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    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">I will soon add binary variables (0-1)
      so won't be CBC a must?<br>
      <br>
      And by using the command <font size="3"> "OsiClpSolverInterface
        solver1;"</font> and then using object solver1, don't i use Clp
      for now?<br>
      <br>
      Thank you.<br>
      <br>
      On 27/8/2012 21:57, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:acw@ascent.com">acw@ascent.com</a> wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote
cite="mid:OF6FA46851.33241946-ON85257A67.00670A4F-85257A67.00683EE8@ascent.com"
      type="cite"><font face="sans-serif" size="2">I'm glad you were
        able to resolve your
        problem by relaxing the bounds. &nbsp;I think that means that I don't
        have
        to examine the MPS file in detail; I did glance through it and
        didn't see
        anything particularly unusual.</font>
      <br>
      <br>
      <font face="sans-serif" size="2">I don't know of any software that
        is
        used to "open" MPS files; they are just text files used to
        express
        optimization problems and solutions. &nbsp;It's actually fairly
        old-fashioned;
        other contributors to this list will probably be able to
        recommend more
        modern problem-file formats.</font>
      <br>
      <br>
      <font face="sans-serif" size="2">Your problem is a pure linear
        programming
        problem, with no integer constraints. &nbsp;Because of this, using
        Cbc
        might be considered "overkill", using a tool that is much more
        powerful and complicated than the one you need. &nbsp;I would
        recommend
        that you investigate Clp, which is a pure linear optimizer.
        &nbsp;It's
        likely that using Clp instead of Cbc will simplify your code a
        lot.</font>
      <br>
      <br>
      <table width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">From:</font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Christos
                <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:chtsolak@gmail.com">&lt;chtsolak@gmail.com&gt;</a></font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">To:</font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:acw@ascent.com">acw@ascent.com</a></font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td valign="top"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">Cc:</font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Allan Wechsler
                <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:acw@robson.ascent.com">&lt;acw@robson.ascent.com&gt;</a>,
                <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org">"cbc@list.coin-or.org"</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org">&lt;cbc@list.coin-or.org&gt;</a></font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Date:</font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">08/21/2012 02:06 PM</font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Subject:</font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Re: [Cbc] Artificial
                variables</font></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
      <br>
      <hr noshade="noshade">
      <br>
      <br>
      <br>
      <font size="3">Sorry for late responding but i didn't have access
        to
        internet.<br>
        <br>
        -I found the solution to my problems. I had to relax some bounds
        as you
        correctly suggested me, and thank you very much for that.<br>
        <br>
        -I attach a printscreen of the results. Using the commands "int
        integers
        = solver1.getNumIntegers();" and<br>
        "cout &lt;&lt; "\nNumber of integers: " &lt;&lt; integers;"
        as you can see i have no integers...<br>
        <br>
        I use the command " OsiClpSolverInterface solver1;" so i think
        i am not using Cbc, am i right?<br>
        <br>
        I do not know if there is a simple way to switch via solvers...<br>
        <br>
        -I created the mps file and i attach it. I do not know how to
        use it with
        other solvers, so in short-term future i will contact you to
        help me.<br>
        <br>
        Any comments would be very useful.<br>
        <br>
        <br>
        PS. Which software do you suggest to open mps files?<br>
        <br>
        <br>
        Thank you very much for your time!<br>
        <br>
        <br>
        <br>
        Attachments: </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237320/DAS%20working.PNG"><font
          color="blue" size="3"><u>https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237320/DAS%20working.PNG</u></font></a><font
        size="3"><br>
        <br>
        &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
        &nbsp; &nbsp;</font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237320/DAS_Model.mps"><font
          color="blue" size="3"><u>https://dl.dropbox.com/u/12237320/DAS_Model.mps</u></font></a><font
        size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        On 17/8/2012 17:30, </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font color="blue" size="3"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
        size="3">
        wrote:</font>
      <br>
      <font face="sans-serif" size="2">I am no longer certain I
        understand
        what you are doing. &nbsp;You say "I do not understand what do you
        mean integer variables ... I do not declare anywhere ..." Why
        are
        you using Cbc if none of your variables are declared to be
        integer? &nbsp;If
        all the variables are real-valued, you can use an LP solver
        directly. &nbsp;All
        the complexity of Cbc is to deal with variables that are
        constrained to
        have integer values.</font><font size="3"> <br>
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        After a solver has been loaded with a problem, the method
        OsiSolverInterface.writeMps(const
        char *filename) will save an MPS file whose name is the filename
        plus the
        extension ".mps". &nbsp;Once you have an MPS file, many people
        on this mailing list will be able to help you, because they will
        be able
        to try their own solvers on your problem.</font><font size="3">
        <br>
        <br>
      </font>
      <table width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td width="9%"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">From:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td width="90%"><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Christos </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:chtsolak@gmail.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;chtsolak@gmail.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">To:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td valign="top"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">Cc:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Allan Wechsler </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:acw@robson.ascent.com"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;acw@robson.ascent.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">,
