creating a projects / tasks add on....stuck

August 8, 200322 yr

How do I create a Projects / tasks system? (to weave on to our club db)

The core requirements are to be able to create a new project with details, purpose and tasks. seems simple enough.

However what do I need in order to delegate tasks to specific people (within the db)

either as an individual or group assigned!?!?

And lastly to be able to monitor their progress with a visual queue i.e. a bar that fills in based on their input when they update status of said tasks?!?!

Note the only thing I

August 8, 200322 yr

I'd say that MemberID, ProjectID and TaskID are the Tasks file.

Projects is just ProjectID (unless you have members of a project who do no tasks, see end of post).

Control entry into this file with a script (from global fields, or clicking in portal choices). This way you can reliably "mark" the 1st entry for a member-project combo in the Tasks file.

This "marking" can also be done with lookups, but I prefer the scripted approach.

You need this mark (1) to show members for a project in a portal in the Projects file, and also to show projects for a member in the Members file.

This is done via what I call an "ID If" field, ie.

MemberID_If_Mark = Case (ProjectMemberMark, MemberID, "")

ProjectID_If_Mark = Case (ProjectMemberMark, ProjectID, "")

A relationship to this ID from the main files.

The mark is set/checked using a self-relationship on a concatenated field;

ProjectIDMemberID = ProjectID & " " & MemberID

and an auto-entered serial number field.

Case ( serialNum = self-ProjectIDMemberID::serialNum, 1, "")

Deletion must also be scripted, to check for and restore the "1st mark." This requires a Loop.

Trying to fudge members into Projects, then into Tasks is, IMHO, a muddled approach. However, as I said, if some members do nothing but are part of a Project, or if you must assign members to a project first, before any tasks occur, then it is necessary.

In that case make another little join file, ProjectMembers for this, independent of Tasks. You must use it to filter the value list for member additions to Tasks however, so no one unassigned is entered for a project's tasks.