Home / DOE / Analyze / Optimize / Options

Options¶

This page is the control by control reference for the dialog titled Optimizer. What the tool does, what to expect from the answer, and the rules that decide which quantities you may set a goal on are on Optimize.

The wizard has three pages you see, and they arrive in this order: the factor ranges, the goal and its constraints, and the result. Between the second and the third the form hides itself while the search runs, which is not a page and has nothing to set on it.

Page 1: the factor ranges¶

Titled Enter low and high values for factors. One row per input.

Control	What it sets
Low	the smallest setting the search may propose for this input
High	the largest setting the search may propose
Continuous	ticked, the input may take any value between the two. Cleared, it reveals Rounding level:
Rounding level:	shown only while Continuous is clear. The power of ten the answer is rounded to. It must be a number, and a decimal part is dropped
Select input levels	a categorical input gets this list in place of the two boxes, with All levels as the default

A non-numeric Rounding level: is refused with Rounding level value must be numeric.

The rounding table and what each level does to the answer are on Optimize.

Page 2: the goal and the constraints¶

Titled Optimization goal and constraints, and split into two group boxes.

Set the optimization goal holds the single goal. Which quantities a given output offers, and why Cpk and DPM need a specification limit and a usable standard deviation before they appear, are on Optimize.

Set the optimization constraints (optional) holds any number of constraints.

Control	What it does
Add constraint	adds an empty constraint row to the group
Remove	takes that one constraint row away
and	sits between the two bounds of a row that constrains a quantity to a band

Each goal and each constraint row shows the range the quantity is allowed to take, written as Min= the lower value, ; Max= the upper. The two numbers are the ones the fitted model can reach, so they tell you what you can usefully ask for before you ask for it.

Page 3: the result¶

Titled Optimization result, and it holds two tables.

Table	Columns
Optimized inputs	Input name and Optimized value
Outputs	Output and Value

Two buttons appear on this page that are on no other:

Button	What it does
Optimize again	runs the search again from the same goal and constraints. It is a fresh search, not a continuation, so a second press can return a different answer
Save to worksheet	writes the result to the worksheet

The buttons¶

Button	Where
Next >	pages 1 and 2
< Back	page 2 onwards
Optimize	page 2, to run the search
Finish	page 3
Cancel	every page. It abandons the run
Help	every page. It opens this topic

While the search runs the form hides and reports Optimizing, please wait…., which carries an ellipsis and then a full stop, so it reads as four dots.

What this page does not describe¶

How the search works is deliberately absent, and its absence is a decision rather than an oversight. The method, the way candidate settings are generated, how a constraint is enforced and what stops the search are not documented anywhere in this help system and will not be. Every control the dialog offers is above; none of them exposes the method.