# MS-Project.  My rage burns with the heat of 1,000 Hindenburgs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-project-my-rage-burns-with-the-heat-of-1-000-hindenburgs/122651>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 6, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-project-my-rage-burns-with-the-heat-of-1-000-hindenburgs/122651 "2002-08-06T18:19:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-project-my-rage-burns-with-the-heat-of-1-000-hindenburgs/122651/1 "2002-08-06T18:19:19Z")

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…But I’m really hoping to get an answer I can use, so I’m posting it here in GQ.

I need to write a project schedule, but I want to control the calculation of the tasks and prerequisites myself. So I set up a database table of task definitions, and another table that defines the dependencies between tasks. I wrote a program to read these tables and generate a spreadsheet showing each task with its projected start time, duration, end time, and the person or group responsible.

Then, I want to paste this spreadsheet into MS-Project just for presentation purposes. I want to show when each task starts and stops, the estimated duration, and who it will be assigned to.  
The trouble is, however, I want to keep my own calculations of project events and not have MS-Project “help” me. MS-Project seems to have trouble understanding that most projects are not like painting a room, where if you double the number of painters you can halve the duration. So I’m having a great deal of trouble bending MS-Project to my will.

So, has anyone ever successfully done this type of thing in MS-Project?

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**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-project-my-rage-burns-with-the-heat-of-1-000-hindenburgs/122651/2 "2002-08-06T21:39:24Z")

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Project defaults to “Effort Driven” Task entry, which is just as you describe - add 2x more people to a task, and it takes half the time.

For tasks of fixed duration, right click the task and choose task information. find the checkbos that says “Effort Driven” and uncheck it.