TESS: an interactive support system for school timetabling

A timetabling package called TESS, which stands for Timetabling Expert Support System, has been developed for use in Hong Kong schools. It is representative of the decision support system (DSS), being highly interactive and supportive of different practices of expert timetablers. Its distinctive feature is a suite of seemingly simple tools. Being simple, they behave in manners transparent to the user, who is then ready to command them at will to solve his/her particular timetabling problem.