MIST Services provide a fully searchable list of Frequently Asked Questions,
whether it is about Management Information Systems, Education in general,
Facility Admin, Facility Scheduler, Facility ePortal or on timetabling.
| Question | Answer |
| How can I remove a teacher from a class? | In Nova if you want to remove a teacher completely (not replace them with anyone) Ctrl right click on their code. |
| How do I create a split class? | In Nova how do I put in split teaching? In the classes screen drag the second teacher over so that the cell has the two teachers in it, although initially the cell will display pink when you split the 5 lessons up to say 3 to teacher A, by clicking to the right of the teacher code. At this point the cell has turned white as not all lessons have been staffed so left click to the right of teacher b and give them 2. This will then turn the cell grey. |
| How can I assign a second teacher for only a few periods? | In Nova a group may have 5 lessons but only 2 of them have a second teacher, but when I add the second teacher it thinks they are there for all 5 periods! This can be easily rectified by left mouse clicking just to the right of the second teacher until it has the correct number by it. Make sure the main teacher has all the lessons. |
| How can I add a second member of staff? | In Nova and the classes screen if you want to add a second teacher, simply drag one over and when you get the message adding replacing the teacher say ?No?. This will then add the staff to the class and turn the cell pink to denote two members of staff. |
| Why is the teacher code in red? | In Nova and the classes screen if you see the teacher code in red, check your staffing at it typically means a teacher is in a block twice! |
| What does a white cell mean? | In Nova and the classes screen a white cell means it is unstaffed. But when a teacher is allocated it turns grey. |
| Can I zoom in on the curriculum plan? | In Nova if you press the F6 key when in the curriculum plan it magnifies the display! |
| How can I get a block across two bands? | In Nova if you need to get a block to span across to another band hold your Ctrl key and drag the lower line of the block down. |
| Can I copy many blocks at the same time? | In Nova if you want to copy multiple blocks then hold your Ctrl key down whilst left clicking on the block title (must be the title). |
| Can I copy classes in my curriculum plan? | In Nova if you set up a class in say quite a large linear settings you can copy it by holding your Alt key and left clicking it. This will save dragging all the subjects over repeatedly. |
| I need to increase the number of periods a block can timetable into? | In Nova if you want to allow your block to expand into more periods than lessons (only really possible in P16 curriculums) then adjust it under minimum periods when your right click over the block. |
| How do I delete a class? | In Nova you can easily delete a class by holding down the ctrl key and right clicking. |
| Can I re-arrange the order of year groups? | In Nova you may have added a year group (say year 6) at the end of the timetabling process and would like to show it at the top of the list rather than at the bottom where it was created. Click on your year group and hold the ctrl key down press the up arrow to move up the list. If you use the down arrow it will move back down! |
| Can I make more area for my curriculum diagram on the screem? | In Nova you can hide the Subjects on the right hand side of the curriculum simply by pressing F8. Pressing F8 again shows the Subjects back on the right hand side. |
| Can I make more area for my curriculum diagram on the screem? | In Nova you can hide the Years on the left hand side of the curriculum simply by pressing F7. Pressing F7 again shows the Years back on the left hand side. |
| Why can't I see my class name? | In Nova you are looking for the class name when you hover over the subject code in the curriculum plan, but can?t see it? Look in the status bar, which is literally the bottom right of your display. |
| When auto-rooming it wants to room all lessons! | In Nova if you don?t want all your subjects or classes to be roomed automatically then this can be set accordingly under Plan | Automatic rooming requirements. |
| When should I use non-teaching periods? | In Nova you can use non-teaching periods, but have a think about whether you want to use them or not. If you are 100% confident that a period is never going to be used for teachers, rooms, students etc then you can use the non-teaching period. But if there is a slim chance that a period might be used in the future i.e. ?lunch? don?t set it as non-teaching. Changing from non-teaching status could have an impact on your attendance software. |
| In Facility 9.2 my end of year just hangs! | We have found that in 9.2 if you are doing a second end of year on an access database then it gets stuck on a table called STUPQRVARIABLES. We cannot see a way around this on Access. Fortunately it isn't an issue on SQL server so please complete the second end of year on sql server prior to restoring to access for a timetable workshop. If unsure please just contact us for further information. |
| In Scheduler V9.2 I get a message 'Clashing sub-groups were detected in the tutor groups entered in the event. The clashing sub-grouping(s) have been removed). | Unfortunately this message seems to have crept in, in V9.2 when you are in planning matrix were you are creating events in a subject row, rather than in the new row. Luckily though it is not doing any harm, it is just annoying. If you recieve the message and it talks about Subject then this is likely human error, where you have added the subject twice into the event. Again fortunately, Scheduler will correct your error by remving the duplicate entry! |
| Sheduler: In common attributes of an event is "Fixed in place:TRUE". What does it mean? | It means the lessons day and time cannot be changed unless the event (lesson) is unfixed from place. |
| Scheduler won't schedule an event because of a link, and I am sure it is all correct! | A link (not limited link) is forcing events onto different days and therefore if you have 5 single English and an English teacher only teaching 3 days then the link will be broken automatically as it is impossible to adhere to! Although Scheduler can validate non-staffed events on things such as college, off-site etc as the same teacher and the link prevents the auto scheduling. The only way around this issue is to remove the link for these events, although you must be sure you are doing the right thing! If in doubt contact us and we can look at your ttd file. |
| Subjects aren't alphabetical in the matrices | Some of the matrices sort according to subject link code. To rectify this either change link codes (check with other colleagues though!) or download a new matrice from our website. |
