Tailoring solver-independent constraint models: a case study with ESSENCE' and MINION

  • Authors:
  • Ian P. Gent;Ian Miguel;Andrea Rendl

  • Affiliations:
  • School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews, UK;School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews, UK;School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews, UK

  • Venue:
  • SARA'07 Proceedings of the 7th International conference on Abstraction, reformulation, and approximation
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

In order to apply constraint programming to a particular domain, the problem must first be modelled as a constraint satisfaction problem. There are typically many alternative models of a given problem, and formulating an effective model requires a great deal of expertise. To reduce this bottleneck, the ESSENCE language allows the specification of a problem abstractly, i.e. without making modelling decisions. This specification is refined automatically by the CONJURE system to a solver-independent constraint modelling language ESSENCE′. However, there is still significant work involved in translating an ESSENCE′ model for use with a particular constraint solver. This paper discusses this 'tailoring' process with reference to the constraint solver MINION.