SHOT

SHOT (Supporting Hyperplane Optimization Toolkit) is a deterministic solver for mixed-integer nonlinear programming problems (MINLPs).

Originally, SHOT was intended for convex MINLP problems only, but now also has functionality to solve nonconvex MINLP problems as a heuristic method without providing any guarantees of global optimality. SHOT can solve certain nonconvex problem types to global optimality as well.

SHOT has mainly been developed by Andreas Lundell (Åbo Akademi University, Finland) and Jan Kronqvist (Imperial College London, UK). For more details, see [167, 163, 148, 149].

SHOT supports GAMS equations that use the following intrinsic functions: abs, cos, cvPower, div, exp, log, log10, log2, pi, power, rPower, sin, sqr, sqrt, vcPower.

Algorithm

SHOT is based on iteratively creating a tighter polyhedral approximation of the nonlinear feasible set by generating supporting hyperplanes or cutting planes. These linearized problems are then solved with a mixed-integer linear programming (MIP) solver. GAMS/SHOT uses CPLEX, if a GAMS/CPLEX license is available, and otherwise CBC. Users with a license from Gurobi can also select Gurobi as MIP solver. If CPLEX or Gurobi is used, the subproblems can also include quadratic and bilinear nonlinearities directly.

The solution to the outer approximation problem provides a dual bound (i.e., a lower bound when solving a minimization problem) to the optimal value of the original problem if it is convex. If the problem is nonconvex, convergence to the global optimal solution cannot be guaranteed (but might be achieved for certain classes of problems, cf. [163]).

To get a primal bound (i.e., an upper bound when solving a minimization problem) on the optimal value, SHOT utilizes the following heuristics:

• Solving nonlinear programming (NLP) problems where the integer variables have been fixed to valid values. This is done by calling an NLP solver, which is either Ipopt or one of the GAMS NLP solvers.
• By checking solutions from the MIP solver's solution pool for points that fulfill also the nonlinear constraints in the original MINLP problem.
• By performing root searches.

When a termination criterion like a tolerance on the relative or absolute objective gap or a time limit is fulfilled, SHOT terminates and returns the current primal solution to GAMS. If the original problem is convex and SHOT could close the objective gap, then this is a global optimal solution to the problem. If it is nonconvex, then there is normally no guarantee that such a solution can be found. However, SHOT will always, in addition to a primal solution, return a valid dual bound on the solution in model attribute objest, unless Model.Convexity.AssumeConvex has been enabled.

Usage

The following statement can be used inside your GAMS program to specify using SHOT

Option MINLP = SHOT;     { or MIQCP }


The above statement should appear before the Solve statement. If SHOT was specified as the default MINLP or MIQCP solver during GAMS installation, the above statement is not necessary.

Specification of SHOT Options

GAMS/SHOT supports the GAMS parameters reslim, iterlim, nodlim, optcr, optca, cutoff, and threads.

Options can be specified by a SHOT options file. A SHOT options file consists of one option or comment per line. An asterik (*) at the beginning of a line causes the entire line to be ignored. Otherwise, the line will be interpreted as an option name and value separated by an equal sign (=) and any amount of white space (blanks or tabs).

A small example for a shot.opt file is:

Dual.CutStrategy = 1
Dual.MIP.Solver = 2
Output.Console.DualSolver.Show = true


It causes GAMS/SHOT to use the Extended Cutting Plane (ECP) method instead of the Extended Supporting Hyperplane (EHP) method, changes the MIP solver to CBC, and enables showing the output of the solver that computes dual bounds (typically the MIP solver).

Attention
SHOT requires options to be specified using exactly the names as specified in the documentation. That is, also casing matters.

List of SHOT Options

In the following, we give a detailed list of all SHOT options.

Dual strategy

These settings control the various functionality of the dual strategy in SHOT, i.e., the polyhedral outer approximation utilizing the ESH or ECP algorithms.

