Release notes 2019

Version 3.9.1

November 17th, 2019

Czech republic

Changes

Added traversal controls to the lesson set screen
Improved loading speed of the timetable view

Fixed issues

List of user groups is empty after a list of users had previously been opened
Redundant teaching groups are created with a new option block
List of class groups for traversal is overwritten by a list of subgroups when a new subgroup is created in the class group screen

Version 3.9.0

November 12th, 2019

New features

Changed entity traversal behaviour. When an entity (e.g. class group) screen is entered from a list, the list's filter applies to the list of the entities that can be navigated using the dropdown in the header and the arrow controls in the top right corner. This way the user can quickly traverse specific entities without leaving the entity screen.

Added traversal controls to the Option block screen

Other changes

Navigation

Smoothed out transitions when navigating between entities using the traversal controls

UI

Improved rendering speed of all entity screens
Improved rendering speed of health and fitness breakdown popup
The teachers field in all lesson lists now only shows up to two teachers assigned to a lesson, with an indication of the number of assigned teachers if there are more. This improves the table rendering speed and appearance.

Server

Improved speed of loading organisation data
Improved speed of saving, importing and exporting data

Fixed issues

Warning banner from preferred rooms editor sometimes remains on screen after leaving the subject screen
'Open' button missing from subject card in teacher qualifications editor
Entity data is requested from the server even if it is in cache
The configuration set dropdown in class group and teacher optimisation settings contains misleading information when no term is activated

Version 3.8.5

November 3rd, 2019

Changes

Added an option to create a new class group using an existing class group as a template. If this option is used, the divisions, subgroups, courses and lessons are copied from the template into the new class group.
Added requirement flag for placement in the list of courses, so that it's consistent with information shown in the list of subjects

Fixed issues

Optimisation

Number of moves between buildings and transits between campuses sometimes calculated incorrectly for class groups with multiple divisions
Lesson set clustering constraint check may not work correctly when the lesson set contains multiple lessons of different durations longer than 1
Maximum campus transits constraint doesn't work when campus transit time constraint is disabled

Static analysis

Warning for insufficient rooms for option block lessons is shown even for organisations without rooms

UI

List of divisions and subgroups in class group screen is corrupted after deleting a division
Initial loading of organisation data is slow

Version 3.8.4

October 28th, 2019

Changes

Added auto-update of teaching group code and name when renaming a subgroup which has the same code and is the only member of the teaching group
Improved default settings for class group and teacher configurations when running the term config wizard for the first time

Fixed issues

Empty error dialog sometimes appears when configuring constraints in timetable creation wizard

Version 3.8.3

October 15th, 2019

Changes

Added banner warning the user of an expired subscription
Added proper browser tab title for timetable creation wizard

Fixed issues

A co-owner (sub-account user) can access all data even if parent user's subscription has expired

Version 3.8.2

October 12th, 2019

Fixed issues

Optimisation

Computation module no longer loading correctly in Chrome 77

UI

Period selector checkbox in entity timeslot editor positioned off-center

Version 3.8.1

October 10th, 2019

Changes

Timetable

Added lesson set filter to allow displaying all lessons in a set
Clicking on a lesson set constraint break in fitness breakdown applies the lesson set filter
The fitness breakdown is updated with real-time information during optimisation

UI

Timetable modification and creation time uses a friendly format both on dashboard and the in the list

Misc

Improved Microsoft Edge browser support
Reduced memory usage of the computation module

Fixed issues

Optimisation

Computation module sometimes crashes if some lessons in a linked lesson set are locked

UI

Long timetable names overflow the tiles on dashboard
Long object names break layout of the tables
Repeated opening and closing of the fitness breakdown slows down the browser
Name field not focused when creating a new timetable
Option block folding doesn't work in public timetable view

Version 3.8.0

October 4th, 2019

New features

The computation module now uses the WebAssembly technology. WebAssembly runs on every modern browser, so Skolaris can now be used outside of Google Chrome. However, Chrome remains our recommended browser.

