We're glad that you successfully installed our software for a 15-day trial. If you have questions, you're welcome to call us at (888) 831-0333 or (775) 831-0300, or send email to support@solver.com.
The best way to get started is to try out the examples installed with the software. To access the examples, just select Help - Examples from the Analytic Solver Platform tab on the Ribbon (or in Excel 2003 from the product menu), then click one of the six buttons in the worksheet that appears:
| Optimization Examples | Stochastic Optimization Examples |
| Monte Carlo Simulation Examples | Simulation Optimization Examples |
| Forecasting/Data Mining Examples | Decision Tree Examples |
In a standard installation, you'll find the example workbooks in the folder C:\Program Files\Frontline Systems\Analytic Solver Platform\Examples.
The chapter Optimization and Simulation Basics in the Analytic Solver Platform User Guide may be helpful at this stage. It takes you step-by-step through a linear programming and a nonlinear optimization example, and through a business planning example using Monte Carlo simulation. You can access the User Guide by selecting Help - User Guides - User Guide on the Ribbon or the product menu, or you can open it directly at C:\Program Files (x86)\Frontline Systems\Analytic Solver Platform\Help\FrontlineSolversUserGuide.pdf.
To learn more about forecasting and data mining, select Help - Help Text - Forecasting/Data Mining from the Analytic Solver Platform tab on the Ribbon, or just Help - Help Text on the XLMiner tab. You can open any of 30 example datasets using Help - Examples on the XLMiner tab, or you can find them at C:\Program Files (x86)\Frontline Systems\Analytic Solver Platform\Datasets. Several of the example datasets are used extensively in the Help text: For example, the Wine.xls dataset is used in Help on the Data Partition and Neural Network functions, the Income.xls dataset is used in Help on Time Series Forecasting, and the Boston_Housing.xls dataset is used in Help for the Prediction functions, and several Classification functions.
Any time you're using Analytic Solver Platform during your 15-day trial, you can select Help - About on the Ribbon or the product menu, to check your current license status. For example, it may say "12 days remaining", or it may indicate a licensing problem. If you see a licensing error message, or you can't run an optimization, simulation or data mining function, please contact us at the phone or email above. We can almost always resolve the problem by sending you a custom license code -- all it takes is a copy and paste of a license code character string.
We hope you enjoy learning about Analytic Solver Platform, and exploring its many capabilities!