              </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>"cbc@list.coin-or.org"</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">
              </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;cbc@list.coin-or.org&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Date:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">08/10/2012 04:52 PM</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Subject:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Re: [Cbc] Artificial
                variables</font></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
      <br>
      <font size="3"><br>
      </font>
      <hr noshade="noshade"><font size="3"><br>
        <br>
      </font><font color="#a00000" size="3"><br>
        A lot of very useful info in one email! -many explanatory
        questions arise!<br>
        <br>
        Look under your sentences.</font><font size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        <br>
        On 10/8/2012 23:10, </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font color="blue" size="3"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
        size="3">
        wrote: </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        The problem is certainly infeasibility. &nbsp;Unboundedness is simply
        not
        possible if all the variables have bounds. &nbsp;Here are some random
        ideas.</font><font size="3">
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        If you can do it without modifying your code too painfully, you
        might try
        selectively disabling constraints to find an infeasible set.</font><font
        size="3">
        <br>
      </font><font color="#a00000" size="3"><br>
        Because it is painful, i will try the other solutions first.</font><font
        size="3">
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        I assume you have some integer variables. &nbsp;If so, make sure that
        their
        bounds all include at least one integer. &nbsp;For instance, if X is
        an
        integer, but 0.3 &lt;= X &lt;= 0.82, then the problem is
        infeasible because
        there are no integers in that range.</font><font size="3"> <br>
      </font><font color="#a00000" size="3"><br>
        I do not understand what do you mean "integer variables" as soon
        as i do not declare anywhere, i only pass the column and row
        bounds, the
        objective, the value, index, start matrices, and the number of
        rows and
        columns.<br>
        <br>
        But there are no such bound in any of the variables. Some have
        equal bounds
        (0), i do not know if this is a problem. I doesn't seems to be..</font><font
        size="3"><br>
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        Look at your objective, and try removing the lower bounds on
        some variables
        with positive coefficients, or the upper bounds on some with
        negative coefficients.
        &nbsp;This might give you a better idea of the nature of the
        infeasibility.</font><font size="3">
      </font><font color="#a00000" size="3"><br>
        All variables have positive coefficients and all have collb=0. I
        made them
        -infinity but the defect became bigger</font><font size="3"> </font><font
        face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        Remember that an infeasibility is a distributed issue; you
        cannot attribute
        it to a single bound or constraint. &nbsp;The best you can hope for
        is
        to find a small subset of your bounds and constraints that is
        still infeasible,
        but is simple enough to understand.</font><font size="3"> </font><font
        face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        You might want to try saving the problem as an MPS file (using
        WriteMps),
        so that you can more easily modify the problem and make your
        debug cycle
        simpler.</font><font size="3"> <br>
      </font><font color="#a00000" size="3"><br>
        This would be really useful. How can i use it through C++? <br>
        As i mentioned C++ reads data from excel file, puts them in
        matrices, builds
        the model (ie the index, value, start, obj...) and calls the
        solver.<br>
        How can i make it write an .mps file? Do i need time to learn
        something
        like CBC?<br>
        <br>
        Thank you</font><font size="3"><br>
      </font>
      <table width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td width="9%"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">From:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td width="90%"><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Christos </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:chtsolak@gmail.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;chtsolak@gmail.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">To:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td valign="top"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">Cc:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Allan Wechsler </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:acw@robson.ascent.com"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;acw@robson.ascent.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">,
              </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>"cbc@list.coin-or.org"</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">
              </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;cbc@list.coin-or.org&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Date:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">08/10/2012 03:59 PM</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Subject:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Re: [Cbc] Artificial
                variables</font></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
      <br>
      <font size="3"><br>
        <br>
      </font>
      <hr noshade="noshade"><font size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        Thank you very much for you time and your valuable help.<br>
        <br>
        Yes, all the variables are bounded.. Some of them have equal low
        and upper
        bounds. I tried by differing them, but the problem remains...<br>
        <br>
        I would try the option of limiting the objective but the code is
        too complex
        to add a new constrain in a few hours.. (The model is
        constructed in C++
        by reading an excel file).<br>
        <br>
        So, i almost agree that the defect is infeasibility.<br>
        <br>
        Can you suggest any trick to find it while trying to limit the
        objective?<br>
        <br>
        Thank you very much.<br>
        <br>
        <br>
        On 10/8/2012 20:06, </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font color="blue" size="3"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
        size="3">
        wrote: </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        The objective is a linear combination of some set of variables.
