Invoking the Interactive Optimizer

You can invoke the Interactive Optimizer in various ways.

The tutorial about the Interactive Optimizer in Getting Started with CPLEX explains the conventional way of launching the Interactive Optimizer in a default installation from a prompt of your operating system. In case that approach is not your preferred way of working, the following topics document how to configure an integrated development environment (IDE) to launch the Interactive Optimizer, how to launch the Interactive Optimizer from certain file browsers, or how to launch the Interactive Optimizer from a command-line interface.

If you use an integrated development environment (IDE) based on Eclipse, such as IBM ILOG CPLEX Optimization Studio or Rational Team Concert (RTC), you can configure your IDE to launch the Interactive Optimizer of CPLEX. To do so, follow these steps.

  1. Open your IDE.
  2. Click Run (the menu item) and select External Tools > External Tools Configurations.
  3. In the dialog, supply a Name for your new configuration. For example, type CPLEX Interactive Optimizer.
  4. On the Main tab of the dialog, supply the Location, that is, the path to the executable file of the CPLEX Interactive Optimizer in your installation on your platform. For example, on a typical Windows installation, the default path is: 
    C:\IBM\ILOG\CPLEX Optimization Studio\cplex\bin\x64_win64\cplex.exe
    On a typical GNU/Linux installation, the default path resembles: 
    /opt/IBM/ILOG/CPLEX_Optimization_Studio/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
    On macOS, the default path is: 
    /Applications/CPLEX_Studio<version>/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
  5. Still on the Main tab, you can optionally supply a Working Directory, that is, a directory or folder where you have write permission and where you want CPLEX to write logs and to search for data.
  6. After completing the dialog, click Apply and Run.

After those steps, the new run configuration appears in the list of Run Configurations in your IDE. There, you can run the new configuration from your IDE in the usual way to launch the executable file of CPLEX Interactive Optimizer.

If you use a file browser, such as the file explorer on Windows, you can also launch the CPLEX Interactive Optimizer by browsing to the location of the executable file and double clicking it. 
C:\IBM\ILOG\CPLEX Optimization Studio\cplex\bin\x64_win64\cplex.exe
or 
/opt/IBM/ILOG/CPLEX_Optimization_Studio/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
or 
/Applications/CPLEX_Studio<version>/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
If you prefer a command-line interface, open your command-line interface (such as a terminal with a shell on GNU/Linux, or a DOS window on Windows). Go to the directory or folder where CPLEX is installed on your platform, for example: 
C:\IBM\ILOG\CPLEX Optimization Studio\cplex\bin\x64_win64\cplex.exe
or 
/opt/IBM/ILOG/CPLEX_Optimization_Studio/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
or 
/Applications/CPLEX_Studio<version>/cplex/bin/<port>/cplex
Then execute the file, such as cplex.exe on Windows or cplex on GNU/Linux.
Tip: The precise location of the executable file of the CPLEX Interactive Optimizer may differ slightly from the path in those examples. For example, your path may include the version number, especially if you have more than one installation of the product, or you may have installed the product in a customized location. In such cases, adapt the paths shown in those examples to your particular situation.