*QUICK-START INSTRUCTIONS FOR INSTALLING AND RUNNING AMPL & SOLVERS* *Windows systems* To install: Download the distribution zipfile, ampl_mswin32.zip for the 32-bit version or ampl_mswin64.zip for the 64-bit version. Double-click the zipfile icon, or apply an unzip utility, to extract the folder named ampl_mswin32 or ampl_mswin64 from the zipfile. This will be your AMPL folder; optionally you may rename it and you may move it to any convenient location on your computer. To run in an integrated application: Inside your AMPL folder, double-click the amplide folder icon to open that folder, and then double-click the amplide.exe file (with the black cat's-head icon) to start the AMPL IDE application. A small "AMPL IDE" window will appear while the program is being loaded, and then the full IDE application window will open. To get started, choose Help Contents from the Help menu at the top of the application window. To run using a simple command-line interface: Double-click "sw.exe" in your AMPL folder, and type "ampl" at the prompt in the window that appears. Then you will see an "ampl:" prompt and can proceed to type AMPL commands. AMPL model and data statements will refer to files that you have saved in your AMPL folder; use any plain-text editor to create and edit these files. To optimize using either interface: Be sure to choose a solver, by giving a command of the form "option solver xxx;" with xxx replaced by the name of a solver that you have been instructed to use. *Linux systems* To install: Download the distribution zipfile, ampl_linux-intel32.zip for the 32-bit version or ampl_linux-intel64.zip for the 64-bit version. Then "unzip" this file, using a Linux unzip command or the decompression option of the zip command, to extract the folder named ampl_linux-intel32 or ampl_linux-intel64 from the zipfile. This will be your AMPL folder; optionally you may rename it and you may move it to any convenient location on your computer. To run in an integrated application: Inside your AMPL directory, you will find a directory named amplide. Use the cd command to make amplide your current directory, and then start AMPL IDE with the command ./amplide. A small "AMPL IDE" window will appear while the program is being loaded, and then the full IDE application window will open. To get started, choose Help Contents from the Help menu at the top of the application window. To run using a simple command-line interface: In a command window, use the cd command to go to your AMPL directory, and type "./ampl" at the system prompt. Then you will see an "ampl:" prompt and can proceed to type AMPL commands. AMPL model and data statements will refer to files that you have saved in your AMPL folder; use any plain-text editor to create and edit these files. To optimize using either interface: Be sure to choose a solver, by giving a command of the form "option solver xxx;" with xxx replaced by the name of a solver that you have been instructed to use. *MacOS Systems* To install: Download the distribution zipfile, ampl_macosx64.zip. Double-click this file’s icon to extract its contents. When the extraction is complete you will see a folder named ampl_macosx64. This will be your AMPL folder; optionally you may rename it and you may move it to any convenient location on your computer. To run in an integrated application: In your AMPL folder, double-click the Amplide file (with the black cat's-head icon) to start the AMPL IDE application. A small "AMPL IDE" window will appear while the program is being loaded, and then the full IDE application window will open. To get started using AMPL IDE, choose Help Contents from the Help menu at the top of the application window. IF YOU GET A MESSAGE that the amplide program "can’t be opened" because it "was not downloaded from the Mac App Store" or it "is from an unidentified developer," then you will need to tell macOS that the program is from a trusted source, by following these steps: (1) Control-click or right-click the amplide icon. (2) Select Open from the top of contextual menu that appears. This step will only be necessary the first time that you open the AMPL IDE. After that you can open it in the usual way, by double-clicking the amplide application icon. SPECIAL NOTE for users of macOS 10.12 Sierra: As a side-effect of a new security feature introduced with this version, you may see an error message beginning "The IDE cannot find the AMPL executable." To fix this problem, quit the IDE application and then follow these steps: (1) In your amplide.macosx64 folder, find the Amplide file (with THE cat's head icon). (2) Drag the Amplide file to your desktop. (3) Drag the Amplide file back into the amplide.macosx64 folder. Then double-click the file icon to start the AMPL IDE again. To run using a simple command-line interface: Click on the magnifying glass at the top right of your screen, enter "terminal" in the Spotlight window, and click on the Terminal icon to open a Mac Terminal window. Use "cd" to go to your AMPL folder; for example if your AMPL folder is ampl_macosx64 on your desktop, type "cd Desktop/ampl_macosx64". Then type ./ampl; you will see an ampl: prompt and can proceed to type AMPL commands. AMPL model and data statements will refer to files that you have saved in your AMPL folder; use any plain-text editor to create and edit these files. To optimize using either interface: Be sure to choose a solver, by giving a command of the form "option solver xxx;" with xxx replaced by the name of a solver that you have been instructed to use.