Added optional folding of option blocks to the timetable view. Previously all the option lessons were always visible, stacked on top of each other within one slot, which could clutter the time table and make manual manipulation hard. The lessons belonging to the same option block scheduled to one time slot are now folded by default into one tile with the name and colour of the option block. The option block tiles can be dragged and dropped for easy manipulation with all the lessons in the block.
Before:

After:

Added a list of all lessons. This can facilitate, for example, a quick overview of all multi-period lessons as well as ease the creation of lesson sets of unrelated lessons. The list of lessons can be found in the expansion of the current term navigation section. At the same time list of courses has been moved to the expansion of the organisation navigation, just below the teaching groups.

Other changes

Static analysis

Added check for not enough available rooms for option block lessons

UI

Added a warning about incorrect division structure and the name of the effective constraint config set to the list of class groups
Added a list of inherited preferred rooms to the lesson screen
Added period gap visualisation to timeslot availability editor
Added a message to the dashboard for sub-accounts with no access to organisations to prevent empty screen
Added browser language detection
Replaced raw error with a meaningful message when deletion of a used configuration set fails
Removed divisions and teaching groups columns from option blocks list

Fixed issues

Dynamic analysis

Required subject placement causes teacher analysis to fail even though the timetable can be constructed

Security

Authenticated user can read a list of all users

Server

Access not granted correctly to configuration sets with explicitly set user or user group access rights

UI

User can edit a parent organisation of a read-only configuration set
Newly created lessons not shown in class group view unless the course had already existed
Subjects with placement turned off showing as having active placement in the list
Teaching groups sometimes not visible in the list of option block contents
Tables only remember the last sorting column
Class group divisions and subgroups tab sometimes not opened automatically when warnings are present
Banners displayed behind a popup window if present
Timeslot availability editor overflowing to the right side of the screen for timetables with many periods
Class group, teacher and year group optimisation settings show unclear information when the config set is inaccessible by current user
Keyboard shortcut sometimes swallowed by main view when popup window opened

Version 3.7.2

August 16th, 2019

Changes

Static analysis: Added check for unsatisfiable limit of maximum consecutive lessons for subgroups
Timetable: Multiple class groups, teachers and subgroups are now sorted by display name in lesson tiles

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Course and lesson set spreads sometimes evaluated incorrectly for non-weekly lessons
Import: Timetable XML import crashes if it references a deleted room
Timetable: List of subgroups sometimes overflows the edited schedule tile

Version 3.7.1

July 22nd, 2019

Fixed issues

PDF export: Malformed printout of data with overlapping multi-period lessons, if neighbouring cells contain different number of scheduled lessons
Timetable: Wrong default weight of individual course distribution
UI: The message about finished optimisation sometimes contains wrong information

Version 3.7.0

July 5th, 2019

New features

Added time fields and working limits for teachers. The time fields are arbitrary collections of timeslots that allow defining working limits for teachers for different time units than days, such as afternoons or mornings. Time fields can be found in the term section of the main navigation. The working limits can be set in the newly added advanced section of each teacher configuration set.

Other changes

UI: Changed the bulk Add teacher button in lesson lists to Change teacher(s)
UI: Added qualification information to the list of teachers for bulk change in lesson lists
UI: Split some large groups of constraints in advanced constraint configuration into smaller units

Fixed issues

PDF export: Coloured printout fails if there are overlapping multi-period lessons
UI: Organisation and term data not cleared correctly after deactivating an organisation or term
UI: Qualification information missing from teacher list for assigning cover
UI: Some external help links lead to wrong language pages

Version 3.6.3

June 14th, 2019

Changes

Public timetable: Improved page loading speed by removing reference to the optimisation module

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Entity availability initialized incorrectly after constraint config change, leading to incorrect fitness calculation
Timetable: Optimisation module crashes when loading currently optimised solution during RNA algorithm
Dashboard: Organisations sometimes missing after login
UI: List text search field not focused after opening
UI: Badge award dialog flickers when more badges are awarded at the same time
UI: Index page leaks unintended global variables
UI: Social footer appears distorted on small displays

