The Automatic Alloc. on Reserv. field on the Dining Area Card controls whether, and when, the program tries to automatically allocate a dining table to a reservation as soon as it is created.
The field does two separate jobs, and not every option uses both:
- Some options can stop a reservation from being confirmed at all if no table is available for it.
- All options except No can trigger an automatic allocation attempt right after the reservation is confirmed - if that attempt fails, the reservation is not undone, but the operator is told automatic allocation was not successful, and the table has to be allocated manually.
The options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| No | Never tries to allocate a table automatically. Every reservation is created unallocated; a table has to be allocated manually. |
| If Possible | Tries to allocate a table automatically as soon as the reservation is confirmed, without asking. The reservation is created even if no table is available at that time - it is simply left unallocated, and you are notified that automatic allocation was not successful. |
| Always | The reservation cannot be confirmed at all unless a dining table is available for it at the time of booking - if waiting list is allowed for the period, you are offered a waiting list entry instead. Once the reservation is confirmed, a table is allocated automatically right away. |
| On Confirmation | After the reservation is confirmed, you are asked Do you want to allocate tables automatically for this reservation now? Automatic allocation is attempted only if you answer yes; answering no leaves the reservation unallocated. |
| If Table Preferences Set | Tries to allocate a table automatically, without asking, but only when the reservation carries a dining table preference. A reservation with no table preference is created without any automatic allocation attempt at all - a section preference on its own does not trigger this option; see the note below. |
| On Confirmation if Table Preferences Set | Combines the two options above: you are asked Do you want to allocate tables automatically for this reservation now? only when the reservation carries a dining table preference. A reservation with no table preference is never prompted and never automatically allocated - a section preference on its own does not trigger this option; see the note below. |
Note: On Confirmation, If Table Preferences Set, and On Confirmation if Table Preferences Set are newer options, added alongside No, If Possible, and Always, which existed in earlier versions.
Note: Table and section preferences both depend on dining area setup: the Dining Table Attribute Code field on the Dining Area Card names the attribute that carries a table preference, and the Din. Area Section Attr. Code field names the attribute that carries a section preference. If Dining Table Attribute Code is left blank, there is no table preference to set on a reservation, so If Table Preferences Set and On Confirmation if Table Preferences Set can never fire for that dining area. The preference values themselves are picked when the reservation is made - through the Bookings add-on, they come from attribute-tagged comments on the booking - and the section preference does still take part in choosing which table is allocated. But it is the table preference alone that these two options test: a reservation that carries only a section preference, with no table preference, does not trigger automatic allocation under either option.
Note: If automatic allocation is attempted and fails, the reservation itself is not affected - only the table allocation. See Availability in the Dining Area for what determines whether a table is available in the first place.
See also
Availability in the Dining Area