30/07/2015

GeneticAlgorithmToolboxFAQ

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GeneticAlgorithmToolboxFAQ
GeneralQuestions
WherecanIfindinformationabouttheGAToolbox?
Here.
Whatversion(s)ofMATLABdoestheGAToolboxworkwith?
TheGAToolboxwaswrittenforMATLABv4.2.Itisusablewithallsubsequentreleases
ofMATLAB,buttherearesomeminorsyntaxissuesthathavetobefixedbyhandwhen
usingtheToolboxwithMATLABv5.3andabove.
DoyouhaveaversionoftheGAToolboxsuitableforMATLAB567/available?
TheGAToolboxwasoriginallywrittenforMATLABv4.2,anditisthisversionofthe
Toolboxwhichwemakeavailablefordownload.ThisversionoftheToolboxcanbe(and
hasbeen)successfullyusedwithanylaterreleaseofMATLAB,but,dependingonthe
actualreleaseofMATLABbeingused,someminorsyntaxfixesmayneedtobeapplied
totheToolboxMfilesbyhand.Inthefuture,wemaymakeavailableversionsoftheGA
Toolboxwhichhavetherelevantcorrectionsappliedforthevariousreleasesof
MATLAB,butthesearenotyetavailable.
DoyouhaveaMOGAversionoftheGAToolboxavailable?
No.But,inthefuture,wemaymakesuchaversionoftheGAToolboxavailable.
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HowdoIusetheGAToolboxtosolvemyparticularproblem?
WhilstwehappilymaketheGAToolboxavailableforfreedownloadandarealways
interestedtohearofyourexperiencesinusingit,wedonothavetheresourcestooffera
generalGAconsultingservice.Sowewillnotreplytoemailsenttousaskingforadvice
inusingthetoolboxtosolveparticularproblems.WeencourageallusersoftheGA
Toolboxtoreadcarefullytheaccompanyingdocumentationandtutorialexamples.For
general'howdoI?questions,wesuggestyoupostaquestiontotherelevantUsenet
groupcomp.ai.genetic.
HowcanIcontacttheauthorsoftheGAToolbox?
TheauthorsoftheGAToolboxcanbecontactedbysendinganemail.Weencourageyou
tosendusemailabouterrorsyouencounterwhenusingtheGAToolbox,aswellas
requestsforenhancementtothetoolbox,andgeneralcommentsaboutyourexperiences
withit.PleasereadthisFAQcarefullybeforesendinganysuchemail.

InstallationQuestions
HowdoIinstalltheGAToolbox?
WeadviseyoutoignoreanypurportedhighlevelinstallationhelpfromMATLABitself
and,instead,toinstallthetoolboxbyhand.Ifyouhaveacompletelylocalcopyof
MATLABonaPC,thenthisshouldn'tbeaproblemifyou'reusinganetworkedversion
ofMATLAB,thenyoumayhavetogetthesystemadministratortodothisprocessonthe
serveralternatively,youcanusethetoolboxfileslocallyfromyourownfilestore.
Thedetailsgosomethinglikethis:
1. IfyouhaveacompletelylocalcopyofMATLABonyourPC:
1. UnziptheGAToolboxsomewhereinyourownfilestore.(Hopefullyyouwillhavea
foldercontainingsomemfilesandsubfolders'DOCand'test_fns)
2. Renamethisfolder'geneticandmoveitintoyourC:atlab_nntoolboxfolder(The'nn
hereiswhateveryourMATLABversionnumberis.)
3. GotoyourC:atlab_nntoolboxlocaldirectoryandlocatethefile'pathdef.m.Takeacopy
ofthefileforabackup,thenopenthefilewithatexteditor.Youwillseethatitspecifies
thepathstoallthetoolboxesyouhave.ToaddtheGAtoolboxtothepath,addthetwo
lines:
>matlabroot,'\toolbox\genetic;',...
>matlabroot,'\toolbox\genetic\test_fns;',...

1.

1. That'sit:ifyourestartMATLABshouldhaveaccesstotheGAtoolbox.Alternativeto
theabovestepsa,b,c,distounzipthetoolboxtoaplaceofyourchoosing,andthenuse
MATLAB'ssetpathand/oraddpathfunctionstoaddthenewlyunzippedfolderand
subfolderstoMATLAB'ssearchpath.

