SAL within a SAL?

I have a SAL project for all the tasks I need to complete concerning Computer Software.

It’s a Single Action List with no Defer and no Due dates.

Works just as I want.

One of those tasks is for me to visit all those aspects of OF 2 that I still need to understand and configure etc.

So I have set this research up to be an Action List, one child item (OF 2) in its parent SAL Project (Computer Software).

How do i set the Defer and Due dates in this Action List (child) so that every time I complete one of these (sub-) actions (only) the next one appears, please?

I’ve tired setting the Defer date to April 4 - obviously - today; with no Due Date. I’ve also tried setting the Due date (for this sub/Action List) both to today again, and to, say, a week hence, April 11.

In all four of these combinations either every task or no tasks show.

What should the correct combination be, please?

Or can I simply not control Action Lists this way wishing SALs?

TIA!

It sounds like what you want is to turn OF 2 a sequential action group. WIth View set to Available, only the next child item will be visible.

I’ve tired that, dave, thanks; the OF SAL is now Parallel But…

With Defer set to today and Due set to today every action shows as Available.

With Defer set to today and Due set to April 11 nothing shows as Available today.

Dave’s right; the behavior you are asking for requires a Sequential project and View set to available.

If you do both of these things, it will work the way you want.

@anamorph, my apologies for misreading Dave (wouldn’t doubt that he - and you - would be right!).

So have changed the Action List to Sequential, thanks.

In the Projects perspective I can see just the one next Available task - just as you helpfully suggest.

Is it possible to have only the next Available task from this sub-SAL appear in my Today and Forecast Perspectives, though, please?

I cannot get the right combination of Defer and Due dates to do that.

Thanks again :-)

Yes. Go to the Project View, highlight just the Action Group headline, open the Inspector, and set the Action Group to Sequential. Then only the first item will show in any Perspective set to View Available.

@anamorph,

Thanks. I’m very close. I have Defer set to April 4, and Due to April 11.

I can see that the reason it wasn’t showing up in my Today Perspective was that my Today Perspective was wrong.
May I trouble you to take a look at this (attached grab) and see if there’s anything you’d change, please?

Your help greatly appreciated!

Seems right. You’re viewing Any Status and Available. The only reason something wouldn’t show up is if it were blocked by another task, or within a folder on Hold.

Thanks!

That next Available item does NOT show up in Forecast, though. for Today’s date.

And there’s no way to change ForeCast’s filters, is there?

Look at your Forecast settings: are you viewing deferred items? Your task is deferred to today, not due. Forecast defaults to view Due only.

Yes, of course :-)

When I add Deferred, it shows all my (other) Deferred tasks, which I don’t want.

Am I right that t’s not possible to have this SAL’s tasks show in Forecast if I want to have both a Defer and a Due date set for them - unless I want to get all Deferred tasks show too?

Maybe I’m not using Defer and Due dates correctly: for this OF2 Action List I want to indicate that these are tasks which I want to get to between ‘now’ (2016-04-04) and ‘then’ (2014-04-11)?

Perhaps they should all only have Due Dates set?

Or only all Defer Dates set?

Thanks!

Forecast doesn’t have much flexibility. If you can give up the calendar view, you can have more control over a custom Perspective.

Think of Defer as “Hide Until.” If you set a defer date and View Available, it will be hidden until the defer date.

Think of Due as “Warn Me When.” If you set a due date, it will turn warning colors as the date approaches. if you View Due Soon, it will be hidden until it’s close to the due date.

So maybe it’s actually not possible to have such an Action List as this with, say, a dozen items on it, and have them become Available one after another (as I complete them - because it’s a Sequential list) in any Perspective except Projects and Today?

I suspect I should not be setting Due Dates…

If you have the Pro Version, you can make custom Perspectives. It’s not limitless control. but there are advantages to being able to build more custom views of the data.

Thanks again, @anamorph - Yes I do have the Pro version (2.5).

You’re suggesting a new ‘Tomorrow’ Perspective altogether, aren’t you?

I’ve tried that - but have so far been unsuccessful in getting only items/tasks not Due and/or Deferred until the next day from today (= tomorrow) to appear…

OF can’t filter “not Due.” That’s one of the shortcomings of its design.

If it were my company, I would’ve made boolean searches for all conditions, projects, contexts and strings – sort of like HoudahSpot.

The closest you’ll get is to hide things that are deferred after today.

Another hack you can use is to group by Due or by Deferred, collapse all, and then just expand the Tomorrow group.

Thanks again!

That makes good sense. I truly appreciate your help here, @anamorph!

I’ll continue to experiment :-)

It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I used Forecast, Today and Tomorrow in different ways.