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Change CPLEX Barrier Options

You can change the barrier options for CPLEX by choosing CPLEX parameters from the Options menu and then pressing the Barrier tab. This will display the barrier options for CPLEX in the dialog box as shown below:

Figure 4.50: The Barrier Tab In CPLEX Options Dialog Box

Barrier Algorithm

The default barrier algorithm is almost always fastest. However, on problems that are primal or dual infeasible, the default algorithm may not work as well as alternatives. The two alternative algorithms may eliminate numerical difficulties related to infeasibility, but will generally be slower.

Ordering Algorithm

The Ordering option sets the algorithm to be used to permute the rows of the constraint matrix in order to reduce fill in the Cholesky factor.

Starting Point Algorithm

This option sets the algorithm to be used to compute the initial starting point for the barrier solver. The default starting point is satisfactory for most problems. Other starting points may provide better performance for certain problems, or provide better convergence properties for the barrier algorithm. Since the default starting point is tuned for primal problems, using the other starting points may be worthwhile in conjunction with the Presolve Pass Dual Problem option.

Column Nonzeros

The Column Nonzeros value is used in the recognition of dense columns. If columns (in the presolved and aggregated problem) exist with more entries than the value of this option, these columns will be considered "dense" and CPLEX Barrier will treat the dense columns specially in order to reduce their effect. At the default setting of 0 this option is determined automatically, considering factors such as the size of the problem. If a number greater than 0 is entered, this number will be used as the "cutoff" number of entries for considering columns to be dense.

Note: If the problem (after Presolve and Aggregator) contains less than 400 rows, dense column handling will not be initiated, regardless of the column nonzero setting.

Max Correction Limit

This option sets the maximum number of centering correction done on each iteration. By default the barrier solver automatically computes an estimate value for this parameter (the computed value can be observed by setting the barrier progress info log option to diagnostics information in the log file option dialog box). When the using the default barrier algorithm, if the computed value is zero setting the value to an explicit value greater than zero may improve the numerical performance of the algorithm at the expense of computation time.

Iteration Limit

The Iterations Limit sets the number of barrier iterations before termination. When set to 0, no barrier iterations will occur, but problem "setup" will occur and information about the setup will be displayed (Cholesky factorization information).

Growth Limit

The Growth Limit is used to detect unbounded optimal faces. At higher values, the barrier algorithm will be less likely to conclude that the problem has an unbounded optimal face, but more likely to have numerical difficulties if the problem has an unbounded face. The default value is 1e-6.

Objective Range

The Objective Range value sets the maximum absolute value of the objective function. The barrier algorithm looks at this limit to detect unbound problems. The default value is le+l5.

Variable Upper

The Variable Upper value sets the upper bound for all variables that have infinite upper bounds. This limit is used to prevent difficulties associated with unbound optimal faces. The default value is le+20.

Convergence Tol

The Convergence Tolerance sets the tolerance on complementarity for convergence. The barrier algorithm will terminate with an optimal solution if the relative complementarity is smaller than this value. The default value is le-8.


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