This main component of Promethee is to be installed on end-user desktop. Beyond this Java based interface, some other components are needed:
Math. engine: to provide a back-end for all math evaluations,
Code wrapper: to provide all necessary features to support a given code in the
GUI,
[Algorithm plugin]: optionally provide high-level engineering issues support (like optimization).
The core installation is made using the dedicated installer program : promethee-XXX-1.X-x.jar,
to be installed by double-click on the .jar file, or using java -jar promethee-*.jar command from a shell (e.g. DOS or bash).
If needed, setup environment variables (for non standard installation path of R or java for instance) in the
promethee.bat or
promethee.sh (for Linux or MacosX) startup script (located in Promethee installation directory) you can change the
java -splash:icons/promethee.png -Dcharset=ISO-8859-1 -Dapp.home=. -Xmx1024m -classpath %LIB% %MAIN% file:quotas%1%.hex
line for following issues:
force the java installation directory used:
C:\path\to\java\bin\java -splash:icons/promethee.png -Dcharset=ISO-8859-1 -Dapp.home=. -Xmx1024m -classpath %LIB% %MAIN% file:quotas%1%.hex force the R installation directory used:
java -DR_HOME=“C:\path\to\R-2.14” -splash:icons/promethee.png -Dcharset=ISO-8859-1 -Dapp.home=. -Xmx1024m -classpath %LIB% %MAIN% file:quotas%1%.hex
To enable the network connection between this front-end and all computing back-end components, the following firewall rules have to be checked:
for computing back-end discovery feature: open 8001-8004 incoming UDP ports,
for computing back-end data transfer: all outgoing TCP ports,
for math. engine communication: outgoing 6311 TCP port.
The configuration file
default.properties of the front-end is located in the Promethee installation path, and may be overloaded with the custom file
my.properties, located in the user Promethee home directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\mylogin\.Promethee\my.properties on Windows, or
/home/mylogin/.Promethee/my.properties in Linux.
The following keys may be changed in these files:
Network proxy configuration
proxy.host=192.168.1.123
to define the
HTTP proxy host or IP
proxy.username=myusername
to define the username (if needed) for the proxy access
proxy.port=8080
to define the proxy port
proxy.domain=
to define the proxy domain name (if needed)
proxy.password=ABCDEFGHIKL
the proxy password associated to the username. This field is stored in a crypted key.
Math. engine setup
R.server=R://123.456.789:6311
to setup the R server math engine. If this field is provided, it implies that a running Rserve instance is available at the given address & port. Otherwise, a Rserve instance will be automatically started when Promethee
GUI is launched.
R.home=/usr/lib/R
to customize the R installation path when using a local R/RServe.
R.source=MySource.R
to initialize the R sessions started sourcing the given .R file.
R.load=MyData.Rdata
to initialize the R sessions started loading the given .Rdata file.
R.verbose=true
to ask for an extended verbosity of the R environment
User interface parameters
view.calculators=true
to enable/disable the visiblilty of the whole pool of calculators available.
notify.sound=false
to enable/disbale sound notification of ending projects
notify.popup=false
to enable/disbale popup notification of ending projects
iconify=true
to let the Promethee user interface to be reduced as a regular window
model.filter=!FakeCode *
to setup a filter on code type visible and selectable by the user
offline=true
to disable waiting UI when internet not available
url.timeout=5000
to change the network latency parameter
font.size=12
to customize UI font size
font=Arial
to customize UI font
font.data=Monospaced
to customize UI font for code I/O data
Embedded back-end startup
calculator.xml=file:mycalculator.xml (available in 1.1 version)
to start a computing back-end when the front-end starts. This feature is dedicated to standalone usage of Promethee.
calculator=2 (available in 1.1 version)
to start multiple back-end when the front-end starts. This feature is dedicated to standalone usage of Promethee on multi-CPU desktop. If a negative number is given, it will be added to the total number of CPU available on the machine.
Desktop integration customization
editor=scite (available in 1.1 version)
to overload the default
ASCII editor used by Promethee when calling an external editor (in results analysis or input modeling). If this field is not provided, the default system editor is used.
editor.dat=editdat (available in 1.1 version)
to overload the editor used for .dat files (rplace .dat by whatever you want).
brower=firefox
to force a brower to be used instead of desktop default one
filemanager=
to force a file manager to be used instead of desktop default one
Besides the core installation, Promethee interface needs some extension like a code wrapper to enable the usage of some code.
This small extension provides dedicated methods to parse input files, launch, and finally extract output values of a given case of calculation.
For the front-end side, the code wrapper may be a
.ioplugin.jar file (or a
.ioplugin file for simplified wrappers).
To activate it in an existing Promethee front-end installation:
put the .ioplugin or .ioplugin.jar file inside the Promethee installation path, in plugins/io directory
Note: or just unzip the plugin archive in Promethee installation directory
restart the graphical front-end.
Besides the core installation, Promethee interface may integrate some extension like an algorithm to enable automated task of optimization, inversion, uncertainties propagtions, …
For the front-end side, the code wrapper may be a
.jar or
.R file.
To activate an algorithm in an existing Promethee front-end installation, you just have to put this file inside the Promethee installation path, in
plugins/doe directory. Then restart the graphical front-end.
No extra configuration is needed on the computing back-end for this kind of extension.
How to get a bundled installer adapted to my needs ?
We provide bundled installer for a dedicated need as a service for industrial licence (see
support). This bundled version includes the code wrappers and the algorithms you wish, as well as network configuration.
Do you provide a network installer ?
No. But you can just copy an existing Promethee installation directory on a network shared directory, and it’s done. No registry nor environment variable to setup.
What operating systems are supported by this front-end ?
All operating systems supporting Java 1.6 are compatible (e.g. Windows XP, 7,
OS X, Linux, …). If you also need to install the math. engine locally, you also need compatibility with [R], which is available for Windows XP, 7,
OS X, Linux. Otherwise, you can use a network [R]/Rserve access.
This front-end is especially tested with Windows XP, Lunix Ubuntu and
OS X.