Option Description Default
Dual.CutStrategy Dual cut strategy
0: ESH
1: ECP
0
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.IterationLimit Iteration limit for minimax cutting plane solver
Range: {1, ..., ∞}
100
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.IterationLimitSubsolver Iteration limit for minimization subsolver
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
100
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.UsePrimalSolution Utilize primal solution as interior point
0: No
2: Replace old
3: Use avarage
1
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.MaxPerIteration Maximal number of hyperplanes to add per iteration
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
200
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.ObjectiveRootSearch When to use the objective root search
0: Always
1: IfConvex
2: Never
1
Dual.MIP.InfeasibilityRepair.IterationLimit Max number of infeasible problems repaired without primal objective value improvement
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
100
Range: {0, ..., 999}
Dual.MIP.Presolve.Frequency When to call the MIP presolve
0: Never
1: Once
2: Always
1
Dual.MIP.SolutionLimit.ForceOptimal.Iteration Iterations without dual bound updates for forcing optimal MIP solution
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
10000
Dual.MIP.SolutionLimit.IncreaseIterations Max number of iterations between MIP solution limit increases
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
50
Dual.MIP.SolutionLimit.Initial Initial MIP solution limit
Range: {1, ..., ∞}
1
Dual.MIP.SolutionPool.Capacity The maximum number of solutions in the solution pool
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
100
Dual.MIP.Solver Which MIP solver to use
0: Cplex
1: Gurobi
2: Cbc
Dual.ReductionCut.MaxIterations Max number of primal cut reduction without primal improvement
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
5
Dual.Relaxation.Frequency The frequency to solve an LP problem: 0: Disable
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
0
Dual.Relaxation.IterationLimit The max number of relaxed LP problems to solve initially
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
200
Dual.Relaxation.MaxLazyConstraints Max number of lazy constraints to add in relaxed solutions in single-tree strategy
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
0
Dual.TreeStrategy The main strategy to use
0: Multi-tree
1: Single-tree
1
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.ConstraintSelectionFactor The fraction of violated constraints to generate cutting planes for
Range: [0, 1]
0.25
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.TerminationToleranceAbs Absolute termination tolerance between LP and linesearch objective
Range: [0, ∞]
1
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.TerminationToleranceRel Relative termination tolerance between LP and linesearch objective
Range: [0, ∞]
1
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.TimeLimit Time limit for minimax solver
Range: [0, ∞]
10
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.MinimaxObjectiveLowerBound Lower bound for minimax objective variable
Range: [-∞, 0]
-1e+12
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.MinimaxObjectiveUpperBound Upper bound for minimax objective variable
Range: real
0.1
Dual.ESH.Rootsearch.ConstraintTolerance Constraint tolerance for when not to add individual hyperplanes
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-08
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.ConstraintSelectionFactor The fraction of violated constraints to generate supporting hyperplanes / cutting planes for
Range: [0, 1]
0.5
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.MaxConstraintFactor Rootsearch performed on constraints with values larger than this factor times the maximum value
Range: [1e-06, 1]
0.1
Dual.MIP.CutOff.InitialValue Initial cutoff value to use
Range: real
GAMS cutoff
Dual.MIP.CutOff.Tolerance An extra tolerance for the objective cutoff value (to prevent infeasible subproblems)
Range: real
1e-05
Dual.MIP.InfeasibilityRepair.TimeLimit Time limit when reparing infeasible problem
Range: [0, ∞]
10
Dual.MIP.NodeLimit Node limit to use for MIP solver in single-tree strategy
Range: [0, ∞]
GAMS nodlim
Dual.MIP.OptimalityTolerance The reduced-cost tolerance for optimality in the MIP solver
Range: [1e-09, 0.01]
1e-06
Dual.MIP.SolutionLimit.ForceOptimal.Time Time (s) without dual bound updates for forcing optimal MIP solution
Range: [0, ∞]
1000
Dual.MIP.SolutionLimit.UpdateTolerance The constraint tolerance for when to update MIP solution limit
Range: [0, ∞]
0.001
Dual.ReductionCut.ReductionFactor The factor used to reduce the cutoff value
Range: [0, 1]
0.001
Dual.Relaxation.TerminationTolerance Time limit (s) when solving LP problems initially
Range: real
0.5
Dual.Relaxation.TimeLimit Time limit (s) when solving LP problems initially
Range: [0, ∞]
30
Dual.ESH.InteriorPoint.CuttingPlane.Reuse Reuse valid cutting planes in main dual model
Range: boolean
0
Dual.ESH.Rootsearch.UniqueConstraints Allow only one hyperplane per constraint per iteration
Range: boolean
0
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.Delay Add hyperplane cuts to model only after optimal MIP solution
Range: boolean
1
Dual.HyperplaneCuts.UseIntegerCuts Add integer cuts for infeasible integer-combinations for binary problems
Range: boolean
0
Dual.MIP.CutOff.UseInitialValue Use the initial cutoff value
Range: boolean
1, if cutoff is set
Dual.MIP.InfeasibilityRepair.IntegerCuts Allow feasibility repair of integer cuts
Range: boolean
1
Dual.MIP.Presolve.RemoveRedundantConstraints Remove redundant constraints (as determined by presolve)
Range: boolean
0
Dual.MIP.Presolve.UpdateObtainedBounds Update bounds (from presolve) to the MIP model
Range: boolean
1
Dual.MIP.UpdateObjectiveBounds Update nonlinear objective variable bounds to primal/dual bounds
Range: boolean
0
Dual.Relaxation.Use Initially solve continuous dual relaxations
Range: boolean
1

Optimization model

These settings control various aspects of SHOT's representation for and handling of the provided optimization model.

