doc/quicktour.dox
author athos
Fri, 01 Jul 2005 10:33:27 +0000
changeset 1527 7ceab500e1f6
parent 1522 321661278137
child 1528 1aa71600000c
permissions -rw-r--r--
Doc review+corrections in my own documentation according to the reviewers comments.
     1 /**
     2 
     3 \page quicktour Quick Tour to LEMON
     4 
     5 Let us first answer the question <b>"What do I want to use LEMON for?"
     6 </b>. 
     7 LEMON is a C++ library, so you can use it if you want to write C++ 
     8 programs. What kind of tasks does the library LEMON help to solve? 
     9 It helps to write programs that solve optimization problems that arise
    10 frequently when <b>designing and testing certain networks</b>, for example
    11 in telecommunication, computer networks, and other areas that I cannot
    12 think of now. A very natural way of modelling these networks is by means
    13 of a <b> graph</b> (we will always mean a directed graph by that and say
    14 <b> undirected graph </b> otherwise). 
    15 So if you want to write a program that works with 
    16 graphs then you might find it useful to use our library LEMON. LEMON 
    17 defines various graph concepts depending on what you want to do with the 
    18 graph: a very good description can be found in the page
    19 about \ref graphs "graphs".
    20 
    21 You will also want to assign data to the edges or nodes of the graph, for
    22 example a length or capacity function defined on the edges. You can do this in
    23 LEMON using so called \b maps. You can define a map on the nodes or on the edges of the graph and the value of the map (the range of the function) can be practically almost of any type. Read more about maps \ref maps-page "here".
    24 
    25 Some examples are the following (you will find links next to the code fragments that help to download full demo programs: save them on your computer and compile them according to the description in the page about \ref getsart How to start using LEMON):
    26 
    27 <ul> <li> The first thing to discuss is the way one can create data structures
    28 like graphs and maps in a program using LEMON. 
    29 //There are more graph types
    30 //implemented in LEMON and you can implement your own graph type just as well:
    31 //read more about this in the already mentioned page on \ref graphs "graphs".
    32 
    33 First we show how to add nodes and edges to a graph manually. We will also
    34 define a map on the edges of the graph. After this we show the way one can
    35 read a graph (and perhaps maps on it) from a stream (e.g. a file). Of course
    36 we also have routines that write a graph (and perhaps maps) to a stream
    37 (file): this will also be shown. LEMON supports the DIMACS file formats to
    38 store network optimization problems, but more importantly we also have our own
    39 file format that gives a more flexible way to store data related to network
    40 optimization.
    41 
    42 <ol> <li>The following code fragment shows how to fill a graph with
    43 data. It creates a complete graph on 4 nodes. The type Listgraph is one of the
    44 LEMON graph types: the typedefs in the beginning are for convenience and we
    45 will suppose them later as well.  
    46 
    47 \dontinclude hello_lemon.cc
    48 \skip ListGraph
    49 \until addEdge
    50 
    51 See the whole program in file \ref hello_lemon.cc in \c demo subdir of
    52 LEMON package.
    53 
    54     If you want to read more on the LEMON graph structures and
    55 concepts, read the page about \ref graphs "graphs".
    56 
    57 <li> The following code shows how to read a graph from a stream
    58 (e.g. a file) in the DIMACS file format (find the documentation of the
    59 DIMACS file formats on the web).
    60 
    61 \code
    62 Graph g;
    63 std::ifstream f("graph.dim");
    64 readDimacs(f, g);
    65 \endcode
    66 
    67 One can also store network (graph+capacity on the edges) instances and
    68 other things (minimum cost flow instances etc.) in DIMACS format and
    69 use these in LEMON: to see the details read the documentation of the
    70 \ref dimacs.h "Dimacs file format reader". There you will also find
    71 the details about the output routines into files of the DIMACS format.
    72 
    73 <li>DIMACS formats could not give us the flexibility we needed,
    74 so we worked out our own file format. Instead of any explanation let us give a
    75 short example file in this format: read the detailed description of the LEMON
    76 graph file format and input-output routines \ref graph-io-page here.
    77 
    78 So here is a file describing a graph of 10 nodes (0 to 9), two nodemaps
    79 (called \c coordinates_x and \c coordinates_y), several edges, an edge map
    80 called \c length and two designated nodes (called \c source and \c target).
    81 
    82 \todo Maybe another example would be better here.
