0. INTRODUCTION
1. SCOPE
   1. Functional definition
   2. Field of application
   3. Principles
2. REFERENCES
3. TERMS AND DEFINITIONS
   1. Standard terms and definitions
   2. Message terms and definitions
4. MESSAGE DEFINITION
   1. Segment clarification
      1. Header section
      2. Detail section
      3. Summary section
   2. Segment index (alphabetical sequence by tag)
   3. Message structure
      1. Segment table

This specification provides the definition of the Project tasks planning message (PROTAP) to be used in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between trading partners involved in administration, commerce and transport.

The Project Tasks Planning message is used in various industry sectors when there is a requirement for all parties involved to formally establish and exchange planning and scheduling information. This information describes the tasks and resources needed to complete a project or provide a service. This can include such details as what activities or tasks are involved, who is available to do the work, who is doing the work, what must be completed or delivered such as a document or goods, and when the work will be completed or when the item will be delivered. This document may be part of the contractual documents exchanged for the preparation, status, or completion of a project or service.

The Project tasks planning message may be used for both national and international applications. It is based on universal practice related to administration, commerce and transport, and is not dependent on the type of business or industry.

The industry sectors that typically exchange planning and scheduling information include construction, aerospace, aircraft, utility, defense, facility maintenance, automotive, and software development. Various government entities such as transportation, energy, space, and defense also exchange planning and scheduling information with their contractors related to construction, software development, research and development, and production. For departments or ministries of defense, this planning and scheduling information is typically part of the contractual requirements for weapon system acquisition and chemical or hazardous material disposal.

Although various regional and international differences do exist in the business terms used in a planning and scheduling environment, the underlying business requirements are similar. In many respects, the various commercial off the shelf application software used for planning and scheduling around the world have established a default set of common principles and data requirements. Where regional and international differences do exist in business terms, the design of the message is flexible enough to accommodate them.

This message is designed to convey planning, scheduling, and resource information about a project and the business environment related to the project in a neutral data format. This information exchange can be bi-directional between the parties involved. Only data associated with one schedule or plan is exchanged per occurrence of this message.

This message is structured to support the exchange of the three main groups of independent yet interrelated information typical in a project management environment and commercial off the shelf application software. These main groups of information are represented as segment groups within this message and can be used independently or together as needed to fit the requirements of the project. The main groups of information are 1) resource availability; 2) calendar information; and 3) activity or task details with related resource, calendar, milestone, and constraint information.

The header section in this message includes the resource availability segment group. The detail section in this message includes the calendar information and activity or task details. While all three groups of information can be classified as detail data, the resource availability segment group was placed in the header section to prevent segment collision. In addition, the resource availability and calendar information is only exchanged infrequently; the core of the message is the activity or task segment group as this is the data that needs to be exchanged frequently to adequately manage a project.

This message can be used to exchange resource availability, calendar, task and related information between commercial off the shelf or company unique program management software applications. This exchange can be internal to company; for example, when one or more divisions within a company use different software applications or when the company wants to establish a common, standard data exchange format. This exchange can also be external to a company; for example, when data must be exchanged with customers, suppliers, or subcontractors regardless of the application software used by all parties.

Project planning and scheduling information can be highly proprietary to a company. The parties exchanging this data may elect to use various methods to ensure only the right people have access to the data.

The resource availability group of segments is designed to convey information about company-wide resources that may be employed to complete work. This includes all types of resources such as labor, material, manufacturing or testing facilities, or capital used through out the company for all their contracts. Information about availability (percent of total time available or available dates a resource can be devoted to a project or task), efficiency factors, unit rate, inflation percentage, quantity, and cost can be described as needed. Typically, this resource availability information is only conveyed early in the initial planning or proposal stage of a project or in the event the business base of the company has changed significantly during the execution of a project plan. Depending on the business environment or requirements of the trading partners, this availability information may not be exchanged at all.