Option Description Default
Model.BoundTightening.FeasibilityBased.MaxIterations Maximal number of bound tightening iterations
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
5
Model.Reformulation.Bilinear.IntegerFormulation How to reformulate integer bilinear terms
0: None
1: 1D
2: 2D
1
Model.Reformulation.Bilinear.IntegerFormulation.MaxDomain Do not reformulate integer variables in bilinear terms which can assume more than this number of discrete values
Range: {2, ..., ∞}
100
Model.Reformulation.Constraint.PartitionNonlinearTerms When to partition nonlinear sums in objective function
0: Always
1: If convex
2: Never
1
0: Always
1: If convex
2: Never
1
Model.Reformulation.Monomials.Formulation How to reformulate binary monomials
0: None
1: Simple
2: Costa and Liberti
1
Model.Reformulation.ObjectiveFunction.PartitionNonlinearTerms When to partition nonlinear sums in objective function
0: Always
1: If convex
2: Never
1
0: Always
1: If convex
2: Never
1
0: Do not extract
1: Extract to same objective or constraint
2: Extract to quadratic equality constraint if nonconvex
3: Extract to quadratic equality constraint even if convex
1
0: All nonlinear
2: Use convex quadratic objective and constraints
3: Use nonconvex quadratic objective and constraints
2
Model.BoundTightening.FeasibilityBased.TimeLimit Time limit for bound tightening
Range: [0, ∞]
5
Model.Convexity.Quadratics.EigenValueTolerance Convexity tolerance for the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix for quadratic terms
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-05
Model.Variables.Continuous.MaximumUpperBound Maximum upper bound for continuous variables
Range: real
1e+50
Model.Variables.Continuous.MinimumLowerBound Minimum lower bound for continuous variables
Range: real
-1e+50
Model.Variables.Integer.MaximumUpperBound Maximum upper bound for integer variables
Range: real
2e+09
Model.Variables.Integer.MinimumLowerBound Minimum lower bound for integer variables
Range: real
-2e+09
Model.Variables.NonlinearObjectiveVariable.Bound Max absolute bound for the auxiliary nonlinear objective variable
Range: real
1e+12
Model.BoundTightening.FeasibilityBased.Use Peform feasibility-based bound tightening
Range: boolean
1
Model.BoundTightening.FeasibilityBased.UseNonlinear Peform feasibility-based bound tightening on nonlinear expressions
Range: boolean
1
Model.Convexity.AssumeConvex Assume that the problem is convex.
Range: boolean
0
Range: boolean
0
Model.Reformulation.Monomials.Extract Extract monomial terms from nonlinear expressions
Range: boolean
1
Model.Reformulation.ObjectiveFunction.Epigraph.Use Reformulates a nonlinear objective as an auxiliary constraint
Range: boolean
0
Model.Reformulation.Signomials.Extract Extract signomial terms from nonlinear expressions
Range: boolean
1

Solver output

These settings control how much and what output is shown to the user from the solver.

Option Description Default
Output.Debug.Path The folder where to save the debug information
Range: string
Output.Console.Iteration.Detail When should the fixed strategy be used
0: Full
1: On objective gap update
2: On objective gap update and all primal NLP calls
1
Output.Console.LogLevel Log level for console output
0: Trace
1: Debug
2: Info
3: Warning
4: Error
5: Critical
6: Off
2
Output.Console.DualSolver.Show Show output from dual solver on console
Range: boolean
0
Output.Console.PrimalSolver.Show Show output from primal solver on console
Range: boolean
0
Output.Debug.Enable Use debug functionality
Range: boolean
0

Primal heuristics

These settings control the primal heuristics used in SHOT.

