Develop Multi-Platform Applications

After publishing an app on the AIMMS PRO server, it is common to continue development of that application for updates using the AIMMS IDE. When we test our app from within the AIMMS IDE, we get the following dialog:

Clicking No avoids AIMMS PRO, but this soon becomes annoying. To avoid this dialog, many developers use the function ProjectDeveloperMode. This function returns a 0 (false) or 1 (true) for the question - “Is the current instance in developer mode (AIMMS IDE) or in end user mode?”.

if not ProjectDeveloperMode() then
   if pro::DelegateToServer(
            waitForCompletion  :  1,
            completionCallback :  'pro::session::LoadResultsCallBack') then
      return 1;
   endif;
endif;

The disadvantage of using ProjectDeveloperMode is that it disallows the combination of AIMMS PRO and the AIMMS IDE for AIMMS PRO debugging. What we actually want, is to connect to AIMMS PRO, when a connection is available, and otherwise use our own machine to solve the mathematical program.

To check whether we are connected to an AIMMS PRO session or not, we use the function PRO::GetPROEndPoint(). The function PRO::GetPROEndPoint() returns the URL, or the ‘end point’, of the AIMMS PRO server the AIMMS instance is running on. If the current AIMMS instance is not running on an AIMMS PRO server, an empty string is returned.

if pro::GetPROEndPoint() then
   if pro::DelegateToServer(
            waitForCompletion  :  1,
            completionCallback :  'pro::session::LoadResultsCallBack') then
      return 1;
   endif;
endif;

The pro::DelegateToServer statement is executed only if the current AIMMS instance is connected to an AIMMS PRO server. If not, it is skipped and the remaining procedure is executed in the AIMMS IDE. This way, we avoid the annoying dialog mentioned above, but still enable AIMMS PRO debugging when needed.

Example

Most examples you will find here use the codes above or similar, below two examples:

Employee Scheduling

This example uses a combination of both procedures mentioned.

if pro::GetPROEndPoint() or ProjectDeveloperMode() then
   if pro::DelegateToServer(
            waitForCompletion  :  1,
            completionCallback :  'pro::session::LoadResultsCallBack' )
   then
      return 1;
   endif;
endif;

Contract Allocation

Here is another way to delegate solves to the AIMMS PRO Cloud.

if pro::GetPROEndPoint() then
   if pro::management::IsRunningOnCloud() then
      pro::solverlease::solveModel(
         mathematicalProgrammingProblem :  'mp_contractAllocation',
         jobDescription                 :  "Contract Allocation");
   endif;
else
   solve mp_contractAllocation;
endif;

See also

If you want to know how to keep the end user interface active while a solve procedure is in process. Please read Keep WebUI Active During Solve.