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Reservation algorithmI'm in the process of developing a reservation management system for
small restaurants. I am stuck on creating an algorigthm for managing the reservations. For example i need to check that a table is avaialbe and when etc. I understand that i'll need a database table containing information about the tables in the restaurant but further than this im pretty clueless so any help would be much appreciated. jimmy,
Is this a class project? If not, then I would suggest that your question shows that you do not have the necessary experience to tackle this project. Kerry Moorman Show quoteHide quote "jimmy" wrote: > I'm in the process of developing a reservation management system for > small restaurants. I am stuck on creating an algorigthm for managing > the reservations. For example i need to check that a table is avaialbe > and when etc. I understand that i'll need a database table containing > information about the tables in the restaurant but further than this im > pretty clueless so any help would be much appreciated. > > Jimmy
Contact me off list. You need a consultant to help you. You can't really plan something like this here. Kelly Show quoteHide quote "jimmy" <james.herring***@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:1166721225.058564.5420@48g2000cwx.googlegroups.com... > I'm in the process of developing a reservation management system for > small restaurants. I am stuck on creating an algorigthm for managing > the reservations. For example i need to check that a table is avaialbe > and when etc. I understand that i'll need a database table containing > information about the tables in the restaurant but further than this im > pretty clueless so any help would be much appreciated. > Yes this is, i have completed the other parts of the project (stock
management and actually storing the reservations in a database and searching etc) but i cant get my head around how to do this. Thanks James jimmy wrote:
> Yes this is, i have completed the other parts of the project (stock So you can store the reservations in the database? I assume that you> management and actually storing the reservations in a database and > searching etc) but i cant get my head around how to do this. have some way to information about the tables such as number of parties, whether it's a booth or a table, whether it's near a window or not, whether it's close to the stage (if there is a stage), etc. So a reservation would be a table for a specific time? So, how do you envision the program working? Will someone call to request a reservation? If they ask for a table for 4, near a window, for 8:00pm, you will have to query your associated database for a table that matches that description. Then based on the data stored in the reservations table, you can check to see if a reservation already exists for that table at that time. A possible db setup might include the following: DinnerTable (holds information about the available tables) Id int Capacity int Type int -- 0 = table, 1 = booth NearWindow bit Reservations Id int DinnerTableId int --FK to Tables table Time datetime Duration int --Length of the reservation in minutes These are only simple examples to help you start thinking. Your queries would have to be able to figure out which tables are reserved (or still in use), which tables are likely to be vacated, and which tables are free. If a party is using a table at 8:00pm and someone calls to reserve that table for 9:00pm, can you put that down as a reservation even though the first party might linger at the table past 9pm? Or would you tell the caller that that table is reserved for 8pm and it might not be free exactly at 9pm and that they may have to wait until 9:15? These are things to consider. And you'll probably need a way to cancel a reservation. Break the program into small tasks and begin solving each of those tasks, keeping in mind all of the requirements for the project. Hope there is at least some useful nuggets of information in here for you. Good Luck.
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"Chris Dunaway" <dunaw***@gmail.com> wrote in message And go to the restaurant and pester the host to learn how the process is news:1166728523.666353.307250@f1g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > jimmy wrote: >> Yes this is, i have completed the other parts of the project (stock >> management and actually storing the reservations in a database and >> searching etc) but i cant get my head around how to do this. > > So you can store the reservations in the database? I assume that you > have some way to information about the tables such as number of > parties, whether it's a booth or a table, whether it's near a window or > not, whether it's close to the stage (if there is a stage), etc. So a > reservation would be a table for a specific time? > > So, how do you envision the program working? Will someone call to > request a reservation? If they ask for a table for 4, near a window, > for 8:00pm, you will have to query your associated database for a table > that matches that description. Then based on the data stored in the > reservations table, you can check to see if a reservation already > exists for that table at that time. A possible db setup might include > the following: > > DinnerTable (holds information about the available tables) > > Id int > Capacity int > Type int -- 0 = table, 1 = booth > NearWindow bit > > > Reservations > > Id int > DinnerTableId int --FK to Tables table > Time datetime > Duration int --Length of the reservation in > minutes > > These are only simple examples to help you start thinking. > > Your queries would have to be able to figure out which tables are > reserved (or still in use), which tables are likely to be vacated, and > which tables are free. > > If a party is using a table at 8:00pm and someone calls to reserve that > table for 9:00pm, can you put that down as a reservation even though > the first party might linger at the table past 9pm? Or would you tell > the caller that that table is reserved for 8pm and it might not be free > exactly at 9pm and that they may have to wait until 9:15? These are > things to consider. > > And you'll probably need a way to cancel a reservation. > > Break the program into small tasks and begin solving each of those > tasks, keeping in mind all of the requirements for the project. > > Hope there is at least some useful nuggets of information in here for > you. > done. Once you start thinking about the data structures and know how to do the job, things will start to fall into place. David Yes thanks alot this has helped me get a little further however i had