Option Description Default
Primal.FixedInteger.CallStrategy When should the fixed strategy be used
0: Use each iteration
1: Based on iteration or time
2: Based on iteration or time, and for all feasible MIP solutions
2
Primal.FixedInteger.Frequency.Iteration Max number of iterations between calls
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
10
Primal.FixedInteger.IterationLimit Max number of iterations per call
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
10000000
Primal.FixedInteger.Solver NLP solver to use
0: Ipopt
1: GAMS
1
Primal.FixedInteger.Source Source of fixed MIP solution point
0: All
1: First
2: All feasible
3: First and all feasible
4: With smallest constraint deviation
3
Primal.FixedInteger.SourceProblem Which problem formulation to use for NLP problem
0: Original problem
1: Reformulated problem
2: Both
0
Primal.FixedInteger.DualPointGap.Relative If the objective gap between the MIP point and dual solution is less than this the fixed strategy is activated
Range: [0, ∞]
0.001
Primal.FixedInteger.Frequency.Time Max duration (s) between calls
Range: [0, ∞]
5
Primal.FixedInteger.TimeLimit Time limit (s) per NLP problem
Range: [0, ∞]
10
Primal.Tolerance.Integer Integer tolerance for accepting primal solutions
Range: real
1e-05
Primal.Tolerance.LinearConstraint Linear constraint tolerance for accepting primal solutions
Range: real
1e-06
Primal.Tolerance.NonlinearConstraint Nonlinear constraint tolerance for accepting primal solutions
Range: real
1e-05
Primal.FixedInteger.CreateInfeasibilityCut Create a cut from an infeasible solution point
Range: boolean
0
Primal.FixedInteger.Frequency.Dynamic Dynamically update the call frequency based on success
Range: boolean
1
Primal.FixedInteger.OnlyUniqueIntegerCombinations Whether to resolve with the same integer combination, e.g. for nonconvex problems with different continuous variable starting points
Range: boolean
1
Primal.FixedInteger.Use Use the fixed integer primal strategy
Range: boolean
1
Primal.FixedInteger.Warmstart Warm start the NLP solver
Range: boolean
1
Primal.Rootsearch.Use Use a rootsearch to find primal solutions
Range: boolean
1
Primal.Tolerance.TrustLinearConstraintValues Trust that subsolvers (NLP, MIP) give primal solutions that respect linear constraints
Range: boolean
1

Strategy

Overall strategy parameters used in SHOT.

Option Description Default
Strategy.UseRecommendedSettings Modifies some settings to their recommended values based on the strategy
Range: boolean
1

Subsolver functionality

These settings allow for more direct control of the different subsolvers utilized in SHOT.

