Thank you.
I changed task to "start as soon as possible". This is a parent task with 2 child tasks. Could not change parent task duration. Had to change child tasks durations which the auto changed parent taks.
Also could could extend date by changing due date. Had to change duration to extend dates.
Is this by design?
Ah, parent tasks are a different beast entirely. A parent is really just a bucket for child tasks. The start/finish/duration is controlled entirely by the child tasks (earliest starting child task = parent start. latest ending child task = parent end).
In other words, leave the parent tasks be. You cannot change the start and finish dates (or duration) of a parent task manually. You must update the child tasks individually. (and yes, this is a standard scheduling methodology)