Problems specifications package format

Submission packages

Submitted problem specifications have to be packaged in a single compressed archive named benchmark_name-contributor_name.zip (rar/tar.gz) containing:

1. a benchmark_name.spec.txt file containing the textual problem description (a template is available, see below);

2. a benchmark_name.enc.asp file containing a proposed encoding for the problem (which must match the provided language classification);

3. a folder named checker containing the sources of a correctness checker together with a README.txt file containing the instructions for (possibly building and) running it;

4. a folder named samples containing some instances (one instance per text file).

benchmark_name and contributor_name should be substituted with their actual value. The provision of a checker at this stage is optional.

A template package for benchmark submissions is available here.

Finalized packages (for accepted problems only)

A finalized problem specification has to be packaged in a single compressed archive named benchmark_name-contributor_name.zip (or tar.gz) containing:

1. a benchmark_name.spec.txt file containing the textual problem description (a template is available, see below);

2. a benchmark_name.enc.asp file containing a proposed encoding for the problem (that must match the provided language classification);

3. a folder named checker containing the sources of a correctness checker together with a README.txt file containing suitable instruction for (building and) running it.

4. a folder named instances containing at least 50 numbered instances (one per file) named XX-benchmark_name-MAXINT-MAXLEVEL.asp where: XX is the instance number, MAXINT is the maximum integer (0 if not relevant), and the maximum function nesting level is MAXLEVEL (0 if not relevant), see Section Programs with Function symbols and integers;

5. a folder named generator containing the sources of an instance generator together with a README.txt file containing suitable instruction for (building and) running it; and,

6. a demonstration.txt file in which the author provides sufficient arguments demonstrating that the benchmark problem can be effectively solved.

A template package for final benchmark submission is available here.

Checker format

The checker reads from standard input the output of a system/call script (see File and Language Format for details) and writes in standard output a single row of text containing the string "OK", and the string "FAIL" otherwise. The string "OK" must be followed by an integer representing the witness cost in case of optimization problems. An exit code different from zero indicates a checker problem. The source code of the correctness checker has to be be included in the package; moreover, the provided software must be able to (build and) run on the Debian i686 GNU/Linux(kernel ver. 2.6.26) operating system. A checker can be a logic specification for a solver of choice: in such a case binaries of the solver must be provided together with the checker encoding.

Instance Input Format and Solution Output format

The formats for specifying both input/output of problems and instances are reported in Problem I/O and Instance Specification). A template package for benchmark submission can be downloaded here.