Mimosa Timetable Software

Mimosa Timetable Software
Tutor © Mimosa Software Oy

Mimosa Tutor - www.mimosasoftware.com
Topic 0: Introduction This tutorial covers the basic functions of the Mimosa for Windows - School Timetable Software After passing this course you are able to define and input your data for Mimosa and produce the timetables and print them on paper and web The background needed to follow this tutorial is limited to the very basic functions common to all windows applicatons, such as using the mouse buttons, resizing windows, moving data using the Clipboard, etc. 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Content of this tutorial
The topics covered in this tutorial: defining time-frame, categories and other parameters input of the components or resources constructing of courses allocating lectures to weeks creating timetables printing timetables on paper and web creating other reports of interest using the Clipboard to connect with other applications presenting time-saving tips and techniques exploring of some more advanced tools 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Overview The basic function of the software is to create and print working timetables for classes, teachers and rooms To create timetables, one must know exactly the number of lectures of each subject plus the name of the teacher, the class and the room related to the course To construct courses, one must first input all classes, teachers and rooms which must be combined suitable to reflect the teaching requirements Depending on your institution’s requirements you may only need some of these items/components. It is up to your specific needs which components are used for timetables 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

You will have a set of stunning timetables...
16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

You will have lots of useful reports...
...of lectures by teachers, classes, rooms, students, courses or any other resource by week on paper, web or onto the Clipboard to be pasted to your spreadsheet application 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Install Mimosa from CD-ROM or disks
Insert the CD-ROM or Disk #1 in drive and run x:setup {Enter} Select the target folder (default c:\mfw) and click {Next} Click {Finish} to complete installation 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Workflow Main selections: Limits, Time and Categories
You can always jump easily to any previous stage of the process without reworking them Main selections: Limits, Time and Categories Main selections: Limits, Time and Categories Main selections: Limits, Time and Categories Main selections: Limits, Time and Categories Options All resources are maintained in the same window All resources are maintained in the same window All resources are maintained in the same window All resources are maintained in the same window Components Courses are composed from the resources above Courses are composed from the resources above Courses are composed from the resources above Courses are composed from the resources above Courses Weeks This window is not needed one-term schools This window is not needed one-term schools This window is not needed one-term schools This window is not needed one-term schools Timetables Here timetables are processed manually Here timetables are processed manually Here timetables are processed manually Here timetables are processed manually Options Components This window creates all reports on paper and web This window creates all reports on paper and web This window creates all reports on paper and web This window creates all reports on paper and web Courses 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

A typical Mimosa work-flow pattern:
Define time parameters and categories in selection ”Options” Insert classes, teachers, rooms etc. in ”Components” window Assign those lectures manually in ”Timetables” window which should be placed in predefined slots Assign lectures automatically with ”Initial solution” in ”Tools|Optimise” Improve the solution manually in ”Timetables” window Improve the solution in with ”Optimise timetables” in ”Tools|Optimise” Create courses in ”Courses” window Timetables for classes, teachers and rooms Iterative and school type specific timetable creation process You can bypass the allocation stage , if you create only one set of timetables for school year Allocate lectures in ”Weeks” window Make bookings in ”Timetables” window or in ”Options|Limits” to prevent inappropriate assignments 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Some strange terms Mimosa uses the following vocabulary: BOOKINGS = prevent assignment of lessons in some slots in timetables or allocation of lectures to specific weeks CATEGORY = 7 user definable types of components and courses COMPONENT = some resource like teacher, class or room COURSE = collection of components plus the course schedule TIMETABLE = matrix containing the courses of a component WEEK = one or more calendar weeks making the school year MAX = total number of lectures defined SUM = lectures allocated to weeks (MAX>=SUM) DONE = timetabled lectures (SUM>=DONE) LINKS = number of components in a course collection or the number of courses linked to the component 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Windows in Mimosa Mimosa keeps simultaneously four windows open: Components Courses Weeks Timetables Change it from Window menu, click {Ctrl+F6} or {Ctrl+TAB} or use the arrow keys After defining the necessary parameters, you start from the first window and end at the fourth window; after that, you should be able to print your timetables You can move from any window to any other window at any time, and Mimosa takes care that the data remains consistent and no errors can occur While you have control over the whole creative process of making your timetables, Mimosa does the most tedious and time-consuming tasks for you 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections: File: file management routines and printing reports Edit: modify the data in the active window, import and export data with the Clipboard *) View: change the view (fonts, appearance) of the active window *) Tools: sort, clear data, modify collections, change coding, optimise timetables Options: input system parameters, view statistics Window: reorganise the windows of the application and change the active window Help: help index and tutorial *) the commands in these selections automatically change along with the currently active window (Components, Courses, Weeks, Timetables) 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections for all windows:
File Tools Options Windows Help 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Buttons on top: 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Mimosa is an open application
You can easily move data between Mimosa and other applications via Clipboard and text files (see File|File Import, File|File Export) You can use your spreadsheet application to input your data, analyse results, print reports and insert in your documents Mimosa also supports ready-made data formats for national school administration software packages 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Mimosa enables team work
Several (up to 255) users can combine their Mimosa files and process them simultaneously; all networks support this feature In File|Network you first create a directory which is used as a repository for shared files, and with commands Write to network and Read from network users publish and merge the files Mimosa combines and syncronizes all files automatically, lists possible conflicts and removes them from the combined file I will leave my bookmark in this file... Write to network Wish I could say the last word... Read from network 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Course structures in Mimosa
Courses are created and components attached to them in Courses window Each course consists of: Code Name Category MAX (# of lectures) Class The content and the size of the component list of each course may vary Lectures are assigned to timetables in Timetables window Teacher Room Classes, teachers, rooms and other resources are created in Components window If there are more than one week, lectures must first be allocated to them in Weeks window before they are timetabled 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

