The remainder of this chapter is organized by the steps most applications are likely to follow.

• First the model to be solved must be created. With Concert Technology this is done independently of CPLEX. A short introduction to model creation is provided in Modeling an Optimization Problem with Concert Technology. A more comprehensive discussion can be found in the ILOG Concert Technology User's Manual.

• When the model is ready to be solved, it is handed over to CPLEX for solving. The process for doing this is shown in Solving Concert Technology Models with IloCplex, which includes a survey of the IloCplex interface for controlling the optimization. Individual controls are discussed in the chapters explaining the individual optimizers.

• Accessing Solution Information, shows you how to access and interpret results from the optimization after solving the model.

• After analyzing the results, you may make changes to the model and study their effect. The way to perform such changes and how CPLEX deals with them is explained in Modifying a Model.

• Handling Errors, discusses the error handling and debugging support provided by Concert Technology and CPLEX.

• In Example: Dietary Optimization, an example program is presented.

Not covered in this chapter are advanced functions, such as the use of callbacks for querying data about an ongoing optimization and for controlling the optimization itself. Callbacks and advanced functions are discussed in Chapter 8, More About Using ILOG CPLEX.