To solve the model, MPL supports various leading solvers (software packages for solving linear programming model and related models) that can be installed into MPL. As discussed in Sec. 4.8, CPLEX is a particularly prominent and powerful solver. The version of MPL in your operations research courseware already has installed the student version of CPLEX, which uses the simplex method to solve linear programming models. Therefore, to solve such a model formulated with MPL, all you have to do is choose solve CPLEX from the run menu or press the run solve button in the toolbar. You then can display the solution file in a view window by pressing the view button at the bottom of the status window.
This brief introduction to MPL illustrates the ease with which modelers can use modeling languages to formulate huge linear programming models in a clear, concise way. To assist you in using MPL, an MPL Tutorial is included on the book's website. This tutorial goes through all the details of formulating smaller version of the production planning example considered here. You also can see elsewhere on the book's website how all the other linear programming examples in this chapter and subsequent chapters would be for mulated with MPL and solved by CPLEX.