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HIPRE 3+ Group Link 
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HIPRE 3+ Group Link is a group decision support software
which combines individual prioritizations given by the Analytic 
Hierarchy Process (AHP) into an interval AHP model called 
preference programming model. The combination is done so that 
the resulting intervals for all the local pairwise comparisons 
will include all the opinions of the individuals. The result is 
a range of weights for each alternative. If the lowest possible 
weight for an alternative is higher than the highest weight 
for all the others then this is a dominating alternative. See the 
references to learn more about the theory of preference programming. 

This file set includes completed HIPRE 3+ model files which
are used to demonstrate the combination of the individual 
prioritizations	with Group Link. You need a licenced copy of 
HIPRE 3+ to create and save your own HIPRE 3+ models. However, with 
HIPRE 3+ Group Link you can do group analysis of your own based 
directly on the preference programming method. The file set 
also includes files of preference programming models which could 
be suitable to start with if you are not familiar with 
the interval presentation of preferences.  



CONTENTS:
---------

HPLINK   BAT       	HPLINK system file
INPRE2   EXE       	HPLINK system file
HP2INP   EXE       	HPLINK system file
TRIP     CHR       	HPLINK system file
INPGROUP INI		HPLINK system file
HPLNKINS EXE       	HPLNKINS program file
HPLNKINS INI       	HPLNKINS system file
HPLNKINS HLP       	HPLNKINS help file
README   TXT       	This file
README   BAT       	Shows the readme.txt file
SABBATIC INP            Example of a preference programming model
ENERGY   INP       	Example of a preference programming model
CAR      INP      	Example of a preference programming model


Subdirectory TUTOR:

TUTOR\  FATHER   MOD    HIPRE 3+ files     		
    	MOTHER   MOD    HIPRE 3+ files     
    	DAUGHTER MOD    HIPRE 3+ files     
	SON      MOD    HIPRE 3+ files     
	FAMCAR   MOD    HIPRE 3+ files     

Subdirectory ENERGY:

ENERGY\	MEMBER1  MOD    HIPRE 3+ files related to an energy policy problem     
	MEMBER2  MOD    HIPRE 3+ files related to an energy policy problem    
	MEMBER3  MOD    HIPRE 3+ files related to an energy policy problem    


INSTALLATION:
-------------


You have already installed HIPRE 3+ Group Link to your hard disk
by executing the hplink.exe command (see the instructions in the 
WWW-page).

Now you can start the HIPRE 3+ Group Link with the command:

C:\HPLINK>hplink


The following message will appear when you start the program:

      Ŀ
      	Warning: HPLINK is not installed properly.   
      	Set directories to default?		     
      						     
      	Answer y(es) or n(o).			     
      

You can continue by pressing 'y'.

The purpose of this message is only to warn you that Group Link does 
not know where the group files are located. The default is that the group
directory is the same as the directory which contains the system 
files, in this case C:\HPLINK.  


_________________________________________________________________

ATTENTION!

HIPRE 3+ Group Link uses both the left and the right mouse
buttons. It is very important to distinguish between them.
Unnecessary clicks can take you away from your working mode.

_________________________________________________________________

No printing options are available so please use the Windows clipboard
to grab and print the screen.


TUTORIAL EXAMPLES
-----------------

Read carefully the instructions given on each window before proceeding.
It is easiest to learn to use HIPRE 3+ Group Link by
going through the tutorial example in the manual (Chapter 3).


Start by loading the preference programming files by clicking on  
the LOAD/Group button with the [LEFT BUTTON].

Write the name of the preference programming file on the command line. 
The following interval model files are on the disk:

SABBATIC   INP (Sabbatical location, see reference 3)       	
ENERGY     INP (Energy policy decision, see references 4,5)      	
CAR        INP (Car selection)      	



Start the combination of individual HIPRE 3+ models by clicking 
the LOAD/Group button with the [RIGHT BUTTON]. 

You can change the group directory by writing the name of the new
directory on the command line and pressing enter. 

When you run the group process in a PC-network you need to change and
define the group directory to be located on a network drive which is 
shared by all the group members. Every group member is using a PC 
of his or her own. Group members save their individual prioritizations 
made by HIPRE 3+ to the group directory on the shared network drive. 
With MS-Windows you can do the group analysis on one PC by 
opening different MS-DOS sessions for Group Link and for the individual 
HIPRE 3+ sessions.

Note that all the files	to be combined need to have the same hierarchy 
and they need to be saved in the AHP comparison mode of HIPRE 3+. 
The updating of the individual models is done after they have been saved  
in the group directory.
  

NOTE! After you have defined the group the program starts updating it 
automatically every ten seconds. Click SAVE/Pause with the [Right button] 
to stop and/or restart the updating.



FEEDBACK
--------

We are very interested in the experiences you have in using the
interval technique of preference programming. Please feel free to 
contact me by e-mail or letters for comments and questions:

Professor Raimo P. Hmlinen
Helsinki University of Technology
Systems Analysis Laboratory
P.O.Box 1100
02015 HUT
FINLAND

e-mail: raimo@hut.fi
fax: +358-9-451 3096
tel.: +358-9-451 3054


REFERENCES
----------

1. Hmlinen, R.P. and Kettunen, E.: HIPRE 3+ Group Link User's Guide,
Helsinki University of technology, Systems Analysis Laboratory, 1994.

2. Salo, A.A. and Hmlinen, R.P.:"Preference Programming Through 
Approximate Specified Priorities", European Journal of Operational
Research, to appear, 1994.

3. Salo, A.A. and Hmlinen, R.P.: "Decision Support Under Ambiguous
Preference Statements", Proceedings of the AIRO'90 Annual Conference of 
the Italian Operational Research Society, Sorrento, Italy, October 1990. 


4. Salo, A.A. and Hmlinen, R.P.: "Processing Interval Judgments in
the Analytic Hierarchy Process", in: A. Goicocchea, L. Duckstein ans 
S. Zionts (ed.) Multiple Criteria Decision making, Springer-Verlag, 
New York, 1992.


5. Hmlinen, R.P., Salo, A.A. and Pysti K.: " Observations about
Consensus Seeking in a Multiple Criteria Environment", Proceedings
of the twenty-fifth Annual Hawaii International Conference on
System Sciences, Vol. IV, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1991.


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