diff --git a/.project b/.project
index f59d79cb7..9856df2ea 100644
--- a/.project
+++ b/.project
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 				</dictionary>
 				<dictionary>
 					<key>org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.buildArguments</key>
-					<value>-j7</value>
+					<value>-j5</value>
 				</dictionary>
 				<dictionary>
 					<key>org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.buildCommand</key>
diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/NonlinearOptimizer.h b/gtsam/nonlinear/NonlinearOptimizer.h
index 89982c17c..361b1bd69 100644
--- a/gtsam/nonlinear/NonlinearOptimizer.h
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/NonlinearOptimizer.h
@@ -59,6 +59,27 @@ public:
 };
 
 
+/**
+ * Base class for a nonlinear optimization state, including the current estimate
+ * of the variable values, error, and number of iterations.  Optimizers derived
+ * from NonlinearOptimizer usually also define a derived state class containing
+ * additional state specific to the algorithm (for example, Dogleg state
+ * contains the current trust region radius).
+ */
+class NonlinearOptimizerState {
+public:
+
+  /** The current estimate of the variable values. */
+  Values values;
+
+  /** The factor graph error on the current values. */
+  double error;
+
+  /** The number of optimization iterations performed. */
+  unsigned int iterations;
+};
+
+
 /**
  * This is the abstract interface for classes that can optimize for the
  * maximum-likelihood estimate of a NonlinearFactorGraph.