Rotating Shift Pattern Planner

Worked example

A pattern written as DDNNOO, meaning two 12-hour day shifts, two 12-hour night shifts, and two off days in that order, starting Monday, January 4, 2027, totals 48 hours over its first 6-day cycle, exactly two day shifts and two night shifts worth of hours. The pattern then repeats from the beginning, so day 7 of the preview returns to a day shift again, keeping the same six-day rhythm going for as long as the preview window runs. Change the pattern to DDDNNOO instead, three day shifts before the two night shifts, and the cycle length grows to seven days with 60 hours worked per cycle, since one extra 12-hour day shift was added to the rotation. Every letter used in a pattern needs its own defined shift length, which is what lets a pattern like this represent almost any rotating cycle a real schedule might use.

Common mistakes

• Using a pattern character that has no matching shift definition entered below it. Every distinct letter in the pattern needs its own defined length before the preview can be generated.
• Assuming the pattern always starts on the entered start date's own weekday. It starts exactly on the stated start date, whatever weekday that happens to be, and repeats from there regardless of the calendar week.

Limitations

The generated preview is bounded to 500 days to keep the output reviewable. This does not account for holidays, time off requests, or any actual staffing constraint beyond the stated repeating pattern itself.