Providing Innovative Optimization Solutions
Frequently Asked Questions
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Q:
How is OptTime different from Microsoft Project?
A: Microsoft Project (with the exception of resource leveling)
depends on the user to find a conflict free schedule. The user is
able to do this by examining a proposed schedule within the GUI
environment. On the other hand, OptTime does not need a human
in the loop. It has the ability to accept multiple ways to satisfy a
task and choose a "best" solution. There is no way to represent
multiple possible solutions in Project. It is possible to
construct a hybrid system in which a higher level client software
(possibly hosted within an data base program like Access) would use
the functionality of OptTime to find and Schedule solution and use
Microsoft Project for Gantt chart review and reporting.
Q: Are the schedule solutions found by
OptTime optimal?
A: All OptTime schedule solutions are de-conflicted, that is
conflict free. Whether they are Optimal depends on what is
meant by "optimal". Several of the OptTime "standard solution"
algorithms mimic human procedures and are optimal as far as these
users are concerned since they yield predictable solutions with no
conflicts. OptTime gives the user the option of defining a Figure of
Merit (FOM) which can be searched by the algorithms to find an
optimal solution. Because of the complexity of scheduling problems
it is not possible to guarantee that an optimal solution can be
found in general. OptTime has been designed to find good conflict
free solutions quickly and give the users to ability to search for
better solutions.
Q: Why doesn't OptTime have a Graphical
User Interface?
A: The primary goal of the OptTime solution was to add advance
scheduling into existing systems. Such an existing system will have
a GUI with domain specific assumptions. Avoiding domain specific
assumptions allows OptTime to be be adapted to a wide range of
problems. For example, while time is represented to double
precision, there is no assumption that the user is using a
particular time unit. You can do nanosecond accuracy schedules over
years or second resolution schedules over millions of years. In
addition, because there is no GUI there is a much smaller code
footprint. The documentation file for OptTime is larger than the
dynamic link library containing the OptTime code. If you would
like to have a GUI complete with a Gantt chart and screens for
defining tasks our partner in the Aerospace Industry, Orbit Logic
Inc. Has adapted the GUI from STK/Scheduler, to a more generic form
called Saturn. See the STK/Scheduler
product page for more information. Another way to add a Gantt chart
representation would be to export the data to Microsoft Project.
Q: [Why ]
A: [FAQ Answer]