The calendar group of segments is designed to convey information about the working calendars used to plan and schedule work. This includes information about non-working days, working hours, and holidays. There may be multiple working calendars if there are working shifts, different company divisions doing the work, or subcontractors doing the work. Typically, this calendar information is only conveyed early in the initial planning or proposal stage, when work is set to begin, or when there are substantial changes to the working environment.

The activity or task related group of segments is the main focus of this message. It is used to convey information about the tasks that must be done or milestone events that must occur to complete the project plan as well as progress against the original plan, or changes to the original plan. This can include information about what must be done, when it must be done, and related details about the activity or task. Quantity, monetary amounts, and percentages can also be associated with the task for planning or tracking progress. An activity or task may include a calendar reference. This reference, when used, can relate to the calendar information segment group details.

Within the group of segments used to describe an activity or task is subordinate group of segments that can be used to describe items that are related to an activity or task. This includes the resources assigned to a task (who is doing the work or what is needed to complete the work such as materials or facilities), a list of milestone events (a way to measure progress on a task), and relationships or constraints between activities. Quantity, monetary amounts, percentages, and rates can also be associated with these related items for planning or tracking progress.

When resources are assigned to an activity or task, these resources may relate to the resource availability segment group information if the option of building the resource availability data was used for the project. A project office can perform additional planning and scheduling functions with the combined information of available resources and resources assigned to a task to determine if there are enough resources available company-wide to complete a task. This may require the activity to be extended or require the company to hire or secure more resources to complete the work. In addition, a resource may include a calendar reference. This reference, when used, can relate to the calendar information segment group details.

Milestones can be handled in two ways in this message. They can be treated as an activity that is an event (i.e., the activity or task segment group in the detail section) or they can be treated as a subordinate event assigned to a main activity (i.e., the subordinate segment group to the line item in the detail section).

Add, change, and delete notations are included for available resources, index structure details, tasks, milestones, and items related to a task such as milestones, resources, and constraint activities. This allows this message to be used in two ways. The first and most simple method is to send a PROTAP message that includes an entire set of data to completely replace or overwrite old data. The second and more complex method is to send only the tasks, resources, milestones, and so forth that have been added, changed, or deleted. The capabilities of the receiving application or receiving party's business environment will dictate how this capability is used.

This message is designed to convey initial planning and scheduling information, replanning information, and periodic project status information. Initial planning and scheduling information is used to establish the original baseline plan or schedule data between parties. This baseline provides the foundation for comparison for status information as the project progresses. In the event a project runs into difficulties, it may be necessary to replan the balance of the project, with new baseline plan or schedule data exchanged between parties. The periodic status information conveyed between parties can include remaining duration, percent complete, or actual start and complete dates. Milestones, quantities, percentages, and monetary amounts can be used to calculate the value of the work completed. For the exchange of periodic status information, typically only agreed to key data for the plan or schedule are exchanged. This is a smaller subset of the data required to establish a baseline or rebaseline plan.

Other functionality available in this message include the following:

Relationships to other projects can be described with notations on the type of relationship such as a parent, child, or other related schedule whether internal or external.

Relationships to other documents can be described with notations on the type of document, and where needed, information about the computing environment used to produce or process the information.

Related index structures can be described and defined for the project. This supports various reporting structures such as a Work Breakdown Structure or Organizational Breakdown Structure that relate to the project or specific tasks. The reporting structure can be up to six levels deep to accommodate very large, complex projects.

Notations about a work team, named responsible person, and product details related to an activity can also be conveyed.

See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 1.

See UNTDID, Part 4, Chapter 2.3 UN/ECE UNSM - General Introduction, Section 2.

The terms "planning" and "scheduling" have different meanings. A project plan is a formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning assumptions and decisions, facilitate communication, and to document the approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines; these baselines serve as the foundation to measure progress and track changes.

A project schedule is an essential part of any project plan. A schedule provides the details about the activities that must be done, when they must be done, who is doing the work, and work progress measurement criteria.

The terms "task" and "activity" are used interchangeably to describe the work unit that must be completed to reach the end objective of the project.

This section should be read in conjunction with the segment table which indicates mandatory, conditional and repeating requirements.

