Time Table Generation System
Date
2015-01-29
Authors
Biemba, Andrew
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Abstract
Timetabling is the allocation, subject to constraints, of given resources to objects in space-time domain to satisfy a set of desirable objectives as nearly as possible. Particularly, the university timetabling problem for classes or lectures can be viewed as fixing in time and space a sequence of meetings between instructors and students, while simultaneously satisfying a number of various essential conditions or constraints.The timetabling problem concerns virtually every educational institution, be it high school, college, or university and thus requires to be solved effectively. This is usually done 'by hand', taking several days or weeks of iterative repair after feedback from lecturers complaining that the timetable is unfair to them in some way.The basic challenge is to schedule lectures over a limited time period so as to avoid conflicts and to satisfy a number of side constraints. The problem, in its simplest form, is one of assigning lectures to periods and rooms such that either no conflicts or a minimum number of conflicts occur. By "conflicts", 1 mean when a lecture is scheduled to be lectured in two or more places at the same time or when two or more lectures are scheduled to be lectured in one place at the same time. Computer timetabling and administration systems do exist to ease this burden but each timetabling problem is as individual as the institution from which it originates.In this project, a program that uses an optimal algorithm is to be developed that provides a solution to the lecture timetabling problem. The system, to be developed in Java, Microsoft Access and an XML Knowledge Base, is a replacement of the traditional manual way used to create lecture timetables. The system will be tested using input from various departments at the University of Zambia. Ideally, the system is expected to be generic and thus accommodate various sets of requirements and be able to work in other universities and colleges.This system aims to schedule different lectures given a set of classrooms, lecture theatres, halls or labs in a specified time frame, say for instance, from 08:00 hours in the morning to 17:00 hours in the afternoon from Monday to Friday. Lunch break or any other break can be easily set, say from 13:00 to 14:00 hours according to a user's preference. It will take various inputs like details of students or student groups, courses, classrooms/halls and lecturers available. Depending upon these inputs, it will generate a possible time table which can be exported to html or pdf making optimal utilization of all resources in a way that will best suit any of the constraints or university rules. The system will have room for extension/expansion and shall be able to accommodate as many requirements as possible.The system is expected to produce significantly better timetables than those that were actually employed (produced by hand), and should always take a considerably short period of time to generate them. The application will provide an easy, time-saving way to generate lecture timetables within given constraints.
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Keywords
Time Table Management System , Time Management System.