• Issue 1, February 2008
• Inside This Issue:
• Product Updates
• ILOG CPLEX 11
• ILOG CP Optimizer
• ILOG OPL-CPLEX
• ILOG ODM
• Technical Articles
• Questions and Answers
• Workshops and Events
• ILOG Optimization Team

• Optimization Resources
• ILOG Optimization Suite
• Engines
• ILOG CPLEX
• ILOG CP Optimizer
• Tools
• ILOG OPL-CPLEX Development System
• ILOG ODM
• Academic Program

Product Updates

New ILOG Optimization Decision Manager 2.5

ILOG Optimization Decision Manager (ODM) is the fastest and easiest way to build flexible and interactive applications using ILOG CPLEX and ILOG CP Optimizer. Decision-making applications based on ILOG ODM allow users to adjust assumptions, operating constraints and goals, and see the recommendations in familiar business terminology, providing extensive what-if analysis and scenario comparison features “out of the box.”

New in ILOG ODM 2.5

• New mode enabling collaborative planning
• Scenarios and personal workspaces are stored in a centralized repository (relational database)
• Multiple planners and reviewers can share scenarios - scenario locking ensures data consistency
• Personal workspaces allows individual scenario views and private/shared scenarios
• Possible to store repository in centralized database (Oracle supported) for enterprise applications
• Filtering and pivot tables
• Interactive filtering allows attribute-based drill-down into large data sets
• Embedded pivot table supports flexible solution views and data aggregation
• Personal configurations of filtering and pivot tables are remembered between planning sessions for each user
• Multiple deployment targets
• Simplifies application management during the development cycle
• Support for parallel problem solving with ILOG CPLEX 11
• ODM-based applications can now leverage the full solving power of multi-core desktops
• Quadratic models
• Mathematical models with quadratic terms (objective or constraints) can be embedded in ODM (remaining limitations: quadratic constraints cannot be relaxed, and quadratic goals are not monitored in Solve Progress panel)

Previous Advances in ILOG ODM 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2

Application Generation

Developing an application with ILOG ODM is significantly easier than anything previously available, thanks to a tight integration with ILOG OPL-CPLEX Development System.

• OPL-based CP Optimizer models are now allowed in ODM (ILOG CP Optimizer is a Constraint Programming-based optimization engine for sequencing, resource allocation and timetabling problems).
• Filtering and pivot tables
• Solving approaches in OPL, which combines multiple models and engines in sequence or in iteration, can be used in ODM. The results of each sub-model - solutions, relaxed requirements and goals - can be aggregated and summarized in ODM views.
• A custom scenario checker, written in Java, can be added to an ODM application, and be invoked automatically before a scenario is solved. The errors and warnings are displayed in the Error Panel of ODM, allowing business users to correct invalid scenario input, such as erroneous input or out-of-bounds data.
• OPL contains a wizard for application generation based on the structure of the optimization model. OPL data structures are automatically mapped to data tables in ODM, decision variables are mapped to solution views and objective functions are mapped to ODM goals.
• OPL also provides graphical editors with previews for configuration of the generated ODM application. This allows finer polishing of, for example, columns or constraint names, but also larger changes to table layout as well as creation of new views, business rules and graphical charts.

ILOG OPL-based application generation with ODM speeds up development to a point where it is very easy for business users to take part in the rapid prototyping and iterative development of applications. This makes it possible to refine models and key performance indicators on-the-fly while perfecting scenario parameters and displays for input data and solutions.

Data and Solution Visualization

ILOG ODM provides pre-packaged charts for visualization of input data and solutions. Based on the high-performing ILOG JViews Charts and configurable from the OPL IDE, it is now possible without any coding to create informative displays for solution analysis and scenario comparison. In addition, application-specific custom graphical views of any type based on Java can also be created and embedded into the GUI.

For more information on ILOG OPL-CPLEX Development System, ILOG ODM and the entire ILOG Optimization Suite, visit http://optimization.ilog.com.