The header section for this message includes project unique identifying details, general project information, details about the parties exchanging data, information about computing environments, applicable index structure definitions, and the resource availability segment group.

The detail section for this message includes the calendar information segment group and the activity or task segment group. Within the activity or task segment group a subordinate segment group is included to provide related information about an activity or task such as assigned resources, milestones, or constraints.

The summary section provides an optional control total segment for checking purposes.

Information to be provided in the Header section:

0010 UNH, Message header

A service segment starting and uniquely identifying a message. The message type code for the Project tasks planning message is PROTAP.

Note: Project tasks planning messages conforming to this document must contain the following data in segment UNH, composite S009:

0020 BGM, Beginning of message

A segment to identify a single planning or scheduling reporting document, its unique identifier, and specific message function.

0030 + GEI, Processing information

A segment to identify the report detail type such as network logic, barchart, milestone, line of balance, or task list type of information.

0040 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the message preparation, effective, and project baseline processing date information.

0050 Segment Group 1: RFF-IMD-BII-SG2

A group of segments to provide information about the project and identify unique reference numbers for the message, to provide descriptions, to identify structured index numbers, and to note cross reference links with other projects.

0060 RFF, Reference

A segment to identify references related to the plan or schedule such as a project, program, contract, contract addendum, Request for Quote, or Request for Proposal number.

0070 IMD, Item description

A segment to provide a description such as the name of the program for any reference number or program.

0080 BII, Structure identification

A segment to provide a structured index number for any reference number, project, plan, or schedule.

0090 Segment Group 2: GIR-REL

A group of segments to provide related project, plan, or schedule numbers and relationship type such as a parent, child, or peer.

0100 GIR, Related identification numbers

A segment to identify related or linked project, plan, or schedule identity numbers.

0110 REL, Relationship

A segment to identify the type of relationship such as a parent, child, or peer (internal or external to the project).

0120 Segment Group 3: PNA-ADR-BII-SG4-SG5

A group of segments to identify the parties relevant to the entire message with related contact and communication information, provide any applicable structured index number, and identify the type of data processing environment in use at the sender or receiver site.

0130 PNA, Party identification

A segment to provide message sender and receiver information.

0140 ADR, Address

A segment to provide address information for each named party.

0150 BII, Structure identification

A segment to provide a structured index number associated with each named party.

0160 Segment Group 4: CTA-COM

A group of segments to identify contact and communication numbers for each named party.

0170 CTA, Contact information

A segment to provide a contact person's name for each named party.

0180 COM, Communication contact

A segment to identify the phone number, fax number, e-mail, or other communication number for the contact party.

0190 Segment Group 5: CED-DTM

A group of segments to provide information about the data processing environment used by each named party.

0200 CED, Computer environment details

A segment to describe the data processing environment such as the software application name, version and release.

0210 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide the effective, processing, or other date stamp for the named software application.

0220 Segment Group 6: EFI-CED-DTM

A group of segments to provide information about other documents that relate to the entire message such as cost, other planning or scheduling, technical, text, or graphical files that provide additional project reference or management control information.

0230 EFI, External file link identification

A segment to identify a related file and provide details such as the file name, file format, version, and data format.

0240 CED, Computer environment details

A segment to describe the data processing environment used to create the named file such as the name of the software application, version and release.

0250 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide the created, effective, processing, or other date stamp for the named file.

0260 Segment Group 7: IND-BII-IMD-RCS

A group of segments to identify index structures and contents of indexing systems used for the plan or schedule.

0270 IND, Index details

A segment to identify what the index applies to, such as the entire project or part of a project. Used to indicate whether IND and related segments describes the index structure or describes the index contents. When used to describe a structure, the segment is also used to indicate the structure hierarchical level.

0280 BII, Structure identification

A segment to identify a structured index number definition or contents.

0290 IMD, Item description

A segment to provide a description for the structured index number definition or contents.

0300 RCS, Requirements and conditions

A segment to identify an action (add, change, or delete) for the index data.

