Having reached this point, you have already started the AMPL Integrated Development Environment (IDE). You see one large window divided into a number of smaller sub-windows or panes . See the discussion of Panes for instructions on rearranging the sub-windows.At the top left of the large window are a series of pull-down Menus that give you access to various IDE operations.

To learn about AMPL commands, model files, data files, and other features, see the AMPL book AMPL: A Modeling Language for Mathematical Programming . The first four chapters are a tutorial to get your started. All chapters can be freely downloaded. Much other useful information about AMPL is available from the AMPL website (www.ampl.com) and AMPL User Forum.

To start typing AMPL commands, see the AMPL Command Pane instructions.Use “option solver” in the usual way to specify an AMPL solver. Normally all of your installed solvers are found automatically, but you can also tell the IDE where to look for solvers; see Search Path under Menus.

To start typing into new, blank files, Select New . . . in the File menu; you will be prompted to give the file a name, and then a corresponding blank editor window will appear in the main File Editing Pane. To work with existing files, see the File Navigation Pane instructions.

The AMPL IDE will find all solvers that are installed in your AMPL folder (directory) or in any folders that are in your system search path. You can also add or remove search path entries by selecting Window / Preferences from the menus at the top left of the IDE window. In the box that pops up, click Search Path to show the list of folders that are currently in the search path. Click a folder name to select it, and use the buttons on the right to make any changes to it. To add a folder, click the Add button and select the folders to be added to the search path.