More Detail on Project Job Scheduling Example

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Wizard

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Oct 22, 2014, 1:15:44 AM10/22/14
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Hello everyone,
I am new to OptaPlanner, but I really excited to learn more. Currently I were interested in Project Job Scheduling, because this example similar to the planning problem in our company. Unfortunately, when I tried to find more detail about this example, I just found a little of it. Is there any documentation out there beside the manual that explain more detail about this example, what is the domain model classes relationship, why construct the domain classes like in examples, etc.
Please kindly help me understanding this examples.

Thanks & Regards.

Wizard

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Oct 22, 2014, 7:00:53 AM10/22/14
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Just wondering, am I asking too basic question? Perhaps I am asking in wrong place? Please anybody, let me know where should I post this question? Really appreciate any respond.
Thanks & Regards.

Geoffrey De Smet

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Oct 22, 2014, 10:50:27 AM10/22/14
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Patience is bliss (especially on a free support forum with no SLA).
For more info, see recommendations on
   http://www.optaplanner.org/community/forum.html


Currently I were interested in Project Job Scheduling, because this example similar to the planning problem in our company. Unfortunately, when I tried to find more detail about this example, I just found a little of it. Is there any documentation out there beside the manual that explain more detail about this example, what is the domain model classes relationship, why construct the domain classes like in examples, etc.
Take a look at the MISTA 2013 Challange, a description in PDF.
It's linked from the manual documentation, section 3.3.4.1.

With kind regards,
Geoffrey De Smet

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Wizard

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Oct 22, 2014, 9:56:02 PM10/22/14
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Hi Geoffrey,
Please forgive my second post, I just post it to make sure I didn't post in wrong place / asking wrong question. Anyway, back to the topic, I have already read the description provided from MISTA 2013 challenge. Unfortunately, after reading many times, I still can't understand the explanation provided in there. Maybe because it was full with algebra and complex mathematics symbols that I don't really understand. I just need more detail explanation like the cloud balancing explanation in optaplanner manual, i.e. how do we build the domain model class for planning variable, entity, and problem, what the right score calculation and optimization to use, etc. 
Please kindly help me.

Thanks & Regards.

Geoffrey De Smet

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Oct 23, 2014, 4:11:04 AM10/23/14
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Hi Wizard,

That's all the information that's available currently :(

Between the CloudBalancing quick start, CloudBalancingHelloworld.java, the Project Job Scheduling problem description in the manual and the actual example implementation of PJS, most users grok it.

With kind regards,
Geoffrey De Smet

Wizard

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Oct 23, 2014, 5:28:35 AM10/23/14
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Hi Geoffrey, 
It's really sad to hear that no other resource available for Project Job Scheduling. Ok, I will try to understand it by myself, but can I still post here if I found something that I don't understand? Also, where do you recommanded me if I want to start learn that example?
Thanks & Regards.

Pete Carapetyan

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Oct 24, 2014, 12:24:35 PM10/24/14
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Hi Wizard, just to keep the conversations alive - a couple of notes:

This optaplanner scheduler project is extremely interesting to me for many reasons, and I spent quite a few days trying to learn and understand it.

After much drama and brain damage, I came to the conclusion that this scheduler was optimized and designed for the very singular focus of the Mista challenge, and not so friendly for optimizing for other issues such as I might need to score for - everything from continuity of a team on a specific task, to the difference between allocating a specific resource for a specific task versus just pulling someone out of the pool. I also needed pretty tight integration with ProjectLibre (or MSProject) which was itself unthinkable.

For these reasons and more I ended up writing my own from scratch. It's a ways off from open-sourcing but I'd be happy to share whatever I have with you off-line if you want to compare notes.

I am still using optaplanner on this alternative scheduler, but only to compare options, not to optimize the schedule itself.

pete at datafundamentals dot com for further offline conversations.

goduguchi...@gmail.com

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Nov 5, 2014, 2:44:16 AM11/5/14
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Can you please e-mail me ur suggestions. im actually working on my school proj.

bob.m...@gmail.com

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Feb 9, 2019, 5:36:48 AM2/9/19
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Hi Wizard, have you ever found a working solution/help for your project? Almost 5 years later I'm facing similar challenges, and although I'm sure the documentation has become way better, it still lacks (or I can't find it) a Toddler-bootstrap guide for n00bs like myself to take the first learning stumbles.
TIA, Bob

Bob Mulder

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Feb 9, 2019, 5:52:56 AM2/9/19
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P.S. I'd be willing to compile this newbie guide, if it doesn't exist yet and others would be interested.

Geoffrey De Smet

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Feb 9, 2019, 8:11:15 AM2/9/19
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All the docs of that example are in chapter 3 in the user guide:
  https://docs.optaplanner.org/7.17.0.Final/optaplanner-docs/html_single/index.html#projectJobScheduling

It's not much, but there's a link to the MISTA 2013 challenge definition.

The implementation uses chained planning variables, like the VRP example.

With kind regards,
Geoffrey De Smet

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Geoffrey De Smet

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Feb 15, 2019, 3:34:57 AM2/15/19
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everything from continuity of a team on a specific task, to the difference between allocating a specific resource for a specific task versus just pulling someone out of the pool.

Can you please elaborate on these requirements so I can verify if I 've seen them before?


that this scheduler was optimized and designed for the very singular focus of the Mista challenge

The project job scheduling example most definitely is. OptaPlanner itself isn't and I 've not seen a scheduling case I couldn't bend it to, yet.
Note that we also have the task assignment example which again is specifically tailored to another variant (for example no task dependencies).

Like in VRP, there are many variants of job scheduling - and the devil is in the details -
if the variant you need is far from the existing examples, it can be difficult to adjust any such example.
In the far future, after the VRP variants are categorized, we should make work of catagorizing the job scheduling variants.

Also, the example project job scheduling is too convoluted anyway (the sink/source black magic, chained vars, ...),
it's by far one of the most difficult to understand examples in optaplanner's 25 examples.

The @CollectionPlanningVariable issue for VRP might be an opportunity to simplify it:
  https://issues.jboss.org/browse/PLANNER-728
which will allow:
  @PlanningVariable
  class Vehicle {
       @CollectionPlanningVariable(...)
       List<Visit> visitList;
  }


I also needed pretty tight integration with ProjectLibre (or MSProject) which was itself unthinkable.

It's all plain old java objects, so any such integration is a matter of writing the glue code for it:

With kind regards,
Geoffrey De Smet

tianj...@gmail.com

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Aug 21, 2019, 3:05:42 AM8/21/19
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Hi Bob,

Another newbie for Optaplanner here. I am also struggling a lot on how to extract a simpler demo code from current Project Job Scheduling Example. Could not find anything on Google so far. Would really appreciated it if you have some newbie guide that are available to share.

Geoffrey De Smet

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Aug 23, 2019, 2:40:54 AM8/23/19
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The newbie guide for Project Job Scheduling is a great idea.
I'd happily share any such newbie guide through optaplanner's social media.

@Bob are you still interested in writing it?

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