ala_operator
============
Author: Luminita Moruz


Description: The package implements a method that, taking as input a
	file including a list of operators and their offers, finds the
	cheapest operator for a given phone number


Requirements: Python 2.7 should be installed, together with the module
              numpy


Usage: 
  Assuming the current directory is the main directory of the package:
  python ala_operator/main.py [-h] -i operator_file -n phone_numbers
  [-m solving_method] [-o out_file]
  
Flags:
  -h, --help         Shows this help message and exit
  -i operator_file   File including the operators' offers. Please check
     		     below for the description of the format of this
     		     file.
  -n phone_number(s) Phone number or file including phone numbers, one
                     per line. Please check below for more details
                     about the file format.
  -m solving_method  Method to solve the problem [simple|fast], default
                     = fast
  -o out_file        Output file. By default the result is printed on the
                     screen


File formats: 
- operator_file: The format of the operator file should be as follows:
* The keyword "Operator" should be followed by a space and then an
  unique ID for that operator
* The id of the operator should not include any spaces
* Afterwards, a list of prefix, price should be given, one pair per
  line, space separated
* An example:
Operator A
46 0.4
467 0.5
Operator B
478 0.1
47 0.5
* The files ex_operators_1.txt and ex_operators_2.txt in the directory
  examples/ give a few examples of valid input files.

- phone_number: the phone numbers should be given one per line. Note
  that a phone number should contain only digits. The files
  ex_numbers_1.txt and ex_numbers_2.txt under the folder examples/ are
  examples of valid input files


Notes:
- At the moment no proper validation of the input data is performed,
  and the error messages are not particularly informative. Please try to
  give the data in the correct format
- If a phone number includes other symbols than digits, it will be
  ignored (it does not appear in the output)


Tests: 
  A few unit and system tests were implemented. You can run all the
  tests by executing the script run_all_tests.sh. From the directory
  including the file, just type in a terminal window:
  ./run_all_tests.sh
 

Examples:
1. To run the program for the operators in examples/ex_operators_1.txt
   and the phone numbers in examples/ex_numbers_1.txt just type:
   
   python ala_operator/main.py -i examples/ex_operators_1.txt -n examples/ex_numbers_1.txt
   
   If you would like to have the output printed to a file called
   best_offers.txt, add the -o option:
    
   python ala_operator/main.py -i examples/ex_operators_1.txt -n examples/ex_numbers_1.txt -o best_offers.txt

2. To run the program for a single phone number 467562353, using the
   operators in examples/ex_operators_2.txt, just type:

   python ala_operator/main.py -i examples/ex_operators_2.txt -n 467562353