MPS File Reader Object
Systems and Computer Engineering
Carleton
University
Ottawa,
Canada
The MPS File Reader is a windows
object that exposes properties and methods that allow you to:
- Read
standard and free-format MPS files,
- View the
contents as equations,
- Submit
variable values and receive back the constraint and objective function
values at that point,
- Edit
existing MPS files or create new MPS files,
- Write
out MPS files.
It is expected that a major user of this software object will
be academic software developers who are working in mathematical
programming. Writing an input/output
routine for reading and writing MPS files is a tedious chore. Since we have done this chore as part of
another project, we are making the resulting object generally available.
The MPS file reader is a 32-bit windows object. After downloading and installing the
software, reference the object from your development environment and use the
environment’s object browser (and the brief help file included with the object)
to access the properties and methods the object exposes.
Version History
- Current
version is 1.2, released February 28, 2003. Changes:
- Compilation
changes to enhance C++ compatibility.
- Progress
bar shown during MPS file reading
- Minor
bug fixes.
- Source
code for a Visual C++ program showing how the object is used (revised
March 4, 2003).
- Version
1.1 was released January 27, 2003.
Changes:
- The
user interface GUI can now be displayed in two modes: (i) editing of the
MPS model is enabled, or (ii) editing of the MPS model is disabled.
- Rows
are now grouped into two classes: (i) binding rows (constraints), and
(ii) nonbinding rows (usually objectives).
- Minor
bug fixes.
- Source
code for an example Visual Basic program showing how the object is used.
- Version
1.0 was released October 10, 2002.
Download
The full-featured software is available for free
download. Instructions:
- Permission
to use the object is not needed, but as a courtesy, please email the author to indicate that
you are will be using it, and to be notified when new releases are
available.
- If you
use the object as part of your own software project, please acknowledge
the source.
- Download
MPS object (3 Mbytes).
- Download
source for Visual
Basic 6.0 demonstration program (7 kbytes) illustrating use of the
object.
- Download
source for Visual
C++ 6.0 demonstration program (51 kbytes) illustrating use of the
object. See the included file
RunningC++DemoProgram.txt for instructions on linking the demo program
with the object.
Installation Notes
- The
installation files are WinZipped.
First unzip the files into an installation directory.
- Run
install.exe. Choose a different
directory as the installation target.
- The
required files scrrun.dll and msvcrt.dll are not included in the package
because they frequently cause installation difficulties. Omitting them is
not a problem on most systems, however, if your system complains:
- More
information on the scrrun.dll problem is available at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q254166,
including a downloadable version of scrrun.dll if needed.
- Msvcrt.dll
is already installed on the newer windows operating systems, so you
should not need it. If it is not
already installed on your system, you may be able to download it from the
Microsoft web site.
- The
final result of running the installation is a DLL by the name of
MPSfileReader.dll.
- Once
installed on your computer, you will need to make a reference to the
object in your development environment in order to use it. For example, in Visual Basic, you need
to open the dialog box under Project|References and then check the box
next to “MPS File Reader Object (J.W. Chinneck)”
Authors
Last
update: March 4, 2003.