Longest Path Overview

Identify the longest possible path between a task and a Finish task milestone on the Hand-offs page or on a pull plan's Planning Board. This path calculation takes into account all possible task deviations identified for a work phase during pull planning. Show details for the longest path to view its duration in days, and then highlight or hide the path in the hand-offs diagram on the page.

Understanding pull planning is key to understanding the benefits of identifying the longest path. In this type of planning, the sequence of work is determined by responsible parties planning backward from a task milestone or goal. Performers request or pull work from their hand-offs based on demand for subsequent work to begin and after all prerequisite tasks have been completed.

These task hand-offs can cause deviations, which makes it difficult to quickly identify the potential impact to a project's schedule. The longest path enables you to compare all possible paths across levels and groups of tasks on the Hand-offs page, and to note the absolute longest duration. Planners can use this information to ensure that all work that needs to be done fits within the project schedule.

On the Hand-offs page, the longest path will continue to update based on the following factors as work on tasks progresses:

Changing task duration
Changing lag on a hand-off
Adding or removing hand-offs
Adding or deleting a task
Changing an attribute assignment on a task being used for Plan By

To calculate the longest path between two milestones on the Hand-offs page, you must first identify at least one Finish milestone, and connect it to the chain using hand-offs without adding successors. If there are multiple Finish milestones, then the longest path of all Finish milestones is used. To view all Finish milestones, select the More Milestones link. If a Finish milestone has no linked tasks, its duration will be zero.

Plan By view settings determine how items are grouped for display on the Hand-offs page. To see tasks grouped by common Plan By options, add and apply them to a view from the Settings menu on the page. Display settings for the longest path are saved by user by page view and are independent from named view settings.

When the longest path is highlighted on the Hand-offs page, you can edit task information within the longest path, but tasks in other paths are not editable. You cannot add or delete tasks or hand-offs while modifying tasks within the longest path.

Longest Path for a Pull Plan

On a pull plan’s Planning Board, the longest-path calculation uses the sequence of tasks and hand-offs connected to the Pulling From finish milestone. Intermediate task milestones do not contribute to the longest-path calculation. Tasks in the Parking Lot do not contribute to the calculation.

To view duration details, select More, and then select Show Duration Details. To hide the details, select More, and then select Hide Duration Details. Your Show Duration Details selection is saved for you.

If the hand-off chain does not contain the required finish-milestone information, Show Duration Details displays Incomplete Milestone Information. When you select Highlight Longest Path, the Planning Board displays an Incomplete Milestone Information banner.

You cannot use Highlight Longest Path and Hand-offs Mode at the same time. Selecting Highlight Longest Path turns off Hand-offs Mode and disables it until you clear longest-path highlighting.

In some cases, named and quick filters can prevent the longest path from being shown. Adjust filters to display the longest path.

Longest Path for a Pull Plan

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