9. User Interventions
*********************

It is sometimes the case that despite your best configuration efforts,
optimizers do not behave in the way you imagine and are not properly
controlled by the Optimizer Stoppers. Rather than interrupting the
optimization, ParAMS supports a couple of user interventions during
optimization.

Important:

  Interventions are done by creating files in the "optimization"
  directory in the ResultsDirectory.

Note:

  Expected filenames are case-sensitive. Files should be empty as they
  are deleted by the manager once processed.


9.1. Manual Optimizer Stop
==========================

Users have manual control of optimizer stopping.

-[ GUI ]-

In the **ParAMS GUI**:

   File → Stop Selected Optimizer(s)...
   Enter the ID number of the optimizer you would like to stop (this can be obtained by mousing over the optimizer trajectories on the **Graphs** panel)
   Click Ok

-[ Manual ]-

Create a file called "STOP_x" where "x" is the optimizer ID number.
For example: "STOP_1" or "STOP_003".


9.2. Manual Exit
================

You may also request an early exit from the entire optimization. This
will stop all the optimizers and exit. This will produce a cleaner
exit than killing the job and reduce the risk of files becoming
corrupted.

-[ GUI ]-

In the **ParAMS GUI**:

   File → Stop Selected Optimizer(s)...
   Enter "ALL"
   Click Ok

Alternatively, in **AMSJobs**:

   Select the running job you would like to stop
   Job → Request Early Stop

-[ Manual ]-

Create a file called "EXIT".


9.3. Manual Checkpointing
=========================

You may also request a checkpoint be made at any time. This can still
be used even if checkpointing was not set up in the input.

-[ GUI ]-

In the **ParAMS GUI**:

   File → Create Checkpoint

-[ Manual ]-

Create a file called "CHKPT".