hoped to expand on this to offer a web interface for users to book themselves in however i guess there is no easy way to do so as it will be near impossible to estimate what time the table will be free. I have had an idea whereby a query finds all suitable tables as suggested, and then all tables are searched to see if there are any reservations made for them. If there is a table that has no reservations then this table can be allocated or else the reservation times are searched to find the table with a reservation that is furthest away from the requested reservation. If there are no tables free within an hour of requested time then the reservation will not be made. Does this sound like a suitable solution for an 'unattended' reservation? I think that you would need to use historical data (as your database grows)
to look at the time it takes for a table to "free up" at each site, which might include average and standard deviation (based on a variety of factors, including party size, time of day, day of the week, month of the year (seasonal), events [is a band playing, etc.]). Most restaurants know this from experience, but an unattended system will have to use logic to figure it out and predict how long a party of 4 at 7pm on a Thursday is likely to be "using" a table. You probably also need a threshold value for each restaurant indicating how long they are willing to have a person wait before being seated. Come to think of it, you may need that for both reservations (some places you make a reservation just to get in, and you might still wait 20 minutes to be seated, in others you expect to be seated immediately) and walk-in clients (who presumably will have a higher tolerance for waiting, but if the wait is too long, they leave). Again, your ability to hit those targets 95%+ of the time would be predicted from the historical data. You should be able to use statistical modelling (there are software programs that do nothing but modelling) to predict all sorts of great information based on the historical data, if you are willing to learn some complicated statistics. Of course, the restaurants would have to be diligent about clocking out tables to collect good data... and at that point, you'd also need data on the time it takes to turn over (clean) a dirty table. I strongly second David's suggestion - unless you have worked in the restaurant environment and already have the knowledge, go pester folks at multiple restaurants to see how they currently process reservations to maximize business while maintaining customer service. Show quoteHide quote "jimmy" <james.herring***@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:1166731775.685360.26910@48g2000cwx.googlegroups.com... > Yes thanks alot this has helped me get a little further however i had > hoped to expand on this to offer a web interface for users to book > themselves in however i guess there is no easy way to do so as it will > be near impossible to estimate what time the table will be free. > > I have had an idea whereby a query finds all suitable tables as > suggested, and then all tables are searched to see if there are any > reservations made for them. If there is a table that has no > reservations then this table can be allocated or else the reservation > times are searched to find the table with a reservation that is > furthest away from the requested reservation. If there are no tables > free within an hour of requested time then the reservation will not be > made. > > Does this sound like a suitable solution for an 'unattended' > reservation? >
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"jimmy" <james.herring***@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message I think you need to ask the pros. Many of these questions are really domain news:1166731775.685360.26910@48g2000cwx.googlegroups.com... > Yes thanks alot this has helped me get a little further however i had > hoped to expand on this to offer a web interface for users to book > themselves in however i guess there is no easy way to do so as it will > be near impossible to estimate what time the table will be free. > > I have had an idea whereby a query finds all suitable tables as > suggested, and then all tables are searched to see if there are any > reservations made for them. If there is a table that has no > reservations then this table can be allocated or else the reservation > times are searched to find the table with a reservation that is > furthest away from the requested reservation. If there are no tables > free within an hour of requested time then the reservation will not be > made. > > Does this sound like a suitable solution for an 'unattended' > reservation? > business questions. EG how many reservations can I offer a night? How long should I expect a table to sit? Are reservations taken for specific tables? David Thanks guys, All your advice has been really helpful however i now
realise that this is obviously alot harder than i had first thought. The web interface is not required for the project however i was considering making for extra wow and maybe to distribute as an OpenSource project. I have decided that i will implement the 'supervised' reservation system first and then look at creating the 'unsupervised' system as and when i have time. Thanks once again, James. Of course there is the additional item of not wanting to seat too many
tables at the same time.. they will all then be ordering together and will have longer waits for service..... So maybe a flag for how many tables (people?) can be sat within any 15 minute period or something similar.... Just to make life that little more interesting... Simon Show quoteHide quote "jimmy" <james.herring***@tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:1166737764.583452.163650@80g2000cwy.googlegroups.com... > Thanks guys, All your advice has been really helpful however i now > realise that this is obviously alot harder than i had first thought. > The web interface is not required for the project however i was > considering making for extra wow and maybe to distribute as an > OpenSource project. I have decided that i will implement the > 'supervised' reservation system first and then look at creating the > 'unsupervised' system as and when i have time. > > Thanks once again, > > James. > |
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