Managing Priority Shifts Sequencing in OptaPlanner Rostering

[govindsuresh1996]

I'm working on implementing an employee rostering system using OptaPlanner, and I've run into a scenario that I'd appreciate some guidance on.

In my system, I have two types of shifts: priority 1 shifts and priority 2 shifts. These shifts are identified using a priority field in the Shift class, which is also the planning entity.

My goal is to ensure that OptaPlanner considers filling priority 2 shifts only after all priority 1 shifts are filled. Essentially, I want to enforce a sequencing constraint where priority 1 shifts should be assigned first, and only then should the solver move on to priority 2 shifts.

Could anyone provide guidance on how I can configure OptaPlanner to respect this priority order and ensure that priority 2 shifts are only assigned after all priority 1 shifts are filled? Any suggestions, code examples, or insights into how to structure the constraint configuration would be highly appreciated.

[triceo]

A very similar question was asked and answered on StackOverflow.

[govindsuresh1996]

Is there a way to add separate or multiple pinning filters for each phase?

[nicksi]

none AFAIK - pinning filter has no idea at what phase solver is. Entity filter / values filter / selection filter/ custom move are your tools if you want to alter solver behavior between phases

[govindsuresh1996]

Where can I find more about these tools, is there a document or an example that u cud share?

[nicksi]

https://timefold.ai/docs/timefold-solver/latest/move-and-neighborhood-selection/move-and-neighborhood-selection.html#filteredSelection - filters of all types

https://timefold.ai/docs/timefold-solver/latest/move-and-neighborhood-selection/move-and-neighborhood-selection.html#customMoves - custom moves. In that particular case custom move is not needed imho.

[govindsuresh1996]

Thanks @nicksi , appreciate your assistance and the time you took to point me in the right direction.