OptiPath is a Windows based computer program developed for archaeologists wishing to seriate a collection of artifacts based upon stylistic features (with imagination it can be used for ordering items in many other situations). Although the program was developed to implement the "optimal path" seriation technique developed by the authors (an archaeologist and a mathematician), the software also includes other seriation techniques such as occurrence seriation, nominal seriation, discrete seriation and frequency seriation. All of these take advantage of OptiPath's heuristic optimization algorithms. In any situation OptiPath tries to find the best possible seriation. The package is flexible, allowing you to set a large number of parameters that affect the type of seriation being done.
You are free to install OptiPath and use it for learning, teaching or research purposes but not for commercial use. Please cite OptiPath in any publication involving its use (for example, "OptiPath, Version x.x, Brett Shepardson and Fred Shepardson, www.shepardsons.net/optipath.html").
The most recent version of OptiPath is currently available. OptiPath is continually in development. Please use it at your own risk. It is performing well for us on a Windows XP Home Edition operating system. If you have trouble with installation, check troubleshooting. If that doesn't fix it, ask us for help.
For tips on how to get started and use the software please see documentation.
Please let us know what you think of the OptiPath software. Any bugs you find, any suggestions you have for improving the interface or the functionality. We welcome it all. Thank you.
If you want us to let you know when a new version is available, please let us know.
A standalone software package is available to compute the Unimodal Index.