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Klargantt

Total float and free float

Drop the schedule: every task gets its total float and its free float, in working days of its own calendar. Negative float is shown as it is.

Drop a schedule file

Microsoft Project XML, Primavera P6 XER, GanttProject .gan, CSV or .xlsx table, .mpp recognised. Or

When to use it

You need to know how far a task can slip before it moves the project finish, and how far it can slip without getting in the way of the next one. Those are not the same numbers.

Or a schedule shows several hundred days of float, which nearly always means links are missing.

What this page does

  • Total float: what a task can take without moving the project finish.
  • Free float: what it can take without moving its first successor.
  • Both in working days, converted from the working hours of the relevant calendar, not in calendar days.
  • Negative float, which says a constraint or a deadline cannot be met, is kept negative.
  • The quality check reports float above 44 days and negative float, as the DCMA assessment asks.

What it does not do: Float is read in context. Klargantt gives the number and says where it comes from; it does not conclude that the schedule is good, or that it is bad.

What is read

  • Microsoft Project XML, Primavera P6 XER, GanttProject .gan, a CSV or .xlsx table.

No file is uploaded: the schedule is read by your browser, in this tab, and the page is not allowed to open a connection to any other site.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between total float and free float?
Total float looks at the project finish; free float looks at the next task. A task can have 10 days of total float and 0 of free float: moving it does not push the project out, but it blocks its successor immediately.
Why in working days?
Because five days of float over a five-day week is not the same thing as five calendar days. The conversion uses the task's own calendar.
Can float be negative?
Yes, and that is information. It says a deadline or a constraint imposes a date the links cannot meet. Clamping it to zero would hide the problem.

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