| 1) | GRTMPS doesn't quite qualify as an acronym as it can't be pronounced (unless you treat the "T" as an "I") - but what does it stand for?; | Generalised Refining-Transportation-Marketing System |
| 2) | What does the key sequence Alt-F4 normally do to a window? | Close it |
| 3) | In the model tree in the g5 GUI which is the one data node that does not have a panel associated with it and so gives you a blank display on the right when selected? | Qualities |
| 4) | What GRTMPS table number are the utility codes written into? | 921.0 |
| 5) | In PSI-2, what do you put at the bottom of a list of input or output codes to indicate that you have finished? | hsiEnd |
| 6) | From which major oil company did Haverly acquire the core technology that turned into the first version of H/CAMS? | Chevron |
| 7) | What language is the GRTMPS matrix generator program written in? | OMNI - Havelry's propiertory language developed specifically for writing out and reporting on LP problems. It is itself an assermbler program, maintained for many, many years by Martha Venard in our New Jersey office, and now looked after by Steve Ilg. |
| 8) | What does IIS stand for in the field of optimization? | You might recognize this as an option on the Optimizer panel. It stands for "Irreduciible Infeasible Subset"- a bit of the matrix, which if removed would leave a feasible problem behind. Both Xpress and CPLEX optimizers have algortithms for identifying these. If you are interested in the underlying mathematics, consult Feasibility and Infeasibilty in Optimization by John W. Chinneck. |
| 9) | In an MPS format matrix, there is one “N” type row – what is it for? | "N" is for non-constraining. This is the objective function. in a GRMTPS matrix its normally called XXDOLLAR and connects to all the costs and revenue accounts. |
| 10) | If a column has the bounds LI 1 and UI 3 what values can it take? | LI is Lower Integer and UI is Upper Integer, so it could take on the values 1, 2 or 3. BATCH type limits set on Purchases/Sales or Transportation options use an LI bound. |
| 11) | Which Russian mathematician, regarded by many as the founding father of the mathematical discipline of Linear Programming, shared the 1975 Nobel prize for Economics for his work on optimal allocation of resources? | Leonid Kantorovich. He doesn't much enter the oil industry narratives on the history of LP which focus on George Dantzig who developed the very practical Simplex Algorithm. Not surprising I suppose, as industry is always focussed on the practical and Kntorovich published in Russian journals. I hadn't heard of him until New Scientist magazine published an article about him in 2017. |
| 12) | Larry Haverly's classic 1978 paper on the pooling problem was, of course, published under his full name. What are his initials? | C. A. H. While Larry is often short for Lawrence, in this case it is for Clarence. |
| 13) | What do you find in the BCD output file? | The post recursion matrix written in MPS format. |
| 14) | A show of hands at the user conference held in Edinburgh revealed that lots of people were still running Windows XP, even though it was about to go off support. What year was that? | 2014. There is a great Dilbert cartoon where Dogbert stands behind Asok with a bazooka and tells him to "move away from the Windows XP now". It had actually gone off main support in 2009 so you can't say we hadn't had advance warning. Anyone still running it? |
| 15) | Which two of these codes can’t be used as period identifiers in GRTMPS (g5)? X1 .A // B! 00 | B! can't be used. ! is in the in-line comment character for the OMNI language, so it mustn't be used in any model code nam, or description - as it would cause the rest of the line to be ignored. .A is also not allowed, although I am not sure that it actually causes a problem |
| 16) | According to Kathy, what is the first rule of travel? | Avoid connecting flights! - See Note #43 Constructive Use of Jet Lag |
| 17) | If you get the error DICTDATA OVERFLOW when generating a matrix in GRTMPS, what parameter should you adjust? | MAXMEM on the OMNI Settings Panel |
| 18) | If you give a paper at a Haverly conference, what do you get to take home with you? | a MUG. The first software produced by the company was Magen, so the annual meeting started as the Magen User Group. The mugs are always commissioned locally to reflect something of the host city. It's nice to spot them on clients desks when visiting. |
| 19) | In Excel, what do you get if you type Ctrl-; in a cell? | the date - as a constant (unlike using =TODAY() which will change whenever you open the file). It uses the correct format for the workbook, that is mm/dd or dd/mm, which is very useful when you are exchanging things across continents. |
| 20) | Dual and Primal are types of what algorithm? | Simplex. The primal was invented by George Dantzig. I have recently read that Johnn van Neumann came up with the dual - which is a pretty serious pedigree in the field of computing. |
| 21) | 1-letter codes for which model objects are listed in GRTMPS TABLE R05.0? | Transport options. This is the one reporting table that is used to actually define objects. If you are a database user, you had a chance to guess as they are the only things that are one character |
| 22) | In Excel, what do you type in the search box to find an asterisk in cell values? | ~* The "~" is an escape character to override the normal treatment of an asterisk as a wild card |
| 23) | Barrier optimization is faster if you use a basis file. TRUE or FALSE? | FALSE - Barrier methods often work faster than Simplex on very large problems, but they can't make use of a basis, which is why we usually switch to simplex when doing SLP to take advantage of having just solved a similar problem. |
| 24) | In a solution print, infeasible columns are marked with **. What does ++ indicate? | Unbounded |
| 25) | GRTMPS v6 will be out soon under what new name? | H/PLANET |
| 26) | And finally, for which letter of the Latin alphabet do British and American English speakers use a different name? | Z - Zee in the US but Zed to Brits (which makes the alphabet song not rhyme at the end) |
Answers may be submitted here – or directly to me if you’ve got the address (which I'm not publishing because I'd get loads more spam!) - by 28th October 2022. Kudos will be awarded to the submitters of the most correct answers (with a separate category for Haverly staff – who obviously have something of an advantage). I will add a link to an answer sheet after the deadline in case you want to mark your own work.
From Kathy's Cabin: 13th October 2022.
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