date wasn’t recorded in the macro under some circumstances

  • Fixed bug where the update date wasn’t updated in the micro

Wigglechart

  • Spurious Black dots on the Wigglechart fixed

Analyzer

  • Trend Analysis now extended to all tasks and can be based on a partial part of the task name

  • Fixed problem where tasks exceeded from analysis were reported as errors for the tests Summary No Milestone and Skips End Milestone.

  • Fixed bug where Roll-down touchpoints on tasks had their date changed by the schedule clean-up function, which ended up moving the start date of the task out to the Touchpoint date

Inspector

  • Brand new Critical Path Analysis chart

  • Added ability to do a late report for All Targets in the schedule

  • Late Report:

    • Now includes both Late Start and Late Finish - the Split Bar now snaps so all columns are displayed

    • Fixed bug where all tasks were not displayed if the near-term critical paths mode was set

  • Fixed problem in the Critical Path Analysis chart where an incorrect Target could be displayed if the Wiggle milestone had Subprojects as a predecessor task.

  • Fixed problem with the “Select Target” pop up box opening up when the number of targets is more that the max number of targets (currently set at 40)

fastProject 4.9.0 Released

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Licensing

  • New licensing scheme introduced based on a License Key. The License Key is valid even if the user replaces their machine, and should therefore be kept in a safe place.

    • More here: https://lateralworks.com/tools/2020/3/23/activating-fastproject

General

  • Pluralization of a renamed milestone (Touchpoint, Checkpoint or Deliverable) now made smarter

  • Add Action

    • Added back into the Context Menu

    • Flag14 now used to identify an action and task now not highlighted, so Notes and Actions are treated differently.

    • Marked tasks functionality in the Tools now aligned with Notes and Actions

  • Improved speed of displaying Touchpoints/Checkpoints/Deliverables

  • Analysis tools (Trend, Duration, WBS, X-Functional) now grouped under one split button “Analysis”

  • Updated support e-mail to contact@lateralworks.com

  • Show/Hide Targets moved to Target dropdown in the Tools tab

  • Show Custom Tab option added to the General tab of options, which allows the Custom tab to be visible or hidden. This is disabled if there are no custom tabs.

  • Added “Restore Excel Reference” to Tools > Restore

  • Negative Float now depict an arrow pointing left to indicate the task needed to have started earlier to honor the dependency.

  • New filter added FP::filter task incomplete (no summaries)

Update

  • Fixed a problem when importing a LAR: an in-progress task that was marked as not-started in the LAR is now correctly converted to a not-started task in the schedule

Wigglechart

  • Tab colors now correct when Targets within subprojects and not updated in the Wigglechart

Analyzer

  • Deliverable (Flag16) now included in the Analyzer’s “No Successors” test (it was previously excluded)

  • Date Constraints in the Future now ignored by the Analyzer for Deliverable milestones

  • Adding a milestone at the end of a summary task will now automatically be completed if the summary task (and by implication all subtasks) are completed

  • Automatically adding a milestone to a Summary task will now automatically complete the milestone if the Summary task is complete

  • Split tasks now automatically fixed when running the automatic fix for Manual/Split tasks

  • Bug fixed where no Manual tasks were found, but multiple tasks were found and fixed when the auto-fix was run

  • Bug fixed where a Target problem was incorrectly identified when the Targets were in a Subproject

  • Bug fixed where a dependency could be removed if the predecessor task as a Start-to-Start with a positive lag

Inspector

  • Added the option for the Late Simulator to export the task information to Excel

  • Show/Hide Summaries added to Trend Analysis (Advanced)

  • Bug fixed when it was possible to get an Overflow error message using the Focus Now report

Resources

  • Toggle button for Marked tasks now correctly displayed the correct toggle position if the task is marked

Effort Updater

  • Updating a task now updates the “Last Updated” date so the correct date appears on the Effort Report chart

fastProject 4.8.14 Released

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General

  • Made compatible with all regions where e.g. list separators, currency formats, etc. vary

  • Resource Tables added back to Global

  • Context Menu reworked (removed: Add Action, Notes & Highlight, added: Update Task)

  • Problem fixed with “Link to Last Milestone” where some VBA commands available in 32-bit MS Project were not available in 64-bit MS Project

Tools

  • fastBuild

    • Bug fixed where the Project Mission box in Step 2 (Milestones) would shift right each time the user when back to Step 2

  • Bug fixed where adding a Touchpoint, Checkpoint or Deliverable did not update the Inspector

Update

  • Target selected after an Update now determined by the setting of fastProject Options > Inspector > Default Target

Wigglechart

  • Wigglechart now lists the gap (days early/late) in the summary information when a milestone is completed.

Inspector

  • New function “Focus Now” added. Lists all tasks that meet criteria based on: the Target milestone selected (or Project), Starting/Finishing before a selected date, Days from Critical Path within a set number of days, and where the task is optionally Not started/In-progress.

  • Added ability to turn on/off summaries within No Group is selected for the Late Report

  • Fixed bug where closing the Late Report using the ‘x’ in the top right of the form would exit without resetting the schedule

  • Fixed bug where Target milestones were also listed

  • Clarified the number of days late are calendar days when the gap button is invoked

decisionAccelerator 4.20 Released

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General

  • Right-mouse click menu added for faster access to dA functionality:

    • Context menu items are sensitive based on whether the cell is an Objective, Alternative or Constraint

    • Clicking anywhere else on a model reveals a reduced set of Excel functions

    • Reset Priorities is always visible when on a model, no matter where the user clicks

    • Clicking on a non-model reveals the standard Excel menu

Alternatives

  • Bug fixed where it was possible to delete the first alternative in the list when there was only two alternatives (the user should have been prompted a model must have a minimum of two alternatives).