Automatic seat assignment algorithm I am looking for articles relating to algorithms that deal with automatic selection of seating assignment.
I need an algorithm (preferably more than one) that can automatically select a seating place while enforcing certain constraints that are predefined.
Originally I was planning on having the seats selected on the fly, meaning whenever a new person comes, the system selects the optimal seat for him based on the seats which were already taken, but I guess it is not a must.
if there is a more general algorithm that can also present an approach fit for my problem that is also great.

Lets call the seated people "players" , and our seating domain lets picture as a 2d matrix. lets say we have several groups among our "players" and you can set your "players" anywhere within the matrix as long as they are not seated next to other "players" from their own group . I am not claiming there is a perfect solution, I am looking for articles that are dealing with some approach for giving a solution - if you can direct me to an article or even give me a name for that kind of problem it is also good for me.

Thanks,
Olaf
You could start your investigation from an online bipartite matching [PDF] point of view.

In specific, in this case, you know one side of the bipartition, namely the seats and their properties, and then you will get orders on-the-fly (online).  The performance you are looking to analyze is the number of matched buyers in the online algorithm versus the number of matched buyers if you'd know the buyers in advance (offline).