Combined Automatic and Interactive Timetabling Using Constraint Logic Programming ?

We use Constraint Logic Programming and develop methods , techniques and concepts for a combined automatic and interactive timetabling of university courses and school curricula. An instance of such a timetabling system was developed for the Charit e Medical Faculty at the Humboldt University, Berlin. This paper looks at methods and techniques for solving this timetabling problem. An essential component is an automatic heuristic solution search with an interactive user-intervention facility. The user will, however, only be able to alter a timetable or schedule such that no hard constraints are violated. Initial application of our timetabling system has proved successful and demonstrated the suitability of the methods used. The results obtained are also useful for solving other problems.