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Callback Codes

The Gurobi callback routines make use of a pair of arguments: where and what. When a user callback function is called, the where argument indicates from where in the Gurobi optimizer it is being called (presolve, simplex, barrier, MIP, etc.). When the user callback wishes to obtain more detailed information about the state of the optimization, the what argument can be passed to an appropriate get method for your language to obtain additional information (e.g., GRBcbget in C, GRBCallback::getIntInfo in C++, GRBCallback.getIntInfo in Java, GRBCallback.GetIntInfo in .NET, and Model.cbGet in Python).

More detailed information on how to use callbacks in your application can be found in the reference manuals for the different Gurobi language interfaces (C, C++, Java, .NET, and Python).

Note that changing parameters from within a callback is not supported, doing so may lead to undefined behavior.

Possible values for the where and what arguments are listed in the following tables. Note that these values are referred to in slightly different ways from the different Gurobi interfaces. Consider the SIMPLEX value as an example. You would refer to this constant as follows from the different Gurobi APIs:

Language Callback constant
C GRB_CB_SIMPLEX
C++ GRB_CB_SIMPLEX
Java GRB.Callback.SIMPLEX
.NET GRB.Callback.SIMPLEX
Python GRB.Callback.SIMPLEX

Possible where values are:

where Numeric value Optimizer status
POLLING 0 Periodic polling callback
PRESOLVE 1 Currently performing presolve
SIMPLEX 2 Currently in simplex
MIP 3 Currently in MIP
MIPSOL 4 Found a new MIP incumbent
MIPNODE 5 Currently exploring a MIP node
MESSAGE 6 Printing a log message
BARRIER 7 Currently in barrier
MULTIOBJ 8 Currently in multi-objective optimization

Allowable what values depend on the value of the where argument. Valid combinations are:

what where Result type Description
RUNTIME Any except POLLING double Elapsed solver runtime (seconds).
PRE_COLDEL PRESOLVE int The number of columns removed by presolve to this point.
PRE_ROWDEL PRESOLVE int The number of rows removed by presolve to this point.
PRE_SENCHG PRESOLVE int The number of constraint senses changed by presolve to this point.
PRE_BNDCHG PRESOLVE int The number of variable bounds changed by presolve to this point.
PRE_COECHG PRESOLVE int The number of coefficients changed by presolve to this point.
SPX_ITRCNT SIMPLEX double Current simplex iteration count.
SPX_OBJVAL SIMPLEX double Current simplex objective value.
SPX_PRIMINF SIMPLEX double Current primal infeasibility.
SPX_DUALINF SIMPLEX double Current dual infeasibility.
SPX_ISPERT SIMPLEX int Is problem current perturbed?
MIP_OBJBST MIP double Current best objective.
MIP_OBJBND MIP double Current best objective bound.
MIP_NODCNT MIP double Current explored node count.
MIP_SOLCNT MIP int Current count of feasible solutions found.
MIP_CUTCNT MIP int Current count of cutting planes applied.
MIP_NODLFT MIP double Current unexplored node count.
MIP_ITRCNT MIP double Current simplex iteration count.
MIPSOL_SOL MIPSOL double * Solution vector for new solution (C only). The resultP argument to C routine GRBcbget should point to an array of doubles that is at least as long as the number of variables in the user model. Use the getSolution callback method in the object-oriented interfaces.
MIPSOL_OBJ MIPSOL double Objective value for new solution.
MIPSOL_OBJBST MIPSOL double Current best objective.
MIPSOL_OBJBND MIPSOL double Current best objective bound.
MIPSOL_NODCNT MIPSOL double Current explored node count.
MIPSOL_SOLCNT MIPSOL int Current count of feasible solutions found.
MIPNODE_STATUS MIPNODE int Optimization status of current MIP node (see the Status Code section for further information).
MIPNODE_OBJBST MIPNODE double Current best objective.
MIPNODE_OBJBND MIPNODE double Current best objective bound.
MIPNODE_NODCNT MIPNODE double Current explored node count.
MIPNODE_SOLCNT MIPNODE int Current count of feasible solutions found.
MIPNODE_REL MIPNODE double * Relaxation solution for the current node, when its optimization status is GRB_OPTIMAL (C only). The resultP argument to C routine GRBcbget should point to an array of doubles that is at least as long as the number of variables in the user model. Use the getNodeRel callback method in the object-oriented interfaces.
BARRIER_ITRCNT BARRIER int Current barrier iteration count.
BARRIER_PRIMOBJ BARRIER double Primal objective value for current barrier iterate.
BARRIER_DUALOBJ BARRIER double Dual objective value for current barrier iterate.
BARRIER_PRIMINF BARRIER double Primal infeasibility for current barrier iterate.
BARRIER_DUALINF BARRIER double Dual infeasibility for current barrier iterate.
BARRIER_COMPL BARRIER double Complementarity violation for current barrier iterate.
MULTIOBJ_OBJCNT MULTIOBJ int Current count of objectives already optimized.
MULTIOBJ_SOLCNT MULTIOBJ int Current count of feasible solutions found.
MULTIOBJ_SOL MULTIOBJ double * Solution vector for new solution (C only). The resultP argument to C routine GRBcbget should point to an array of doubles that is at least as long as the number of variables in the user model. Use the getSolution callback method in the object-oriented interfaces.
MSG_STRING MESSAGE char * The message that is being printed.

Remember that the appropriate prefix must be added to the what or where name listed above, depending on the language you are using.

Callback notes

Note that the POLLING callback does not allow any additional information to be retreived. It is provided in order to allow interactive applications to regain control frequently, so that they can maintain application responsiveness.

The object-oriented interfaces have specialized methods for obtaining the incumbent or relaxation solution. While in C you would use GRBcbget, you use getSolution or getNodeRel in the object-oriented interfaces. Please consult the callback descriptions for C++, Java, .NET, or Python for further details.

Note that the MIPNODE callback will be called once for each cut pass during the root node solve. The MIPNODE_NODCNT value will remain at 0 until the root node is complete. If you query relaxation values from during the root node, the first MIPNODE callback will give the relaxation with no cutting planes, and the last will give the relaxation after all root cuts have been applied.

Note that the multi-objective optimization algorithm solves a sequence of optimization problems. In each solve the MULTIOBJ callback will be called. Also, MIP-related callbacks will be called if the original model is a MIP, and LP-related callbacks will be called if the original model is an LP.

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