Managing Project Schedule Data Using Separate Current And Historical Task Schedule Data

• US 20090287521A1
• Filed: 05/16/2008
• Published: 11/19/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Granted Patent: US 8,321,257 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling

Abstract

A project management system manages project schedule data using separate current and historical task schedule data structures. In general, current schedule data is stored separately from historical schedule data, so that the current schedule data may be retrieved separately from the historical task schedule data. The project management system may also maintain unscheduled tasks as “to-do lists.” Tasks may be added to a member'"'"'s schedule without specifying any planned dates and the tasks are added to the database. The tasks have an associated revision number of 0 to indicate that the tasks were added, but not yet scheduled. The tasks are displayed in the member schedule editor and in Web page schedules. The tasks may then be displayed in the member schedule editor and in Web page schedules in a manner that allows a user to readily determine that the tasks are “to-do list” tasks.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing project schedule data, the computer-implemented method comprising:

generating schedule data for a task in the project;

storing the schedule data in a current task schedule data structure;

in response to detecting a change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to a historical task schedule data structure that is separate from the current task schedule data structure,

generating revised schedule data that reflects the change made to the schedule data for the task in the project, and

storing the revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

2. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting a subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

generating second revised schedule data that reflects the subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to the historical task schedule data structure, and

storing the second revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

3. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, wherein the current task schedule data structure is a current schedule data table and the historical task schedule data structure is a historical schedule data table.

4. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising in response to a request for current schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and not retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

5. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising in response to a request for all schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing both the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

6. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising in response to a request for schedule data for the task,

retrieving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure,

examining the revised schedule data to identity revision data,

if the revision data indicates that additional schedule data is available for the task, then retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

7. A computer-readable medium for managing project schedule data, the computer-readable medium carrying instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, causes:

generating schedule data for a task in the project;

storing the schedule data in a current task schedule data structure;

in response to detecting a change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to a historical task schedule data structure that is separate from the current task schedule data structure,

generating revised schedule data that reflects the change made to the schedule data for the task in the project, and

storing the revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

8. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 7, further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause:

in response to detecting a subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

generating second revised schedule data that reflects the subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to the historical task schedule data structure, and

storing the second revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

9. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 7, wherein the current task schedule data structure is a current schedule data table and the historical task schedule data structure is a historical schedule data table.

10. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 7, further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for current schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and not retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

11. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 7, further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for all schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing both the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

12. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 7, further comprising additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for schedule data for the task,

retrieving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure,

examining the revised schedule data to identity revision data,

if the revision data indicates that additional schedule data is available for the task, then retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

13. An apparatus for managing project schedule data, the apparatus comprising a memory storing instructions which, when processed by one or more processors, causes:

generating schedule data for a task in the project;

storing the schedule data in a current task schedule data structure;

in response to detecting a change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to a historical task schedule data structure that is separate from the current task schedule data structure,

generating revised schedule data that reflects the change made to the schedule data for the task in the project, and

storing the revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

14. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the memory stores additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause:

in response to detecting a subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

generating second revised schedule data that reflects the subsequent change made to the schedule data for the task in the project,

moving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure to the historical task schedule data structure, and

storing the second revised schedule data in the current task schedule data structure.

15. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the current task schedule data structure is a current schedule data table and the historical task schedule data structure is a historical schedule data table.

16. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the memory stores additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for current schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and not retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

17. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the memory stores additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for all schedule data for the task, retrieving and providing both the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure and the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.

18. The apparatus as recited in claim 13, wherein the memory stores additional instructions which, when processed by the one or more processors, cause in response to a request for schedule data for the task,

retrieving the revised schedule data from the current task schedule data structure,

examining the revised schedule data to identity revision data,

if the revision data indicates that additional schedule data is available for the task, then retrieving the schedule data from the historical task schedule data structure.