Re: Dependencies

Miguel - Dependencies are not intended to be used as a way to manage lifecycle state changes. This feature is to assist you when scheduling related items. However, you can create a validation rule that will prevent work items with an active predecessor from being marked as completed. For guidance on creating this customization please join us for one of our Advanced Q&A webinars or if you have professional service hours contact your CSM for assistance.

Hi Patrick,

What do you mean by assist me when scheduling related items? Shouldn't the dependency already be doing what you described in your validation rule? "Prevent work items with an active predecessor from being marked as completed", isn't that the Finish-to-Finish rule wherein the successor can't be completed (finished) while the successor is still active/incomplete (unfinished)?

Clarizen uses "soft" dependencies, meaning that they are used to set the schedule but do not prevent users from marking items as complete if there are unfinished predecessors.  As Patrick mentioned, you can use a customization to turn these into "hard" dependencies, which will prevent you from completing items that have predecessors associated with them. This allows customers to have a choice on whether to use soft or hard dependencies, and I can tell you that most customers actually prefer the default functionality so that they have more flexibility in their projects.

Lag, is a buffer between when one task is completed and the next one begins.  If you have a FTS dependency between task 1 and task 2 and 4d of lag, that means that task 2 will be scheduled to begin 4 days after task 1 is completed.