2. IfyouareusinganetworkedcopyofMATLAB,theneither:
1. Thesystemadministratorshoulddothesameastheaboveforthesysteminstallationof
MATLAB,
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2. Or,youcanusethetoolboxlocally,inthisway:
1. UnziptheGAToolboxsomewhereinyourownfilestore:(Hopefullyyouwillhave
afoldercontainingsomemfilesandsubfolders'DOCand'test_fns)
2. Renamethefolderto'genetic.Youmightalsowanttomoveitsomewhereelse.
Let'ssayitendsupind:workmatlabtoolboxesgenetic.
3. Addthetwolines
>path(path,'d:\work\matlab\toolboxes\genetic');
>path(path,'d:\work\matlab\toolboxes\genetic\test_fns');

tothefile'startup.minyourworkingdirectory.Yourworkingdirisgoingtobesomethinglike
'c:matlabnnworkforamodernPCinstallationofMATLAByoumighthavetocreatethefile
'startup.mthereifitdoesn'talreadyexist.
Again,that'sit.WhenyourestartMATLAByoushouldthenseetheGAtoolbox.
Alternativetotheabovestepsistounzipthetoolboxtoaplaceofyourchoosing,andthenuse
MATLAB'ssetpathand/oraddpathfunctionstoaddthenewlyunzippedfolderandsubfoldersto
MATLAB'ssearchpath.
Notethattheprocessdescribedaboveisthesamethingyou'ddotouseyourownMscripts:atthis
level,thereisnothingsignificantaboutthefactthattheGAscriptsarea'toolboxtheyarejusta
collectionofMscripts,andtheonlyissueisgettingtheirlocationmappedintotheMATLABpath
searchpath.TofindoutmoreabouttheMATLABsearchpathandrelatedmattersthen,forastart,
type'helppathattheMATLABprompt.

RuntimeQuestions
'WhydoIgettheerrormessage(s):identifierexpected,switchfound,orIllegaluseof
reservedkeywordswitch
Thiserrormessagemaybeencounteredwhenusingthe'objfun1function,forexample,
andreflectsoneofthesyntacticaldifferencesbetweenMATLAB6andpreviousreleases
ofMATLAB.Theactualerrormessageyouseemaydependontheactualreleaseof
MATLAByouareusing.TheGAtoolboxwasdevelopedforMATLABv4.2,andshould
alsoworkunchangedforMATLABreleasesuptoincludingv5.2.Forlaterreleasesof
MATLAB,someminorsyntaxfixesmayhavetobeappliedtotheMfilesofthetoolbox
byhand.ThesefixesshouldgenerallybeobvioustoanexperienceduserofMATLAB.In
thiscase,theproblemisthat,inMATLABv6,'switchisareservedword:inprevious
versionsofMATLABitwasnot.Tofixtheproblem,edittherelevantMfiletochange
allreferenceto'switchtosomethingelselike(eg'myswitch)instead.
'WhydoIgettheerrormessage(s):???UndefinedfunctionorvariableNonLin,orWarning:
ReferencetouninitializedvariableNonLin
TheactualerrormessageyouseemaydependontheactualreleaseofMATLAByouare
using.TheGAtoolboxwasdevelopedforMATLABv4.2,andshouldalsowork
unchangedforMATLABreleasesuptoincludingv5.2.ForlaterreleasesofMATLAB,
someminorsyntaxfixesmayhavetobeappliedtotheMfilesofthetoolboxbyhand.
ThesefixesshouldgenerallybeobvioustoanexperienceduserofMATLAB.Inthis
case,theproblemisthatthebehaviourofMATLABwithrespecttouninitialized
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variablesdiffersbetweenMATLABreleases.PleaseseeTheMathworksTechnical
Solutionnoteonthisissue,namely:http:www.mathworks.comsupportsolutionsdata1
18GTU.htmlandthenapplyasuitablecorrectiontotherelevantMfile(s)oftheGA
Toolbox.
'WhyisthefunctionspecifichelpnotworkingfortheGAToolboxfunctions?
Wehavehadunconfirmedreportsthat,whenusedwithcertainreleasesofMATLAB,
functionspecifichelpfortheGAToolbox(eg'helpmutate)doesnotworkasexpected.
ForMATLABMfiles,functionspecifichelpinformationisencodedincommentswithin
theMfilesthemselves.Itmaybethatthedetailoftheallowablelayoutsofthese
commentsdiffersbetweensomeofthereleasesofMATLAB.Ifyoufindthatfunction
specifichelpisnotworkingforyou,pleasecheckthedocumentationforyourreleaseof
MATLAB,andcomparethedetailedrequirementsforthe'helpcommentswiththe
formatusedintheMfilesoftheGAToolbox.Inaddition,ifyoudohavethisproblem,
pleaseemailgatoolbox@sheffield.ac.ukwiththedetailsofyourversionofMATLABso
thatwecanupdatethisFAQ.TheworkaroundforfunctionspecifichelpforGAToolbox
functionsnotworkingfromtheMATLABcommandlineissimplytoreadthehelp
informationcontainedwithintherelevantMfilesusinganytexteditor.
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