Task Constraint overview: Must Start On

Use the Must Start On (MSO) Task Constraint to schedule a task to start exactly on a specific date.

The Must Start On constraint schedules a task to start exactly at the time and date you specify in the Planned Start Date field.

TIP
Manually updating a task’s Planned Start Date changes the constraint of the task to Must Start On.

Overview of the Must Start On Task Constraint

Consider the following when scheduling a task with a Must Start On constraint:

  • Predecessor relationships do not force this task to reschedule. Workfront essentially ignores any predecessor relationships of the task with this constraint.

  • The task does show At Risk if predecessors begin to run behind or late.

  • When you move or copy a task with a MSO constraint to another project, the constraint of the task or the dates of the project might change depending on what the constraint dates are and what the Start and Completion Dates of the project are. The following scenarios exist:

    • When the destination project is scheduled From Start:

      • When the constraint date of the task is earlier than the project Planned Start Date, the task constraint changes to As Soon As Possible.

      • When the constraint date of the task is later than the project Planned Completion Date, the project Planned Completion Date changes to match the completion constraint date of the task.

      • When the destination project is scheduled From Completion:

        • When the constraint date of the task is later than the Project Completion Date, the task constraint changes to As Late As Possible.
        • When the constraint date of the task is earlier than the Planned Start Date of the project, the project Planned Start Date changes to match the start constraint date of the task.
      • Regardless of the schedule of the project, when the constraint date of the task is within the Start and Completion Dates of the project, there are no changes to the Task Constraint or the project dates.

    For information about moving tasks, see Move tasks. For information about copying tasks, see Copy and duplicate tasks.

For information about how to update the Task Constraint on a task, see Update the Task Constraint of a task.

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