inst/uno/interfaces/C/README.md

In Uno: R Interface to the 'Uno' Nonlinear Optimization Solver

Uno's C interface: how to use Uno from C

Uno's C interface allows you to solve an optimization model described by callback functions. The file Uno_C_API.cpp is compiled as part of libuno (static or shared) via make, and the header Uno_C_API.h is installed via make install. An example is available in the file example_hs015.c.

Start by including the Uno header:

#include "Uno_C_API.h"

Building an optimization model

Building an optimization model is incremental and starts with the information about the variables:

void* model = uno_create_model(problem_type, number_variables,
   variables_lower_bounds, variables_upper_bounds, base_indexing);

or (for an unconstrained model):

void* model = uno_create_unconstrained_model(problem_type, number_variables, base_indexing);

The following optional elements can be added or set to the model separately: - lower bounds for the variables:

uno_set_variables_lower_bounds(model, variables_lower_bounds)

• upper bounds for the variables:

uno_set_variables_upper_bounds(model, variables_upper_bounds)

• a lower bound for a given variable:

uno_set_variable_lower_bound(model, variable_index, lower_bound)

• an upper bound for a given variable:

uno_set_variable_upper_bound(model, variable_index, upper_bound)

• the objective function (and its gradient). It is 0 otherwise;

uno_set_objective(model, optimization_sense, objective_function, objective_gradient);

• constraint functions (and their Jacobian);

uno_set_constraints(model, number_constraints, constraint_functions,
   constraints_lower_bounds, constraints_upper_bounds, number_jacobian_nonzeros,
   jacobian_row_indices, jacobian_column_indices, jacobian);

• lower bounds for the constraints:

uno_set_constraints_lower_bounds(model, constraints_lower_bounds)

• upper bounds for the constraints:

uno_set_constraints_upper_bounds(model, constraints_upper_bounds)

• a lower bound for a given constraint:

uno_set_constraint_lower_bound(model, constraint_index, lower_bound)

• an upper bound for a given constraint:

uno_set_constraint_upper_bound(model, constraint_index, upper_bound)

• the Lagrangian Hessian;

uno_set_lagrangian_hessian(model, number_hessian_nonzeros, hessian_triangular_part, 
   hessian_row_indices, hessian_column_indices, lagrangian_hessian);

• a Jacobian operator (performs Jacobian-vector products);

uno_set_jacobian_operator(model, jacobian_operator);

• a Jacobian-transposed operator (performs Jacobian-transposed-vector products);

uno_set_jacobian_transposed_operator(model, jacobian_transposed_operator);

• a Hessian operator (performs Hessian-vector products);

uno_set_lagrangian_hessian_operator(model, lagrangian_hessian_operator);

• a Lagrangian sign convention (default is UNO_MULTIPLIER_NEGATIVE);

uno_set_lagrangian_sign_convention(model, lagrangian_sign_convention);

• user data of an arbitrary type (void*);

uno_set_user_data(model, user_data);

• an initial primal point;

uno_set_initial_primal_iterate(model, initial_primal_iterate);

• an initial dual point.

uno_set_initial_dual_iterate(model, initial_dual_iterate);

Each of these functions returns an integer that is 0 upon success and positive upon failure.

The memory for the model is allocated by the C interface and must be freed by a call to the function:

uno_destroy_model(model);

Creating an instance of the Uno solver

Create an instance of the Uno solver with a simple function call.

void* solver = uno_create_solver();

The memory for the solver is allocated by the C interface and must be freed by a call to the function:

uno_destroy_solver(solver);

Passing options to the Uno solver

Options can be passed to the Uno solver:

uno_set_solver_integer_option(solver, "max_iterations", 1000);
uno_set_solver_double_option(solver, "primal_tolerance", 1.0e-6);
uno_set_solver_bool_option(solver, "print_solution", true);
uno_set_solver_string_option(solver, "hessian_model", "exact");

Options can also be loaded from a file that contains an option value pair per line (the example file uno_default.opt in the root directory contains Uno's default options). The options are set in this particular order. Anything that follows a # is treated as a comment and is ignored.

uno_load_solver_option_file(solver, "uno.opt");

Getting typed value of an option from the Uno solver:

uno_int uno_get_solver_integer_option(solver, "max_iterations");
size_t uno_get_solver_unsigned_integer_option(solver, "max_iterations");
double uno_set_solver_double_option(solver, "primal_tolerance");
bool uno_get_solver_bool_option(solver, "print_solution");
const char* uno_get_solver_string_option(solver, "hessian_model");

Setting a preset has Uno mimic an existing solver:

uno_set_solver_preset(solver, "filtersqp");

Setting solver callbacks

Setting the user callbacks to the Uno solver:

uno_set_solver_callbacks(solver, notify_acceptable_iterate_callback, user_termination_callback, user_data);

Setting the logger stream callback:

uno_set_logger_stream_callback(logger_stream_callback, user_data);

and reset the logger stream to the standard output:

uno_reset_logger_stream();

Solving the model

The model can then be solved by Uno:

uno_optimize(solver, model);

Inspecting the result

A set of functions allows you to inspect the result of the optimization: - the optimization status (UNO_SUCCESS, UNO_ITERATION_LIMIT, UNO_TIME_LIMIT, UNO_EVALUATION_ERROR, UNO_ALGORITHMIC_ERROR):

uno_get_optimization_status(solver);

• the solution status (UNO_NOT_OPTIMAL, UNO_FEASIBLE_KKT_POINT, UNO_FEASIBLE_FJ_POINT, UNO_INFEASIBLE_STATIONARY_POINT, UNO_FEASIBLE_SMALL_STEP, UNO_INFEASIBLE_SMALL_STEP, UNO_UNBOUNDED):

uno_int uno_get_solution_status(solver);

• the objective value of the solution:

double uno_get_solution_objective(solver);

• the primal solution:

void uno_get_primal_solution(solver, primal_solution);

• the dual solution associated with the general constraints:

void uno_get_constraint_dual_solution(solver, constraint_dual_solution);

• the dual solution associated with the lower bounds:

void uno_get_lower_bound_dual_solution(solver, lower_bound_dual_solution);

• the dual solution associated with the upper bounds:

void uno_get_upper_bound_dual_solution(solver, upper_bound_dual_solution);

• the constraint values at the solution:

void uno_get_solution_constraints(solver, constraint_values);

• the primal feasibility measure at the solution:

double uno_get_solution_primal_feasibility(solver);

• the stationarity measure at the solution:

double uno_get_solution_stationarity(solver);

• the complementarity measure at the solution:

double uno_get_solution_complementarity(solver);

Uno documentation built on Aug. 30, 2026, 5:07 p.m.