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218 lines
7.5 KiB
218 lines
7.5 KiB
<chapter id="definitions">
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<chapterinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>
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<firstname>Anne-Marie</firstname>
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<surname>Mahfouf</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>annma@kde.org</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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</author>
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<author>
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<firstname>Raphael</firstname>
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<surname>Langerhorst</surname>
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<affiliation>
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<address><email>raphael.langerhorst@kdemail.net</email></address>
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</affiliation>
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</author>
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<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
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</authorgroup>
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</chapterinfo>
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<title>Definitions</title>
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<sect1 id="gantt">
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<title>Gantt charts</title>
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<para>A Gantt chart is a popular type of bar chart, that aims to show the timing
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of tasks or activities as they occur over time. Although the Gantt chart did not
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initially indicate the relationships between tasks this has become more
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common in current usage as both timing and interdependencies between tasks can
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be identified.
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</para>
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<para>
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In project management, a Gantt chart can show when the project terminal elements
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start and finish, summary elements (shown) or terminal element dependencies (not
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shown). A terminal element is defined as the smallest task tracked as part of
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the project effort. The tasks are displayed on a page as bars. The page is laid
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out such that time increases as you move across the page. A task's start
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time/date is indicated by the point on the page the bar starts, and it's
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duration is indicated by the length of the bar.
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</para>
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<para>
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Since the initial introduction of Gantt charts, they have become an industry
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standard as a key project management tool for representing the phases, tasks and
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activities that are scheduled as part of a project Work Breakdown Structure
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(WBS) or timeline of tasks.
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</para>
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<para>
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The initial format of the chart was developed by Henry L. Gantt (1861-1919) in
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1910 (see <quote>Work, Wages and Profit</quote> by H. L. Gantt, published by The
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Engineering Magazine, NY, 1910).
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="wbs">
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<title>Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)</title>
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<para>
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In project management, a work breakdown structure (WBS) is an exhaustive,
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hierarchical (from general to specific) tree structure of deliverables and tasks
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that need to be performed to complete a project.
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</para>
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<para>
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The purpose of a WBS is to identify terminal elements (the actual items to be
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done in a project). Therefore, WBS serves as the basis for much of project
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planning.
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</para>
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<para>A useful rule of thumb is that any project can be broken down into
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between 10 and 20 tasks.
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</para>
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<para>
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Work breakdown structure is a very common project management tool. Many United
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States government statements of work require work breakdown structures.
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</para>
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<para>See the <xref linkend="configure-wbs" /> section to learn how to
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configure your WBS.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="float">
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<title>Float</title>
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<para>
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Float in project management is the amount of time that a terminal element in a
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project network can be delayed by, without causing a delay to:
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>subsequent terminal elements (free float)</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>project completion date (total float).</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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Float is sometimes also called slack.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="task">
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<title>Task</title>
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<para>
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A task is a part of a project that needs to be accomplished within a defined
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period of time. Tasks can be linked together to create Dependencies.
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</para>
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<para>
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Tasks take place over a period of time and generally consume resources.
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</para>
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<para>
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A task is termed critical when it has zero or negative float.
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</para>
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<para>
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In &kplato;, each task has a task ID, a name and a responsible person.
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The timing, the cost and the assigned resources can also be set
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in the <guilabel>Task Settings</guilabel>dialog.
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</para>
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<para>A subtask is any node in the WBS tree that has a task as its
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parent.</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="resource">
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<title>Resource</title>
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<para>
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A resource is an item required to complete a task. Resources can be
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people, equipment, facilities, funding or anything else needed to perform the
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work of a project. Resources can have a limited time availability (&ie; an
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employee that works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week).
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</para>
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<para>The availability is
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defined by <link linkend="calendar">calendars</link>.
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</para>
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<para>
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In &kplato; resources are either persons (work) or machines/devices (material).
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="calendar">
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<title>Calendars</title>
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<para>
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A calendar defines at what time a <link linkend="resource">resource</link>
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is available.
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</para>
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<para>
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Calendars can be either a regular working week or special working times
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that can be individually defined for each day. This allows for very subtle
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control over the availability of resources.
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</para>
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<para>
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Every <link linkend="resource">resource</link> is usually connected to a
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calendar.
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</para>
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<para>
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In &kplato; you can even use hierarchical calendars.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="milestone">
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<title>Milestone</title>
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<para>
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A milestone is a scheduled event signifying the completion of a major
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deliverable or a set of related deliverables (usually marking the end of a
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period). A milestone is an activity with zero duration and no effort &ie; there
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is no work associated with a milestone. It is a flag in the workplan to signify
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some other work has completed.
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</para>
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<para>
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Usually a milestone is used as a project checkpoint to validate how the project
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is progressing and revalidate work. Milestones are also used as high-level
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snapshots for management to validate the progress of the project. In many cases
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there is a decision to be made at a milestone.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="critical-path">
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<title>Critical path</title>
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<para>A path is a series of connected tasks. In project management, a
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critical path is the sequence of project network terminal elements with the
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longest overall duration, determining the shortest time to complete the project.
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</para>
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<para>
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The duration of the critical path determines the duration of the entire project.
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Any delay of a terminal element on the critical path directly impacts the
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planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path).
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For example, if a task on the critical path is delayed by one day, then the
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entire project will be delayed by one day (unless another task on the
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critical path can be accelerated by one day).
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</para>
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<para>
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A project can have several, parallel critical paths. An additional parallel path
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through the network with the total duration just shorter than the critical path
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is called a sub-critical path.
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</para>
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<para>
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Originally, the critical path method considered only logical dependencies among
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terminal elements. A related concept is the critical chain, which adds resource
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dependencies.
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</para>
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<para>
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The critical path method was invented by the DuPont corporation.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="scheduling">
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<title>Scheduling</title>
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<para>
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Scheduling is the process of creating a project schedule based on the project
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data like <link linkend="task">tasks</link>,
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<link linkend="resource">resources</link> and
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<link linkend="calendar">calendars</link>. The result can be viewed in a chart,
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like a <link linkend="gantt">gantt chart</link>. &kplato; can also generate
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reports for a project.
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</para>
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<para>
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There are usually various scheduling modes, like optimistic, expected and
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pessimistic scheduling. When creating a task the additional estimation
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percentage
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for optimistic and pessimistic scheduling can be set. These settings are then
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used for the various scheduling modes.
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</para>
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<para>
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When scheduling a project with &kplato;, you can choose between optimistic,
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expected and pessimistic scheduling.
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</para>
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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