    83 
    84 \code
    85 @nodeset
    86 id	coordinates_x	coordinates_y	
    87 9	447.907	578.328	
    88 8	79.2573	909.464	
    89 7	878.677	960.04	
    90 6	11.5504	938.413	
    91 5	327.398	815.035	
    92 4	427.002	954.002	
    93 3	148.549	753.748	
    94 2	903.889	326.476	
    95 1	408.248	577.327	
    96 0	189.239	92.5316	
    97 @edgeset
    98 		length	
    99 2	3	901.074	
   100 8	5	270.85	
   101 6	9	601.553	
   102 5	9	285.022	
   103 9	4	408.091	
   104 3	0	719.712	
   105 7	5	612.836	
   106 0	4	933.353	
   107 5	0	778.871	
   108 5	5	0	
   109 7	1	664.049	
   110 5	5	0	
   111 0	9	560.464	
   112 4	8	352.36	
   113 4	9	399.625	
   114 4	1	402.171	
   115 1	2	591.688	
   116 3	8	182.376	
   117 4	5	180.254	
   118 3	1	345.283	
   119 5	4	184.511	
   120 6	2	1112.45	
   121 0	1	556.624	
   122 @nodes
   123 source	1	
   124 target	8	
   125 @end
   126 \endcode
   127 
   128 Finally let us give a simple example that reads a graph from a file and writes
   129 it to another.
   130 
   131 \todo This is to be done!
   132 
   133 </ol>
   134 <li> If you want to solve some transportation problems in a network then 
   135 you will want to find shortest paths between nodes of a graph. This is 
   136 usually solved using Dijkstra's algorithm. A utility
   137 that solves this is  the \ref lemon::Dijkstra "LEMON Dijkstra class".
   138 The following code is a simple program using the 
   139 \ref lemon::Dijkstra "LEMON Dijkstra class" and it also shows how to define a map on the edges (the length
   140 function):
   141 
   142 \code
   143 
   144     typedef ListGraph Graph;
   145     typedef Graph::Node Node;
   146     typedef Graph::Edge Edge;
   147     typedef Graph::EdgeMap<int> LengthMap;
   148 
   149     Graph g;
   150 
   151     //An example from Ahuja's book
   152 
   153     Node s=g.addNode();
   154     Node v2=g.addNode();
   155     Node v3=g.addNode();
   156     Node v4=g.addNode();
   157     Node v5=g.addNode();
   158     Node t=g.addNode();
   159 
   160     Edge s_v2=g.addEdge(s, v2);
   161     Edge s_v3=g.addEdge(s, v3);
   162     Edge v2_v4=g.addEdge(v2, v4);
   163     Edge v2_v5=g.addEdge(v2, v5);
   164     Edge v3_v5=g.addEdge(v3, v5);
   165     Edge v4_t=g.addEdge(v4, t);
   166     Edge v5_t=g.addEdge(v5, t);
   167   
   168     LengthMap len(g);
   169 
   170     len.set(s_v2, 10);
   171     len.set(s_v3, 10);
   172     len.set(v2_v4, 5);
   173     len.set(v2_v5, 8);
   174     len.set(v3_v5, 5);
   175     len.set(v4_t, 8);
   176     len.set(v5_t, 8);
   177 
   178     std::cout << "The id of s is " << g.id(s)<< std::endl;
   179     std::cout <<"The id of t is " << g.id(t)<<"."<<std::endl;
   180 
   181     std::cout << "Dijkstra algorithm test..." << std::endl;
   182 
   183     Dijkstra<Graph, LengthMap> dijkstra_test(g,len);
   184     
   185     dijkstra_test.run(s);
   186 
   187     
   188     std::cout << "The distance of node t from node s: " << dijkstra_test.dist(t)<<std::endl;
   189 
   190     std::cout << "The shortest path from s to t goes through the following nodes" <<std::endl;
   191  std::cout << " (the first one is t, the last one is s): "<<std::endl;
   192 
   193     for (Node v=t;v != s; v=dijkstra_test.predNode(v)){
   194 	std::cout << g.id(v) << "<-";
   195     }
   196     std::cout << g.id(s) << std::endl;	
   197 \endcode
   198 
   199 See the whole program in \ref dijkstra_demo.cc.
   200 
   201 The first part of the code is self-explanatory: we build the graph and set the
   202 length values of the edges. Then we instantiate a member of the Dijkstra class
   203 and run the Dijkstra algorithm from node \c s. After this we read some of the
   204 results. 
   205 You can do much more with the Dijkstra class, for example you can run it step
   206 by step and gain full control of the execution. For a detailed description, see the documentation of the \ref lemon::Dijkstra "LEMON Dijkstra class".
   207 
   208 
   209 <li> If you want to design a network and want to minimize the total length
   210 of wires then you might be looking for a <b>minimum spanning tree</b> in
   211 an undirected graph. This can be found using the Kruskal algorithm: the 
   212 class \ref lemon::Kruskal "LEMON Kruskal class" does this job for you.
   213 The following code fragment shows an example:
   214 
   215 Ide Zsuzska fog irni!
   216 
   217 <li>Many problems in network optimization can be formalized by means
   218 of a linear programming problem (LP problem, for short). In our
   219 library we decided not to write an LP solver, since such packages are
   220 available in the commercial world just as well as in the open source
   221 world, and it is also a difficult task to compete these. Instead we
   222 decided to develop an interface that makes it easier to use these
   223 solvers together with LEMON. The advantage of this approach is
   224 twofold. Firstly our C++ interface is more comfortable than the
   225 solvers' native interface. Secondly, changing the underlying solver in
   226 a certain software using LEMON's LP interface needs zero effort. So,
   227 for example, one may try his idea using a free solver, demonstrate its
   228 usability for a customer and if it works well, but the performance
   229 should be improved, then one may decide to purchase and use a better
   230 commercial solver.
