多用户博客系统外文翻译范文.docx
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多用户博客系统外文翻译范文
外文文献资料
Introduction
Aswithmanyreallifeproblems,theuniversitycoursetimetablingproblemcanbemessyandcomplicated.Solvingtheuniversitycoursetimetablingprobleminvolvesmanypeoplecommunicatingtotrytoachieveatimetablethatmeetsasetofrequirementsandgoals.AsexplainedinChapter3,theliteratureonautomatedtimetablingoftentakesagiventimetablingproblemandreducesittoamathematicaldefinition,whichcanthenbesolved.Inreality,thereisalotmoretoarealworldtimetablingproblemthanwhatisrepresentedinsuchadefinition.Thetimetablingprocessislongandconsistsofmanystagesbeforethatofactuallyplacingcoursesintotimeslots.ThefirststageofsolvingaprobleminORinvolvesadetailedstudyofthesystem,identifyingspecificproblems,systemconstraints,andobjectivefunctions.
Thischapterlooks,indetail,atthetimetablingproblematthefacultyofappliedscienceandengineeringattheUniversityofToronto(APSC).Theprocessdescribedistheonethattookplaceinordertocreatethetimetableforthemuchmorecomplicatedthanwhatappearsinamathematicalmodel.Aswell,adetailedanalysisofagivenproblemisasteptowardscreatingaproblemdefinition.Itallowsonetoidentifyalloftheprocessissues,constraints,restrictions,andgoals,therebyprovidingabaseofinformationthatmaybeincludedinaproblemdefinition.
TheundergraduateprogramatAPSCconsistsoffouryearsofstudy.Thereare4000students,over1200ofwhicharefirstyears.Therearesevendepartmentsandninedegreeprogramstotaling79POSts1.Thereare219facultymembers,12buildings,and80labroomsthataremanagedinternally.ThefacultyusesasoftwareschedulingpackagethatispartoftheSyllabusPlussuiteofschedulingproducts.InparticularthesoftwareCoursePlanner(CP)isusedtoschedule,identifyissues,andsupportdecisions.CPisasoftwarepackagethatusesseveralheuristicswhenscheduling.75%oftimetablesaredeliveredtotheindividualstudentconflict-free,basedonprogramstructure.Inthefollowingsections,wedescribethegoalsthatthetimetabletriestoachieve,theconstraintsinvolved,andthestrategy,theprocess,usedwhencreatingthetimetable.WethenoutlinesomeproblematicareasexistinginthecurrentprocessandhighlighttheareaswhereITcouldbehelpful.IdentifyingareaswhereITcouldbehelpfulshouldmaketheproblemdefinitionproblemeasier.
Constraints
Inthetimetablingdomain,therearetwotypesofconstraints.Hardconstraintsareconstraintsthatcannotbeviolatedbecauseiftheywere,theschedulewouldbeinfeasible.Softconstraints,otherwiseknownaspreferences,aretheretomakethetimetableasgoodaspossible.Fewersoftconstraintviolationsmeanthatthescheduleisbetter.Inaddition,intheUniversityofTorontoexample,therearecertainsituationsthatarise,duetothenatureoftheprogram,thatseriouslyconstraintheschedule.Althoughtheseareconstraintsinaslightlydifferentmeaning,theywillbereferredtoasconstrainingfactorsandtheywillbelistedinthissectionaswell.
Strategy
Thereisnowrittenprotocolthatisfollowedwhencreatingthetimetable.Thisisbecauseeveryyearisuniqueanddifferentthanthepreviousone.Thereis,however,ageneralstrategythatisused.Thebasicstepsthatmakeuptheschedulingprocessarethesameeachyear.Firstisdataacquisition.Secondisdecidingontherolloverstrategy.Therolloverstrategyisdecidingwhatpartofthepreviousyear'sscheduleiskeptandrolledoverforthefollowingyear.Aftertherolloverstrategyisdetermined,eachyear'stimetableisscheduled,oneatatime,startingwiththefirstyearprogramandfinishingoffwiththefourthyear.
Theschedulingprocessreallybeginsbeforethedataacquisitionstage,withthecreationofthecurriculumandcalendar.However,thispartoftheprocessisnotdiscussedhere.Inthefollowingsections,eachstepintheaboveschedulingprocesswillbelookedatinmoredetail.
ProblemsintheProcess
Therearemanyareasoftheprocesswherethereisaneedforimprovement.Theseproblemsrangefromtechnicalissuessuchastherebeingtoomuchdatabeingenteredmanually,tocommunicationissues,topoliticalissueswithinthefaculty.SomecanbenefitfromanITsolution,andsomecannot.
ITSolutions
Thereareseveralinstancesduringtheprocesswhereautomationwouldbehelpful.Theobviousoneisthatofthecreationofthetimetable.Softwareiscurrentlyused,butthatsoftwarerequiresalotofinteractionandinawayitismerelyadatabasethatholdsdataandnotifiestheuserwhenconflictsexist,whilethetimetableisactuallycreatedmanually.TheCPsoftwarecanscheduleautomatically,butfromexperience,thecreatedschedulesareoftenquitefarfromideal.CPoftenhasalotofdifficulty