# Instantiating Models¶

If you start with a ConcreteModel, each component you add to the model will be fully constructed and initialized at the time it attached to the model. However, if you are starting with an AbstractModel, construction occurs in two phases. When you first declare and attach components to the model, those components are empty containers and not fully constructed, even if you explicitly provide data.

>>> import pyomo.environ as pyo
>>> model = pyo.AbstractModel()
>>> model.is_constructed()
False

>>> model.p = pyo.Param(initialize=5)
>>> model.p.is_constructed()
False

>>> model.I = pyo.Set(initialize=[1,2,3])
>>> model.x = pyo.Var(model.I)
>>> model.x.is_constructed()
False


If you look at the model at this point, you will see that everything is “empty”:

>>> model.pprint()
1 Set Declarations
I : Size=0, Index=None, Ordered=Insertion
Not constructed

1 Param Declarations
p : Size=0, Index=None, Domain=Any, Default=None, Mutable=False
Not constructed

1 Var Declarations
x : Size=0, Index=I
Not constructed

3 Declarations: p I x


Before you can manipulate modeling components or solve the model, you must first create a concrete instance by applying data to your abstract model. This can be done using the create_instance() method, which takes the abstract model and optional data and returns a new concrete instance by constructing each of the model components in the order in which they were declared (attached to the model). Note that the instance creation is performed “out of place”; that is, the original abstract model is left untouched.

>>> instance = model.create_instance()
>>> model.is_constructed()
False
>>> type(instance)
<class 'pyomo.core.base.PyomoModel.ConcreteModel'>
>>> instance.is_constructed()
True
>>> instance.pprint()
1 Set Declarations
I : Size=1, Index=None, Ordered=Insertion
Key  : Dimen : Domain : Size : Members
None :     1 :    Any :    3 : {1, 2, 3}

1 Param Declarations
p : Size=1, Index=None, Domain=Any, Default=None, Mutable=False
Key  : Value
None :     5

1 Var Declarations
x : Size=3, Index=I
Key : Lower : Value : Upper : Fixed : Stale : Domain
1 :  None :  None :  None : False :  True :  Reals
2 :  None :  None :  None : False :  True :  Reals
3 :  None :  None :  None : False :  True :  Reals

3 Declarations: p I x


Note

AbstractModel users should note that in some examples, your concrete model instance is called “instance” and not “model”. This is the case here, where we are explicitly calling instance = model.create_instance().

The create_instance() method can also take a reference to external data, which overrides any data specified in the original component declarations. The data can be provided from several sources, including using a dict, DataPortal, or DAT file. For example:

>>> instance2 = model.create_instance({None: {'I': {None: [4,5]}}})
>>> instance2.pprint()
1 Set Declarations
I : Size=1, Index=None, Ordered=Insertion
Key  : Dimen : Domain : Size : Members
None :     1 :    Any :    2 : {4, 5}

1 Param Declarations
p : Size=1, Index=None, Domain=Any, Default=None, Mutable=False
Key  : Value
None :     5

1 Var Declarations
x : Size=2, Index=I
Key : Lower : Value : Upper : Fixed : Stale : Domain
4 :  None :  None :  None : False :  True :  Reals
5 :  None :  None :  None : False :  True :  Reals

3 Declarations: p I x