Using Excel as a scheduling program.

[DellArte]

I'm looking for a way to use excel to take a lot of the headache out
of scheduling rehearsals for the theatre company I work for.
Basically, I have a list of variables that I would like to enter in,
and then let the computer sort it out for me- I'm not sure if Excel
can even do this, but it seems to me it would be pretty simple
operation for a computer to figure out!

For example, let's say I have this sort of list of variables.

TIME variables
I have 8 days that I can rehearse
I have 10 hours every day that are available for rehearsal.
Rehearsals need to be at least 2 hours in length
Before and after any rehearsal block, there needs to be a 15 minute
break
There needs to be a 1 hour break for lunch and a one hour break for
dinner

SPACE variables
There are 3 spaces available for rehearsing in.
Each of the 3 spaces has certain blocks of time that are unavailable
for use.
Only one group may rehearse in each space at one time.

GROUP & PEOPLE VARIABLES
There are 15 people involved
There are 9 different groups
Each group has at least 3 people in it
Each person is involved in at least 2, maybe 3 of the groups
Some people will have times that are unavailable, outside of their
rehearsal times (i.e. Jimmy will have a doctor's appointment at 3pm
on Tuesday and will be unavailable)
People cannot rehearse in more than one group at the same time.
People may not need to show up for the entire rehearsal block.
Each group must have either a. an equal amount of time or b. a
predetermined amount of time

Any ideas?
Thanks!
Tyler

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello Tyler -

First, personal computers don't "figure out" anything other than what
they've been *programmed* to figure out by people - they just do it faster,
more tirelessly & more accurately Your conception would better describe
Artificial Intelligence, not personal computing

Second, Excel _could_ do this sort of thing if someone sits down & writes
the instructions for it to follow so you could just plug in the variables
each period. However, that "someone" would have to have the knowledge &
experience to write the correct instruction sets. There are a number of such
"someones" active in this group & I have no doubt they would be happy to
quote you their professional rates $

Third, you may want to do a little searching for software already written
for project management or scheduling - I don't know any off the top of my
head, but I'm sure there are more than one that will handle this almost
"straight from the box".

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Tyler,

I am pretty sure you will find that Excel can do this for you.

Are you familiar at all with entering formulas in Excel? If so, use Excel's
help. Search for Date and Time functions. You'll find a summary of the
functions and how they work with examples.

Another feature to investigate is the IF worksheet function.

Yet another feature to check out is the Flag for Follow-up function (click
the red flag on the standard toolbar).

This information should get you well on your way to creating the solution
you desire. You'll probably need to post additional questions about
specific things once you get started and you should feel free to post in the
newsgroup about anything you don't understand.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

I'm looking for a way to use excel to take a lot of the headache out
of scheduling rehearsals for the theatre company I work for.
Basically, I have a list of variables that I would like to enter in,
and then let the computer sort it out for me- I'm not sure if Excel
can even do this, but it seems to me it would be pretty simple
operation for a computer to figure out!

For example, let's say I have this sort of list of variables.

TIME variables
I have 8 days that I can rehearse
I have 10 hours every day that are available for rehearsal.
Rehearsals need to be at least 2 hours in length
Before and after any rehearsal block, there needs to be a 15 minute
break
There needs to be a 1 hour break for lunch and a one hour break for
dinner

SPACE variables
There are 3 spaces available for rehearsing in.
Each of the 3 spaces has certain blocks of time that are unavailable
for use.
Only one group may rehearse in each space at one time.

GROUP & PEOPLE VARIABLES
There are 15 people involved
There are 9 different groups
Each group has at least 3 people in it
Each person is involved in at least 2, maybe 3 of the groups
Some people will have times that are unavailable, outside of their
rehearsal times (i.e. Jimmy will have a doctor's appointment at 3pm
on Tuesday and will be unavailable)
People cannot rehearse in more than one group at the same time.
People may not need to show up for the entire rehearsal block.
Each group must have either a. an equal amount of time or b. a
predetermined amount of time

Any ideas?
Thanks!
Tyler

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP

MVPs are not Microsoft Employees
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