Release notes

Version 4.4.9

November 21, 2024

New features

Added import of students from ASc Timetables XML

Changes

Optimised import of preferred rooms from ASc Timetables XML
Updated algorithm settings used by the Timetable creation wizard to improve the optimisation speed

Fixed issues

The weighting method for the subgroup double-booking constraint sometimes produces dubious results, preventing effective optimisation
The determination of subgroup gap length constraint magnitude produces inconsistent results for specific scenarios, triggering an error during RNA search optimisation
The Remove buttons are enabled when system is busy in the Curriculum builder
Course constraint configuration is lost in exported XML
Some room constraints related to campuses are computed even with rooms disabled

Version 4.4.8

September 26, 2024

Changes

Removed the Ctrl+C shortcut for taking timetable snapshots. It caused confusing behaviour for the users. Snapshots can be taken by clicking the photo icon on the right-hand side of the control panel.

Fixed issues

Period times in PDF printouts use incorrect format which includes the AM/PM suffixes
Timetable view may not be initialised properly when there are unused subjects

Version 4.4.7

September 20, 2024

Fixed issues

Loading of snapshots may be enabled while computation module is busy in the timetable view, triggering an error if clicked
Timetable overview not showing correctly in public timetable view

Version 4.4.6

August 21, 2024

Changes

Added Filter by day to the visual settings for the timetable overview
Added option to colour cells by teacher in PDF export
Server now returns 401 Unauthorized from endpoints inaccessible due to subscription limitation

Fixed issues

List or menu items cannot be clicked once the list or menu contents have changed dynamically as a result of a user action
Selected fixed lunch and recess times are not retained in the dropdowns in the term optimisation settings

Timetable view

Incorrect week number shown when weeks are shown individually or in sequence in Chrome
Cannot change cell colour in the timetable overview
The filter panel in the timetable view changes height once the last filter is closed

Version 4.4.5

July 26th, 2024

Fixed issues

The maximum lunch break duration for a subgroup is calculated incorrectly in special circumstances with multiple divisions in the class group, multi-period lessons and a wide staggered lunch window.
This change affects the health and fitness of existing timetables which exhibited the issue.
Incorrect timetable warning about unsuitable lessons for linking given in special circumstances
Disabled entities not greyed-out in selection dropdowns
HTML artifacts appear in the time field configuration for Czech localisation

Version 4.4.4

July 2nd, 2024

New features

Added a partial timetable analysis by subject. This allows users to have Skolaris create timetables for specific subjects only. These can then be locked, for example, and the rest of the timetable can be filled automatically.

Fixed issues

Minor typographical corrections in the UI
Buttons for removing class groups, subjects and year groups in the curriculum builder are enabled when system is busy and can trigger an error when clicked
Teachers imported from Wonde can have duplicate codes
Room selection in the Edit schedule card in the timetable view not sorted correctly and not retaining value after flipping the availability filter

Version 4.4.3

June 9th, 2024

Fixed issues

Sub-accounts cannot download timetables
Interactive UI components such as sliders and checkboxes sometimes not working after switching between tabs
Teaching groups not sorted correctly in the dropdown when creating a new lesson

Version 4.4.2

May 22nd, 2024

New features

Added the option to export individual room timetables to a spreadsheet. Previously it was only possible to export individual class group or teacher timetables.

Other changes

Users can no longer create a term called "Default". That name is reserved. Existing user terms with that name were kept intact, but we recommend renaming them to a more suitable name.

Fixed issues

Cannot import teachers from Wonde if their initials aren't set
Lists of configuration sets aren't updated automatically from the server when a set is added or removed that is visible to the user but doesn't belong to the active organisation

Version 4.4.1

May 15th, 2024

Changes

Removed "Unfold option blocks" option from visual settings in the cover assignment screen. Option blocks are never folded in this view.
Removed Cloud School (Progresso) import option, as Cloud School ceased operation
Various typographical improvements

Fixed issues

Opening the right hand side panel breaks usability of sliders in the main view
The ripple effect of buttons in dialogs may be misplaced
Constraint deviation description missing from cards in the Grouped view of a constraint config set
The "Undo filter" button is enabled after opening the cover assignment screen, but clicking it has no effect
Optimisation settings do not appear correctly in the Spread editor mode of the course screen

Version 4.4.0

May 10th, 2024

New features

Added the concept of a class teacher for class groups. This can be added in the properties or is imported automatically from School Chimes.
Added a new constraint Subgroup: First lesson teacher. This can be used to fulfill the requirement of some schools (especially in India) that the class group's designated class teacher should teach the first lesson of the class group each day.

