Custom FET BP - block planning (Need help choosing a custom version)

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

OK. I have the file. I am still working on tuning some data (e.g. balancing teacher loads, making students' choices realistic) but I found a FET problem that we need to solve. Maybe you recall there's a teacher who teaches multiple courses (most teachers do) and FET was scheduling two students of different courses simultaneously. No problem - we solved this using the new constraint set of activity tags not overlapping. But here's a problem: this constraint prevents those courses from being placed in the FAKE hours as well. Perhaps a solution is to massively increase the number of fake hours, but maybe there's another way that you think is better.

I will send you the file after I feel like I have made it realistic and given it the highest likelihood of being solvable.

[Liviu Lalescu]

Good observation!

I did not check the code, but it should be easy to skip this constraint (activity tags not overlapping) if the activities are in the Fake hours.

I didn't check the code yet because I am hardly working on other things as well.

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

Good observation!

I did not check the code, but it should be easy to skip this constraint (activity tags not overlapping) if the activities are in the Fake hours.

OK - I will temporarily implement lots of fake hours as a workaround and will wait for you to post a new snapshot whenever convenient

I didn't check the code yet because I am hardly working on other things as well.

I know English is a second(+) language for you, but "hardly working" means working very little 

[Liviu Lalescu]

Good observation!

I did not check the code, but it should be easy to skip this constraint (activity tags not overlapping) if the activities are in the Fake hours.

OK - I will temporarily implement lots of fake hours as a workaround and will wait for you to post a new snapshot whenever convenient

Oh, if it is a show stopper, I will try it now. Don't add lots of fake hours, please. I'll let you know when I'll have the new snapshot.

Maybe you could send me a file to test this new change? Not solvable with the current code, solvable with my new future modifications.

I didn't check the code yet because I am hardly working on other things as well.

I know English is a second(+) language for you, but "hardly working" means working very little 

:-))

Every day you learn something.

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

Oh, if it is a show stopper, I will try it now. Don't add lots of fake hours, please. I'll let you know when I'll have the new snapshot.

Maybe you could send me a file to test this new change? Not solvable with the current code, solvable with my new future modifications.

The timetable will definitely not solve without modifying that constraint. I just added 10 extra fake hours (as we already had 50 hours total and 60 is the max) temporarily but I can undo it very easily.

I have significantly relaxed the constraints to hopefully allow generation so I can then see what bugs remain. It looks like the file might solve with the 10 extra fake hours but I know things are still very relaxed. I will send you the file shortly.

[Liviu Lalescu]

Oh, if it is a show stopper, I will try it now. Don't add lots of fake hours, please. I'll let you know when I'll have the new snapshot.

Maybe you could send me a file to test this new change? Not solvable with the current code, solvable with my new future modifications.

The timetable will definitely not solve without modifying that constraint. I just added 10 extra fake hours (as we already had 50 hours total and 60 is the max) temporarily but I can undo it very easily.

I have significantly relaxed the constraints to hopefully allow generation so I can then see what bugs remain. It looks like the file might solve with the 10 extra fake hours but I know things are still very relaxed. I will send you the file shortly.

Awaiting a file with only 50 hours (8 Fake hours).

[Liviu Lalescu]

The constraints of type activities not overlapping and activity tags not overlapping are treated together. May I assume that you have no constraints activities not overlapping, or that it does not matter that these are broken in the Fake hours?

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

The constraints of type activities not overlapping and activity tags not overlapping are treated together. May I assume that you have no constraints activities not overlapping, or that it does not matter that these are broken in the Fake hours?

Correct. Sending you the file right now.

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

Please do not include the new file I am sending with the snapshot as it contains teachers' real names. I will provide an anonymous file later in testing.

[Liviu Lalescu]

Please do not include the new file I am sending with the snapshot as it contains teachers' real names. I will provide an anonymous file later in testing.

OK.

[Liviu Lalescu]

I saw a mistake in your activities: the last ones, physical education, are 1+1+1 with total duration 4. They should be 2+1+1? (or 4 - a single activity?) The PE_PGY subject, if I remember correctly.

I am done with the new modification. I tried to test it on your file, but it does not finish. I will create a small file for me. I will then compile for Windows and put the new version for you (with activities and activity tags not overlapping exception in the Fake hours).

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

You are right - they should be duration 3. I fixed it.

[ChicagoPianoTuner]

I thought of another thing I had not considered: at the moment, it may be the case that a student does not get his last choice NOR his reserve choice (there is no constraint preventing this). I could solve it with activities occupy max slots from selection = 8, activities selected = all of the student's activities, slots = all fake slots. Is there a better way?

[Liviu Lalescu]

1) On my written notes and in some post above and in the readme-cpt.txt, there is point (5), same students cannot have activities both (A2, T1) and (A2, T2) (same FET hour). I did this in the code. I examined now the code and it seems that this works also for Fake hours. If not, let me know.

I hope I am not wrong, I am tired.

2) It is best to solve the file now, and then add more constraints, if it is still solvable.

[Liviu Lalescu]

I just added the new snapshot: https://lalescu.ro/liviu/fet/download/custom/cpt/