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Symptoms

The summary tasks (summary task: A task that is made up of subtasks and summarizes those subtasks. Use outlining to create summary tasks. Project automatically determines summary task information [such as duration and cost] by using information from the subtasks.) disappear when tasks (task: An activity that has a beginning and an end. Project plans are made up of tasks.) are grouped (group: To combine or rearrange tasks or resources in a project according to specific criteria, for example, task duration, priority, resource overallocation, or finish date; do not confuse this with the Group field, which is a resource field.).

Cause

When you select a criterion in the Group By box, the tasks are grouped and outlining (outline: A hierarchical structure for a project that shows how some tasks fit within broader groupings. In Project, subtasks are indented under summary tasks.) is not available. Grouping allows you to view the tasks by criteria that you choose, so the summary tasks are temporarily hidden to enable sorting of tasks by that criterion.

When the tasks are grouped, the Show Subtasks and Hide Subtasks buttons collapse and expand the groups, rather than the outline structure of the summary tasks and subtasks (subtask: A task that is part of a summary task. The subtask information is consolidated into the summary task. You can designate subtasks by using the Project outlining feature.).

Resolution

Either you can modify the project settings to show the summary tasks while grouping is applied, or you can remove grouping from your task list.

To show the summary tasks while grouping is applied, do the following:

1. On the Project menu, point to Group by, and then click Customize Group By.
2. Select the Show summary tasks check box.

To remove grouping, click the Group By box , and then click No Group.

Also, you can display a project summary task (project summary task: A task that summarizes the duration, work, and costs of all tasks in a project. The project summary task appears at the top of the project, its ID number is 0, and it presents the project's timeline from start to finish.) that shows summary information about an entire project on a single row with its own summary taskbar at the top of the project. Project summary tasks are hidden by default.

To show the project summary tasks for your project and any subprojects (subproject: A project that is inserted into another project. Use subprojects as a way to break complex projects into more manageable parts. Also known as an inserted project.), on the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the View tab. Under Outline options, select the Show project summary task check box.