Option Description Default
Subsolver.Cplex.WorkDirectory Directory for swap file
Range: string
Subsolver.GAMS.NLP.OptionsFilename Options file for the NLP solver in GAMS
Range: string
Subsolver.GAMS.NLP.Solver NLP solver to use in GAMS (auto: SHOT chooses)
Range: string
auto
Subsolver.Cbc.NodeStrategy Node strategy
0: depth
1: downdepth
2: downfewest
3: fewest
4: hybrid
5: updepth
6: upfewest
4
Subsolver.Cbc.Scaling Whether to scale problem
0: automatic
1: dynamic
2: equilibrium
3: geometric
4: off
5: rowsonly
0
Subsolver.Cbc.Strategy This turns on newer features
0: easy problems
1: default
2: aggressive
1
Subsolver.Cplex.FeasOptMode Strategy to use for the feasibility repair
0: Minimize the sum of all required relaxations in first phase only
1: Minimize the sum of all required relaxations in first phase and execute second phase to find optimum among minimal relaxations
2: Minimize the number of constraints and bounds requiring relaxation in first phase only
3: Minimize the sum of squares of required relaxations in first phase only
4: Minimize the sum of squares of required relaxations in first phase and execute second phase to find optimum among minimal relaxations
0
Subsolver.Cplex.MIPEmphasis Sets the MIP emphasis
0: Balanced
1: Feasibility
2: Optimality
3: Best bound
4: Hidden feasible
1
Subsolver.Cplex.MemoryEmphasis Try to conserve memory when possible
Range: {0, ..., 1}
0
Subsolver.Cplex.NodeFile Where to store the node file
0: No file
1: Compressed in memory
2: On disk
3: Compressed on disk
1
Subsolver.Cplex.NumericalEmphasis Emphasis on numerical stability
Range: {0, ..., 1}
0
Subsolver.Cplex.OptimalityTarget Specifies how CPLEX treats nonconvex quadratics
0: Automatic
1: Searches for a globally optimal solution to a convex model
2: Searches for a solution that satisfies first-order optimality conditions, but is not necessarily globally optimal
3: Searches for a globally optimal solution to a nonconvex model
0
Subsolver.Cplex.ParallelMode Controls how much time and memory should be used when filling the solution pool
-1: Opportunistic
0: Automatic
1: Deterministic
0
Subsolver.Cplex.Probe Sets the MIP probing level
-1: No probing
0: Automatic
1: Moderate
2: Aggressive
3: Very aggressive
0
Subsolver.Cplex.SolutionPoolIntensity Controls how much time and memory should be used when filling the solution pool
0: Automatic
1: Mild
2: Moderate
3: Aggressive
4: Very aggressive
0
Subsolver.Cplex.SolutionPoolReplace How to replace solutions in the solution pool when full
0: Replace oldest
1: Replace worst
2: Find diverse
0
Subsolver.Gurobi.MIPFocus MIP focus
0: Automatic
1: Feasibility
2: Optimality
3: Best bound
0
Subsolver.Gurobi.NumericFocus MIP focus
0: Automatic
1: Mild
2: Moderate
3: Aggressive
2
Subsolver.Gurobi.PoolSearchMode Finds extra solutions
0: No extra effort
1: Try to find solutions
2: Find n best solutions
0
Subsolver.Gurobi.PoolSolutions Determines how many MIP solutions are stored
Range: {1, ..., 2000000000}
1
Subsolver.Gurobi.ScaleFlag Controls model scaling
-1: Automatic
0: Off
1: Mild
2: Moderate
3: Aggressive
-1
Subsolver.Ipopt.LinearSolver Ipopt linear subsolver
0: Default
1: MA27
2: MA57
3: MA86
4: MA97
5: MUMPS
5
Subsolver.Ipopt.MaxIterations Maximum number of iterations
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
1000
Subsolver.Rootsearch.MaxIterations Maximal root search iterations
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
100
Subsolver.Rootsearch.Method Root search method to use
0: TOMS748
1: Bisection
0
Subsolver.Cplex.SolutionPoolGap Sets the relative gap filter on objective values in the solution pool
Range: [0, 1e+75]
1e+75
Subsolver.Cplex.WorkMemory Memory limit for when to start swapping to disk
Range: [0, 1e+75]
0
Subsolver.Gurobi.Heuristics The relative amount of time spent in MIP heuristics.
Range: [0, 1]
0.05
Subsolver.Ipopt.ConstraintViolationTolerance Constraint violation tolerance in Ipopt
Range: real
1e-08
Subsolver.Ipopt.RelativeConvergenceTolerance Relative convergence tolerance
Range: real
1e-08
Subsolver.Rootsearch.ActiveConstraintTolerance Epsilon constraint tolerance for root search
Range: [0, ∞]
0
Subsolver.Rootsearch.TerminationTolerance Epsilon lambda tolerance for root search
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-16
Subsolver.Cbc.AutoScale Whether to scale objective, rhs and bounds of problem if they look odd (experimental)
Range: boolean
0
Subsolver.Cbc.DeterministicParallelMode Run Cbc with multiple threads in deterministic mode
Range: boolean
0
Subsolver.Cplex.AddRelaxedLazyConstraintsAsLocal Whether to add lazy constraints generated in relaxed points as local or global
Range: boolean
0
Subsolver.Cplex.UseGenericCallback Use the new generic callback in the single-tree strategy
Range: boolean
0

Termination

These settings control when SHOT will terminate the solution process.

Option Description Default
Termination.DualStagnation.IterationLimit Max number of iterations without significant dual objective value improvement
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
50
Termination.IterationLimit Iteration limit for main strategy
Range: {1, ..., ∞}
GAMS iterlim
Termination.PrimalStagnation.IterationLimit Max number of iterations without significant primal objective value improvement
Range: {0, ..., ∞}
50
Termination.ConstraintTolerance Termination tolerance for nonlinear constraints
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-08
Termination.DualStagnation.ConstraintTolerance Min absolute difference between max nonlinear constraint errors in subsequent iterations for termination
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-06
Termination.ObjectiveConstraintTolerance Termination tolerance for the nonlinear objective constraint
Range: [0, ∞]
1e-08
Termination.ObjectiveGap.Absolute Absolute gap termination tolerance for objective function
Range: [0, ∞]
GAMS optca
Termination.ObjectiveGap.Relative Relative gap termination tolerance for objective function
Range: [0, ∞]
GAMS optcr
Termination.TimeLimit Time limit (s) for solver
Range: [0, ∞]
GAMS reslim