Question
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Answer
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How can I run Schedule25 (new Schedule25 user)?
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- Obtain permission from Sue Eck to run Schedule25
- Person requesting access to Schedule25 is responsible for the following:
- Obtain UNIX account for Schedule25 machines; contact User Liason Office
- Modify your .cshrc file to include the following environment variables:
- setenv SCHEDULE25_DIR ~/s25
- setenv S25_RETURN_SITE=HAYES-B
- Create Schedule25 subdirectory (e.g. mkdir ~/s25)
- Contact your Schedule25 administrator to:
- Create .netrc file
- Create link to s25mvsmn.com (e.g. ln -s /apps/sched25/s25mvsmn.com s25mvsmn.com)
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What input files (campus profile datasets) are used?
(See Installation and Setup Schedule25/Model25/25E manual chapter 3.)
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- ctrl.dat
- File that defines the position for each required field and other options in the Schedule25 class descriptor dataset.
- phys.dat
- File of valid physical features that a room may contain.
- part.dat
- File of valid zones or room groupings (partitions) that might be preferred by a department.
- depts.dat
- File of valid departments. Contains department's location preferences and physical feature requirements (if any).
- rooms.dat
- File of valid rooms.
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Where can I get the original Schedule25 input files to run Schedule25?
(Schedule25 files maintained by the Scheduling Office are stored on the
IBM Mainframe. FTP to ubmvs.cc.buffalo.edu)
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- Control File (Called ctrl.dat in Schedule25 manuals)
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.ctrl
- Physical Features (Called phys.dat in Schedule25 manuals)
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.phys
- Campus Partitions (Called part.dat in Schedule25 manuals)
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.part
- Departments/Sponsors (Called depts.dat in Schedule25 manuals)
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.dept
- Rooms/Spaces (Called rooms.dat in Schedule25 manuals)
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.rooms
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Where can I get the output files that are produced by Schedule25?
(Schedule25 writes the output to a /s25 subdirectory underneath the
user's home directory (e.g. ~/amtaylor/s25). Once the files are put
back to the IBM Mainframe, you can FTP to ubmvs.cc.buffalo.edu
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- sortdp.dat
- adccrsp.prod.s25.unix.sortdp
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I am in the process of updating departmental clustering strategy for a
department. Why can't I delete a clustering strategy where the
partition no longer exists?
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The partition must exist in order for any departmental clustering
strategy to be modified. Therefore, in order to delete a clustering
strategy, make sure you remove the clustering strategy first, before
deleting the actual partition.
If the partition no longer exists, you will need to recreate that
partition with some dummy information describing the partition. Once the
partition exists, you can then go ahead and delete your clustering
strategy for the desired department. Then you can go back and delete the
bogus partition.
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What input file (class descriptor dataset) is used?
(See Installation and Setup Schedule25/Model25/25E manual chapter 3.)
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- datain.dat
- File contains the class descriptor records. Contains preassigned courses and courses that need a room.
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What output files are produced?
(See Installation and Setup Schedule25/Model25/25E manual chapter 3.)
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- Errors.dat
- File of all incorrectly formatted class descriptor dataset records.
- Losers.dat
- File of classes that could not be placed due to competing requests for the same kind of room on the same days and times.
- Notposs.dat
- File of classes that were impossible to place due to the nature of the request or where all possibilities were blocked by preassignments.
- Sortdp.dat
- File of class descriptor records of classes that were preassigned or successfully assigned by Schedule25, sorted by department. This is the file we use to update the IBM Course master.
- Sortrm.dat
- File of class descriptor records of classes that were preassigned or successfully assigned by Schedule25, sorted by room.
- sortrm.pl
- File of class descriptor records of classes that were preassigned or successfully assigned by Schedule25, sorted by room. It includes all "P" (physical features) and "L" (location (partition) preferences). Recommended file for loading Schedule25 re
sults into 25E.
- summary.dat
- File of the performance summary data from the most recent Schedule25 run.
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What are some reasons that a course may end up in the losers file?
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- Competition (10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.)
- Department profile is too restrictive (If most losers are from the same department, good indicator that department profile is too restrictive.)
- Code additional partition preferences.
- Make fourth partition all rooms
- Try to remove some of the departmental physical characteristics, if you can.
- Code blank P and L records.
- Too many room black outs
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What are some reasons that a course may end up in the not possible file?
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- Competing for preassigned classrooms.
