Web app for designing a class schedule
Is there any web app that could be used to design a class schedule? The problem is that you don't know exactly which classes you are able to take (e.g. some have overlapping times with others, some get filled up before you can register for them, etc.), so you need to be able to compare all the options together. You also would want to optimize the time between classes such that there isn't too much or too little time.
To clarify, you have multiple classes you want to take (e.g. ENG101, HIST101) and then within each class, they will be offered at different times (e.g. ENG101-1, ENG101-2, HIST101-1, HIST101-2, HIST101-3), such that some will not be compatible with others (e.g. ENG101-1 and HIST101-2 could both be at the same time and not compatible, whereas ENG101-1 and HIST101-1 are compatible with each other since they aren't at the same time). Assuming you want to take 5-6 classes, and each one has 3-10 different times its available, that could easily total 60 different classes that need to be compared.
The two problems are:
Importing all the data: I'm fairly handy with programming and regexes, so I could easily convert the data from the school to a more portable one (e.g. iCal), however, the solution should still allow me to import all the data at once and not require me to manually import 60 different classes.
Determining which classes work together: Ideally an automated solution would build schedules that work together and then let me select from those that it came up with. This isn't as important as the first requirement above, since I don't think it would be too hard to manually compare 60 classes together.
I was thinking that Google Calendar could be used for this, by creating a different calendar for each class and each instance of the class. For example, if there is a class ENG101, you would create the calendars ENG101-1, ENG101-2, ENG101-3, each with the times of the classes. You would do the same for every class you want to take. You could then show/hide the classes until you see a schedule that works.
The problem with using this method is that it's very time consuming to manually create these calendars. Even the data was in iCal format, you would need to create and import each class individually, since Google Calendar doesn't allow you to import more than one calendar at a time.
I'm either looking for either: a product specifically designed for this, a product that could be adapted for this usage, or a simple way to do this in Google Calendar.
Is there any web app that could be used to design a class schedule? The problem is that you don't know exactly which classes you are able to take (e.g. some have overlapping times with others, some get filled up before you can register for them, etc.), so you need to be able to compare all the options together. You also would want to optimize the time between classes such that there isn't too much or too little time.
To clarify, you have multiple classes you want to take (e.g. ENG101, HIST101) and then within each class, they will be offered at different times (e.g. ENG101-1, ENG101-2, HIST101-1, HIST101-2, HIST101-3), such that some will not be compatible with others (e.g. ENG101-1 and HIST101-2 could both be at the same time and not compatible, whereas ENG101-1 and HIST101-1 are compatible with each other since they aren't at the same time). Assuming you want to take 5-6 classes, and each one has 3-10 different times its available, that could easily total 60 different classes that need to be compared.
The two problems are:
Importing all the data: I'm fairly handy with programming and regexes, so I could easily convert the data from the school to a more portable one (e.g. iCal), however, the solution should still allow me to import all the data at once and not require me to manually import 60 different classes.
Determining which classes work together: Ideally an automated solution would build schedules that work together and then let me select from those that it came up with. This isn't as important as the first requirement above, since I don't think it would be too hard to manually compare 60 classes together.
I was thinking that Google Calendar could be used for this, by creating a different calendar for each class and each instance of the class. For example, if there is a class ENG101, you would create the calendars ENG101-1, ENG101-2, ENG101-3, each with the times of the classes. You would do the same for every class you want to take. You could then show/hide the classes until you see a schedule that works.
The problem with using this method is that it's very time consuming to manually create these calendars. Even the data was in iCal format, you would need to create and import each class individually, since Google Calendar doesn't allow you to import more than one calendar at a time.
I'm either looking for either: a product specifically designed for this, a product that could be adapted for this usage, or a simple way to do this in Google Calendar.
No comments:
Post a Comment