Exam Seating System

A comprehensive GUI application for generating and managing exam seating arrangements. Built with Python and Tkinter, this tool helps educators efficiently assign students to seats while accommodating various classroom layouts.

Features

🏫 Flexible Classroom Configuration

• Define custom classroom dimensions (M × N grid)
• Visual stage/platform indicator at the front
• Enable/disable specific seats to match actual classroom layouts
• Save and load classroom configurations for reuse

👥 Student Management

• Import student lists from CSV files
• Interactive column selector for flexible CSV formats
• Supports UTF-8 and Big5 encodings
• Real-time student count display

🎲 Seating Arrangement

• Random seat assignment with one click
• Visual color-coded seat status:
  • Green: Available seats
  • Pink: Disabled seats
  • Blue: Assigned seats
• Easy clearing and rearrangement

📄 PDF Export

• Professional seating chart generation
• Landscape A4 format for optimal viewing
• Includes stage indicator and student names
• Ready for printing or digital distribution

🌐 Web Version Available!

A web-based version of this system is also available:

• Live Demo: https://jameslin102.github.io/Seating-System-Web/
• Repository: https://github.com/JamesLin102/Seating-System-Web.git

The web version runs entirely in your browser, no installation required!

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.7 or higher
• pip package manager

Required Libraries

pip install pandas reportlab

Download

git clone https://github.com/JamesLin102/Seating-System.git
cd exam-seating-system

Usage

Starting the Application

python exam_seating_system.py

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Configure Classroom

   • Enter the number of rows (M) and columns (N)
   • Click "Set Classroom Size"
   • Click on seats to disable them (matching your classroom layout)

2. Save Classroom Configuration (Optional)

   • Click "💾 Save Classroom" to save the layout
   • Load it later with "📂 Load Classroom"

3. Import Students

   • Click "📋 Load Student List"
   • Select your CSV file
   • Choose the column containing student names

4. Arrange Seats

   • Click "🎲 Random Arrangement" to automatically assign students
   • Use "🗑️ Clear Arrangement" to start over

5. Export Results

   • Click "📄 Export to PDF"
   • Save the seating chart for distribution or printing

CSV File Format

Your CSV file can have any structure. The application will let you select which column contains student names.

Example CSV:

Student ID,Name,Class,Grade
001,Offer Yang,A,10
002,Uploader Li,B,10
003,Director Wang,A,10
004,ComedyGod Lin,A,10
005,FriedFish Chiu,B,10

Just select the "Name" column when prompted.

Classroom Configuration File

Classroom configurations are saved as JSON files:

{
  "rows": 6,
  "cols": 8,
  "disabled_seats": ["0,0", "0,7", "5,0", "5,7"]
}

Troubleshomarks

CSV Not Loading

• Ensure the file is a valid CSV format
• Check file encoding (UTF-8 or Big5 supported)
• Verify the file contains at least one column

PDF Export Issues

• The application will attempt to use system Chinese fonts
• Falls back to Helvetica if Chinese fonts unavailable
• Ensure write permissions for the output directory

Seat Assignment Errors

• Number of students cannot exceed available seats
• Clear any existing arrangement before modifying seat layout