The Critical Path methodology identifies the paths of tasks most likely to impact the project completion date. This technique is used to help project managers to determine the shortest possible project duration and the level of flexibility that exists in the project. The critical path method calculates the early dates (Early Start and Early Finish), late dates (Late Start and Late Finish) and total slack.

After you consolidate files into a master project file, the tasks from subprojects files remain separate, resources are combined from all subprojects.

You can change resource information in the master project and the changes will be replicated in the subproject's source file.

You can view all resources in the master project and subprojects together in the Resource Sheet view, the resource can be edited /assigned.

If the same resources are used in multiple subprojects, you see the resource names just once because the resources are combined. However, it is recommended to use organization Team Members, then assign the resources in different subprojects.

Keep in mind that if you use the same resource in multiple projects, in Master Resource Sheet will appear one resource. If that resource uses different Std rate values in the subproject source file, the Master Project file will calculate an average value based on std rate value and cost per use.

By knowing and tracking the critical path for your project, as well as the resources assigned to critical tasks, you can determine which tasks can affect your project's finish date and whether your project will finish on time.

For more benefits of using the Critical Path, please check the Manage Critical Path page, which also includes a video.

In order to save a Master Project file, go to menu File - Save. In the dialog that appears click:

1. "Yes" to Save just in Master Project file

2. "Yes to All" to also save the changes in subprojects

The Master Projects can be also saved in a Division. For more information, please read the Manage Divisions funk.

The changes made to the baseline fields do not cause the project to be recalculated.

After you set a baseline, you can still edit baseline values. However, edited baseline values do not cause any recalculation of baseline work fields.

The best approach to using the Baseline Work field, would be to make the desired changes to the Work field then set a baseline.

The best way to achieve this is to use the Cost column.

The total cost is automatically calculated by the application in the summary task.

To enter the costs for a task you can either insert a value in the Cost field or you can assign specific resources to your tasks and the cost is automatically calculated.