Use of this utility is pretty intuitive. Just press the "example" button to show an example of setting up a linear programming problem. Then leave it as is, modify it, or enter a new problem, and press "Solve."

Credits

• Brent Dingle at Texas A&M University discovered and corrected an error in an older version of our algorithm.
• Josh Purinton enhanced the utility: It will now accept multiletter variable names and equality contraints.
• Gabriel Balan at George Mason University has done extensive testing, and uncovered and diagnosed errors in earlier versions.

Notes

• Do not use commas in large numbers. For instance, enter 100,000 as 100000.
• The utility is quite flexible with input. For instance, the following format will also be accepted (inequalities seperated by commas):

  Maximize p = x+y subject to x+y <= 2, 3x+y >= 4

• Decimal mode displays all the tableaus (and results) as decimals, rounded to the number of significant digits you select (up to 13, depending on your processor and browser).
• Fraction mode converts all decimals to fractions and displays all the tableaus (and solutions) as fractions.
• Integer Mode eliminates decimals and fractions in all the tableaus (using the method in Finite Mathematics) and displays the solution as fractions.
• Mac users: you can use the inequality symbols "option+<" and "option+>" instead of "<=" and ">=" if you like (although some browsers may have difficulties with this).
• Solution Display Some browsers (including some versions of Internet Explorer) use a sans serif proportional width font in text boxes. This will cause the display of solutions to appear a little messy. You can remedy this by changing the "Sans Serif" font in your browser preferences to "Courier" or some other fixed-width font, and then reloading the page.

Disclaimer: Browsers sometimes crash when running computation-intensive Javascript code. Make sure your important work is saved before running this utility.

Last Updated: Februrary, 2007