Version 3.6.2

June 3rd, 2019

Changes

PDF export: Added subject timetables to individual timetables printout
UI: Inactive objects are hidden from the dashboard
UI: Prevented editing codes of entities in organisations imported from Edookit

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Turning off timeslot availability constraints doesn't affect automatic scheduling
Timetable: Browser locks if computation module stops responding
Timetable: Changed timeslot availabilities not reflected when opening a previously opened timetable
UI: Teacher configuration set shown incorrectly in list after change
UI: Opening new object screen sometimes fails after creating a term, course, teaching group or cover week
UI: User login fails if the login action fails to record into stats
UI: Message about user gaining a level of experience sometimes displayed incorrectly immediately after logging in

Version 3.6.1

May 24th, 2019

Changes

UI: Updated timetable XLSX export settings dialog

Fixed issues

Timetable: Error dialog appears when opening TT screen for the first time for organisation with no rooms
Cover: Exporting a XLSX report crashes if there is an absence with no absence reason
UI: Timeslot matrix gap sometimes displayed too wide

Version 3.6.0

May 18th, 2019

New features

Added fixed recess configuration. This allows prevention of multi-period lessons being split by the recess.
Added option to set minimum and maximum separation between lessons to the clustering settings for courses and lesson sets. Until now clustering was only used for making sure lessons are scheduled to adjacent timeslots. Now the separation of the clustered lessons is user-configurable.

Other changes

UI: Moved configuration of fixed lunch from class group configuration to optimisation settings for the term
UI: Clearing selection of timeslots after save or cancel when editing availability
UI: Durations of breaks between periods are now visualized in the term screen
Import: Added support for Untis 2019 XML

Fixed issues

Timetable: Entity filter not working in fitness breakdown
UI: Cannot remove course room preference
UI: Switching tabs swiftly breaks view
UI: Error when trying to open timetables screen when no organisation activated
Import: Non-teaching activities not imported from Untis XML

Version 3.5.0

May 10th, 2019

New features

Added timeslot availability for lesson sets. This finally allows users to set preferred times for specific lessons with using virtual teachers.
Added fast-forward button to the timetable control panel. It can be used for quick re-optimisation of existing timetables, e.g. after data or constraints have changed.

Other changes

Optimisation: Improved speed of timetable creation in the wizard

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Browser crashes when analyzing specific option blocks
Timetable: Error when undoing a drag and drop with automatic fitness update turned off
Import: Cannot import a timetable XML when some lessons have been deleted
UI: Dashboard not shown after deleting an active organisation
UI: Request status icons not aligned correctly when importing

Version 3.4.2

May 6th, 2019

Changes

Optimisation: Removed multipliers from entity availability penalties

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Browser crashes when checking an option block without lessons
UI: Navigation to course from option block or teaching group doesn't work
UI: Error when opening list of timetables when no organisation activated

Version 3.4.1

May 1st, 2019

Changes

UI: Added Courses tab to class group and teacher screens
UI: Improved speed of rendering non-collapsible tables

Fixed issues

Timetable: Lesson duration change not reflected in overview without reloading the page
UI: Second line of information missing from lesson lists on small screens
UI: Achievement column in table of user badges incorrectly aligned

Version 3.4.0

April 26th, 2019

New features

Optimisation: Increased speed of the main algorithm by up to 400 %
Static analysis: Added check for suspicious teacher assignment for lessons in option blocks
Static analysis: Added action buttons for some warnings which guide user to appropriate fix
UI: Added side panel with warnings and errors to class group screen. This replaces the warning badges previously appearing in the divisions table.
UI: Added banner warning for subject or course preferred room not accepted by subject

Other changes

Optimisation: Improved completion time estimation
Edookit integration: When importing a term with duplicate name (which is default), associated data such as teacher timeslot availabilities are copied from the original into the new term
UI: Improved page load and response times, reduced browser memory usage
UI: Changed shortcut for creating new objects from Ctrl+A to Ctrl+Alt+N