Other changes

The term in an organisation imported from School Chimes is now named "New term" instead of "Default", which could interfere with the system's default configuration set data

Fixed issues

Javascript error when deleting a lesson set or a course configuration set with clustering from its screen

Version 4.3.5

May 3rd, 2024

Changes

Introduced thin scrollbars in both the main navigation and the content window

Fixed issues

Cannot clone a class group when the underlying teaching group and subgroup structure has been modified in an unexpected way
Javascript error when switching languages with Alt-Shift-L in an entity screen with Properties panel open
Sub-accounts aren't deleted from the authorisation database when deleting the parent user

Version 4.3.4

April 25th, 2024

New features

Added a Load column to the exported teaching summary spreadsheet (downloadable from the teachers list screen). The new column contains the calculated ratio of teaching periods to the expected teaching load configured in the teacher's effective configuration set adjusted by each teacher's individual teaching periods adjustment (editable in the teacher's properties) rounded to three decimal places.

Other changes

Improved UI performance when long lists appear on the screen

Fixed issues

Javascript error sometimes appears when navigating away from an entity screen after editing its effective configuration set

Version 4.3.3

April 17th, 2024

New features

Added Lesson set availability overview screen which can be accessed from the Insight tools section in the main navigation
Added the option to import students from a CSV file to the class group screen

Fixed issues

Clear filter button doesn't reset subscription filter in Users screen

Version 4.3.2

April 12th, 2024

Changes

Added a help message about adding to a lesson set to the lesson screen

Fixed issues

Missing Add class group button in teaching group screen
Config set dropdown empty after traversing between class groups, teachers, rooms or courses in case the effective config set is the same
Card actions and card contents are not separated by sufficient space in some cases

Version 4.3.1

March 27th, 2024

Changes

Reduced size of third-party Javascript by 10% for faster application load times

Fixed issues

Drag&drop of a lesson tile for a subgroup within a timeslot with a lunch icon triggers a Javascript error
Multiple drag&drop of lesson tiles in the timetable view can cause tiles to disappear until page is refreshed
Error message missing and import button enabled when trying to import a native Skolaris XML of a timetable belonging to a non-existent term
Teacher summary generation enabled even though no term is selected (hence there are no lessons to summarise), leading to an error

Version 4.3.0

March 12th, 2024

New features

Updated the user interface with modern material design components. This should improve stability and responsiveness, as well as provide a long-term foundation for future development. Included are various all-round simplifications and visual improvements, such as introduction of icon toggle buttons for controlling hardness of softness of room preferences, constraints, etc.

Other changes

Added period count to teacher assignment screen
Simplified activation of organisation and term from the dashboard
Prevented options with zero required choices appearing in student screens
Added proper subgroup/class group description to teacher spreadsheet export (previously the teaching group code was used)
Removed dependencies on Google Polymer, WebcomponentsJS and Knockout-jqueryui libraries

Fixed issues

Intermittent Javascript error appearing in timetable screen after deleting a lesson
Cancelling a constraint configuration set selection in timetable screen triggers a Javascript error
Can't delete a course configuration set from its screen
Can't create a term if an organisation had been active with a term of the same name and a class group or teacher configuration set with the term's name existed
Clustering settings for a course or lesson set cannot be changed unless a term with periods is selected
Class group size is always zero when importing from School Base

Version 4.2.8

January 31st, 2024

New features

Added import from Wonde
Added import from SchoolChimes MIS

Version 4.2.7

November 27th, 2023

Fixed issues

Cannot delete a class group in the curriculum builder
Cannot export an Excel spreadsheet if a teacher or a class group has a name longer than 31 characters
Intermittent Javascript error appears when stopping a timetable analysis in the wizard manually

Version 4.2.6

August 25th, 2023

Changes

Added an option to fold/unfold option blocks in the timetable PDF export. This behaves identically to the toggle in the visual settings in the timetable screen.

Fixed issues

Cannot create a new term due to a new configuration set validation
Cannot import a Skolaris organisation XML containing rooms with accepted year groups

Version 4.2.5

August 18th, 2023

Fixed issues

Lunch break maximum duration is calculated incorrectly in special circumstances
It is possible to change the parent organisation of a configuration set when such set is assigned to a class group, teacher, course or room or is default for a term in its current parent organisation, leading to unexpected behaviour of the optimisation

Cooperative mode

Class group additional information in the list is not updated when course data is changed by another user or in another window
Course additional information in the list disappears when a lesson set is deleted by another user or in another window
Effective configuration set information in the lists of class groups, teachers, courses is not updated when a change is made by another user or in another window
Periods are not updated in the subject list when courses or lessons are changed by another user or in another window

Version 4.2.4

July 3rd, 2023

Fixed issues

Overlapping lessons longer than two periods can break the timetable PDF export if aligned in a certain way
Export of a timetable to PDF without East-Asian characters prevents subsequent export of a timetable with East-Asian characters
Chosen subjects in student options screen cannot be manipulated after changes have been cancelled

Version 4.2.3

June 10th, 2023

Fixed issues

Static timetable analysis reports incorrect warning for too many lessons for teacher in an option block in an asymmetrical scenario when a single course has more periods than the average number of periods per course
Static timetable analysis reports duplicate warnings when a lesson that belongs to an option block has no available timeslots or rooms
E-mail notification about a finished timetable optimisation sometimes fails when a healthy timetable has not been found

Version 4.2.2

May 25th, 2023

Changes

The idle time limit calculation for teachers has been changed to apply to specified time fields and not to all individual days as before.
This is a breaking change for users that use this constraint. Create time fields for all days and add them to the limit configuration to preserve current timetable fitness.
The calculation for class groups has not been changed.

