/// <summary>
/// Method to Mutate the specified child in derived classes. The method would not normally
/// be called directly. It will be called by the framework as required.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="child"></param>
protected override void Mutate(Chromosome child)
{
// this method calls the base class later which handles elites
// duplicates are handled here
Chromosome childToMutate = null;
if (AllowDuplicates)
{
childToMutate = child;
}
else
{
//We have to clone the chromosome before we mutate it as it may
//not be usable i.e. if it is a duplicate if we didn't clone it
//and we created a duplicate through mutation we would have to
//undo the mutation. This way is easier.
childToMutate = child.DeepClone();
}
//call the default mutation behaviour, this will inturn call the abstract
//class 'MutateGene' implemented in this class below.
base.Mutate(childToMutate);
//only add the mutated chromosome if it does not exist otherwise do nothing
if (!AllowDuplicates && !NewPopulation.SolutionExists(childToMutate))
{
//swap existing genes for the mutated onese
child.Genes = childToMutate.Genes;
}
}
/// <summary>
/// Adds a child to the new population depending upon the criteria set in relation to replacement
/// method and duplicate handling. The method updates the evaluation count and returns true if a
/// child was added to the new population.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="child"></param>
/// <returns></returns>
private bool AddChild(Chromosome child)
{
var result = false;
if (_replacementMethodS == ReplacementMethod.DeleteLast)
{
child.Evaluate(FitnessFunction);
_evaluations++;
if (child.Genes != null && child.Fitness > CurrentPopulation.MinimumFitness)
{
//add the child if there is still space
if (AllowDuplicates || !NewPopulation.SolutionExists(child))
{
//add the new child and remove the last
NewPopulation.Solutions.Add(child);
if (NewPopulation.Solutions.Count > _currentPopulationSize)
{
NewPopulation.Solutions.Sort();
NewPopulation.Solutions.RemoveAt(_currentPopulationSize - 1);
result = true;
}
else
{
//we return true whether we actually added or not what we are effectively
//doing here is adding the original child from the current solution
result = true;
}
}
}
}
else
{
//we need to cater for the user switching from delete last to Generational Replacement
//in this scenrio we will have a full population but with still some children to generate
if (NewPopulation.Solutions.Count + _numberOfChildrenToGenerate > _currentPopulationSize)
{
//assume all done for this generation
_numberOfChildrenToGenerate = 0;
return(false);
}
if (child.Genes != null)
{
//add the child if there is still space
if (this.AllowDuplicates || !NewPopulation.SolutionExists(child))
{
NewPopulation.Solutions.Add(child);
result = true;
}
}
}
return(result);
}