8. 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

Intervention 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.

8.1. Manual Optimizer Stop¶

Users have manual control of optimizer stopping.

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

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

8.2. 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.

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

Create a file called EXIT.

8.3. Manual Checkpointing¶

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

In the ParAMS GUI:

File → Create Checkpoint

Create a file called CHKPT.