   231 
   232 So far we have an
   233 interface for the commercial LP solver software \b CPLEX (developed by ILOG)
   234 and for the open source solver \b GLPK (a shorthand for Gnu Linear Programming
   235 Toolkit).
   236 
   237 We will show two examples, the first one shows how simple it is to formalize
   238 and solve an LP problem in LEMON, while the second one shows how LEMON
   239 facilitates solving network optimization problems using LP solvers.
   240 
   241 <ol>
   242 <li>The following code shows how to solve an LP problem using the LEMON lp
   243 interface. The code together with the comments is self-explanatory.
   244 
   245 \code
   246 
   247   //A default solver is taken
   248   LpDefault lp;
   249   typedef LpDefault::Row Row;
   250   typedef LpDefault::Col Col;
   251   
   252 
   253   //This will be a maximization
   254   lp.max();
   255 
   256   //We add coloumns (variables) to our problem
   257   Col x1 = lp.addCol();
   258   Col x2 = lp.addCol();
   259   Col x3 = lp.addCol();
   260 
   261   //Constraints
   262   lp.addRow(x1+x2+x3 <=100);  
   263   lp.addRow(10*x1+4*x2+5*x3<=600);  
   264   lp.addRow(2*x1+2*x2+6*x3<=300);  
   265   //Nonnegativity of the variables
   266   lp.colLowerBound(x1, 0);
   267   lp.colLowerBound(x2, 0);
   268   lp.colLowerBound(x3, 0);
   269   //Objective function
   270   lp.setObj(10*x1+6*x2+4*x3);
   271   
   272   //Call the routine of the underlying LP solver
   273   lp.solve();
   274 
   275   //Print results
   276   if (lp.primalStatus()==LpSolverBase::OPTIMAL){
   277     printf("Z = %g; x1 = %g; x2 = %g; x3 = %g\n", 
   278 	   lp.primalValue(), 
   279 	   lp.primal(x1), lp.primal(x2), lp.primal(x3));
   280   }
   281   else{
   282     std::cout<<"Optimal solution not found!"<<std::endl;
   283   }
   284 
   285 
   286 \endcode
   287 
   288 See the whole code in \ref lp_demo.cc.
   289 
   290 <li>The second example shows how easy it is to formalize a max-flow
   291 problem as an LP problem using the LEMON LP interface: we are looking
   292 for a real valued function defined on the edges of the digraph
   293 satisfying the nonnegativity-, the capacity constraints and the
   294 flow-conservation constraints and giving the largest flow value
   295 between to designated nodes.
   296 
   297 In the following code we suppose that we already have the graph \c g,
   298 the capacity map \c cap, the source node \c s and the target node \c t
   299 in the memory. We will also omit the typedefs.
   300 
   301 \code
   302   //Define a map on the edges for the variables of the LP problem
   303   typename G::template EdgeMap<LpDefault::Col> x(g);
   304   lp.addColSet(x);
   305   
   306   //Nonnegativity and capacity constraints
   307   for(EdgeIt e(g);e!=INVALID;++e) {
   308     lp.colUpperBound(x[e],cap[e]);
   309     lp.colLowerBound(x[e],0);
   310   }
   311 
   312 
   313   //Flow conservation constraints for the nodes (except for 's' and 't')
   314   for(NodeIt n(g);n!=INVALID;++n) if(n!=s&&n!=t) {
   315     LpDefault::Expr ex;
   316     for(InEdgeIt  e(g,n);e!=INVALID;++e) ex+=x[e];
   317     for(OutEdgeIt e(g,n);e!=INVALID;++e) ex-=x[e];
   318     lp.addRow(ex==0);
   319   }
   320   
   321   //Objective function: the flow value entering 't'
   322   {
   323     LpDefault::Expr ex;
   324     for(InEdgeIt  e(g,t);e!=INVALID;++e) ex+=x[e];
   325     for(OutEdgeIt e(g,t);e!=INVALID;++e) ex-=x[e];
   326     lp.setObj(ex);
   327   }
   328 
   329   //Maximization
   330   lp.max();
   331 
   332   //Solve with the underlying solver
   333   lp.solve();
   334 
   335 \endcode
   336 
   337 The complete program can be found in file \ref lp_maxflow_demo.cc. After compiling run it in the form:
   338 
   339 <tt>./lp_maxflow_demo < ?????????.lgf</tt>
   340 
   341 where ?????????.lgf is a file in the lemon format containing a maxflow instance (designated "source", "target" nodes and "capacity" map on the edges).
   342 
   343 
   344 
   345 </ol>
   346 </ul>
   347 
   348 */