How to run my version of a function from a package

sideyt · July 15, 2024, 8:46pm

I have translated SAMIN (optimize) in the Optim package to another language (where it is needed) and need to add print statements to the Julia code for comparison. This is the code I wish to run:

github.com

JuliaNLSolvers/Optim.jl/blob/master/src/multivariate/solvers/constrained/samin.jl

# """
# History: Based on Octave code samin.cc, by Michael Creel,
# which was originally based on Gauss code by E.G. Tsionas. A source
# for the Gauss code is http://web.stanford.edu/~doubleh/otherpapers/sa.txt
# The original Fortran code by W. Goffe is at
# http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/snde.1996.1.3/snde.1996.1.3.1020/snde.1996.1.3.1020.xml?format=INT
# Tsionas and Goffe agreed to MIT licensing of samin.jl in email
# messages to Creel.
#
# This Julia code uses the same names for control variables,
# for the most part. A notable difference is that the initial
# temperature can be found automatically to ensure that the active
# bounds when the temperature begins to reduce cover the entire
# parameter space (defined as a n-dimensional rectangle that is the
# Cartesian product of the(lb_i, ub_i), i = 1,2,..n. The code also
# allows for parameters to be restricted, by setting lb_i = ub_i,
# for the appropriate i.

"""
# SAMIN

This file has been truncated. show original

I have placed samin.jl in my own directory (separate from the julia distribution). When I type: include(“samin.jl”) in the REPL I get:
ERROR: LoadError: UndefVarError: @with_kw not defined

Stacktrace:

[1] top-level scope

@ :0

[2] #macroexpand#66

@ ./expr.jl:122 [inlined]

[3] macroexpand

@ ./expr.jl:120 [inlined]

[4] docm(source::LineNumberNode, mod::Module, meta::Any, ex::Any, define::Bool)

@ Base.Docs ./docs/Docs.jl:555

[5] var"@doc"(::LineNumberNode, ::Module, ::String, ::Vararg{Any})

@ Core ./boot.jl:541

[6] include(fname::String)

@ Base.MainInclude ./client.jl:489

[7] top-level scope

@ REPL[1]:1

in expression starting at /Users/stimmins/julia/samin.jl:19

Being new I need detailed instructions please - it has something to do with defaults - but how to remedy? Thank you.

Benny · July 15, 2024, 10:28pm

Most .jl files in packages are not supposed to be evaluated in isolation, but within another primary file. In Optim.jl/src/Optim.jl, there is a line include("multivariate/solvers/constrained/samin.jl") occurring far after a line import Parameters: @with_kw, @unpack, among other imports and includes. To make your println version work, you would need to replicate the minimum imports and includes that the original needed to work.

I don’t think it’s worth manually doing that because at worst case, you need every preceding line and you might as well fork the whole package at that point. Looking at local variables while debugging is a typical alternative, but it can be too hands-on and slow compared to a run-once-print-all approach. You could load the Optim package and @eval Optim ... modified functions right into the active Optim module, and it will work like the original in most cases. Make sure to change the function name or dispatch on a custom-typed argument so you’re not replacing the original code.

abraemer · July 16, 2024, 1:42am

Another idea is maybe to instead of ]add Optim.jl to your environment you ]dev it instead. That creates a copy of the fully module in your .julia/dev (not quite sure about this path, haven’t double checked). There you can modify the code, i.e. add the printlns. Then you can just run a test code normally.