Placing periods

In this example we will be placing periods into an empty timetable and locking them in such a way that subsequent automatic scheduling cannot change their position.

1.Open the demo.gpn file and delete the current timetable via 'Scheduling | Reset the timetable'

2.Unscheduled periods will now be displayed next to the timetable and can be placed in the timetable using drag & drop.

Clicking on a period that you wish to schedule will display possible time slots in the timetable.

Fields which are highlighted green indicate that these would be good slots to place the period avoiding the risk of a clash.

The software also takes into consideration any additional input you have made. For instance, Friday is not displayed as a possible day for the lesson 'Mus' for class 1a because teacher 'Callas' has been allocated a day off on Friday ('Teachers | Master data | Time requests').

Tip: Colours of time requests

You can use the <Colours of the time requests> button in the 'Time requests' window to specify the display colours for the different time requests. This is necessary if for example there are difficulties in distinguishing between red and green.

If you click on the <Settings> button and then check the box 'DragDrop: colours same as time requests' on the 'Layout 2' tab, the settings will also be used for manual scheduling in the timetable.

Lessons are automatically displayed and scheduled as single or double periods (or blocks) in accordance with settings made for double periods under lessons.

When there is more than one unscheduled period of a particular lesson, the individual periods will be displayed stacked. When there are more than three periods, the number of unscheduled periods will also be indicated.

You can determine the position of unscheduled periods yourself by simply grouping the stack around the desired position in the timetable. After right-clicking and selecting ' Re-group unsched. prds.' the stacks will be automatically repositioned.

Unscheduled periods can of course also be scheduled via the overview timetables.

Scheduling from the lessons window

Alternatively, you can schedule periods from the lessons window. To do this, click on the relevant period in the 'Unsched Prds' column and use drag & drop to position it in the timetable.

Tip: Undo

All schedulings can be undone using the<Undo changes> button

Locking periods in the timetable

You can lock periods in their current position so that a subsequent optimisation cannot change their position by selecting the period in the timetable and then clicking on the <Lock period> buttonin the timetable. An * will indicate that the period is now locked.

Warning: Locking manually scheduled periods

If you place periods in the timetable manually without locking them, they may be rescheduled in the course of timetable optimisation.