Fixed issues

Static analysis: Duplicate invalid gaps sometimes reported for multi-week data
Timetable: Error when opening fitness breakdown before fitness is initialized
Timetable: Fitness sometimes recalculated incorrectly after changes in constraint configuration
Timetable: Lesson tile subgroups icon tooltip sometimes appears off-screen
Timetable: Paging controls not initialized correctly for fitness and health breakdown
UI: Duplicate absence reasons and cover types appear in the list after refresh

Version 3.3.0

April 17th, 2019

Changes

Optimisation: Added capability to speed up calculation on slower machines. This will be activated soon in a stand-alone patch.
UI: Optimized all object tables for faster display, sorting and refresh
UI: Prevented refreshing data from the server when there are pending changes
UI: Simplified lesson cover assignment screen
UI: Added contents to teaching groups table
UI: Split lesson set screen into two tabs (settings and lessons) to be consistent with other objects
UI: Removed cycle column from lesson lists if all lessons happen every week
UI: Removed registration page. The Register button now redirects to the Free trial registration.
Edookit integration: Separating teacher title and saving name with last name first when importing
Edookit integration: Automatically prefer class group and subgroup names to codes in timetable view and printout in organisations imported from Edookit

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Number of consecutive periods for subgroup sometimes incorrectly reported for complicated combination of class group divisions
Optimisation: Subgroup gaps sometimes incorrectly reported for complicated combination of class group divisions
Timetable: View gets slower as more constraint breaks for timeslots are inspected
UI: Cannot activate and deactivate courses from table
UI: Sorting column for lessons in division screen not remembered
UI: Error when cancelling deletion of an absence
UI: Deleted timetable stays selected for cover assignment
UI: All constraints show as affecting room assignment in the list
UI: Error when navigating to a table of entities dependent on organisations when no organisation selected

Version 3.2.0

April 5th, 2019

Changes

UI: Added batch teacher assignment and removal in lesson lists
UI: Added multi-selection with Shift+click for all object tables
UI: Added smart class subgroup size calculation when creating option blocks to prevent size warning in case the student count is not divisible by group count
UI: Added external help for lesson sets
UI: Browsers now automatically load the latest software version after update
Optimisation: Improved performance for data with lots of linked lesson sets
Optimisation: Improved quantification of lesson set link constraint breaks, helping their elimination
Analysis: Added warning for lessons without teachers
XHSTT: Updated import to map event group to lesson sets

Fixed issues

UI: Warning banner about insufficient capacity appears after adding a preferred room with unspecified capacity
UI: Navigation sometimes doesn't work after deleting an organisation
UI: Cannot delete a lesson included in a lesson set
UI: Subject lesson stats do not update after course subject change
UI: Cannot create or open a cover week
UI: Non-sensical error message when trying to delete a room used in a timetable

Version 3.1.3

March 20th, 2019

Changes

Optimisation: Reduced memory usage
UI: All data-entry warnings now appear as banners offering meaningful actions
Documentation: Extended help

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Occasional crash when encountering rare combinations of non-weekly multi-period lessons scheduled together
Server: Some subscription limits not enforced when saving data
UI: Bad layout in wizard introductions and config set pages
UI: Cannot navigate between courses using left/right arrows

Version 3.1.2

March 7th, 2019

Changes

Optimisation: Enhanced the search algorithm with the capability of simultaneous swapping blocks of non-weekly lessons at the same time in different weeks. This makes the algorithm much more powerful for some multi-week scenarios.
Optimisation: Prevented auto-linking of split non-weekly lessons that do not add up to fill the schedule for all weeks
Server: Improved speed of organisation and user deletion
UI: Added a page size option of 20 items
UI: Added validation error when trying to create a duplicate course

Fixed issues

Import: Old lesson teachers remain after updating existing organisation
Timetable: Auto-save sometimes not triggered after solution update
UI: New badge screens slightly distorted on mobile devices
UI: Page size not remembered for several object tables
UI: Selected option text in optimisation settings not updated after renaming an entity configuration set in a popup dialog

Version 3.1.1

February 27th, 2019

Changes

Prevented saving changes while batch delete is in progress. This was confusing for the users when they hit Save prematurely.

