Dependencies and conflicts
A dependency in Mermix is a Jira "Blocks" link: one work item can only start after another one finishes. Mermix reads the links from Jira when you open the Dependencies screen, and adding or removing a link there saves it to Jira straight away.
When a dependency is in conflict
A dependency is in conflict when the work that depends on another starts on or before the day that other work finishes. Mermix shows it — as a red link on the Dependencies screen, on the red Conflicts button in its toolbar, in Schedule Adherence and on the Portfolios page — but it never moves anything by itself. Adding a link, or dragging a task across one, only shows the conflict. You may know something the link doesn't: the dependency may be soft, or the dates may be agreed with a customer.
Click Conflicts in the toolbar to list them in a panel beside the chart: for each, which task waits for which, who does them and by how many days they overlap, with Show (scrolls to both tasks and lights them up) and Fix… (Board members see Show only). Close it with ✕ or Esc; Mermix remembers whether you leave it open. Tick Conflicts only in the toolbar to see just the tasks in a conflict, with the list open or closed. On the Portfolios page, a dependency-conflict item has Open Dependencies, which opens the screen on this list.
Filter by projects and people — tick several of each, in either view — or tick Only tasks with links. A link whose other task the filter hides keeps a small note beside the bar ("waits for DATA-113 (filtered out)"); click it to bring that task back. The Conflicts button always counts every conflict in the portfolio; the list greys out the ones your filters hide ("hidden by your filters"), and Show brings them back.
The chart opens on today; Today brings you back, and Week / Month change the scale (Mermix remembers your choice). Drag the edge of the task column to widen it, or double-click it to fit the longest title. Grey lines show each person's order of work — which of their tasks comes first; they are not Jira links, and are off unless you tick the box beside them in the legend. Finished work is faded and hatched. Click a link to see both tasks with their dates — "PLAT-106 waits for PLAT-105 to finish" — and, for a conflict, by how much they overlap.
List of links (beside By Resource and By Project) shows the same links as a table: each task, the task it waits for, their dates and whether they are in conflict — conflicts first, with Show and Fix…. It is also the easiest view to read with a screen reader.
Hover over a task to see its whole chain — everything it waits for and everything that waits for it — with the rest faded, and a note with the task's title, who does it, its dates and how much is done. The portfolio picker at the left of the toolbar is the Team Calendar's own: change it on either screen and both follow.
Finished work is never in conflict: a link from finished work blocks nothing, and a link into work already finished needs no fixing.
Fixing a conflict
Admins and Planners can fix a conflict when they decide to:
- On the Dependencies screen, click the red link.
- Choose Fix…. Mermix shows what would move: the task that depends on the other, moved to its person's first working day after the other one ends — and anything after it that would then be in conflict too, down the chain.
- Check the list and choose Move it (or Move N tasks).
Each task keeps the working hours its dates hold for its person, laid out on their working days, so weekends, public holidays and a part-time pattern are respected. Work only ever moves later, and finished work is never moved. The new dates are pending until you push them to Jira, like any other change.
If the fix would move a task in a portfolio you don't plan, Mermix tells you and moves nothing; someone who plans that portfolio, or an Admin, can make the fix. If tasks depend on each other in a circle, no dates can satisfy them — fix the links in Jira first.
Exporting the chart
Export above the chart saves it as PDF (the default), SVG or PNG, for the next 6 weeks, this month, the next 3 months, every date on the chart, or your own dates. It shows the tasks the chart shows now, filters and search included. PDF and SVG stay sharp at any zoom; a long chart continues on the next PDF page so every link stays in one piece. A link to a task outside the chosen period is left out.