Optimization : Optimization Namespace

Application Class

Main optimization application class.

public class Application

⊟ Remarks

This class provides the main machinery for executing a Optimization.Job. It will connect to the master process and sends populations of solutions as batched tasks to the master. It then receives responses back from the master and updates the solutions in the optimizer according to their evaluated fitnesses. It then drives the optimizer to generate new populations when all solutions are properly evaluated.

The usual way of using this class is to create a new instance, passing it command line arguments to parse. Then create a new Optimization.Job (either from an XML or manually) and pass it to Application.Run. The run method implements a main loop which will block until the optimization has completed (or when a critical error has occurred). You might want to consider to create or implement a Optimization.Visual to show any messages (status, error) and/or progress of the optimization.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Members

See Also: Inherited members from object.

⊟ Public Constructors

Create new application.

⊟ Public Properties

Job Job . The currently running job.
[read-only]
 WaitHandle System.Threading.EventWaitHandle . Main loop wait handle.

⊟ Public Methods

Run (Job)
Run an optimization job.
Stop ()
Stop the current job.

⊟ Protected Methods

AddOptions (NDesk.Options.OptionSet)
Add command line options to the option set.
Close ()
Called when connection from master is closed.
Done (Solution)
Called when a solution has been evaluated.
Error (string)
Fire the Application.OnError event.
Error (string, params object[])
Fire the Application.OnError event.
FailureToString (Optimization.Messages.Response.FailureType) : string
Convert a response failure type to a string.
Initialize ()
Application initialization.
NewIteration ()
Start new optimization iteration.
OnChallenge (Optimization.Messages.Response)
Handle a challenge response.
OnFailed (Optimization.Messages.Response)
Handle a failed response message.
OnSuccess (Optimization.Messages.Response)
Handle a success response message.
ParseArguments (ref string[])
Parse command line arguments.
Send () : bool
Send current population to the master in a batch.
ShowMessage (string)
Show a message to the user.
ShowMessage (string, params object[])
Show a formatted message to the user.
Status (string)
Show a status message to the user.
Status (string, params object[])
Show a formatted status message to the user.

⊟ Public Events

OnError Fired when an error has occurred.
OnIterate Fired to give listeners some time to do some work on the main thread.
OnJob Fired when a new job is started.
OnMessage Message event.
OnProgress Fired when there is some progress in the optimization.
OnStatus Fired when there is some status update.
OnWarning Warning event.

⊟ Member Details

⊟ Application Constructor

Create new application.

public Application (ref string[] args)

⊟ Parameters

args
Command line arguments.

⊟ Remarks

Create new application.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ AddOptions Method

Add command line options to the option set.

protected virtual void AddOptions (NDesk.Options.OptionSet optionSet)

⊟ Parameters

optionSet
The option set.

⊟ Remarks

Add command line options to the option set. Subclasses can override this to set their own command line options in the option set.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Close Method

Called when connection from master is closed.

protected virtual void Close ()

⊟ Remarks

Called when the connection with the master is closed. This will stop the main application loop.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Done Method

Called when a solution has been evaluated.

protected virtual void Done (Solution solution)

⊟ Parameters

solution
The solution.

⊟ Remarks

Called when a solution has been evaluated. This method checks if this was the last solution in the iteration and if so will start a new iteration.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Error Method

Fire the Application.OnError event.

protected virtual void Error (string str)

⊟ Parameters

str
Error message.

⊟ Remarks

Fire the .Application.OnError event.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Error Method

Fire the Application.OnError event.

protected void Error (string format, params object[] args)

⊟ Parameters

format
Format string.
args
Format arguments.

⊟ Remarks

Fire the .Application.OnError event.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ FailureToString Method

Convert a response failure type to a string.

protected string FailureToString (Optimization.Messages.Response.FailureType failure)

⊟ Parameters

failure
Response failure.

⊟ Returns

The string representation of the failure type.

⊟ Remarks

Convert a response failure type to a string.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Initialize Method

Application initialization.

protected virtual void Initialize ()

⊟ Remarks

Called during the initialization of the application.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Job Property

The currently running job.

public Job Job { set; get; }

⊟ Value

A job.

