Types of Set

A set is a collection of unique elements. In AIMMS, a set is finite. When you declare a set in AIMMS, it is one of the following:

• Root Set

• Calendar

• Subset

• Relation

Root Set

A collection of explicit names is called a root set.

For instance, the set s_Weathertypes = { Rainy, Cloudy, Sunny } is a root set.

Set s_WeatherTypes {
    Index: i_WeatherType;
    Parameter: ep_WeatherType;
    Definition: data { Rainy, Cloudy, Sunny };
}

The elements of this set are Rainy, Cloudy, and Sunny. Note that the elements of a root set do not need to be specified in the model, they can be read in when the model is running; for instance from a database.

Calendar

A collection of dates is called a calendar. A calendar is also a root set.

For instance the calendar cal_ThisWeek is declared as:

Calendar cal_ThisWeek {
    Index: i_dayThisWeek;
    Parameter: ep_dayThisWeek;
    Unit: day;
    BeginDate: "2025-02-17";
    EndDate: "2025-02-23";
    TimeslotFormat: "%c%y-%m-%d";
}

With this declaration, the calendar cal_ThisWeek contains the elements 2025-02-17, 2025-02-18, 2025-02-19, 2025-02-20, 2025-02-21, 2025-02-22, and 2025-02-23.

Note that the BeginDate, EndDate, and TimeslotFormat need not be explicit strings, but string parameters can be used as well.

Subset

A collection of elements, which are also elements of a root set (or calendar), is called a subset.

For instance, the set s_DryWeatherTypes is a subset of s_WeatherTypes and declared as follows:

Set s_DryWeatherTypes {
    SubsetOf: s_WeatherTypes;
    Index: i_DryWeatherType;
    Parameter: ep_DryWeatherType;
    Definition: data { Cloudy, Sunny };
}

A subset is not a root set. But like root sets, the data for a subset need not be specified in the model, but can be read in at runtime.

Relation

A collection of tuples, in which each component is an element of another set, is called a relation.

Observations can be modeled as a relation, for instance as follows:

Set s_ThisWeeksWeather {
    SubsetOf: (cal_ThisWeek,s_WeatherTypes);
    Definition: {
        data
        { ( 2025-02-17, Cloudy ), ( 2025-02-18, Sunny  ),
            ( 2025-02-19, Cloudy ), ( 2025-02-20, Sunny  ),
            ( 2025-02-21, Rainy  ), ( 2025-02-22, Rainy  ),
            ( 2025-02-23, Rainy  ) }
    }
}

In this example, ( 2025-02-17, Cloudy ) is a tuple. Also 2025-02-17 is a component in a tuple, and it is an element of the set cal_ThisWeek.

Simple Sets vs. Relations

A root set, a calendar and a subset are all simple sets. A relation is not a simple set. For a simple set, you can declare: zero, one, or more indices; and zero, one, or more element parameters.

Compound Sets

A set that is both a relation and a simple set, is called a compound set.

Important

Compound sets are no longer supported, see Overview: Deprecation of Compound Sets.