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Improve dependency conflicts for Gantt charts/using DateTime values

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TFSho
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast
Status: New Ideas

So we are trying to move to Airtable for our project management system and specifically use the Gantt views. For context, we have been using Instagantt up to this point. However while testing I've noticed a bit of a deal breaking problem for us. For some reason, a dependent task can't start on the same day it's parent task ends. It shows as a conflict on the Gantt chart, and if you try to move either of the tasks, the chart will automatically push that task to start the day after it's parent ends. This is highly frustrating as we often have one day tasks, or tasks that need to start on the same day the proceeding tasks ends. I understand we can enter these in as milestones, but then our Gantt just has a bunch of milestones stacked up on the same day and it looks like crap. Instagantt and other Gantt charting software I have used has no problem being able to do this. I have included an example of one of our current projects from Instagantt. As it stands, the Gantt functionality is largely un-usable for us.

I've seen this question asked a couple times before in other forms, but it seems several problems could be solved, and the general usability of this view type would be drastically improved if it would just support DateTime objects instead of just Date objects. In the attached example, the "Schedule" task has a "Work End" DateTime value of 11/14/23 0100, and it's dependent "Perform" task has a "Work Start" DateTime an hour later at 0200. These should NOT be conflicts, however they are still registering as such! This honestly feels like a bit of a design oversight as opposed to a decision (I'm hoping). At the very least, I feel the conflict checker logic needs to be updated from Child Start > Parent End to Child Start >= Parent End, as it is in most other popular Gantt platforms. The Calendar and Timeline views seem to handle DateTime's without issue, is there any plans to add this functionality to Gantts?

1 Comment
WillieJJ
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I completely agree with your suggestion about supporting DateTime objects instead of just Date objects. It seems like a no-brainer, right? And updating the conflict checker logic to be more inclusive makes total sense too. It's these little details that can make or break the usability of a feature.

While I don't have a perfect solution to offer, I recently came across Planfix for Gantt charts. I haven't tried it extensively yet, but from what I've seen, it looks promising. Maybe it's worth giving it a shot? Here's the link: https://planfix.com/features/gantt-chart/