How Mimosa creates the timetables?
The timetables for classes, teachers and rooms are generated by piling the course timetables Mimosa takes automatically care that the timetables of classes, teachers and rooms will not cause conflicts! 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 1: Options|Limits
Select File|New to start with a new, empty file From the selection of parameter files (.cfw), choose the appropriate language file (like english.cfw); you can later change any of its texts and parameters You are then prompted to input the parameters in the Options selection, but you can change them later on In Options|Limits you can define your time-frame: Weeks: if your school year is divided into several semesters or sections, input their number here; if you instead use the same timetables during the school year, click ”One-term school year?” Days: the number of days in week (such as 5 or 6) Time-periods: the maximum number of slots in each day 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Limits
Input here the maximum number of weeks, days and slots per day You can change the bookings or lectures of several tables here. Paint the area in the table and click the appropriate button on the right. 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 2: Options|Time Enter the names for the weeks, days of week and time-periods; if there is only one week, a blank name is suggested You can change the number of calendar weeks of each week (or term), if their lengths vary If you like to synchronise the terms with real calendar, check Replace weeks by dates and then input the First date of first week to let Mimosa keep track of the date ranges associated with each term If you use the above feature, you must also define all breaks and holidays as terms to keep the calendar in tact; in Weeks window you set bookings to those weeks where lectures are not intended to be allocated to Note that you can change the lengths of weeks and their names any time also in Weeks window 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Time
Check this, if you want to synchronize the terms with the calendar Input the first date of the first term here 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 3: Options|Categories
Categories for courses and components are intended to give descriptive names for different types of lectures and resources, respectively Normally, you do not have to change the categories for components, but it is useful to have course categories that reflect your school better than the default ones Input categories in the form of ”X:CategoryName” and change the names of bookings according to your preferences; three booking types are available for weeks and timetables In Options|Default booking type you can change the text that is next used when bookings are set In the last 7 tabs of the Options selection you can change the vocabulary, colours and other parameters Click next Accept to accept your changes in Options 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Categories
Change the categrories of the courses (they vary from school to school) The types of resources you need are often similar in all schools You can input texts for three kind of bookings for timetables You can input texts for three kind of bookings for weeks 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Timetables
Which type of components you want to prevent from conflicts? Which type of components you want to include when minimising gaps during optimisation? You can select which type of components you want to show in Timetables window Select the category for classrooms which is applied in ”Select rooms manually {Ctrl+R}” This default value applies to double-cick the elements in Timetables window 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Weeks
Which type of lectures you want to monitor when double-clicking in Weeks window You can ”alarm” about lectures exceeding the given upper limits Clicking {Insert} generates these selected patterns in Weeks window You can create initial timetabling solutions during allocating of lectures 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection: Options|Description
Basic file info This is a short text to describe the file content This comment is shown on top of reports Select in which instances you want to view/edit the optional annotation text file (sample.txt for sample.mfw) 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Changing the appearance (Options:Colours)
Define screen colours here Change font Change colour of the active code Show / hide the buttons on the top and left Change code colours of courses and components 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Other settings (Options|Other)
Reads your current file automatically when next time start You can automatically create a backup and text copy of the file Refreshes the screen and (and performs all pending calculations) Text separators hide enclosed texts Shows / hides this memo box These selections force format codes during input 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 4: Window|Components
Input the resources of your school - classes, teachers, students, rooms and equipment that you are going to create timetables for Select Edit|Insert or {Ins} to add a new component Input a descriptive code (up to 15 characters) along with the name (up to 63 characters) and select the appropriate category Use Edit|Modify or {Enter} to modify and Edit|Delete or {Del} to delete an existing component The components are automatically sorted according to their categories and codes  Insert, modify and delete components 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections of Components window:

