Automated Support for Formulating Linear Programs

Most research in mathematical programming has been concerned with efficientcomputational algorithms. However, there is increasing interest in developing automatedtechniques for supporting the modeling process. This paper describes a new kind of interfacefor formulating linear programming models and explains the inference process used totranslate problem specifications into algebraic formulations. The main idea underlying thedesign of the interface is to change the specification language to a graphical rather than amathematical notation. The inference process involves the generation of algebraic terms andtheir subsequent combination into constraint equations. This relies on the syntacticrelationships among indices and a knowledge of the physical entities that they represent. Anadvantage of the approach is that it facilitates the reuse of model components from previousmodels. The ideas discussed in this paper have been incorporated in a prototype system