AHP-OS

AHP-OS is a php program package for the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a mathematical tool to support rational decision making. It is an online tool written in php with a web browser interface, where users can register, login and define their own decision hierarchies. Example: bpmsg.com/ahp

Php package (c) Klaus D Goepel, 2013-2024

AHP-OS Features

• Flexible definition of decision hierarchies as text input, following a simple syntax with multi-language support using Unicode character coding,
• Weight calculation (hierarchy mode) and alternative evaluation (alternative mode) using the AHP eigenvector method,
• Pairwise comparison input, highlighting the top-3 most inconsistent judgments,
• Partial judgments,
• A posteriori application of different AHP judgment scales,
• Group decision making using weighted geometric mean aggregation of individual judgments (WGM-AIJ),
• Group consensus calculation based on Shannon α and β-entropy,
• Weight uncertainty estimation using Monte Carlo simulation,
• Sensitivity analysis,
• Weighted sum model (WSM) and weighted product model (WPM) for the aggregation of alternatives,
• Export of input and result data as comma separated value (CSV) files for further processing or presentation in a spreadsheet program,
• Export/Import of AHP-Projects and priorities as json text files.
• Group consensus cluster analysis (still experimental)

Languages

Currently language files for English, German, Spanish, Portugese and Turkish are included. They can be found in the sub-directory language/xx with xx = en, de, es, pt, tr.

Installation

In your http root directory: git clone https://github.com/bpmsg/ahp-os.git ahp Create a config.php file, or duplicate the config-sample.php file in the includes directory and rename it to config.php. Edit/modify includes/config.php to set your database and mail parameters. Set permission for config.php to 640. Run "composer install" to install dependencies.

As a database, either sqlite or mysql (MariaDB) can be defined. If you expect to have less than hundred users, sqlite will work fine. Using mysql, create an empty database first. Note: Please ensure that php PDO drivers are enabled. You can check with phpinfo() under PDO, PDO support. Run db/ahp-sql-create.php to create the necessary tables and triggers.

AHP-OS is tested to run with PHP version 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4.9, sqlite 3.22 and 5.5.5-10.3.29-MariaDB.

Usage

Run your web browser and open http://your-web-root/ahp/ In order to use the package, you need to create a user account by registering on the web interface.

A complete manual and quick reference guide can be found in the docs folder. Mathematical background and details about the implementation are published in:

Goepel, K.D. (2018). Implementation of an Online Software Tool for the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP-OS). International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, Vol. 10 Issue 3 2018, pp 469-487, link

User administration

The ADMIN user is defined by the user id given in the config.php file. The package allows to administer users. Users, not active over a period of 90 days (can be set in includes/login/do/do-user-admin, $daysInactive), can be deactivated by the administrator and an optional email with a reactivation link will be sent. If their account is not activated within 48 hours (set with $daysNotActivated), the complete user account with all data can be deleted by the admninistrator.

Limitations

Defined in config.php:

• WLMAX = 60 word length of nodes and leafs
• CRITMAX = 20 max. number of criteria per node
• ALTAHP = 20 number of alternatives
• SESSIONLMT = 50 number of projects per user
• NVAR = 1000 variaton of judgments (Monte Carlo)

Defined in class ahphier.php:

• TXT_MAX = 6000 characters defining the hierarchy
• NODE_CNT = 50 number of nodes
• LEAF_MAX = 100 number of leafs in the hierarchy

Directory structure

The working directory (ahp) should be a subdirectory of the web root directory.