0310 Segment Group 8: LIN-BII-RFF-IMD-DTM-SG9-SG10-SG11-SG12-SG13

A group of segments to identify company-wide resources that are available to complete work on any given project. These resources can be assigned specific working calendars to indicate the days or times they are available to do work.

0320 LIN, Line item

A segment to identify the resource and related action code (add, change, or delete).

0330 BII, Structure identification

A segment to identify any structured index numbers for the resources that are related to the project such as billing or trade skill categories.

0340 RFF, Reference

A segment to provide reference numbers for the resource such as a working calendar number, charge number or organization code.

0350 IMD, Item description

A segment to provide a description of the resource or type of resource such as labor or material in clear or coded form.

0360 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide start and end dates related to the resource.

0370 Segment Group 9: QTY-DTM

A group of segments to provide information about the quantity or number of resources available, a unit of measure for the resource such as hours, and related dates.

0380 QTY, Quantity

A segment to identify the quantity of available resources and associated unit of measure such as hours or days the resource is available.

0390 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the effective date, or start and end dates for the resource quantity.

0400 Segment Group 10: PRI-DTM

A group of segments to provide a unit price of the resource and effective dates of the price.

0410 PRI, Price details

A segment to identify the resource unit price.

0420 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the effective date, or start and end dates for the resource unit price.

0430 Segment Group 11: PCD-DTM

A group of segments to provide availability or efficiency factors for a given resource with any related dates. This segment group can also be used to provide an escalation or inflation percentage that may apply for the resource along with any associated specific start and end dates.

0440 PCD, Percentage details

A segment to identify the percentage of availability or efficiency factor for the resource; also used to identify any escalation or inflation percentages.

0450 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the effective date, or start and end dates for the resource availability, efficiency, or escalation percentage.

0460 Segment Group 12: RTE-DTM

A group of segments to provide a rate per unit such as a rate per hour for the resource and related dates.

0470 RTE, Rate details

A segment to provide the rate per unit such as a rate per hour for the resource.

0480 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the effective date, or start and end dates for the resource rate per unit.

0490 Segment Group 13: MOA-DTM

A group of segments to provide any monetary amounts associated with the resource such as budgeted, planned, or estimated costs and related dates.

0500 MOA, Monetary amount

A segment to identify a monetary amount for the resource.

0510 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to identify the effective date, or start and end dates for the resource monetary amount.

Information to be provided in the Detail section:

0520 UNS, Section control

A mandatory service segment placed before the first user segment in the detail section to avoid segment collision.

0530 Segment Group 14: RFF-SG15

A group of segments to provide information about the working calendars used for the tasks and resources assigned to a task.

0540 RFF, Reference

A segment to provide the reference used to identify a given calendar.

0550 Segment Group 15: SCC-QTY-DTM

A group of segments to describe a given calendar. Provides information such as specific working patterns, quantity of working time units per day or working shifts per day, and specific date details such as non-working or holiday dates.

0560 SCC, Scheduling conditions

A segment to provide details about a calendar work period pattern such as Monday through Friday.

0570 QTY, Quantity

A segment to identify the quantity of working time units per day, quantity of working shifts per day, or quantity of working time units per shift for a given calendar.

0580 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide precise date details about a given calendar such as specific non-working or holiday dates.

0590 Segment Group 16: LIN-STS-BII-RFF-IMD-PNA-CCI-DTM-FTX-SG17-

SG18-SG19-SG20-SG21 A group of segments to describe the tasks or milestones that must be done to complete a project. Segments in the group provide structured index numbers or reference numbers, descriptions, named responsible person, named work team, information about the product or service being performed, work status, dates, durations, other text details, quantity with optional dates, percents with optional dates, and monetary amounts with optional dates for the task or milestone.

The subordinate segment group GIR-REL-RCS-BII-RFF-DTM-SG22- SG23-SG24-SG25 provides related information for milestones assigned to a main activity or task, interface activities, constraint activities, or resources assigned to a task.

0600 LIN, Line item

A segment to identify the task, indicate if it is an activity or milestone event, provide an action code (add, change, delete), and provide a schedule level reference.

