[Coin-discuss] cbc vs. cbc-generic

[fmargot at andrew.cmu.edu]

On Thu, 22 Jun 2006, Lou Hafer wrote:

> Folks,
>
> 	The basic problem, in terms of using other solvers with cbc, is that
> there is sufficient ambiguity in the OSI specification so that `conforming'
> solvers will not necessarily work in cbc.  The de facto OSI specification, if
> you want your solver to work in cbc, is OsiClp.  It's an ongoing struggle to
> keep things working with OsiDylp, and I generally expect that when I return to
> working with cbc after any sort of extended break, I'll have to spend a week or
> so getting the combination to work together again.  I would be (pleasantly)
> surprised if any OSI except for OsiClp and OsiDylp (and maybe OsiOsl) actually
> work in cbc-generic.  Hell, I'll be pleasantly surprised if cbc-generic builds
> and runs with OsiDylp, since I've been submerged in teaching through this last
> bit of upheaval and haven't been able to contribute as much as I should to
> testing.

Well, a good start would be to remove misleading statements on the Cbc
Trac page, then. It is claimed that:

"Cbc is a branch and cut code designed to work with any Osi capable 
solver and in particular Clp."

If I understand correctly, cbc works only with Clp and cbc-generic works
with Clp, and possibly with DyLP if --with-dylp is used for configure,
and possibly with Osl if --with-osl is used for configure. Is that correct?

Francois