Window|Components|Edit|Insert
Input code, up to 15 characters Input name, up to 63 characters Select colour Select category After you have created the courses, they will be appear in this list as ”not selected” courses After courses have been created and selected for this component, they are listed here 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Selection:Window|Components
Click the title row to sort components according to this criteria You can also perform the basic tasks with these buttons Double-click here to show/links to courses 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

View timetables and allocations of lectures
Click this button to view also weekly allocations of lectures and timetables 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Summary At this stage, at least some of the components have been entered; you can complete this task later Click the right-mouse button to view the selections of the pop-up menu; double-click the grid to see course links When entering more data, use spreadsheet program and select Edit|Paste from the Clipboard command Study the selections in Edit and View Click the titles to sort the components according to your criteria; see also Tools|Sort components Move next to Courses window at Window|Courses or use the shortcuts {Ctrl+F6}, {Ctrl+Tab} or the arrow keys 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 5: Window|Courses
After you have inserted (at least some of) the components of your school, you can start inserting of courses; each course synchronizes the timetables of its components (classes, teachers, rooms,…) Select Edit|Insert or {Ins} to add a new course Input a descriptive code (up to 15 characters) along with the name (up to 63 characters) and select the appropriate category Input also the total number of lectures (MAX) and create a list of components for the course (=collection) Use Edit|Modify or {Enter} to modify and Edit|Delete or {Del} to delete an existing course  Insert, modify and delete courses 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections of Courses window:

Selection: Window|Courses
Use the Cut, Copy and Paste buttons to move selected components across courses Select the maximum number of lectures for this course (=MAX). The maximum is how many lectures for the length of term you defined (day, week, total term). Display codes only of current category Show conflicting timetables Show timetables of this course Use these buttons to move components to and from to the course collection or double-click them. Components on the left are those you have selected for the course. Swap interchanges two activated items between both lists Select all components Clear selected components Sort components Erase timetabled lectures Move the component up and down 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Why all components are not available?
3. Locate the slot(s) where the course and component overlap 4. Right-click to to invoke this pop-up menu 5. Double-click the overlapped slot(s) or select ”Mark this slot” 1. Click this button to see this window 6. Clear marked slot(s) to enable addition of the new component t t 2. Select the component you are trying to add to the course 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Examples of courses You may define courses of all types: 1 class – 1 teacher – 1 room (typical) 1 class – 1 teacher (room definition not required) 1 teacher – 1 room (university style) 1 class – 2 teachers – 2 rooms (split group) 2 classes – 1 teacher – 1 room (combined groups) m classes – n teachers – n rooms (general case) 1 teacher – 30 students – 1 room (personalised timetables) etc. A school can have several types of courses; the set of components selected for the course is called collection Adding a component to any course automatically prevents scheduling of it simultaneously with all other courses containing the same component 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Types of courses If you have to mix pupils from a set of classes (groups) to several teachers, you can create a cross table which describes all the simultaneous selections as shown on top right Select all components from the first column and top titles (of the matrix on top right) and add them to create the course for Mimosa You can change their order with arrow keys to show them in a meaningful and informative order in timetables You can also insert subjects to underline content of each group Subjects are components you cannot create timetables for (like English, Chemistry,...), but you can provide them for their useful information 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Examples of different kinds of courses:
Class Teacher Room No room specified Two teachers Two rooms 13 students 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Similarities of both windows:
Click the title row to sort the codes according to the selected criteria Click this button or {Ctrl+H} to go to the tree view Double-click here to replace the course-component connection Double-click here to show/ hide the course-component connections See this hint row for more information 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Summary Check that those courses you have entered have at least one component and that MAX=number of lectures If there are no components (LINKS=?) then this course cannot be neither allocated nor timetabled Double-click to show/hide the course component list while you are working in this window Study the additional selections at Edit and View to increase your productivity in copying courses etc. Click the titles to sort the data accordingly Move next to Weeks window at Window|Courses or use the shortcuts {Ctrl+F6}, {Ctrl+Tab} or the arrow keys 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Using of the Clipboard Commands Edit|Copy onto the Clipboard and Edit|Paste from the Clipboard are useful time-saving tools to move data between Mimosa and other Windows applications: 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Adding courses from the Clipboard
Courses must be added in two steps (course titles and course collections), by using the selections: Edit|Paste from the Clipboard|Codes, names, categories and MAX Edit|Paste from the Clipboard|Replace collections 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

With the help of the Clipboard you can:
Input all Components, Courses, Course collections and Weekly allocated lectures from other Windows applications Reorganise and remap your codes Copy all data onto the Clipboard and paste it to other Windows applications Create your own reports, print, graphics, integrate the data with your own calculations Most of the about 40 Clipboard selections are in the Edit and Tools selection of each window; see samples in sample.xls file With the Clipboard you can increase your productivity! 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 6: Window|Weeks Next the lectures (MAX) are allocated to weeks/terms One goal is to create balanced loads for students and teachers, and another goal is to ensure that they are ordered pedagocically meaningful In this window you can reuse the same course collections many times during the school year while having a good overall picture of the school year, without the need to deal with a set of several separate files You can insert, delete, copy and split weeks and work like with your spreadsheet application If there is only one week (=timetables are identical throughout the year), you can jump to Timetables window, since allocation is done automatically to this single week 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections of Weeks window:

Allocation of lectures
The interface in this window resembles the spreadsheet; the user inputs the number of lectures in cells to satisfy some stated conditions If the course has MAX=80 lectures, they can be allocated in several ways to weeks, for example: 80 = 4x4 + 6x4 + 7x4 + 6x2 + 3x0 + 7x0 + 5x0 (=SUM=MAX) 80 = 4x3 + 6x2 + 7x2 + 6x2 + 3x2 + 7x2 + 5x2 (=SUM=MAX) 79 = 4x4 + 6x4 + 7x3 + 6x3 + 3x0 + 7x0 + 5x0 (=SUM< MAX) 68 = 4x4 + 6x0 + 7x4 + 6x0 + 3x3 + 7x0 + 5x3 (=SUM<MAX) When the weights differ, allocation is more difficult than when they are equal (or when ”weeks” are identical to calendar weeks) 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Weeks window The rows of the table are: courses
The columns of the table are: weeks or terms Titles and lengths of weeks Double-click here to replace component List of courses are maintained in Courses window Double-click here to show/hide the sum window above More info about the active course on hint row 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Weeks window – basic tools
Edit MAX Edit each cell Create allocation solutions {Ins} Search for undone courses {F3} Click here if you want to show/hide the NAME field Remove allocation {Ctrl+Del} Lock course {Ctrl+U} Set & cancel bookings View timetabled lectures Show lectures of components Edit each cell View lectures multiplied by week lengths View lectures cumulative View lectures as percentages View lectures in normal form Set & cancel bookings with {Space bar} Copy timetable of the course to right View lectures graphically 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Different week or term types
There are several ways to divide the school year into weeks; the upper limit is 255 weeks, and each of them can in turn have length (or weight) of weeks In some schools each Week = calendar week (all weights = 1) You can freeze previous weeks by painting those weeks that should not be changed (conversing history) You can also change the weights or lengths of weeks by dragging the column titles with mouse Click here to change the weight of current week 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Modifying the columns (=weeks)
Edit selection contains several useful commands to modify the columns in the table First click the week grid to activate the column, then Insert, Delete or Split a week (the data in the table is kept intact) You can also lock, clear or set bookings to all courses of the selected week Duplicating some week (or timetables or bookings in it) requires that the active (source) week is first stored in memory with the command Edit|Copy week After the week is copied, you can then apply the commands Edit|Paste week and Edit|Paste week special 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Working with the sum window
