Output semantics and missing coverage indicators in P-median, MCLP and LSCP nodes

Hi

I am currently experimenting with the Location Analysis nodes (P-median, MCLP and LSCP) and I have some questions regarding the interpretation of the output, specifically for MCLP and LSCP.

P-median

For the P-median node, the output is clear and intuitive:

*

demand points are assigned to selected supply locations

*

distances and assignments reflect the actual optimization result

No issues here.

MCLP (Maximum Covering Location Problem)

For MCLP, demand is considered covered if it lies within a critical spatial cost.

What confused me initially:

*

all demand points are still assigned to a supply, even when they are outside the critical distance

*

the output does not contain an explicit coverage indicator (e.g. 0/1 or boolean)

I now understand that:

*

assignment ≠ coverage

*

uncovered demand is still assigned, but does not contribute to the objective

To make this explicit, I manually reconstructed a

covered

column using a Rule Engine based on distance ≤ critical spatial cost.

Question:

Is the absence of a coverage indicator in the MCLP output expected, or is there a way to retrieve this directly from the node?

LSCP (Location Set Covering Problem)

For LSCP, I observed similar behavior:

*

all demand points are assigned to the same supply_id

*

changing distances or thresholds does not change this assignment

*

again, no explicit coverage or feasibility indicator is present

My understanding is that:

*

LSCP only decides which supply locations are selected

*

assignment is secondary and not optimized

*

coverage is a hard constraint, but not exposed in the output

Questions:

*

Is this behavior intended?

*

Is manual reconstruction of coverage from the distance matrix the recommended approach?

*

Should the assignment column be ignored for LSCP interpretation?

Feature request

Would it be possible to enhance the MCLP and LSCP nodes with clearer output semantics, for example:

*

an explicit

covered

(0/1) column for demand points

*

a clear selection flag for supply locations

*

or documentation clarifying which output columns are meaningful per model

This would greatly improve interpretability and reduce trial-and-error when working with these otherwise very powerful nodes.

Gr. Hans