Instructions
Input files for HaLP are tab-delimited text files formatted according to the conventions of OTSoft (and optionally enriched in a few ways).
- The first two rows consist of the constraint names. The first row is used for the full names of the constraints, and the second row the abbreviated names. Currently, HaLP uses just the names in the second row. Constraint names start in the fourth column.
- Tab position 2 in the first constraint row can optionally be filled with a minimum constraint weight. The default is 1, in keeping with the discussions in our current writing. But it can be useful to try 0 as well. You can fill in any floating point number. You can write r or min = r, or min=r, myChosenMin: r. HaLP extracts just the number.
- The first column lists the inputs. HaLP currently reads only text characters.
- The second column lists the candidates for each input. The first candidate is in the cell adjacent to the input. The candidates in following rows are associated with the same input, until a new input is specified.
- The third column indicates the optimal candidate. The number '1' is placed in the cell adjacent to the optimal candidate. A file submitted to HaLP must have one and only one optimal candidate for each input.
- The subsequent columns indicate the violation scores for each candidate on each constraint. HaLP currently accepts only integer violation scores. Any blank is interpreted as zero.
- Files can contain comments. Comments are introduced by /**. They must occupy the entire line; lines containing comments are not processed. This sample file illustrates the style.
This page provides some samples and discussion.