Readme.txt for SumsBKZ Version 1.3.2

New for v1.3.2:
 - Limits for outputting solutions can now be set via the nlimits.txt and 
   plimits.txt files.  See the enclosed readme and files for details.

New for v1.3.1:  
 - If options are not specified on the command line, the program will 
   prompt for them.  
 - A user selected range of basis sizes and powers can be searched
 - Supports a search up to the 100th power

All command line options are described below.  Note that to use an option
later in the command line, all options before it must be specified.

Start the program with the following command:

sumsbkz n blocksize prune [workterms includelow primeonly primemin noidle]

n is the number of terms in the basis.  The running time for each
reduction grows with increasing n.

blocksize is the size of the blocks used in the reduction routine.  
Allowed values are between 2 and n inclusive.  A larger blocksize results
in better vectors, but the running time increases exponentially with
blocksize.

prune determines the use of Volume Heuristic.  Positive values enable
prune, while 0 disables it.  Pruning can significantly reduce running
time, but also reduces the quality of the results.  Higher values result
in better vectors but longer running time.  The NTL documentation
recommends prune between 10-15 if blocksize is 30 or larger.

workterms, if present, determines the number of randomly selected values
in the basis used in the lattice reduction routine.  If workterms=0, it 
is disabled.

includelow=1 causes the program to always includes the first 5 numbers
(normal or prime) at the end of the basis.  Set to 0 to disable.

primeonly=1 causes the program to search only prime powers.  Set to 0 to
disable.

primemin specifies the minimum power used in the prime search.  Set to 0 to use
the default of 5.

noidle is only available in the Windows binary.  If present, it causes the
program to run at idle priority


Examples:

sumskbz
  lists all command line parameters and prompts for values
sumsbkz 80 20 0    
  searches for solutions using a basis of the first 80 numbers
sumsbkz 80 20 0 40 
  searches for solutions using a basis of 40 terms randomly selected from
  the first 80 numbers
sumsbkz 80 20 0 40 1 
  searches for solutions using a basis of 40 terms consisting of the first
  5 numbers plus 35 more randomly selected from the first 80 numbers
sumsbkz 80 20 0 40 0 1 
  same as the second example except searches only for prime solutions
sumsbkz 80 20 0 40 0 0 10
  same as the second example except starts the prime search at the 10th power
sumsbkz 80 20 0 0 0 0 0 1
  (Windows only) same as the first example but runs at normal priority
sumsbkz 80 20 0 40 0 0 0 1 
  (Windows only) same as the second example but runs at normal priority

Hopefully all other combinations of command line parameters are clear
from the above examples.

Any normal solutions will be written to output.txt and prime solutions to
poutput.txt.  You will then need to compare these solutions with the
tables at http://euler.free.fr to see if you have found any records.  
This is much easier if you first sort the lines in these files.  (Those
using unix can simply use 'sort output.txt -o output.txt' and likewise for
poutput.txt.  For Windows users, the DOS command SORT is restricted to
files less than 64K in size while the output files sometimes grow larger
than that.  If you need it, I can send you GNU sort compiled with CygWin.)  
If any of the solutions are records, mail them in!

While rare, there have been a couple of times when things conspire to make
the numbers in intermediate steps too large for BKZ_FP.  If you wish to
prevent this, you can try using G_BKZ_FP or BKZ_QP1.

Greg Childers
gchil0@pop.uky.edu