Fixed issues

Timetable: Cannot start optimisation after a badge has been awarded in wizard
Timetable: Screen flickers when auto-saving during optimisation
Server: Request fails intermittently when a lot of concurrent requests occur
UI: Object list remains empty after deleting all objects on the last page
UI: Cannot delete a course from course screen
UI: Teaching group list lesson data inaccurate after modifying a course

Version 3.1.0

February 24th, 2019

New feature

Added activity badges, experience points, levels and rewards for users.

Other changes

Export: Added export of teaching summary for all teachers into a spreadsheet
Optimisation: Improved application of analysis results for timetable generation in the wizard. This should lead to faster phase 1 of the optimisation.
UI: Unified delivery of system messages to the user to follow material design guidelines
UI: A default building is now created automatically within every new organisation
UI: Merged Global data and Data operations navigation sections into a new Data section
UI: Split organisation dashboard from the welcome screen to show more concise information on both
UI: Merged user screen with change password screen
UI: Teaching group names no longer pre-filled when creating option blocks
UI: Added message about necessary configuration preceding timetable creation
UI: Updated term configuration and timetable creation wizard styles and added more help resources

Fixed issues

UI: Cannot reset a forgotten password
UI: Sorting by date sometimes doesn't work
UI: Tooltips appear abruptly instead of fading into view
UI: JS error when trying to access list of timetables with no term selected
UI: Searching doesn't work in list of constraints

Version 3.0.3

January 24th, 2019

Changes

UI: Added filter by constraint to lists of constraint breaks

Fixed issues

Public timetable: Cannot open overview of the whole school
PDF export: Overlapping multi-period lessons aligned incorrectly in all print-out types
UI: Colour-related visual settings do not work in timetable overview
UI: Cannot delete lesson cover from its own screen

Version 3.0.2

January 20th, 2019

Changes

Timetable wizard: Added validity check for lesson placement
Timetable wizard: Added validity check for mandatory gaps caused by timeslot unavailabilities
Timetable wizard: Improved accuracy of some validity checks
Optimisation: Improved performance of calculating some building and campus constraints
UI: Improved time estimation of timetable optimisation

Fixed issues

UI: Fitness update slow with a lot of constraint breaks related to lessons
UI: Teaching group names sometimes incorrect when creating an option block
UI: Period code showing twice in timetable if period times are empty

Version 3.0.1

January 11th, 2019

Changes

UI: Moved division subgroups sizes warning to the "Count" column
UI: Added Ctrl+A keyboard shortcut for creating new objects
UI: Added traversing navigation to course screen

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Optimisation hangs if specific teacher lunch settings are used
Optimisation: TT analysis fails when using room usage quotas
UI: Keyboard shortcuts interacting with background screen when popup viewer opened
UI: Error when saving constraint configuration in popup viewer
UI: Error when opening cover assignment screen with no active class group filter
UI: Course lesson placement not showing in the list of courses after refresh
Export: Course optimisation settings incomplete in exported XML file

Version 3.0.0

January 5th, 2019

New features

Added "lesson sets". They provide a new way to specify both simple and complex relationships between arbitrary lessons that could previously only be expressed by means of virtual teachers, which they are designed to eliminate. There are four different kinds of relationships - clustering, linking, ordering and spreading. Clustering makes sure lessons stay adjacent in the timetable. Linking directs lessons into the same timeslot, possibly in a different week for irregular lessons. Ordering makes sure lessons are scheduled in a predefined order during the week and spreading keeps them on separate days. A lesson set can also have its own preferred rooms.
Added selection of rows in tables and bulk actions allowing to operate on selected objects. This greatly simplifies manipulation and allows for extremely simple setup of some new features such as lesson sets.
Added course optimisation settings. Previously constraints such as course distribution were only configurable globally. With the new settings each course can be configured independently. Apart from distribution, clustering and lesson placement now also use the same configuration pattern.
Introduced "dual" constraints. For a long time there has been confusion as to the purpose of closely related constraints such as Lesson: Subject required room (hard by default) and Lesson: Subject preferred room (soft by default). It was very easy for users to misconfigure such pairs and it was obvious that to provide better understanding as well as better configurability of different timetable aspects, change is necessary. This has been addressed by introducing a concept of dual constraints, or constraints that are both hard and soft at the same time. In case of preferred rooms, the two constraints are replaced by a single Lesson: Subject preferred room constraint, which is applied as hard or soft depending on the "Required" status of every room preference. The penalty for the soft breaks is still configurable just like before. Other notable constraints that were transformed into dual ones are the timeslot availability constraints, which act as hard when the slot is unavailable.
Added estimated completion time for timetable optimisation. This cannot be exactly calculated, but should give the user some idea about the total duration of the optimisation process.

