How to use project priority within a calculated field on a task custom form?

[RichardFa]

I am trying to create a calculation in a field of a task custom form that will combine the priority of the task with that of the project. This will be used to prioritize work among multiple projects with more granularity (e.g. a task with low or no priority in a high priority project should maybe wait until after an urgent task in a normal priority project). I am aware of some sorting/grouping/filtering capabilities, but they are insufficient for two reasons. 1. sorting and grouping are only able to sort alphabetically (unless there is a secret way someone knows about). This is very strange considering that the default priority names will already be out of order. 2. this would not allow the desired flexibility when defining overall project/task priority order. Richard Fabini VIA Motors

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Richard. To achieve the sorting you desire, I suggest you use a numeric calculated parameter (e.g. "Task Sort") and combine some IF statements with some math that convert the Priorities -- e.g. IF(Project Priority = 'Critical', 5000,IF(Project Priority = 'High', 4000,...)) + IF(Task Priority = 'Critical', 500,IF(Task Priority = 'High', 400,...)). The result would give Task Sorts such as 5500, 5400, 5100, 4400, 4300, etc, by which to Sort (and Group, for that matter). Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore

[RichardFa]

Hi Doug, Thanks for the response, this is exactly what I will do, but the current issue is actually how to reference the project priority. When I try to find the field, the only "priority" that shows is that of the task. Do you know how I can reference the priority of the parent project in the calculated expression to accomplish the if statements? Thanks again! -Richard Richard Fabini VIA Motors

[VicAl]

The way I do it is add the field you want to a View and then open that field in Text mode and copy that. You'll see something like this: displayname= linkedname=project namekey=view.relatedcolumn namekeyargkey.0=project namekeyargkey.1=workrequired querysort=project:workRequired valuefield= project:workRequired valueformat=compound viewalias=project:workrequired To get the field from another object you need the node. In your case it's probably something like project:priority (whatever you named the new field will be the second node). So for your calculated expression, you'll need this field name. Or you might have to represent it as follows: {project}.{priority} Notice the curly brackets around each node and the colon becomes a period. Hope that makes sense. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Arg: you caught me away from my post (pun intended...this time), Richard. Fortunately, Vic covered neatly for me, so I've clicked "recommend" beside his answer (for full marks). To combine his advice with my earlier suggestion, the Task level formula would be something like IF({project}.{priority} = 'Critical', 5000,IF({project}.{priority} = 'High', 4000,...)) + IF({priority} = 'Critical', 500,IF({priority} = 'High', 400,...)). Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore