What happens when I cancel the generation?

The standard generator generates until it places all the cards into the timetable. If you have relaxation allowed it generates until all cards are placed, but may need to break some constraints.

If you cancel the generation you have two options.

Canceling immediately will stop the generator in the exactly same state it was in the moment you cancelled. So if the generator has already placed 90% card but for the last few he had to explore different possibilities, you might cancel it with just 10% cards placed.

Finish quickly option will force the generator to try to place all the remaining cards, without extensive rebuilding of the timetable. This option will not give you timetable, but you will have most of the cards placed which can give you some idea on what is going on in your timetable.

The student based generator works different way. Once it finds timetable, the button bellow changes from cancel to stop. It still tries to find better solution (usually this means less students choices unrealized). It will stop after reasonable time (defined by the complexity of generation) but you can stop it at any time and the software will show the best solution so far.