Terminology of the Tool BigNet

BigNet subdivides a net into several planes. The input layer, the output layer and every hidden layer are called a plane in the   notation of BigNet. A plane is a two-dimensional array of units. Every single unit within a plane can be addressed by its coordinates. The unit in the upper left corner of every plane has the coordinates (1,1). A group of units within a plane, ordered in the shape of a   square, is called a cluster. The position of a cluster is determined by the coordinates of its upper left corner and its expansion in the x direction (width) and y direction (height) (fig. ).

  
Figure: The BigNet window for Feed-Forward Networks

BigNet creates a net in two steps:

1. Edit net: This generates internal data structures in BigNet which describe the network but doesn't generate the network yet. This allows for easy modification of the network parameters before creation of the net.
   The net editor consists of two parts:
   1. The plane editing part for editing planes. The input data is stored in the plane list.
   2. The link editing part for editing links between planes. The input data is stored in the link list.
2. Generate net in SNNS: This generates the network from the internal data structures in BigNet.

Both editor parts are subdivided into an input part (Edit plane, Edit link) and into a display part for control purposes (Current plane, Current link). The input data of both editors is stored, as described above, in the plane list and in the link list. After pressing , , or the input data is added to the corresponding editor list. In the control part one list element is always visible. The buttons xgui_bignet/bn_button_first.ps, xgui_bignet/bn_button_prev.ps, xgui_bignet/bn_button_next.ps, and xgui_bignet/bn_button_last.ps enable moving around in the list. The operations DELETE, INSERT, OVERWRITE, CURRENT PLANE TO EDITOR and CURRENT LINK TO EDITOR refer to the current element. Input data is only entered in the editor list if it is correct, otherwise nothing happens.