0610 STS, Status

A segment to provide a work status indicator (work has begun or work has been completed) for the task.

0620 BII, Structure identification

A segment to identify any structured index numbers such as a bill of materials or work breakdown structure for the task.

0630 RFF, Reference

A segment to provide reference numbers associated with the line item (task) such as charge numbers, cost accounts, statement of work numbers, and calendar or work shift references.

0640 IMD, Item description

A segment to provide a description of the task.

0650 PNA, Party identification

A segment to provide the party name of a work team for a given line item (task).

0660 CCI, Characteristic/class id

A segment to provide information about a product or assembly associated with a given line item (task).

0670 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide planned start and finish dates, target dates, actual start and finish dates, estimate start and finish dates, and other related dates for the line item (task).

0680 FTX, Free text

A segment to provide additional text for the line item (task). Can be used to provide additional details about the task, events surrounding the task such as an explanation for a behind schedule over cost situation, or further explanation about data associated with the task.

0690 Segment Group 17: CTA-COM

A group of segments to provide a responsible person's name and communication numbers for the line item (task).

0700 CTA, Contact information

A segment to provide a responsible person's name for the line item (task).

0710 COM, Communication contact

A segment to identify the phone number, fax number, e-mail, or other communication number of the responsible person for the line item (task).

0720 Segment Group 18: QTY-DTM

A group of segments to provide quantities and related unit of measure associated with a line item with related dates. May be used to convey planned, current, or progress durations when expressed as a quantity of units of time or a total quantity such as planned or budgeted hours for the task. Progress can also be conveyed as a percentage (segment group PCD-DTM) or as dates (independent DTM segment). All three methods can be used independently to exchange progress data; typically one of these three methods is preferred and agreed upon between trading parties.

0730 QTY, Quantity

A segment to provide the unit of measure (such as hours) and quantities (such as budget, actual, or earned) associated with a line item (task). Also used to provide the duration of the task when expressed as a quantity of time units such as 10 working days; lead time duration such as a lead of 5 working days is required before the next task can start; and progress information such as a remaining duration of 5 working days.

0740 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide a single pair of start and end dates or a series of start and end dates (for example, to describe monthly allocations) associated with hour quantities (budget, actual, earned value) for the task.

0750 Segment Group 19: PCD-DTM

A group of segments to provide progress details about a line item and any related dates when progress is expressed as a percentage. Progress can also be conveyed as a duration quantity (segment group QTY-DTM) or as dates (independent DTM segment). All three methods can be used independently to exchange progress data; typically one of these three methods is preferred and agreed upon between trading parties.

0760 PCD, Percentage details

A segment to provide the percent complete for the line item (task).

0770 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide effective, or start and end dates for the percent complete for the task.

0780 Segment Group 20: MOA-DTM

A group of segments to provide monetary amounts associated with a line item and any related dates.

0790 MOA, Monetary amount

A segment to provide monetary amounts (such as budget, actual, or earned value costs) for the line item (task).

0800 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide a single pair of start and end dates or a series of start and end dates (for example, to describe costs broken down by month) monetary amounts for the task.

0810 Segment Group 21: GIR-REL-RCS-BII-RFF-IMD-DTM-SG22-SG23-

SG24-SG25 A group of segments to identify a related interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resources, or milestones events (when the line item is an activity) assigned to the line item (task) along with related structured index or reference numbers, descriptions, work status, dates, and any associated quantity, percent, monetary amounts, and rates.

0820 GIR, Related identification numbers

A segment to identify a related constraint activity, interface activity, assigned resource, or milestone event (when the line item is an activity). For constraint activities, also used to indicate if the cited constraint activity is a predecessor or successor. For milestone events associated with a task, also used to provide a work status indicator (work has begun, work has been completed, or the milestone event has been revised).

0830 REL, Relationship

A segment to identify the type of relationship. Used for constraint type of activities to describe finish to start, start to start, start to finish, and finish to finish types of relationships.

