Back to SYMPHONY Home Page

Controlling Execution and Output

Calling SYMPHONY with no arguments simply lists all command-line options. Most of the common parameters can be set on the command line. Sometimes, however, it may be easier to use a parameter file. To invoke SYMPHONY with a parameter file type ``master -f filename ...'' where filename is the name of the parameter file. The format of the file is explained in Section 5.2.

The output level can be controlled through the use of the verbosity parameter. Setting this parameter at different levels will cause different progress messages to be printed out. Level 0 only prints out the introductory and solution summary messages, along with status messages every 10 minutes. Level 1 prints out a message every time a new node is created. Level 3 prints out messages describing each iteration of the solution process. Levels beyond 3 print out even more detailed information.

There are also two possible graphical interfaces. For graph-based problems, the Interactive Graph Drawing Software allows visual display of fractional solutions, as well as feasible and optimal solutions discovered during the solution process. For all types of problems, VBCTOOL creates a visual picture of the branch and cut tree, either in real time as the solution process evolves or as an emulation from a file created by SYMPHONY. See Section 5.2.4 for information on how to use VBCTOOL with SYMPHONY. Binaries for VBCTOOL can be obtained at
http://www.informatik.uni-koeln.de/ls_juenger/projects/vbctool.html.