What is the NetworkModel argument used for?

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Yanchao Liu
What is the NetworkModel argument used for?

In the webpage https://gocompetition.energy.gov/languages, it is explained that:

NetworkModel = a 10 character string identifying the Network Model of the input files. These are the first ten characters of the Dataset Network Model folder name. 

My question is: what does our code need this value for? In other words, what shall we do with the value of this parameter inside the main program?

I am assuming that the input data file names (i.e., InFile1, ..., InFile4) will be supplied with the path info (either relative or absolute) when the main program is called. Is that right? Then what is NetworkModel after all?

Thanks!

 

 

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Dr. Stephen Elbert
What is the NetworkModel argument used for?

If your algorithm uses heuristics, knowing which network model is being used for a particular dataset may be advantageous. The Competition uses the same network models in more than one event, so if you have spotted a clever way to solve network X in the Original Dataset, you may want to use it if you see that network in Trial Event 1, 2, or the Final Event. The Competition does introduce new network models with each event so you can't rely solely on past experience. 

The input data file path names do incorporate network model information, so in that sense the Network Model parameter is redundant, but you need to parse the path name to find it. Having the Network Model as a separate parameter saves you the parsing step.