Site Map

AMPL in Action

accounts of successful AMPL applications

Airline Fleet Assignment

"Balanced" Assignment

Location of Distribution Centers

Meat Product Blend Optimization

Strategic Planning of Train Crews

Teacher Scheduling

Toxic Waste Disposal

Book

a comprehensive guide to the AMPL modeling language for users at any level, including AMPL Student Edition PC software (with the MINOS and CPLEX solvers) for problems up to 300 variables and constraints

Contents

a chapter list and a detailed chapter-and-section list, with links to the text of the Introduction and Chapter 1

Downloadable software

size-limited versions of AMPL and of several solvers (including MINOS and CPLEX) on most popular platforms, for use with the AMPL book

Examples

the model and data files used in the book's examples, sorted by filename or by figure number

Ordering

how to get the AMPL book and Student Edition software, now usually shipped within 24 hours

Optimization Bookstore

a selection of books on optimization models and methods, with links to an online bookseller

Publication history

more on the current printing status and availability of the AMPL book

Guide to exercises

solutions to the end-of-chapter exercises, available to qualified individuals

Change logs

features added and bugs fixed, from November 1992 to the present

Comment form

for asking questions, reporting bugs, and suggesting new features

Computers

those currently supported by AMPL implementations

Intel-based PCs

under MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or Windows NT

Workstations

Unix-based systems from Sun, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, IBM, and Digital Equipment

Downloads

instructions for obtaining versions of AMPL and solvers available at no charge for instructional purposes, demonstrations, and small-scale testing

General instructions

including a table of contents, notes on availability, and tips for handling compressed files

AMPL Student Edition software

for AMPL Plus under Windows, for standard AMPL under Windows, for Unix (including Linux)

Solvers that work with AMPL

including CPLEX, DONLP2, LOQO, lp_solve, MINOS, and WSAT(OIP)

Standard AMPL database handler for Windows

works with the AMPL relational database access facilities

"Scrolling Window" utility for Windows

provides a more convenient interface than the "MS-DOS" window for users of standard (command-line) AMPL

Examples of AMPL models

an index to AMPL models and data of varied kinds

Book examples

all of the model and data files introduced in the AMPL book, sorted by filename or by figure number

Iterative schemes

column generation, decomposition, and Lagrangian relaxation, implemented using the AMPL command language's new looping and testing features

McDonald's diet problem

an optimal solution of 4.38525 Quarter Pounders with Cheese, 6.14754 Small Fries, and 3.42213 cartons of 1% Lowfat Milk -- and some more realistic alternatives

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

1. General
2. Files and preprocessing
3. Errors and messages
4. Sets and indexing
5. Variables
6. Displays and results
7. Integer programming
8. Versions and platforms
9. Solvers
10. Further information

Graphical user interfaces

implementations available as "front ends" to AMPL

AMPL Plus

a graphical user interface to both AMPL and solvers, providing for "projects" spanning several AMPL files, and supporting links to many database management systems through Microsoft's ODBC standard

A simple experimental gui

intended as a complement to the student edition of AMPL, under Windows 3.1, 95 or NT; currently in alpha test

Hooking your solver to AMPL

information on AMPL's publicly documented interface and downloadable interface routines that let you write AMPL drivers for a broad variety of solvers

Enhanced support for nonlinear solvers

information on the April 1997 extensions for automatic recognition of partial separability and computation of Hessian (2nd derivative) information

Key AMPL features

a concise summary of language and system features, documentation, and available solvers

Key modeling language features

Key modeling environment features

The AMPL Book

Solvers that work with AMPL

More about AMPL and optimization

Netlib AMPL directory

a collection of AMPL-related software and examples for downloading

Operating systems

those currently supported by AMPL implementations

Intel-based systems

MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows NT

Unix-based systems

workstations from Sun, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics, IBM, Digital Equipment; supercomputers from Cray Research

Optimization Bookstore

featuring the AMPL Book and a selection of other optimization titles, via Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble (depending on availability).

Optimization on the Web

Further sources of on-line information

General resources

FAQs, societies, newsgroups, lists of Web links

Optimization Bookstore

A selection of titles relevant to optimization, with direct links for ordering from amazon.com.

Centers, departments, and other organizations

in academia, government, and industry

Meetings

conferences that address optimization topics, with details of AMPL talks and sessions

Software indexes

lists of optimization software, both commercial and public domain

Papers and reports

further information on the design and use of AMPL

Hooking your solver

the definitive report on writing AMPL drivers for solvers; see also our hooking your solver page for links to examples

Details of AMPL's design

technical papers including discussions of presolve and of special problem structures

Links to operating systems

installation, command-line switches, environment variable interactions, and memory and file considerations for MS-DOS and Unix

Links to solvers

detailed requirements and directives for MINOS, CPLEX and OSL

Platforms

computers and operating systems currently supported by AMPL implementations

Remote access

send AMPL files over the net for execution by the NEOS server
invoke solvers on the NEOS server from your local AMPL session

Remote solvers available

currently 5 for linear and nonlinear programming

Remote AMPL with remote solvers

execution of an AMPL "job" on the NEOS Server's remote computer, with AMPL output returned via your web browser and/or an e-mail message

Local AMPL with remote solvers

invocation of remote solvers on the NEOS Server through a solve command in your local copy of AMPL

Frequently asked questions

More about the NEOS Server

Credits

see also Try AMPL

Solvers

optimization codes and packages that work with AMPL

Types of solvers

distinguished by the problems they solve (linear, network, quadratic, convex, nonlinear, integer) and the methods they use (simplex, interior)

Listing of solvers

including types, vendors, and documentation of AMPL links

Problem analysis tools

MProbe, for analyzing nonlinear functions to discern their shapes in a region of interest; version 2.0 now available

Try AMPL!

a simplified web interface to the AMPL Student Edition that lets you experiment with AMPL on test problems up to 300 variables and 300 constraints + objectives

see also Remote access

Updates

new features added since publication of the AMPL book's first edition
but desscribed in greater detail by the second edition

New language features, including:

Changing the model and data

Character strings

(with rules for regular expressions and printf format strings)

Complementarity problems

Database access

Examining models and data

Looping and testing 1

writing "scripts" in the AMPL command language (with examples)

Looping and testing 2

implementing algorithms through AMPL scripts (with examples)

Presolve tolerances

Reporting and display

Statuses

Suffixes

(with table of built-in suffixes)

Enhanced nonlinear solver support

recognition of partial separability and computation of Hessians (second derivatives)

Loading shared libraries (DLLs) for user-defined functions

a convenient way to add functions for evaluation by AMPL and/or solvers

Determining the version you're running now

instructions for viewing and interpreting the version string

Finding updates and bug fixes

complete AMPL change logs

Updating AMPL Professional Edition software

pointers to help in getting the latest versions of "Professional Editions" of AMPL (those that do not have the strict problem-size limitations of the student software)

Updating AMPL Student Edition software

instructions for downloading new versions of AMPL Student Edition executables for Windows, DOS, and Unix

Plans for future extensions

proposed new AMPL features for the solver interface, stochastic programming, and constraint logic programming among other uses

Vendors

companies that sell AMPL and related software

Vendors of AMPL and solvers

sources for AMPL alone, or packaged with one or more solvers

Other vendors

sources for additional vendors of solvers that work with AMPL

Return to the AMPL home page.