ahp-\
     |-- ahp.php (Main page)
     |-- ahp-calc.php (AHP priority calculator)
     |-- ahp-calc1.php
     |-- ahp-cluster.php
     |-- ahp-hierarchy.php (AHP hierarchies)
     |-- ahp-hiercalc.php
     |-- ahp-hiergini.php
     |-- ahp-news.php (Latest news)
     |-- ahp-alt.php
     |-- ahp-alt1.php
     |-- ahp-altcalc.php
     |-- ahp-g-input.php
     |-- ahp-group.php (AHP results)
     |-- ahp-group-graph.php (diagram output)
     |-- ahp-project-import.php (Import project from json file)
     |-- ahp-session-admin.php (AHP project administration)
     |-- ahp-user-recover.php (Recover user from a backup database)
     |-- cl-graph  (diagram output for ahp-cluster)
     |-- maintenance.php
     |-- index.php (entry page)
     |-- composer.json
     |
     |-- classes-\
     |           AhpCalc (Eigenvector of DM)
     |           AhpCalcIo (extends AhpCalc, html/csv i/o)
     |           AhpCluster.php (group consensus cluster analysis)
     |           AhpColors (html coloring)
     |           AhpDb (database functions)
     |           AhpGroup (group result calculation)
     |           AhpHier (Decision hierarchies)
     |           AhpHierAlt (extends AhpHier for alternatives)
     |           (JsCheck) by Gustav Eklundh
     |           PhpUtil (General functions)
     |           WebHtml (header/footer for html output)
     |-- db -\ 
     |        ahp_os.db (sqlite database when used)
     |        ahp-sql-create (for installation only,
     |                        generates sql tables & triggers)
     |--includes-\
     |            (config.php to be generated by user)
     |            config-sample.php (Sample configuration file)
     |            footer.html
     |            header.html
     |            showCaptcha.php
     |            showCaptchaTxt.php
     |            style.css (style sheet)
     |            fonts --- times_new_yorker.ttf
     |            |
     |            |--login ------AhpAdmin (class, extends LoginAdmin)
     |            |              form.donations
     |            (phpgraphlib)  form.edit
     |-- docs                    form.login-hl
     |                           form.newdon
     |-- images -- AHP-icon      form.registration
     |             ahp-os-icon   form.UserAdminMenu
     |                           Login.php (class)
     |--js -- ahp-group          LoginAdmin.php (class, extends Login)
     |        ahp-session-admin  LoginDE/EN/ES/PT (language texts)
     |        btnred             Registration.php (class)
     |        cfm                |
     |        cfmdef              \
     |        delcfm               do -do-dbIntegrity
     |        lvecfm                   do-donor-admin
     |        sh-part                  do-edit
     |        webFont                  do-log
     |        letmein                  do-register
     |        jQuery.3.6.0             do-reset-pw
     |                                 do-user-admin (user administr.)
     |
     |--language -- de/en -- AhpCalcXX, AhpDbXX, AhpXX, AhpGroupXX
     |              es/pt    AhpGroupResXX, AhpHierarchyXX,
     |              tr       AhpHierXX, AhpHierginiXX, AhpNewsXX,
     |--views (html menus)   AhpPrioCalcXX, AhpSessionAdminXX
     |--vendor (will contain phpMailer)

Dependencies

The source code includes the source of a modified phpgraphlib by Elliott Brueggeman and jscheck by Gustav Eklundh to check, whether JavaScript is enabled for the browser. PHPMailer in the vendor directory is used for email sending.

SQL database structure and triggers

There are 6 tables in the database, 4 of them to store ahp data:

• users: user data
• projects: project data
• pwc: pairwise comparisons of participants
• alternatives: ahp alternative names

Tables

users           user_id (primary, ai)
                user_name unique,
projects        project_id (primary, ai), 
                project_sc (unique), 
                project_author (foreign key users,user_name)
pwc             project_sc (foreign key projects.project_sc)
                pwc_id (primary, ai)
alternatives    project_sc (foreign key projects.project_sc)
audit           a_id (primary, ai)
donations       tr_no (primary, ai)

Triggers

In the audit table entries are triggered by user and admin actions:

a_trg   a_act (activity)
U       User login
        Failed login
        User activated
        User deactivated
        Change of remember me token
        New user name
        Change of user email
        Password change
        Password reset
        Other
I       New user registration
D       User deleted

Clean audit table will delete all "Other" entries.

License

The work is published under GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3.

Work in progress!

2022-01-28 - First version added to svn 2022-02-17 - Import/Export function for projects added ToDo: translation, move menu to views 2022-03-01 - Group consensus cluster analysis added (experimental) 2023-12-30 - Turkish translation, text field lenth for criteria set to 99