B.2 Introduction to the Interactive Examples

Throughout the hypertext on CD-ROM you will come across interactive examples that consist of text describing the example and then a button that will execute the example. After reading the text, just click on the icon, and the NeuroSolutions example will start. Below is a figure with an example.

The examples have a common feel. A breadboard is a NeuroSolutions "document window" that may have components, text, and buttons placed on it. The example breadboards consist of three subsections as follows. The top section contains the text describing the example, the middle section contains the components that make up the example neural network, and the bottom section contains the various displays or graphs that "probe" the network.

The examples typically occupy multiple pages. To move to the next page you simply press the button in the top-right hand corner. To exit the example immediately, press the button. The examples in this tutorial and in the textbook are created on-the-fly using interactive macros in NeuroSolutions. Because of this, there is no way to return to the previous page of an example. Most examples are short, however, so you can exit the example and use the textbook to restart the example.

All the examples in the book are "live." The displays are created while you watch, and you can modify the parameters of the network at any time. All the network controls are grouped on one toolbar called the "control toolbar." Like other toolbars, the control toolbar can be moved virtually anywhere, but it is typically found just under the menu bar.

NeuroSolutions Control Toolbar

A completed network can be "run" by pressing the green "start" button. Running the network consists of presenting the input data to the network, allowing the data to move through and be operated on by the network, and creating the displays that show the parameters and outputs of the network. At the end of each run, the start button is deactivated to indicate that the network has completed its operation. To rerun the network, press the reset button and then press the start button.

The following commands are most commonly used to control a simulation:

Control	Name	Action
	Start	Starts the simulation
	Pause	Pauses the simulation
	Reset	Resets the system counters and randomizes the network's initial conditions
	Zero Counters	Resets the system counters without randomizing the network's initial conditions
	Step Epoch	Runs the simulation until the end of the next epoch of data
	Step Exemplar	Runs the simulation for one sample of data

You have just learned the fundamentals necessary to run the interactive examples. Let's try out a very simple example to reinforce these concepts.

TUTORIAL EXAMPLE 1

The goal of this example is to allow you to get used to the "look" and "feel" of NeuroSolutions examples. Just click on the icon and NeuroSolutions will launch the example. Once inside the example, follow the directions in the text. After the example has completed, you will return to this point.

NeuroSolutions Example

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