Fixed issues

Incorrect index for a day or period can sometimes be written into the database, leading to a "Cannot load data" error when creating a timetable and a broken term screen

Version 4.2.1

May 11th, 2023

Changes

Unified fonts used in timetable PDF export

Fixed issues

Japanese, Korean and Chinese characters appear as square boxes in timetable PDF export
XHSTT import fails with server error
Long subject names are sometimes incorrectly truncated in timetable PDF export

Version 4.2.0

May 2nd, 2023

New features

Added export to iSAMS. More precisely it is an export of a timetable to a CSV file that can be imported into iSAMS. It is available to all users in the actions menu in the list of timetables. The exported file also contains information about the curriculum structure and teacher timeslot unavailabilities.

Other changes

Updated the core client-server communication library for improved security, stability and performance

Fixed issues

Export of a multi-week timetable to Bromcom XML file fails

Version 4.1.0

March 23rd, 2023

New features

Added Course: Room stability constraint. It makes it possible for Skolaris to schedule all lessons of a course into the same room. The constraint is turned off by default to prevent affecting the fitness of existing timetables. It can be turned on in the constraint configuration set.

Other changes

Added paging to the students choices grid in the option screen
The list of available subjects for a student is now scrollable

Fixed issues

One page size may appear twice in the paging controls

Version 4.0.1

February 28th, 2023

Changes

Added import of students from iSAMS. This was added to supply student data to our new Options module.
Added export of teachers and subjects to iSAMS
Added Recorded health column to the list of timetables

Fixed issues

The Add/Change teacher button is active even if the user has no write access when lessons are selected in a list

Version 4.0.0

February 3rd, 2023

New features

Added the Options module:

Added Options which allow specification of available subjects so that students can choose some of them and the option blocks can be automatically calculated based on their choices
Added Students who can choose their optional subjects without logging into Skolaris in a dedicated screen secured by e-mail verification. Students can be added to each class group in a new Students tab.
Added automatic calculation of option blocks from the student choices. This is powered by the same algorithm as the timetable creation and provides a simple slider so that users can bias the calculation toward cost-effectiveness or student satisfaction.
Finally, added a one-click creation of option blocks from the calculated suggestions which can be fully customised on the creation screen

Reworked the Option block creation screen:

Advanced settings are hidden away in a configuration panel
The teaching group code template automatically updates itself to include all involved year groups (unless changed manually)
The unclear replacement pattern {SUB} for including the subject code in the teaching group code has been changed to {SUBJECT}
The automatic assignment of division names and subgroup codes has a smarter detection and resolution of duplicates

Added Course configuration sets. These replace the existing individual course optimisation settings for daily booking, distribution and clustering and behave exactly as teacher configuration sets do for teachers. They can be used to adjust the configuration of many courses at once.
For example, it is now possible to prioritise the distribution of courses for core subjects with just a few clicks, whereas previously this would mean adjusting the configuration of each course individually.

Added Subject availability overview screen. It is similar to the existing Teacher availability overview and can be accessed from the same Insight tools navigation section.

Added Lesson: Year group not accepted by room constraint. This is especially useful for primary schools to prevent scheduling lessons of older children into rooms with small desks and vice versa. Accepted year groups can be added in each room's screen.

Added Room: Minimum occupancy constraint. It can be used to have Skolaris assign rooms to lessons that will leave the least empty seats. By default it is turned off, however. You can specify the minimum occupancy for each room in its properties.

Other changes

Timetable

Reworked the components displaying constraint breaks for a faster timetable screen
Added scaling for room quota constraints penalties
Added linear scaling for the Room: Capacity constraint penalty
Added the achieved timetable health to the e-mail notification when the result isn't feasible

Miscellaneous

Dropdowns with configuration sets now show only the items belonging to the active organisation or no organisation at all
Renamed the Timetable tab to Preferences tab in all entity screens
Updated the look of the tables to match the latest material design recommendations
Added icons for optimisation settings of lesson sets
Removed all remaining support for Internet Explorer
Removed Hebrew support as the translation hasn't been finished

Fixed issues

Timetable

Static check for total available timeslots breaks if a room has multibooking
A lesson cannot be placed in a room not accepting the subject even if the controlling constraint is configured as soft.
Timetable modification time is not updated after saving a change which doesn't affect fitness
Timetable screen refresh is triggered when an unrelated configuration set is changed in the database
Redundant data reload happens when entering the final step of the Timetable creation wizard, causing the Find timetable button to flicker and sometimes trigger an error when clicked

Miscellaneous

Terms of the same name can be created under one organisation if users do not have read access to both
Javascript error when deleting a configuration set from its screen
Once specified, cannot remove the value from the (non-required) term finish date field
Entity traversal on the entity screen using arrows and dropdown in the toolbar is broken after creating a new entity (such as an option block)
Time-related data such as names of months sometimes appear in the wrong language
Typos in the Czech translation