Double-click the week grid or select View|Sum window to show the other window containing the weekly lectures of components. Right-click here to show the pop-up menu for week grid Show/hide lectures of components {Double-click} Right-click here to show the pop-up menu for sum window Click a cell this table to emphasize other courses linked with this component and scan them with {Ctrl+N} and {Ctrl+P} Define limits in Options|Weeks for weekly lectures; excess lectures are emphasized 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Select in ”Options|Weeks” the permissible patterns
Reinserting lectures You can automatically generate 7 predefined allocation patterns by clicking {Ins} at the last week Deselect those patterns in Options|Weeks that you do not want to include in permissible patterns In some schools you can easily create most of the patterns just by clicking the {Ins} button Select in ”Options|Weeks” the permissible patterns All pattens generated by {Ins} when the number of lectures = MAX = 30, and the number of weeks = 10 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Examples of some grid display options
Button: Displays lectures as: Example: Timetabled / allocated Cumulative Multiplied by week weights Cumulative and multiplied Default form (weekly, numeric) Percentages (of SUM) Horizontal bars Timetabled courses graphically 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Right-click on grid... When you right-click on grid, the pop-up menu shows the same commands as in Edit|Edit course, enabling also to ”split” and ”balance” lectures Right-click on sum grid gives you more options to display it and to replace any component. Having activated a component, {Ctrl+N} and {Ctrl+P} take you to other course lines associated with it. 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Summary Ensure that you have allocated lectures to those weeks that you are going to create timetables for Clicking {F3} locates the next course having at least one lecture unallocated yet (MAX>SUM) Lock those courses by clicking {Ctrl+U} which are intended to keep unaltered during allocation With the command Edit|Set MAX=SUM you can set the MAX numbers of all courses to reflect to the allocated lectures; MAX can be higher than the final lectures You can also check out Edit|Optimise to create immediately an artificial solution Move next to Timetables window at Window|Timetables or use the shortcuts {Ctrl+F6}, {Ctrl+Tab} or the arrow keys 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 7: Window|Timetables
Please create your first timetables manually, since the tools in Tools|Optimise do not necessarily guarantee that all lessons go exactly into the slots as you are thinking settings of optimisation parameters and limitations take often more time than placing the lessons manually in many schools at least some of the lessons and bookings must be placed in specific slots sometimes the whole solution must be created by hand, since you have to be able to make compromises between different interests Double-click is the most important tool to edit and view; right-click to show the most important tools in the current connection If you think that the cells are loaded with too much information, select View|Cell display options to turn some of the selections off; you might turn them on later again Do not pay attention to logical mistakes or conflicts; Mimosa takes care of the most difficult tasks while preventing them and even allows you to Undo your previous operations on the timetable 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Menu selections of Timetables window:

Timetables – basic elements
Although you can modify only the master timetable, all changes concern the linked timetables simultaneously All actions in the master timetable are reflected in the linked timetables as well; they are created according to the collections of the active course Select the timetable from here Double-click to assign or remove the lessons Click the active course from here Double-click to make this the active timetable 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Timetables window – elements
Master timetable Select table Select course Select week Permssible cell The active cell Not permssible cell Cell with lectures Linked timetables List of unassigned lectures of the current table List of collections of the active course More info about the course on hint row 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Timetables - how to modify the cells
Assign painted area of lectures {Ins} Assigning in this cell IS permitted, but it causes 3 gaps ([-3]) Remove painted area of lectures {Del} Find next lectures to assign {Ins} Make/cancel bookings {Space bar} Lock/unlock this course {Ctrl+U} Move the current block Assigning in this cell is NOT permitted because of 2 tables ([-2]) Swap this blocks {F6} Copy course timetable to right Undo last action {Ctrl+Z} Redo last action {Ctrl+Y} What if? (shows conditional moves) Before you assign a course in the timetable, select it from here... ...then double-click the appropriate cell in the master timetable or click {Ins} to assign. 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Timetables: workflow If your file consists of several weeks, complete the first week and try to copy as much as possible of your work to upcoming weeks Go to Weeks window Select Edit|Copy week Select Edit|Paste week Special|Timetables to all remaining weeks Double-click the linked timetables to activate them Click {Ctrl+U} to freeze fixed courses, {Ctrl+R} and {Ctrl+A} to find new rooms on the fly Double-clicking of ”forbidden” cells allows you to remove the courses from your way immediately Move, What-if? and Swap buttons allow you to combine two basic actions in one command Also the above actions can be cancelled with Undo right-click to show a pop-up menu of the most important actions 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Cell contents Cell Description View|Cell display option Cell contains booking ”Meeting” An empty cell creating a ”gap” between used cells  Show gap picture The course can be inserted, but causing two ([-2]) more gaps  Show indicators The course cannot be inserted, one ([-1]) table prevents Course DRA405 is inserted in this cell, no colours  Show course colours Course NUR78 is inserted in this cell, with three colour flag generated by the application  Show flag Indicates a swap option with course PRI824  Show swap options Course SEA646 with manual room (m) – {Ctrl+R}  Show manual rooms Course SEA646 with comment (c) – {Ctrl+C}  Show comments Course ENG226 with memo notes Enable with {Ctrl+K} 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Right-click on the master timetable...
Protect your work by locking courses and set bookings to mark free slots You can edit and annotate course collections here Swap and Move actions combine Insert and Erase tools Change the booking texts 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 7: Summary It is important that you now know the main tools how to modify Timetables effectively You also now know that you do not have to keep track about the conflicts and the right number of lectures You are the decision-maker and Mimosa - your humble slave It is a good hint to save your work at several stages on disk (especially if you want to test dramatic changes); you can also save alternative variations of your final solution You do not have to insert all lectures to timetables before you print them; when you print some of them, you know how to select descriptive codes and names and how to set up printing Use selection Edit|Copy onto the Clipboard|3/5/8 to help you study the timetables before showing them to end-users 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 8: File|Print 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor - www.mimosasoftware.com
Reports 3 and 6 are for timetables, other for lecture statistics Variations for reports 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 You can change all texts in ”Options|Report titles” Click here when you have selected the report 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Print menu - Selections
Select codes and weeks to print, plus HTML-settings Print to printer or on web (HTML) Select the codes you want to printt Select the weeks you want to print You can add the URL of your school on top of your reports These HTML-settings are enabled, if you have selected ”HTML” Start printing here 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Print menu - Print General settings for each page 16-Sep-18
Select the format for weeks and codes as they are shown on top of page You can store a comment and show it on top of each page A .bmp file named ”logo.bmp” stored in Mimosa folder is automatically resized and printed on top of each page Select this, if you like to apply the HTML font you selected Selecting a suitable font size and type plus page orientation is essential 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Print menu - Timetables
Settings for timetable reports (Reports 3 and 6) Cell height parameters What component categories to show? How do you want to show the first course row in each cell? When you change the printer settins, a new sample cell is shown here How do you want to show the component rows? Miscellaneous selections 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Print menu - Other Settings for other reports 16-Sep-18
Here you can select the fields you want to include in reports When you print courses by components or vice versa, you can select how much details you like to show on each page 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Report 3 – Timetables for components
Note that some cells are higher than others if they require more space Course row Component rows Two or more successive lessons are combined 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Report 3 – Directory system for Timetables
The main file... ... links to week directory file ”week00x.htm” ... You can jump to other timetables and weeks from here ... which in turn links to single timetable files. 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Sample report – stacked timetables