| Certain subjects aren't displaying in the axis of the planning matrices. | Some the planning matrices are actually filtering down to subjects that have a link code. So check in Facility whether the missing subject hasa a link code or not. |
| Auto schedule broke the link rule automatically! | Auto scheduler, will break a link rule where it deems the rule is impossible to adhere for exmaple 6 single lessons but only 5 days to schedule on. If you have 5 singles and 5 days and it breaks it automatically it is typically down to a part time member of staff. So if the part timer only works 4 days then scheduler will put the events on 4 days as it is impossible to put on 5 days. If you don't want auto-scheduler to react like this (break rule automatically) then set the organised block up as a limited link. Just remember if the link still exists it will still be impossible although it won't break it automatically. |
| You may create events in Facility and although it looks good when creating the event, nothing displays at the end of it! Or you may extract to Scheduler and after integration nothing has integrated! | Please consult whoever setup your SQL server as it is likely to be linked to the schema not matching the table owners. |
| Facility says I cannot integrate my .ttd into dataset ... | Obviously check that you are actually in the correct dataset for the file, but if you are and the message is referring to an empty dataset the cause is likely to be becuase the version of Facility and Scheduler are out of sync. |
| Can I rearrange columns in the auto scheduler window? | Yes, simply right click in the list window and select 'Modify column details' and drag the heading up or don in the list. Top of the list is the left hand column on the screen. |
| The autoscheduler window shows lots of irrelevant information! | As each timetabler has their own preferences on what information they want to display, so the default may not suit everyone. To hide information right click under the column you want to hide and select hide column. If you want to see a hidden column right click and select 'Modify column details' and change the hidden to show. |
| Why do I have to click on the priority column to sort it every time I open the main scheduling window? | You need to set the default sort of the window, so that the priority column is set to descending. To check right click in the list window and select 'Define default order'. |
| Why doesn't the priority value sort properly in the main scheduling window? | You need to check that the priority column is set to sort as 'Numeric'. This can be checked by right clicking and selecting modify column details. |
| How can I work out what the prolem is if I get the 'Do not have access' message? | MIST Services prioritise events using the icon on the control panel. Then go into auto scheduler and filter to all events, then go to priorites and clear for all events. Any events with a priority at the end demonstrate data issues! |
| I have an event where it is not staffed and I want to change the subject in the 'event' window, but no subject shows in the drop down! | As the teacher is in effect 'no-one' scheduler is checking if 'no-one' is linked to the subject of the event. To overcome this right click in the bottom right of the event window and remove the tick from restrict teachers associated with the subject. |
| In the curriculum by year planning matrix has a comma after the teacher! | This implies that the event (first card at the bottom) has two rows for teacher. When you examine the event if one row has the teacher and one row has the teaching group, then these must be merged. |
| Why doesn't the 'Assigning teaching group' matrix split out different option columns when the subject is used in the same virtual classgroup? | To split the timetable events according to different timetable structures, then download a free planning matrix from our download section. If in doubt contact MIST Services to discuss which matrix is required and how to import them. |
| Why do I have to agree to every change to blocks/links in planning matrices? | This is by design to allow for allocation of split teaching, or different teaching groups to events. To turn the message off go to Options | Configuration | Settings, go to Options tab and remove the tick from 'Show warnings when blocks are changed'. Be careful if for example 10.01 is used for Art in Option A and B, as the events should go to different teaching groups. |
| What is a virtual classgroup? | Facility Scheduler uses classgroups as a clashing entity, and as they don't have students they are typically referred to as 'virtual classgroups'. Each timetable event inherits a virtual classgroup and a classgroup can only do one thing at a time. Hence it will create a clash free timetable. Further help please contact MIST Services. |
| My week ranges have disappeared within Facility Scheduler from certain events. | Unfortunately you cannot do anything to do to prevent the 'random' removal. A new release of Scheduler will be required. All you can do is bulk change the week range back on to ensure a clash doesn't creep in. Found in 08.2.4 |
| I get You do not access message within Facility Scheduler | This is not linked to security, rather data integrity. For example a teacher has been marked as left but their timetable hasn't been given to another colleague. Or maybe the subject has been changed or not within the school or course list. Needs investigating back in Facility. |
| When scheduling a limited link max events per day is violated. | Check that max events per day is empty in the limited link, if completed this prevents all of the limited link being scheduled. Remember the day spread is dealt with by the link on the events and not on the structure. Please contact MIST Services to discuss further. |
| Facility Scheduler crashes when I try to schedule a limited link! | Within Scheduler, edit the limited link and check that the two dropdowns to the right of max events per day field are set to no setting. If in doubt please contact MIST Services to talk this through. Found in 08.2.4. |
| Can I change the look of the timetable? | All timetables are made up of a timetable style and a cell style and can be configured to how you wish them to be. Please note that a system style is non-editable so a copy of the style is done. |
| My integration didn't work! | Was your ttd open in Facility Scheduler? If yes then Facility wouldn't have been able to read all the data. Ensure the file (if in doubt then Faciity Scheduler) is closed. |
| Can I integrate a ttd file more than once? | No. A ttd file can only be integrated once. Once it has been integrated it writes back to the ttd file to ensure it cannot be read in again. |
| Can planning matrices be exported? | If you have changed a system matrix it is wise to have a backup of this file so that you can import it into another version of Facility Scheduler. |
| Can planning matices be changed? | It is possible to change the planning matrices. Although it isn't the easiest task to achieve. |