Split Tasks

Sometimes it is not possible to complete a task as scheduled and it needs to be split into two or more parts. Aspose.Tasks for C++ API supports this Microsoft Project feature.

Splitting Tasks

The SplitParts property exposed by the Task class is used to determine the split parts of a task whereas SplitTask method exposed by the ResourceAssignment class is used to split a single task into multiple parts. SplitParts returns a collection of split parts whereas SplitTask method accepts start date, finish date and calendar arguments to split the task.

Splitting and Viewing Tasks in Microsoft Project

To split a task in Microsoft Project:

1. Identify a long task and you want to divide.
2. On the Task menu, select the Schedule group and click Split Task.
3. Click at the position you want to split the task.

To see split tasks in Microsoft Project one can select Gantt Chart on the View menu. Split tasks are linked by a dotted line.

Creating and Splitting Task

To create and split a task, follow these steps:

1. Create a new project.
2. Create and assign a new calendar for the project.
3. Create and add a new task in the project.
4. Create and add a new resource assignment in the project.
5. Use the SplitTask method exposed by the ResourceAssignment class to split the task.
6. Write the new project to the disk.

The following code shows how to accomplish these tasks:

// Create new project
System::SharedPtr<Project> splitTaskProject = System::MakeObject<Project>();
    
// Get a standard calendar
System::SharedPtr<Calendar> calendar = splitTaskProject->Get<System::SharedPtr<Calendar>>(Prj::Calendar());
    
// Set project's calendar settings
splitTaskProject->Set(Prj::StartDate(), System::DateTime(2000, 3, 15, 8, 0, 0));
splitTaskProject->Set(Prj::FinishDate(), System::DateTime(2000, 4, 21, 17, 0, 0));
    
// Add a new task to root task
System::SharedPtr<Task> rootTask = splitTaskProject->get_RootTask();
rootTask->Set<System::String>(Tsk::Name(), u"Root");
System::SharedPtr<Task> taskToSplit = rootTask->get_Children()->Add(u"Task1");
taskToSplit->Set<Duration>(Tsk::Duration(), splitTaskProject->GetDuration(3));
    
// Create a new resource assignment and generate timephased data
System::SharedPtr<ResourceAssignment> splitResourceAssignment = splitTaskProject->get_ResourceAssignments()->Add(taskToSplit, nullptr);
splitResourceAssignment->TimephasedDataFromTaskDuration(calendar);
    
// Split the task into 3 parts.
// Provide start date and finish date arguments to SplitTask method which will be used for split
splitResourceAssignment->SplitTask(System::DateTime(2000, 3, 16, 8, 0, 0), System::DateTime(2000, 3, 16, 17, 0, 0), calendar);
splitResourceAssignment->SplitTask(System::DateTime(2000, 3, 18, 8, 0, 0), System::DateTime(2000, 3, 18, 17, 0, 0), calendar);
splitResourceAssignment->Set<WorkContourType>(Asn::WorkContour(), Aspose::Tasks::WorkContourType::Contoured);
    
// Save the Project
System::String dataDir = RunExamples::GetDataDir(System::Reflection::MethodBase::GetCurrentMethod(ASPOSE_CURRENT_FUNCTION)->get_DeclaringType().get_FullName());
splitTaskProject->Save(dataDir + u"CreateSplitTasks_out.xml", Aspose::Tasks::Saving::SaveFileFormat::XML);

Viewing Split Tasks with Aspose.Tasks

The following example shows how to identify split tasks and printing their details to a console window.

// Create project instance
System::String dataDir = RunExamples::GetDataDir(System::Reflection::MethodBase::GetCurrentMethod(ASPOSE_CURRENT_FUNCTION)->get_DeclaringType().get_FullName());
System::SharedPtr<Project> project1 = System::MakeObject<Project>(dataDir + u"ViewSplitTasks.mpp");
    
// Access task 
System::SharedPtr<Task> splitTask = project1->get_RootTask()->get_Children()->GetById(4);
    
// Display split parts of task
System::SharedPtr<SplitPartCollection> collection = splitTask->get_SplitParts();
    
{
    auto splitPart_enumerator = (collection)->GetEnumerator();
    decltype(splitPart_enumerator->get_Current()) splitPart;
    while (splitPart_enumerator->MoveNext() && (splitPart = splitPart_enumerator->get_Current(), true))
    {
        System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Index: ") + splitPart->get_Index() + u"\nStart: " + splitPart->get_Start() + u"\nFinish: " + splitPart->get_Finish() + u"\n");
    }
}

Calculating a Split Task’s Finish Date

The following code example calculates finish date for a split task.

// Read project            
System::String dataDir = RunExamples::GetDataDir(System::Reflection::MethodBase::GetCurrentMethod(ASPOSE_CURRENT_FUNCTION)->get_DeclaringType().get_FullName());
System::String projectName = u"SplitTaskFinishDate.mpp";
System::SharedPtr<Project> project = System::MakeObject<Project>(dataDir + projectName);
    
// Find a split task
System::SharedPtr<Task> splitTask = project->get_RootTask()->get_Children()->GetByUid(4);
    
// Find the project calendar
System::SharedPtr<Calendar> calendar = project->Get<System::SharedPtr<Calendar>>(Prj::Calendar());
    
// Calculate task's finish date with different durations
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 8 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(8, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 16 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(16, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 24 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(24, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 28 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(28, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 32 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(32, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 46 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(46, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 61 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(61, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 75 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(75, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 80 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(80, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 120 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(120, 0, 0)));
System::Console::WriteLine(System::String(u"Start Date: ") + splitTask->Get<System::DateTime>(Tsk::Start()).ToShortDateString() + u"\n+ Duration 150 hours\nFinish Date: " + calendar->GetTaskFinishDateFromDuration(splitTask, System::TimeSpan(150, 0, 0)));