Sample report – courses by teachers

Sample report – timeline of teachers

Using references to course pages
Check ”Create course references (HTML)” in ”File|Print|Timetables” to replace course names by links to course pages (in Reports 3and 6) File ”aut105.htm” is created for course code ”AUT105” to be referenced 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Sample reports via Clipboard:
Components window -> Edit|Copy onto the Clipboard| 8 Codes, names and lectures of courses in weeks 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Some words about reports...
Use Reports 3 and 6 in File|Print to print timetables Report formatting styles vary a lot by school, but there are several ways to change the output parameters; you can maintain profile files of your selections in File|Profile Add your web timetables to your school’s website Study also the Clipboard selections, since they give more flexibility to format the output and to paste them into existing documents Timetables are the final and for many the only visible result of the whole timetabling process With readable and up-to-date timetables you will gain a lot of recognition and admiration among your colleagues! 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Topic 9: Other tools Mimosa has about 550 menu selections, which in turn open several other windows, like the File|Print window Four windows Components, Courses, Weeks and Timetables are always always open simultaneously Use Window selection to organise their positions on the screen (Window|Cascade, Window|Tile); it is customary to maximise the window which is currently active You can also minimise windows that are not currently needed Minimising Weeks and Timetables windows enables you to organise only Components and Courses windows Minimise window Maximise window Restore window to its previous size You cannot close any of the four windows that are always open 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Select rooms manually If it is impossible to assign all lectures of a course into one room, you can also leave the room undefined in course collection, and select it in Tools|Select rooms manually or in Timetables window with {Ctrl+R} Manual rooms have a lower priority than rooms that are assigned in the normal fashion, and this option is intended to be used as a ”last resort” when the other method is not applicable The following conditions or rules must be noted: Room category must be defined in Options|Timetables|Category for Classrooms They apply only to single-room courses Course may contain no rooms in its collection Select File|Print|Print|[x]Apply manually selected rooms Since Manual room selections may be overwritten without notice by other tools, it is recommend to set them after other selections 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Select rooms manually - tools
Click the title to sort the list to your criteria The timetable of the active room is automatically shown Click here to show the list of free rooms These tools are used to clear many slots; single slots are cleared by [Del] These tools copy the solution to other slots Copy and Paste buttons are the most efficient: you can assign all rooms at once with Clipboard and a spreadsheet application Click to select the room 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Optimisation of timetables – Tools|Optimise
Optimisation is a way to create and squeeze timetables automatically Most users combine several methods Start with ”fixed” manual solution (lock courses and save the solution on disk) Use Initial solution to assign the rest of the lectures Use Optimise and manual changes in turn to improve the current solution Optimise - rules: never assigns new lessons or removes existing ones only already assigned lessons are moved around Initial solution - rules: available when there is at least one unassigned lesson never changes already assigned lectures 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Optimisation selections
Use both algorithms to maximise the optimisation efficiency Select courses you want to include in optimisation; others remain untouched Limit the type of changes; check them if you prefer conservative results Uncheck to keep locked courses Limit the block range of lessons Select the weeks to include in optimisation The goal of the optimisation is to minimise gaps in timetables; you can weight their severity across component types (and typically set higher penalty for the gaps of pupils, lowest for rooms) Finally, click Start to start optimisation 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Optimisation – watch while Mimosa works...
Optimisation time and the number of changes that has been made so far How the number of gaps has changed during optimisation Change of gaps in timetables The number of changes that have been cancelled Abort optimisation when no changes seem to take place... 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Course info Click {Ctrl+H} to activate Course info window The root of the tree is on the active course or component Click Modify? to edit the active item Double-click any item on the tree to expand or collapse its branches Click an item on the tree and click Select to edit its content Click Back to go to previous selection Click Up or Down to select previous or next component or course from the list Click Copy to copy the tree onto the Clipboard No need to go back to Courses or Components window to edit them 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Change the code and week here Select the code type here
Show timetables Click {Ctrl+T} or select Tools|Show timetables everywhere in the application It enables you to view, copy and erase timetables of the selected week, course or component It also enables to view/edit bookings and comments in component timetables Copy and paste buttons enable to clone timetables of courses and bookings of components across timetables and weeks This selection is not intended to modify timetables, which is done in Timetables window Paint a rectangle in timetable, Copy it in memory, change the table and Paste the area in the new table Change the code and week here Select the code type here 16-Sep-18 Mimosa Tutor -

Tools from http://www.mimosasoftware.com/tools.ppt
End of Tutorial These pages covered some of the basic tools of Mimosa. For additional information, please download ”booklet.zip” from and Tools from © Mimosa Software Oy 2004

Mimosa Timetable Software

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