Windows (gaps) in teachers timetables

In many schools, teachers often complain about “windows” in their timetables. Because of these free periods, they have to stay at school with no lessons, and they cannot leave since they have other lessons later.
You can solve these complaints by minimizing teachers’ gaps in the following way:

1. Set default values for all teachers
You can limit the total number of windows per teacher per week in the Timetable → Parameters menu.

Note:
If windows (gaps) are not a problem at your school, we recommend turning this option off (no gap checking).

2. Set individual values for each teacher
If you need different settings for some teachers, you can define custom limits in the Teachers → [Select Teacher] → Constraints menu.

Note:
If this option (4) is disabled for individual teachers, make sure that the global parameter is turned on, as described in step 1.

3. Limit the number of windows per day

The previous two options check the total number of windows in the whole week.
If you want to limit the number of windows per day, use the checkboxes in the teacher’s details (6).

For example, you can allow a maximum of two windows per day.
Even if the teacher is allowed six windows per week, the program will prevent cases such as five windows on one day and one on another.
For simpler timetables, you can also set that the teacher may have at most one window per day using the second checkbox.