Seating
Seating locks, capacity, and search limits
A lock, a keep-apart pair, and a capacity limit are hard rules. A preferred zone is a soft preference. A finished chart can miss it, and the message says so. The editor does not export a chart while a hard rule is broken.
Some failures are proved before the search, or by the search itself. Five people and four seats cannot be solved by waiting longer. Two locks on one seat cannot both stand. A group larger than every table cannot sit together. A search that stops at the time limit has not proved that no layout exists.
| Message | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Too many people for the seats | Reported before search. Five people and four open seats is one example |
| Conflicting locks | Two people locked to one seat, or one person locked to two places |
| Time limit | No layout was found within the time limit. That does not prove none exists |
| Placed every person | Each person is placed once, the hard rules hold, and the message includes the seed |
The same inputs and seed repeat
The editor keeps a seed with the plan. The same roster, rules, and seed produce the same arrangement again, and the placed message includes the seed. The search can miss other valid rooms.
Moves use the chart or the assignment list. A move that breaks a hard rule is shown on the page, and export stays off until the chart is valid. Undo and redo cover roster edits, rules, and moves.
Privacy of the working file
The seating editor loads no third-party advertising or analytics. These public articles do not include a roster, a seed, or an embedded editor. A CSV or project file you download is still a local file that can contain names. Review the columns before you share it.
Local processing is not a FERPA or COPPA compliance claim. Schools and organizers still have to decide what information they are allowed to type.
Sources and tools
Related guides
Common questions
The search timed out. Is the chart impossible?
No. A timeout means no solution was found within the limit. Impossible is reserved for a contradiction the tool can show, such as too few seats.
Can I save the chart?
On the editor, an explicit local save or export keeps a file on the device. There is no cloud collaboration in the launch scope, and this article does not save a roster.