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Mathematical Modelling Languages

  There already exists a class of modelling languages designed for combinatorial problems. These are the mathematical modelling languages typically used as input to mixed integer programming (MIP) packages. We further discuss MIP, and how to use it through ECLiPSe, in section 3.4 below.

Although the syntax is different, mathematical modelling languages share many of the features of logic programming. They support logical variables, and constraints. They support numerical constraints which, though not supported in traditional logic programs, are supported by constraint logic programs as we shall see in the following section. They support named constraints, which is achieved in constraint logic programming by introducing a predicate name, eg precede(T1,T2) :- T1 >= T2.

There are two facilities in constraint logic programming which are not available in mathematical modelling languages. The main one is quite simple: in constraint logic programs it is possible to define a constraint which involves a disjunction. Mathematical programming cannot handle disjunction directly. The second difference is that logic programming allows new constraints to be defined in terms of existing ones, even recursively. In mathematical programming the model is essentially flat, which not only complicates the model but also reduces reuseability within an application and across applications.

To illustrate the advantage of handling disjunction in the modelling language, we take a toy example and present two models: a mathematical programming model and a constraint logic programming model.

Consider the constraint that two tasks sharing a single resource cannot be done at the same time. The constraint involves six variables: the start times tex2html_wrap_inline1376 , end times tex2html_wrap_inline1378 and resources tex2html_wrap_inline1380 of the two tasks. The specification of this constraint is as follows:

either the two tasks use distinct resource ( tex2html_wrap_inline1382 ) or task tex2html_wrap_inline1384 ends before task tex2html_wrap_inline1386 starts ( tex2html_wrap_inline1388 ) or else task tex2html_wrap_inline1386 ends before task tex2html_wrap_inline1384 starts ( tex2html_wrap_inline1394 ).
First we shall show how it can expressed as a mathematical model without disjunctions. For this purpose it must be encoded using numerical equations and inequalities, together with integer constraints.

The disjunctions can be captured by introducing three 0/1 variables, tex2html_wrap_inline1396 , tex2html_wrap_inline1398 , and tex2html_wrap_inline1400 , and using some large constant, say 100000, larger than any possible values for any of the six variables. Now we can express the constraint in terms of numerical inequalities as follows:

tex2html_wrap_inline1404
tex2html_wrap_inline1406
tex2html_wrap_inline1408
tex2html_wrap_inline1410
If tex2html_wrap_inline1412 then the two tasks use different resources. In this case, if also tex2html_wrap_inline1414 then tex2html_wrap_inline1416 , otherwise tex2html_wrap_inline1418 and tex2html_wrap_inline1420 . It is an exercise for the reader to prove that if tex2html_wrap_inline1412 then the tasks can overlap. Otherwise, if tex2html_wrap_inline1424 , then tex2html_wrap_inline1426 entails tex2html_wrap_inline1428 and tex2html_wrap_inline1430 entails tex2html_wrap_inline1432 .

In ECLiPSe this constraint can be modelled directly in logic, as illustrated below.

taskResource(S1,E1,R1,S2,E2,R2) :- 
        ne(R1,R2).
taskResource(S1,E1,R1,S2,E2,R2) :-
        R1=R2, S1 >= E2.
taskResource(S1,E1,R1,S2,E2,R2) :-
        R1=R2, S2 >= E1.
Specifying a Resource Contention Constraint in ECLiPSe  

We note that the ECLiPSe model is a conceptual model, whilst the mathematical model is a design model. The point here is that in ECLiPSe both models can be expressed, whilst mathematical modelling can only express a design model. Indeed we shall show in section 4.1 below a design model written in ECLiPSe that is very close to the conceptual model.

Another ECLiPSe design model, which is also close to the conceptual model, is handled in ECLiPSe by an automatic translator which builds the MIP model and passes it to the MIP solver of ECLiPSe. This translator is described in [RWH97] which is available from the IC-Parc home page (whose URL is given in section 6 below).

Whilst the above example shows that such complex constraints can be expressed in terms of numerical inequalities, as required for MIP, the encoding is awkward and difficult to debug. It becomes increasingly difficult as the constraints become more complex (eg the current example immediately becomes harder still if the resources have a finite capacity greater than one).

Notice, finally, that the mathematical model requires resources to be identified by numbers, whilst the constraint logic programming model imposes no such restriction as we shall show in section 4 below.


next up previous contents
Next: Mainstream Programming Languages Up: Why Logic Programming Previous: Formal Specification Languages

Joachim Schimpf
Wed Sep 3 18:07:19 BST 1997