CST P6 & MS Project Proficiency 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Oracle Primavera P6, what does the 'Retained Logic' progress override setting do when activities are out of sequence?
- It ignores predecessor constraints for in-progress activities
- It retains the original logic and delays successor start until the predecessor finishes (Correct answer)
- It automatically removes all open-ended activities
- It converts all finish-to-start links to start-to-start links
Correct answer: It retains the original logic and delays successor start until the predecessor finishes
Retained Logic keeps original predecessor-successor relationships intact, delaying successors until predecessors are complete even if work started out of sequence.
Question 2: Which MS Project view best displays resource allocation across all tasks to identify overallocations?
- Gantt Chart view
- Resource Sheet view
- Resource Usage view (Correct answer)
- Network Diagram view
Correct answer: Resource Usage view
Resource Usage view shows each resource with their assigned tasks and time-phased work, making overallocations immediately visible.
Question 3: In P6, what is the purpose of the 'Resource Leveling' feature when the 'Level Resources' option is applied?
- It equalizes all resource rates to a standard billing rate
- It delays or splits activities to resolve resource overallocations within defined limits (Correct answer)
- It removes all resource assignments from critical path activities
- It automatically converts resource-loaded schedules to cost-loaded schedules
Correct answer: It delays or splits activities to resolve resource overallocations within defined limits
P6 resource leveling delays or splits activities to bring resource demand within available limits while attempting to preserve the schedule end date.
Question 4: In MS Project, what happens when you set a task's constraint type to 'Must Start On'?
- The task floats freely within the project window
- The task is locked to start on the specified date regardless of predecessor status (Correct answer)
- The task can only start after all predecessors are complete
- The task is automatically marked as a milestone
Correct answer: The task is locked to start on the specified date regardless of predecessor status
'Must Start On' is a hard constraint that pins the task to a specific date, overriding network logic and potentially creating negative float.
Question 5: What is the 'Data Date' in P6 and how does it affect schedule calculations?
- The date the project was baselined; it freezes all future activity dates
- The date through which actual progress is reported; it divides past actuals from future projections (Correct answer)
- The date the schedule was last exported to XML format
- The date on which all resource rates were last updated
Correct answer: The date through which actual progress is reported; it divides past actuals from future projections
The Data Date (also called status date) is the point in time separating reported actual progress from the forward-projected schedule.
Question 6: In MS Project, which scheduling formula describes how the application calculates task duration when using Fixed Units?
- Duration = Work / Units
- Work = Duration × Units (Correct answer)
- Units = Work + Duration
- Duration = Units × Cost
Correct answer: Work = Duration × Units
MS Project's scheduling formula is Work = Duration × Units, so with Fixed Units, changing duration changes work while units remain constant.
Question 7: In P6, what is an 'Activity Code' used for?
- A unique numeric identifier automatically assigned to each activity by the system
- A user-defined attribute used to filter, sort, and group activities for reporting (Correct answer)
- The WBS node code inherited from the parent element
- A code that determines the activity's earned value calculation method
Correct answer: A user-defined attribute used to filter, sort, and group activities for reporting
Activity Codes are customizable attributes in P6 that allow users to categorize activities for filtering, sorting, grouping, and reporting purposes.
CST P6 & MS Project Proficiency 2
In Oracle Primavera P6, what does the 'Retained Logic' progress override setting do when activities are out of sequence?