A constraint configuration set stores settings for all constraints. You can then apply the whole configuration to a timetable by simply selecting a set from a dropdown menu in the Optimisation settings in the timetable screen.
The "Default" set is carefully crafted to suit the needs of a typical school, however, customizing own set for specific needs is recommended once you're familiar with the system.
The built-in sets cannot be modified, but they can be cloned and these clones can be freely edited and used. To create a new configuration set, please clone an existing one.
Configuration of penalties
Constraint configuration is a way to to indicate importance or priority of each constraint. All constraints that must be unconditionally met should be marked as hard. The penalty for such constraints is usually 100 as it makes no sense to prioritize them. Adjust the penalty of other (soft or dual) constraints to match their relative importance for your school. Disable constraints you don't need.
The penalties for soft constraints should usually be at least an order of magnitude lower than the penalty for hard constraints. The larger the school, the lower penalty for soft constraints should be set to ensure their effective elimination. It might be a good idea to set the penalty for all soft constraints to 1 initially, observe the results of the optimisation and then slightly increase the penalty for the constraints which should be eliminated with higher priority. Repeat this process to obtain a timetable satisfying your wishes.
Simple view
The simple view present several settings in form of sliders allowing you to choose importance of some general timetable aspects.
Class groups
Preferred rooms
Move the slider right to make
preferred rooms for the class groups more important than other room preferences. Move it left to decrease the importance.
Timeslot availability
Move the slider right to have Skolaris pay more attention to partially available timeslots for class groups. Move it left to decrease the importance.
Schedule balance
Multiple constraints responsible for balancing the student schedule hide behind this slider. Move the slider right to increase the importance of balanced
course distribution, satisfying course spread, subject sequence and balanced daily student workload.
Teachers
Preferred rooms
Move the slider right to make
preferred rooms for the teachers more important than other room preferences.
Timeslot availability
Move the slider right to have Skolaris pay more attention to partially available timeslots for teachers.
Gaps
Indicates how important it is to satisfy the gap limits specified in the
teacher configuration.
Subjects
Preferred rooms
Move the slider right to make
preferred rooms for the subjects and courses more important than other room preferences.
Timeslot availability
Move the slider right to have Skolaris pay more attention to partially available timeslots for subjects.
These sliders only affect soft constraints. For example, if a teacher's availability is zero, that setting will be enforced regardless of the position of the Teacher timeslot availability slider.
Properties
Parent organisation
Access rights to the configuration set are inherited from the specified parent
organisation. This configuration set will also be included in the XML export of the parent organisation.