⊟ Remarks

Get or set the currently running job.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ NewIteration Method

Start new optimization iteration.

protected virtual void NewIteration ()

⊟ Remarks

This will call Optimization.Optimizer.Next and will fire the Application.OnProgress event accordingly. If the optimization is fininshed, the main loop is quitted, otherwise a batch of new solutions will be send to the master.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnChallenge Method

Handle a challenge response.

protected virtual void OnChallenge (Optimization.Messages.Response response)

⊟ Parameters

response
A response.

⊟ Remarks

Handles a challenge response message. It will encode the challenge with the job token and send a token message back to the master.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnError Event

Fired when an error has occurred.

public event Application.MessageHandler OnError

⊟ Remarks

Fired when an error has occurred.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnFailed Method

Handle a failed response message.

protected virtual void OnFailed (Optimization.Messages.Response response)

⊟ Parameters

response
A response.

⊟ Remarks

Handles a failed response message. The fitness of the solution that failed will be marked with a 0 fitness.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnIterate Event

Fired to give listeners some time to do some work on the main thread.

public event EventHandler OnIterate

⊟ Remarks

Fired to give listeners some time to do some work on the main thread. This is used by for instance visualizers that need some interation, or some time to draw their interfaces. If a visual needs to be updated periodically, it should periodically signal the Application.WaitHandle so that Application.OnIterate is called.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnJob Event

Fired when a new job is started.

public event Application.JobHandler OnJob

⊟ Remarks

Fired when a new job is started.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnMessage Event

Message event.

public event Application.MessageHandler OnMessage

⊟ Remarks

This event is emitted when there is a general message that should be reported to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnProgress Event

Fired when there is some progress in the optimization.

public event Application.ProgressHandler OnProgress

⊟ Remarks

Fired when there is some progress in the optimization.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnStatus Event

Fired when there is some status update.

public event Application.MessageHandler OnStatus

⊟ Remarks

Fired when there is some status update.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnSuccess Method

Handle a success response message.

protected virtual void OnSuccess (Optimization.Messages.Response response)

⊟ Parameters

response
A response.

⊟ Remarks

Handles a success response message. This will update the fitness of the solution according to the received fitness. Additionally any data that was transmitted with the response will be added/set in the solution.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ OnWarning Event

Warning event.

public event Application.MessageHandler OnWarning

⊟ Remarks

This event is emitted when there is a warning that should be displayed to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ ParseArguments Method

Parse command line arguments.

protected virtual void ParseArguments (ref string[] args)

⊟ Parameters

args
Arguments to parse.

⊟ Remarks

Subclasses can override this to do their own command line parsing, or to setup data needed for command line parsing (see Application.AddOptions).

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Run Method

Run an optimization job.

public void Run (Job job)

⊟ Parameters

job
A job.

⊟ Remarks

This method will run one optimization job. It will batch tasks to the master prococess as long as the optimization is running and will process any responses from the master to update the solution fitnesses and drive the optimization.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Send Method

Send current population to the master in a batch.

protected virtual bool Send ()

⊟ Returns

True if the batch was successfully send.

⊟ Remarks

Send current population to the master in a batch.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ ShowMessage Method

Show a message to the user.

protected virtual void ShowMessage (string str)

⊟ Parameters

str
The message.

⊟ Remarks

Show a message to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ ShowMessage Method

Show a formatted message to the user.

protected void ShowMessage (string format, params object[] args)

⊟ Parameters

format
The format string.
args
The format string arguments.

⊟ Remarks

Show a formatted message to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Status Method

Show a status message to the user.

protected virtual void Status (string str)

⊟ Parameters

str
Status message.

⊟ Remarks

Show a status message to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Status Method

Show a formatted status message to the user.

protected void Status (string format, params object[] args)

⊟ Parameters

format
The format string.
args
The format string arguments.

⊟ Remarks

Show a formatted status message to the user.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ Stop Method

Stop the current job.

public void Stop ()

⊟ Remarks

Stop the currently running job.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)

⊟ WaitHandle Property

Main loop wait handle.

public System.Threading.EventWaitHandle WaitHandle { get; }

⊟ Value

The wait handle.

⊟ Remarks

Get the main loop wait handle. The main loop runs on the main thread and uses a message queue and a wait handle to process messages from other threads. To run an iteration of the application main loop, you can use System.Threading.WaitHandle.Set. This will in turn handle any received messages, fire Application.OnIterate and check if the job should be stopped.

⊟ Requirements

Namespace: Optimization
Assembly: Optimization (in Optimization.dll)