How Time Templates Work

New Laboratory Example

Calpendo's Time Templates which are created in the Time Templates Editor are quite powerful, and best explained by an example. Suppose a new laboratory opens with a scanner, and the building is only open from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday. Since the laboratory is new, its scanner doesn't get much use yet, so there is no need to enforce much in the way of booking controls, but it is required to prevent people from making out of hours bookings. To do this, create two Time Templates: one for when the building is open, and another for when it is closed.

The two Time Templates are represented by the contents of this table:

This means that the Open Time Template allows everybody to make bookings, and those bookings will be automatically approved by Calpendo. The Closed Time Template stops everybody from making bookings, and whenever somebody tries, they will be given the message shown in the table about the building being closed.

The missing element from all this is to choose the times when the Open and Closed Time Templates apply. This is a process much like the Bookings Calendar, but instead this is a calendar where you choose the times and resources that you want to apply to Time Templates. Create an entry on Monday from midnight to 7am that applies the Closed Time Template, another entry from 7am to 7pm that applies the Open Time Template, and another entry from 7pm to midnight that applies to Closed Time Template. In each case, you make them repeat weekly for each day Monday to Friday. Finally, create an entry on Saturday and Sunday that applies the Closed Time Template all day long.

Exceptions To The Rule

Suppose that the scanner requires trained operators to use it, and that one or more operators are on holiday for a week. Anybody who makes a booking during that week will need to ensure that somebody suitably trained will be present. In this case, people are allowed to make bookings, but its needed to make sure they know that this problem exists. To handle this, create another Time Template that looks like this:

Then add entries to the Time Templates Calendar that applies the Operator Shortage Time Template for the week in question, from 7am to 7pm each day. Now, when somebody tries to make a booking during this week, and during regular opening hours, there are two Time Templates that apply: Open and Operator Shortage. When Calpendo sees multiple Time Templates that apply, it always enforces the most restrictive one. In this case, both Time Templates have the same level of acceptability, but only one has a message attached to it, Operator Shortage, and so this is the one that will apply. This means that bookings made in this week will still be automatically approved, but will show the message about the shortage of scanner operators.

If required, create the Operator Shortage Time Template so that its acceptability is Warning instead of Automatic Approval. By doing this, two things will change:

1.Bookings would be created with a default booking status as defined by Global Preferences->Bookings->Default Booking Status which by default is Requested instead of Approved  for normal users, so that they should be manually approved, and Approved for Admin users.

2.Bookings would record the fact that the user making the booking had been warned

Indeterminate Templates

If a user has multiple projects, then it's quite possible that booking for one project would be approved, while booking for another project would be denied, depending on how the templates have been defined.

In case like this, it is indeterminate whether a booking would be approved or denied until a particular project is chosen.

To account for this, the background of the bookings calendar displays a different colour to indicate this "indeterminate" status.

No Projects To Book With

If a user has no projects, then they cannot make a booking for a resource that requires a project.

Consequently, the background colouring of the bookings calendar shows a message indicating that they can't book, and sets a colour accordingly.

In Summary

•Information within a Template Group is combined to make the check, so you would have to be both the user Type and in the User Group.

•When applying a single template to a single booking, it's the most lenient of the applicable groups that will apply.

•When multiple templates apply to a single booking, it the most restrictive of those templates that applies.

•When a user has multiple projects that could be used to make a booking, and those projects would yield a different template result, there is now the option of displaying an indication of it being indeterminate (until the project is chosen) or of displaying the least restrictive of those that apply.