Dependencies specify the relationships between tasks, milestones, and other items that can be presented on the timeline and displayed by the Gantt and Board type modules (Gantt and Board are the default module names used). By defining dependencies, you can automate task scheduling and highlight relations between tasks without impacting the schedule.
Dependency types
There are two basic types of dependencies:
- Strong dependencies → have a scheduling impact.
- Soft dependencies → serve a purely informational purpose and don't have any scheduling impact.
Strong dependencies
Strong dependencies have a scheduling impact on tasks.
Soft dependencies
How dependencies are displayed varies based on a module.
Gantt module
External links
External links show dependencies between tasks within the scope of different Boxes. Such a dependency might constrain and therefore, the task period mode is set to "locked":
Dependency details
The following can be defined for a dependency:
| Strong | Soft | |
|---|---|---|
| target task | YES | YES |
| dependency type | YES Soft dependencies don't have different types | |
| lag time | YES | NO |
| ASAP mode | YES | NO |
| Description | YES | YES |
Soft dependency in Jira task sources
For all Jira task sources: the soft dependency links are mapped by default to the "is blocked by / blocks" Jira link, which is one of the default links automatically created by Jira.
If that link is removed or cannot be detected, the mapping will be left empty.