New features by user request

Enabled lesson drag and drop in timetable overview (for EtonHouse International School, Orchard, Singapore)
Added optional colouring lesson tiles (by subject, teachers, class groups in arbitrary combination) in timetable screen (for multiple schools). By default the tiles have the subject colour.

Other changes

Optimisation: Unified lunch break check for teachers and subgroups. Previously the lunch minimum duration had not been enforced for subgroups if settings allowed for too many consecutive lessons. This has been changed so that lunch requirements are strictly enforced. Existing healthy timetables might no longer be healthy and users are encouraged to revise the class group lunch settings.
Optimisation: Improved course distribution calculation. For timetables of more than five days the penalty now better reflects the imbalance in lesson distribution, making it possible to find better solutions.
General: Unified subgroup starting period constraints. Subgroup: Latest starting period and Subgroup: Desired starting period constraints have been merged into a Subgroup: Starting period constraint. This is a dual constraint, with latest start configuring the hard part and the desired start configuring the soft part, which is in accord with how the former two constraints were meant to be used. The class group configuration remains unchanged.
Timetable: Added visualization of current progress to timetable wizard generation screen and currently optimized solution into the snapshots. This gives the user feedback and prevents the feeling that "nothing is happening".
Timetable: Improved display of multiperiod lessons in overview
UI performace: Optimized markup generation for tables to provide faster browser rendering
UI: Reorganized organisation advanced navigation in left drawer
UI: Added lesson options, such as duration and cycle, to be accessible every time lessons are created
UI: Added qualification flag to the list of teachers when assigning them to lessons
UI: Simplified preferred rooms editor, added warnings about invalid preferences
UI: Simplified term screen, added separate tab for settings
UI: Improved course spread configuration user experience
UI: Improved and simplified setup of subject and course lesson placement
UI: Reworked advanced constraint configuration. Categorized constraints into small cohesive groups by function, added colour by designation and status.
UI: Added list of subgroups to class group divisions table
UI: Added confirmation dialog when creating an empty timetable
UI: Improved many constraint help texts
UI: Browser tab with Skolaris now reflects the name of the object opened in UI
UI: Updated Google login button to be compliant with Google partner guidelines
UI: Added Edookit logo for organisations imported from Edookit
UI: Removed ability to export timeslots separately
UI: Removed the tiles view option from objects screens
UI: Upgraded Google Polymer library to version 3.0 for compatibility with latest browsers

Fixed issues

Optimisation: Some day-related constraints not calculated correctly in multi-week scenarios
Optimisation: Subgroup lesson placement calculation incorrect when subgroup double-booked
Timetable: Wizard analysis fails with all constraints turned off
Timetable: Stored fitness sometimes rounded differently from visible fitness
Timetable: Intermittent error when reentering the timetable screen after changing lessons
Timetable: Invalid timetable filter after deleting a class group
Timetable: Room filter not applied correctly to constraint breaks
Timetable: Broken paging controls in health and fitness break breakdown
Timetable: Dialog message after finished optimisation sometimes incorrect
UI: Class group lesson data not updated after teaching group change
UI: Incomplete room list in building screen
UI: Terms can be created with duplicate names
UI: Wrong building icons in campus screen
UI: Dialogs sometimes overlapped by root layout elements like navigation and header
Import: Entities imported from XML can have duplicate codes
Import: Failed import details dialog positioned incorrectly

Before:
After: