Project New from Template: Incorrect Date Shifting for ETC-Bearing Tasks

Products

• Clarity PPM On Premise
• Clarity FedRAMP
• Clarity PPM SaaS

Issue/Introduction

When a new project is created from a project template ("New Project from Template") and the new project's start date differs from the template's own task dates, task Start/Finish/Duration and assignment dates shift inconsistently depending on whether the task carries ETC on its assignment and whether it is marked Fixed Duration. Only tasks with no ETC + Fixed Duration = Yes shift correctly. Tasks with ETC end up with dates/durations pinned (fully or partially) to the template's original absolute values instead of shifting relative to the new project's start

Preconditions

• A project template exists with a Start/Finish date range materially different from typical "current" project start dates
• Template contains at least one detail task with a resource assignment carrying ETC hours

Steps to Reproduce: 

1. Create a project template (e.g. "TEST TEMPLATE PROJECT") with:
    
   • Template Start = 01-Dec-2026, Finish = Sep-2029
   • Three detail tasks, each Start = 03-Dec-2026, Finish = 16-Dec-2026, Duration = 10, each with one resource assignment:
     • TEST1: assignment ETC = 15, task Fixed Duration = Yes
     • TEST2: assignment ETC = 0, task Fixed Duration = Yes
     • TEST3: assignment ETC = 15, task Fixed Duration = No
       
       
2. Use Projects > Actions > New from Template, selecting this template, and set the new project's Start date to a date well before the template's task dates (e.g. 31-Jul-2026)
3. Open the new project's Tasks list and compare Start/Finish/Duration for TEST1/TEST2/TEST3 against the template. Also compare each task's assignment Start/Finish

Expected Results: All three tasks — regardless of ETC or Fixed Duration setting — shift by the same workday offset relative to the new project's Start date, and each task's original Duration is preserved. Assignment Start/Finish move with their tasks.
 

Actual Results: The new project's start date (Jul 31, 2026) is about 4 months earlier than the template's task dates (Dec 3-16, 2026). All 3 tasks should have shifted back by that same 4-month gap and kept their 10-day length. Only TEST 2 (no ETC) did that correctly. Any task with ETC on its assignment (TEST 1, TEST 3) got its dates handled wrong

• TEST1 (has ETC, Fixed Duration) — didn't move at all. It's sitting on the exact same dates as the template (Dec 3–16, 2026), as if the new project's start date was never applied to it.
• TEST2 (no ETC, Fixed Duration) — this is the one that worked correctly. It moved back to Jul 31–Aug 13, 2026 and kept its 10-day length.
• TEST3 (has ETC, not Fixed Duration) — half-moved. Its Start date correctly jumped back to Jul 31, 2026, but its Finish date got left behind at the template's original Dec 16, 2026. Because Start moved but Finish didn't, the task now looks like it spans almost 5 months (99 working days) instead of 10.

Task	ETC	Fixed Duration	Template Start	Template Finish	Template Duration	New Project Start	New Project Finish	New Project Duration	Notes
TEST 3	15	Yes	Dec 3, 2026	Dec 16, 2026	10	Jul 31, 2026	Dec 16, 2026	99	Only half moved - Start date shifted correctly, but Finish date was left on the template's original date, so the task now looks like it spans ~5 months instead of 10 days.
TEST 2	0	Yes	Dec 3, 2026	Dec 16, 2026	10	Jul 31, 2026	Aug 13, 2026	10	Worked correctly - shifted back by the same gap as the new project's start date and kept its original 10-day length.
TEST 1	15	No	Dec 3, 2026	Dec 16, 2026	10	Dec 3, 2026	Dec 16, 2026	10	Didn't move at all - still sitting on the same dates as the template, as if the new project's start date was never applied.

Environment

Clarity 16.3.3, 16.4.0,16.4.1,16.4.2

Cause

DE209846

Resolution

DE209846, in review by Engineering

Workaround: After creating a project from a template whose start date differs from the template's own dates, manually review and correct Start/Finish dates (and assignment dates) on any task that has ETC