The ASCII Network File Format

The ASCII representation of a network consists of the following parts:

• a header, which contains information about the net
• the definition of the teaching function
• the definition of the sites
• the definition of cell types
• the definition of the default values for cells
• the enumeration of the cells with all their characteristics
• the list of connections
• a list of subnet numbers
• a list of layer numbers

All parts, except the header and the enumeration of the cells, may be omitted. Each part may also be empty. It then consists only of the part title, the header line and the boarder marks (e.g.: SPM_amp----|---|------&).

Entries in the site definition section do not contain any empty columns. The only empty column in the type definition section may be the sites column, in which case the cells of this type do not have sites.

Entries in the unit definition section have at least the columns no. (cell number) and position filled. The entries (rows) are sorted by increasing cell number. If column typeName is filled, the columns act func, out func, and sites remain empty.

Entries in the connection definition section have all columns filled. The respective cell does not have a site, if the column site is empty. The entries are sorted by increasing number of the target cell (column target). Each entry may have multiple entries in the column sources. In this case, the entries (number of the source cell and the connection strength) are separated by a comma and a blank, or by a comma and a newline (see example in the Appendix ).

The file may contain comment lines. Each line beginning with # is skipped by the SNNS-kernel.