        &nbsp;Of
        course I don't know what your objective function is, but let's
        call it
        F.</font><font size="3"> </font><font face="sans-serif"
        size="2"><br>
        <br>
        Since this is a minimization problem, I propose adding one more
        constraint
        to the problem, F &gt;= -1e6. &nbsp;If unboundedness is the problem,
        the
        modified problem will solve with no trouble.</font><font
        size="3"> </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        In your first response, you mention variable bounds. &nbsp;Do you
        have
        bounds on all your variables? &nbsp;If you do, then my analysis is
        probably
        wrong and the difficulty is infeasibility rather than
        unboundedness.</font><font size="3">
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        It should not be necessary to know any solver internals to
        figure out what's
        wrong.</font><font size="3"> </font>
      <table width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td width="9%"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">From:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td width="90%"><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Christos </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:chtsolak@gmail.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;chtsolak@gmail.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">To:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr>
            <td valign="top"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">Cc:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>"cbc@list.coin-or.org"</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">
              </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;cbc@list.coin-or.org&gt;</u></font></a><font
                face="sans-serif" size="1">,
                Allan Wechsler </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:acw@robson.ascent.com"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;acw@robson.ascent.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Date:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">08/10/2012 12:37 PM</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Subject:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Re: [Cbc] Artificial
                variables</font></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
      <br>
      <font size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
      </font>
      <hr noshade="noshade"><font size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        I forgot to mention that it is a minimization problem , so i do
        not know
        if there is any point in limiting objective.<br>
        <br>
        Sorry for the double mail.<br>
        <br>
        On 10/8/2012 19:24, </font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="mailto:acw@ascent.com"><font color="blue" size="3"><u>acw@ascent.com</u></font></a><font
        size="3">
        wrote: </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        No single constraint is responsible for an infeasibility.
        &nbsp;Consider
        a system with one variable, and two constraints, X &gt;= 7 and X
        &lt;=
        4. &nbsp;This system is obviously infeasible, but which of the two
        constraints
        is at fault?</font><font size="3"> </font><font
        face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        In your case I suspect that the problem is unbounded rather than
        infeasible,
        because you have so few constraints and so many variables.
        &nbsp;Unless
        the problem has a very special structure, a problem with fewer
        constraints
        than variables is likely to be unbounded.</font><font size="3">
      </font><font face="sans-serif" size="2"><br>
        <br>
        You can check this by adding a constraint that limits your
        objective to,
        say, 1e6. &nbsp;If the problem now solves, then unboundedness is
        almost
        certainly your difficulty.</font><font size="3"> </font>
      <table width="100%">
        <tbody>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td width="22%"><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif"
                size="1">From:</font><font size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td width="77%"><font face="sans-serif" size="1">Christos </font><a
                moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:chtsolak@gmail.com"><font
                  color="blue" face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>&lt;chtsolak@gmail.com&gt;</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">To:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><a moz-do-not-send="true"
                href="mailto:cbc@list.coin-or.org"><font color="blue"
                  face="sans-serif" size="1"><u>cbc@list.coin-or.org</u></font></a><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Date:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">08/10/2012 09:32 AM</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr valign="top">
            <td><font color="#5f5f5f" face="sans-serif" size="1">Subject:</font><font
                size="3">
              </font>
            </td>
            <td><font face="sans-serif" size="1">[Cbc] Artificial
                variables</font></td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
      <br>
      <font size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        <br>
      </font>
      <hr noshade="noshade"><tt><font size="2"><br>
          <br>
          <br>
          Hi, i have a model with around 10000 variable and 1500
          equations.<br>
          <br>
          But i get the messages on the photo when i run it:</font></tt><font
        color="blue" size="3"><u><br>
        </u></font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/dascd.png/"><tt><font
            color="blue" size="2"><u>http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/dascd.png/</u></font></tt></a><tt><font
          size="2"><br>
          <br>
          Is there any way to use artificial variable or something else
          in order
          <br>
          to find the problematic equation?<br>
          <br>
          Thank you in advance<br>
          _______________________________________________<br>
          Cbc mailing list</font></tt><font color="blue" size="3"><u><br>
        </u></font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="mailto:Cbc@list.coin-or.org"><tt><font color="blue"
            size="2"><u>Cbc@list.coin-or.org</u></font></tt></a><font
        color="blue" size="3"><u><br>
        </u></font><a moz-do-not-send="true"
        href="http://list.coin-or.org/mailman/listinfo/cbc"><tt><font
            color="blue" size="2"><u>http://list.coin-or.org/mailman/listinfo/cbc</u></font></tt></a><font
        size="3"><br>
        <br>
        <br>
        <br>
      </font>
      <br>
      <br>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
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