Creating an External Executable Optimization Plug-in

You can use the Isight SDK Generator to create an external executable optimization plug-in.

Before you begin: You must have created and compiled an external executable optimization program.

  1. From the Design Gateway Tools menu, select SDK Generator.

    The Isight SDK Generator appears.

  2. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select New and select Plug-in.

    The Select a Plug-in Category dialog box appears.

  3. Select Optimization Technique, and click OK.

    The Isight SDK Generator appears with the appropriate technique options available.

  4. Select Name on the left side of the Isight SDK Generator, and do the following:

    1. In the Full Name text box, enter the path to the new plug-in in the Isight library. You can also click Library to browse the Isight library and select the location of the new plug-in.
    2. In the Display Name text box, enter a name that will appear in the Optimization Component Editor.
    3. In the Version text box, enter the version number of the plug-in.
    4. In the Description (Short) text box, enter a short description for the plug-in.
    5. In the (Full) area, enter any content that describes the plug-in using HTML tags to format the text. This HTML formatted text is displayed in the Optimization Component Editor when the new plug-in is selected.

  5. Click Technique Options on the left side of the Isight SDK Generator, and do the following:

    1. Select one or more of the most common pre-configured technique options.
    2. If your external executable program writes information to a log file, select Save Technique Log and enter the name of the log file in the text box. When configuring and running a model with the plug-in, you will be able to save the technique log file and view it in the Runtime Gateway, inside the OptimizationResults aggregate.
    3. If desired, click New to create new technique options. You can use the arrows to change the order of the options.

  6. Click Design Variable Attributes on the left side of the Isight SDK Generator, if desired. Typically, selecting design variable attributes is not needed. Isight uses the default attributes for design variables if no attributes are selected.

    1. Select one or more of the default attributes.
    2. If desired, click New to create new attributes. You can use the arrow buttons to change the display order of the options.

  7. Select Java Wrapper on the left of the Isight SDK Generator.

    1. Select Call external executable directly without a Java wrapper.
    2. Click Add Program to JAR.
    3. In the Program text box, enter the location of the executable program created previously. You can click Browse to navigate to the file.
    4. From the OS Platform list, select the operating system where you compiled the executable program.
    5. Click Add to JAR file.

      The Isight SDK Generator adds the executable program to the plug-in JAR file.

  8. If desired, save the plug-in as a JAR file in a local directory on disk:

    1. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select Save.
    2. Browse to the desired location, enter a name for the JAR file, and click Save.

  9. Publish your new plug-in directly to the Isight library by doing the following:

    1. From the Isight SDK Generator File menu, select Publish.

      The Publish dialog box appears.

    2. Verify that the information is correct.
    3. In the Version text box, enter the version of the plug-in, if needed.
    4. Click Publish.

      The Isight SDK Generator creates a JAR file for the plug-in and publishes it to the Isight library without saving it to disk.