DANN:Using the Library

From Syncleus Wiki

These are the instructions for compiling, testing, and using the dANN core library. If you've downloaded the binary distribution, skip to the "Using the Library" portion of this document.

Description

dANN is an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Artificial Intelligence suite intending to incorporate conventional techniques as well as entirely new techniques inspired by biological systems. Some of the features included are:

• Hyperassociative Map
• 3D mapping and visualizations
• Genetic Algorithms
• Genetic Programming
• Wavelet Genetics
• ANN Connection Optimization
• ANN Genetic Framework
• Backprop ANN
• Perceptron ANN
• Layered Feedforward ANN
• Fully/Partial Recurent ANN
• Example Applications

Getting The Files

There are several distributions available: you can export from git, download the source, or download the precompiled jar files. If you would like to export the latest version from git to the current directory the command is:

If you would like to obtain one of the latest versioned distributions simply get one of the files found at:

http://files.syncleus.com/pub/dANN/latest/

If You would like an older version or snapshot you can go directly to:

http://files.syncleus.com/pub/dANN/

Compilation

Assuming you obtained a source distribution in the previous step you will need to continue with this step, otherwise skip ahead to "Using the Library".

First we need to compile the core library; change directory to the java_dann directory where the build.xml file resides. Next run the following command:

If you are developing and would like to display lint4j based warnings execute the following command:

You should now have the appropriate jar files in build/jar.

Running Unit Tests

The following step is only helpful if you are developing against the library or have recently had trouble running the library reliably and wish to submit unit tests along with your bug report. In order to execute the packaged unit tests simply execute the following command from within the java_dann directory:

If all goes well it should execute all unit tests with no errors or failures. Once the tests are completed the detailed XML reports can be found in build/tests.

Generating Javadocs

The following step is only useful if you plan to develop with the library; if you are only running the library as a dependency for another application you shouldn't need the javadoc API documentation. In order to generate the javadocs from the source code simply execute the following from within the java_dann directory:

Using the Library

In order to use the library you either need to have obtained the binary distribution or used the source distribution and successfully completed the "Compilation" step above. Once compiled the core library will reside in the following location:

build/jar/dann.jar

You will want to use this jar file in the classpath of the application that uses this library (follow the directions for that application). You will need to compile and run it against java 1.5 or later. You will also need to add the following libraries to the application's classpath, these libraries should be included in lib:

lib/j3dcore.jar lib/vecmath.jar lib/j3dutils.jar

You may not need all these libraries for every application so consult your target application's documentation for more details.

If you intend to run any of the 3D visualizations then you will need to have Java3D installed during runtime. You do not, however, need Java3D installed to compile. You can obtain Java3D at the following URL:

http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/desktop/java3d/index.jsp