Difference between revisions of "Analytica Optimizer Guide"

Revision as of 17:40, 7 June 2016

This Guide explains how to use the Analytica Optimizer. It provides a Quick Start Tutorial and an introduction to the basic concepts of optimization, including linear, quadratic, and nonlinear programming (NLP), as well as special topics in NLP. However, it is not a complete textbook on optimization. For more challenging applications, you might find it useful to consult one of the many good textbooks on optimization.

Chapters

Using this Guide

If you're new to Analytica

You will find it easier if you first learn the essentials of Analytica before learning the Analytica Optimizer described here. Start with the Analytica Tutorial to learn the basics of interacting with Analytica and its modeling language, especially Working with Arrays. It's important to have a good understanding of Intelligent Arrays to make good use of the Optimizer.

If you're new to the Analytica Optimizer

We recommend you to start with the Quick Start, an introductory tutorial that takes you through the key steps to create a simple optimization, including Structured Optimization, and Optimizing with Arrays. The section on Optimization Characteristics explains the general principles of optimization and the types of optimization, including Linear Programming (LP), Quadratic Programming (QP), and Non-Linear Programming (NLP). We also recommend reading Optimizing with Arrays to understand optimization with parametric analysis. Key Concepts: The Airline NLP Example explains dynamic and stochastic optimization with models that are dynamic (changing over time) and/or uncertain using Monte Carlo.

Conventions Used in this Guide

You can read the pages in this guide in any order. But, if you want to go through them sequentially, you can use the links to the previous and next pages at the bottom of each page.

This guide uses a simple shorthand to show the definition of a variable or function. It lists the class of the object (Variable, Decision, Constraint, Objective, etc), its identifier, followed by :=, and its definition:

In this example, a Constraint with identifier Volume_Constraint has the Definition Volume >= Required Volume.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category: Analytica Optimizer Guide]]
-= Table of Contents =
+This Guide explains how to use the Analytica Optimizer. It provides a Quick Start Tutorial and an introduction to the basic concepts of optimization, including linear, quadratic, and nonlinear programming (NLP), as well as special topics in NLP. However, it is not a complete textbook on optimization. For more challenging applications, you might find it useful to consult one of the many good textbooks on optimization.
-# [[Introduction to the Guide|Introduction]]
+__NOTOC__
+== Chapters ==
+* [[Introduction to Optimizer]]
 <!--#* Using the Analytica Optimizer Guide
 #* Obtaining Analytica Optimizer
 #* Activating Analytica Optimizer
 #* Installing Add-On Engines to Analytica Optimizer-->
-# [[Quick Start]]
+* [[Optimizer Quick Start]]
 <!--#* Intro to Structured Optimization
 #* Notation
@@ Line 27: / Line 30: @@
 #** The Initial Guess Attribute
 #* Summary-->
-# [[Optimization Characteristics]]
+* [[Optimization Characteristics]]
 <!--#* Introduction
 #* Parts of an Optimization Problem: General Description
@@ Line 34: / Line 37: @@
 #* Continuous, Integer and Mixed-Integer Programs
 #* Solving Simultaneous Equations-->
-# Optimizing with Arrays
+* [[Optimizing with Arrays]]
-# Key Concepts: The Airline NLP Example
+* [[Optimizer key concepts: Airline Example]]
-# Optimizer Attribute Reference
+* [[Optimizer Attributes]]
-# Optimizer Function Reference
+* [[Optimizer Functions]]
-# Control Settings
+* [[Optimizer control settings]]
+==Using this Guide==
+==== If you're new to Analytica ====
+You will find it easier if you first learn the essentials of Analytica before learning the Analytica Optimizer described here. Start with the [[Analytica Tutorial]] to learn the basics of interacting with Analytica and its modeling language, especially [[Analytica_Tutorial#Working_with_Arrays_.28Tables.29|Working with Arrays]]. It's important to have a good understanding of [[Intelligent Arrays]] to make good use of the Optimizer.
+==== If you're new to the Analytica Optimizer ====
+We recommend you to start with the [[Quick Start]], an introductory tutorial that takes you through the key steps to create a simple optimization, including  [[Quick_Start#Introduction_to_Structured_Optimization|Structured Optimization]], and [[Optimizing with Arrays]]. The section on [[Optimization Characteristics]] explains the general principles of optimization and the types of optimization, including Linear Programming (LP), Quadratic Programming (QP), and Non-Linear Programming (NLP). We also recommend reading [[Optimizing with Arrays]] to understand optimization with [[Parametric Analysis|parametric analysis]]. [[Key Concepts: The Airline NLP Example]] explains dynamic and stochastic optimization with models that are [[dynamic]] (changing over time) and/or [[Probabilistic calculation|uncertain]] using Monte Carlo.
+== Conventions Used in this Guide ==
-====Using this Guide====
+You can read the pages in this guide in any order. But, if you want to go through them sequentially, you can use the links to the previous and next pages at the bottom of each page.
-This Guide explains how to use the Analytica Optimizer. It provides a Quick Start Tutorial and an introduction to the basic concepts of optimization, including linear, quadratic, and nonlinear programming (NLP), including special topics in NLP. However, it is not a complete textbook on optimization. For more challenging applications, you might find it useful to consult one of the many good textbooks on optimization.
+This guide uses a simple shorthand to show the definition of a variable or function. It lists the [[class]] of the object (Variable, Decision, Constraint, Objective, etc), its [[identifier]], followed by [[Assignment Operator :=|:=]], and its [[definition]]:
-Under the title of each page on this guide, the page's hierarchy and any parent pages are listed.
+: [[File:1-1-new.png|400px]]
-The pages in this guide can be read in any order. However, if you want to read the guide sequentially, there are links to the previous and next pages at the bottom of each page which will take the reader through all of the guide's pages in order.
+In this example, a '''Constraint''' with identifier '''Volume_Constraint''' has the '''Definition'''  '''Volume >= Required Volume'''.
-Throughout this guide, we use a shorthand notation for displaying the definitions of Analytica objects. An object’s class (e.g., Variable, Decision, Constraint, etc) and identifier is followed by ''':=''', and the definition is displayed on the right.
+==See Also==
+* [[Analytica Tutorial]]
+* [[Analytica User Guide]]
+* [[About_Analytica#Conventions_used_in_this_tutorial|Conventions used in  Analytica Tutorial]]
+* [[Typographic conventions in this guide|Conventions used in  Analytica User Guide]]
+* [[Expression Syntax]]
+* [[Expression Assist]]
-[[File:1-1-new.png|400px]]
-In the above example, a Constraint object class with the identifier '''Volume Constraint''' is defined as '''Volume >= Required Volume'''.
+<footer>Analytica Wiki / {{PAGENAME}} / Introduction to Optimizer</footer>