0840 RCS, Requirements and conditions

A segment to identify an action (add, change, or delete) for the interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resource, or milestone event.

0850 BII, Structure identification

A segment to identify any structured index numbers such an organization breakdown structure, or trade skill for an assigned resource.

0860 RFF, Reference

A segment to provide reference numbers associated with the interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resource, or milestone event such as a calendar or shift, department, work package, charge number, or work order number.

0870 IMD, Item description

A segment to provide a description of the interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resource, or milestone event. When an assigned resource, can also use this segment to indicate the type of resource in coded form (such as a consumable, recurring, or non-recurring resource).

0880 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide start and finish dates, actual start and finish dates, scheduled start and finish dates, planned or revised dates for assigned resources or milestones.

0890 Segment Group 22: QTY-DTM

A group of segments to provide quantity information for assigned resources or milestones events and related dates. Also used to provide the duration of lead or lag time for an interface activity or constraint activity when the duration is expressed as a quantity of time units such as a lead of 5 working days or a lag or 7 working days.

0900 QTY, Quantity

A segment to provide quantity information about the interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resource, or milestone event. For activities, used to provide the duration of lead or lag time when expressed as quantities of time units. For assigned resources, can be used to indicate the number of resources available for the task (level per calendar unit or total for the duration of the task). For assigned resources and milestone events, can be used to provide associated budget, actual, or earned value hour quantities.

0910 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide an effective date, a pair of start and end dates, or a series of start and end dates associated with an interface activity, constraint activity, assigned resource, or milestone quantity.

0920 Segment Group 23: PCD-DTM

A group of segments to provide an earned value percentage for milestone events or to provide availability or efficiency factors for assigned resources and any related dates.

0930 PCD, Percentage details

A segment to provide availability or efficiency factors for an assigned resource or to provide an earned value percentage for a given milestone (used to calculate the amount of value earned when a milestone is complete).

0940 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide an effective date, or start and end dates associated with the availability, efficiency, or earned value percentage.

0950 Segment Group 24: MOA-DTM

A group of segments to provide monetary amounts for assigned resources and milestone events and any related dates.

0960 MOA, Monetary amount

A segment to provide monetary amounts (such as budget, actual, or earned value) for the assigned resource or milestone event.

0970 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide an effective date, a pair of start and finish dates, or a series of start and finish dates associated with the budget, actual, or earned value monetary amount for the assigned resource or milestone event.

0980 Segment Group 25: RTE-DTM

A group of segments to provide rate information for an assigned resource and any related dates.

0990 RTE, Rate details

A segment to identify a rate for the assigned resource.

1000 DTM, Date/time/period

A segment to provide the effective date, or start and end dates for the assigned resource rate.

Information to be provided in the Summary section:

1010 CNT, Control total

A segment to provide control totals for the message such as the total number of activities, milestones, resources, or constraints.

1020 UNT, Message trailer

A service segment ending a message, giving the total number of segments in the message (including the UNH & UNT) and the control reference number of the message.

	ADR	Address
	BGM	Beginning of message
	BII	Structure identification
	CCI	Characteristic/class id
	CED	Computer environment details
	CNT	Control total
	COM	Communication contact
	CTA	Contact information
	DTM	Date/time/period
	EFI	External file link identification
	FTX	Free text
	GEI	Processing information
	GIR	Related identification numbers
	IMD	Item description
	IND	Index details
	LIN	Line item
	MOA	Monetary amount
	PCD	Percentage details
	PNA	Party identification
	PRI	Price details
	QTY	Quantity
	RCS	Requirements and conditions
	REL	Relationship
	RFF	Reference
	RTE	Rate details
	SCC	Scheduling conditions
	STS	Status
	UNH	Message header
	UNS	Section control
	UNT	Message trailer

Change indicators
plus sign		An addition.
asterisk		Addition/substraction/change to a code entry for a particular data element.
hash or pound sign		Changes to names.
vertical bar		Changes to text for descriptions, notes and functions.
minus sign		A deletion.
letter X		Marked for deletion.