Chapter 16. Overview of the source code of the employee rostering starter application

The employee rostering starter application consists of the following principal components:

  • A backend that implements the rostering logic using Red Hat Business Optimizer and provides a REST API
  • A frontend module that implements a user interface using React and interacts with the backend module through the REST API

You can build and use these components independently. In particular, you can implement a different user interface and use the REST API to call the server.

In addition to the two main components, the employee rostering template contains a generator of random source data (useful for demonstration and testing purposes) and a benchmarking application.

Modules and key classes

The Java source code of the employee rostering template contains several Maven modules. Each of these modules includes a separate Maven project file (pom.xml), but they are intended for building in a common project.

The modules contain a number of files, including Java classes. This document lists all the modules, as well as the classes and other files that contain the key information for the employee rostering calculations.

  • optaweb-employee-rostering-benchmark module: Contains an additional application that generates random data and benchmarks the solution.
  • optaweb-employee-rostering-distribution module: Contains README files.
  • optaweb-employee-rostering-docs module: Contains documentation files.
  • optaweb-employee-rostering-frontend module: Contains the client application with the user interface, developed in React.

  • optaweb-employee-rostering-backend module: Contains the server application that uses Red Hat Business Optimizer to perform the rostering calculation.

    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.service.roster/rosterGenerator.java: Generates random input data for demonstration and testing purposes. If you change the required input data, change the generator accordingly.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.employee/EmployeeAvailability.java: Defines availability information for an employee. For every time slot an employee can be unavailable, available, or it can be designated a preferred time slot for the employee.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.employee/Employee.java: Defines an employee. An employee has a name, a list of skills, and works under a contract. Skills are represented by skill objects.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.roster/Roster.java: Defines the calculated rostering information.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.shift/Shift.java: Defines a shift to which an employee can be assigned. A shift is defined by a time slot and a spot. For example, in a diner there could be a shift in the Kitchen spot for the February 20 8AM-4PM time slot. Multiple shifts can be defined for a given spot and time slot. In this case, multiple employees are required for this spot and time slot.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.skill/Skill.java: Defines a skill that an employee can have.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.spot/Spot.java: Defines a spot where employees can be placed. For example, a Kitchen can be a spot.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.contract/Contract.java: Defines a contract that sets limits on work time for an employee in various time periods.
    • src/main/java/org.optaweb.employeerostering.domain.tenant/Tenant.java: Defines a tenant. Each tenant represents an independent set of data. Changes in the data for one tenant do not affect any other tenants.
    • *View.java: Classes related to domain objects that define value sets that are calculated from other information; the client application can read these values through the REST API, but not write them.
    • *Service.java: Interfaces located in the service package that define the REST API. Both the server and the client application separately define implementations of these interfaces.