example_input.txt

# Example input file explaining the specification format.
# Lines starting with a pound sign are ignored by the parser.

# First, the auctioneer lists the items for sale. This section must
# begin with a line that reads "Items to sell:"
ITEMS TO SELL:

# Item names may contain numbers and symbols (except for &), but must
# start with a letter of the alphabet (so "12-foot pole" is not okay).
# Leading whitespace is ignored.
    Twelve-foot pole
    Tiny dining table

# Duplicate names get counted as multiple copies of an item
    Tiny chair
    Tiny chair
# You can also do this by starting the line with a number.
  3 Tiny Potion of Climbing
  2 Tiny Potion of Healing
# Captialization doesn't matter, but we otherwise expect exact matches.
# This means that "chair" and "chairs" are considered to be completely
# different items. To avoid confusion, just don't pluralize anything.

# End the list with a row of dashes (at least 3)
---------------

# Next, we have a section for each bidder.
# First, a line starting with "Name:" defines the bidder name
Name: Gwyndolin
# And then we need a line that reads "Bids:"
Bids:

# Each bid is entered as a number (the bidded amount) and then an item name.
  50     Twelve-foot pole
   4.99  Tiny potion of healing
# Remember: capitalization doesn't matter, white space before the item name
# is ignored, and white space inside the item name must be an exact match.
# Decimal bids are okay, too.

# Note that each bid is for a single item. So the above bid indicates that
# the bidder only wants a single "tiny potion of healing", and is unwilling
# to pay for any additional ones. Otherwise, enter multiple bids:
   5     Tiny potion of climbing
   2     Tiny potion of climbing
   0.5   Tiny potion of climbing
# This indicates that you are willing to pay 5 for a single potion, 5+2=7 for
# two potions, or 7.5 for three potions. More detail on this mechanism later.

# To bid on combinations of items, join the names using the & sign:
  10     Tiny chair & Tiny chair
  30     Tiny chair & Tiny chair & Tiny dining table
# This indicates that you would pay 0 for a single chair or the dining table 
# by itself (since you have not entered a bid on those items individually),
# but are willing to pay 10 for both chairs or 30 for the entire set:
#          Dining tables
#               0    1
#           +----------
# Chairs 0  |   0    0
#        1  |   0    0
#        2  |  10   30

# As before, end the list with an arbitrary number of dashes.
------------

# Here's another example
Name: Tchok
Bids:
   0.1  Twelve foot pole
   1    Tiny potion of climbing
   5    Tiny potion of climbing & Tiny potion of climbing
# This character misspelled "Twelve-foot pole" (forgot the hyphen), so that
# bid is invalid. For the potions, we have explicit bids for a single potion
# ($1) or a pair of potions ($5). We then infer that they would bid $6 for
# 3 potions.
--------

# One last example
Name: Gorkil
Bids:
   10   Tiny chair
    5   Tiny chair
   20   Tiny dining table
   40   Tiny chair & tiny chair & tiny dining table
# So this comes out to:
#          Dining tables
#               0    1
#           +----------
# Chairs 0  |   0   20
#        1  |  10   30
#        2  |  15   40
# When it comes to the full set (table + 2 chairs), the explicit bid of 40
# supersedes the inferred 10+5+20=35 that comes from summing the individual 
# bids.
--------

# Okay, just one more. This is, unfortunately, to show that we do not yet
# support non-supermodular bids. What does this mean? Suppose this bidder
# just wants one potion of any kind, doesn't care which.
Name: Bunnahabhain
Bids:
   10   Tiny potion of climbing
   10   Tiny potion of healing
   10   Tiny potion of climbing & Tiny potion of healing
# So what he wanted was:       But what he's gonna get is:
#        Healing potions                   Healing potions
#                0    1                             0   10
#             +--------                          +--------
# Climbing  0 |  0   10              Climbing  0 |  0   10
# potions   1 | 10   10              potions   1 | 10   20
# This is because the current procedure for inferring composite bids by
# summing the manually-entered bids does not allow a combination of items
# to have a value that is less than the sum of the values of the items
# individually, i.e. it enforces (weak) supermodularity.
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