- Illogical request
- Enrollment too high for existing classrooms.
- Enrollment too low; especially, if using the Minimum Required Seats. (Ours is set to 55%)
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What do I do if two departments (e.g. Physics and Chemistry), have the same partition preference, but I want first department to have first chance at getting these rooms?
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Create a dummy partition that contains no rooms in it.
- Physics
- Partition 1 Good Rooms
- Chemistry
- Partition 1 Dummy
- Partition 2 Good Rooms
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What is the algorithm that SCHEDULE25 uses to seat courses?
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Four Step Algorithm:
- Preassignments get seated first.
- Courses that have P & L cards assigned to them are seated next (See SCHEDULE25 User's Guide 3-19) "Schedule25... will not place a class in a room that does not have the required [physical] characteristics "(SCHEDULE25 User's Guide 2-3)
- Courses with departmental preferences (e.g. clustering strategy (Partitions), or physical requirements) are then seated "SCHEDULE25 places classes only in partitions requested by the sponsoring department, unless there is an L record..."(SCHEDULE25 Us
er's Guide 2-4)
Note: "Departments ... with no location preference or physical features requirements do not need a profile." (SCHEDULE25 User's Guide 2-6)
"A blank P record will... SCHEDULE25 ignores the physical requirements in the department's profile when scheduling the class."
Courses with a preference priority are seated. Preference priority is used after all other criteria (department's clustering strategy and/or physical requirements, or P & L cards) have been evaluated to break a tie between competing courses (higher n
umber wins).
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What are some questions I should ask if seating assignment doesn't look right? For example, MGA 301 F2A (026624) got seated into a large Knox 20 lecture hall, and SOC 206 MUT (014993) got seated in Knox 110 which is a smaller classroom?
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- Was the course(s) preassigned?
- Did the force capacity change?
- Were P & L cards used for this course?
- Check partition information (clustering strategy).
- Check preference priorities on affected courses.
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Are all the physical characteristics ('P' cards) for a course (specific registration number) required in order for a course to be seated in that room. For example, say we code rooms with two distinct physical characteristics: one for technology equipped
classrooms, and the other for technology deliverable classrooms. Can you code a course so that the first preference is to seat it in a technology equipped classroom, otherwise, if none are available seat it in a technology deliverable classroom?
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P cards are a series of "ands", not "ors".
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What environment variables are used?
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The following environment variables are used by Schedule25. Some of these variables are set in an environment script called: /ublocal/s25/s25_init
- SCHEDULE25_DIR
- Where data files & output files reside; sourced in /ublocal/s25/s25_init (e.g. ~/s25)
- SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR
- Where scripts and executables are located; sourced in /ublocal/s25/s25_init (e.g. /apps/sched25)
- S25_PRINT_SITE_P
- Where portrait files will print; sourced in /ublocal/s25/s25_init (e.g. comxerox)
- S25_PRINT_SITE_L
- Where landscape files will print; sourced in /ublocal/s25/s25_init (e.g. lcomxerox)
- S25_RETURN_SITE
- Set return site on print outs; sourced in /ublocal/s25/s25_init (e.g. STAFF)
- RUNS25
- Set to SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR in runs25.com script (e.g. /apps/sched25)
- COMDIR
- Set to SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR in runs25.com script (e.g. /apps/sched25)
- RUN_FILE
- Set to SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR in s25 (e.g. /apps/sched25)
- EXEDIR
- Set to SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR in runs25.com script (e.g. /apps/sched25)
- DATDIR
- Set to SCHEDULE25_ DIR in runs25.com script (e.g. ~/s25)
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What SCHEDULE25 command files do I need to know about?
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The following command files are used by Schedule25:
- s25
- Defines the path to the directory containing the runs25.com file
- Running this file is optional (we do); minimally it sets the SCHEDULE25_DIR and
SCHEDULE25_BIN_DIR; written in Bourne shell.
- runs25.com
- Defines directory locations, filenames, executes on-line programs s25menu, termtype.com, and s25main.
- Edit this file for customizing what files to use; written in Bourne shell (#!/bin/sh).
- s25batch.com
- Replaces runs25.com for running Schedule25 in batch mode.
- s25main
- Automatic Room Assignment program (binary format).
- s25menu
- On-line menu program (binary format).
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What is the order of execution of the Schedule25 files?
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s25mvsmn.com executes s25 executes runs25.com executes s25main and s25menu
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