Visual Neurocomputing
               Neural Network Editor and Simulator
                           Version 1.0

        Copyright © 1995 Gabriele Falcioni, Stefano Guarnieri

   This program and related documentation are freely distributable.



      Visual Neurocomputing  is an integrated system to create,
      edit and simulate Multilayer Feedforward Neural Networks.

      This program is under development. Some features are still
      unimplemented. See below for a list of known problems.

      A brief  but complete introduction to neural networks is
      available in:

         B. Widrow, M. A. Lehr
         "30 Years of Adaptive Neural Networks: Perceptron,
         Adaline and Backpropagation",
         Preceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 78, Nr. 9, September 1990

System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Visual Neurocomputing requires:

   - enhanced CPU and a math coprocessor: 68020+68881 or better.
   - Kickstart V37 or higher.

How to Contact the Authors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   We want to support further development and research about neural
   networks and engineering (scientific) software. This program is
   our very first step in the field and is work in progress.

   If you find this program useful, if you found bug(s) or you have
   suggestions for changes/improvements, contact us!

      Gabriele Falcioni
      via E. Cialdini, 50
      I-60122 Ancona
      I T A L Y
      @{i}email: falcioni@fastnet.it@{ui}

      Stefano Guarnieri
      via Esino, 151/A
      I-60020 Torrette (AN)
      I T A L Y
      @{i}email: bingo@eealab.unian.it@{ui}


Unimplemented Features
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   · Multiple Document Interface. The following menu items are disabled:
     "Project/Hide"
     "Project/Reveal..."
     "Project/Close"

   · Printer support.

   · Environment configuration. The menu "Settings" is unimplemented.

   · Neuron Graphics. Every neuron look the same.
     The actual capabilities of graphics.library impose big amount of
     work to produce bitmap color remapping.

   · Workbench and Shell interface. The program can be started either
     from Workbench or Shell, but no parameter can be passed.

   · Icons. No icons are generated for new files.

   · Neuron Editor: Drag Selection.


Known Problems
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   · Simulator's Desired Output Offset. This is not really a problem, it's
     a feature: A default offset equal to Network's Input Delay is *always*
     added to the user specified offset. Use a negative offset to remove
     the default.
     In the next release, a checkbox will be added to enable this feature.

   · Startup Initializers do not report failures to the User. The
     program is silently aborted. Currently, the only failure possible
     is a memory shortage or wrong hardware/system software.

   · The requester formatting code does not handle well the case of big
     requesters: The current screen font may force windows to be bigger
     than the working screen, in this case the window will not open and
     the operation is aborted.

   · The first mouse click in a project window is interpreted as a
     selection operation. 

   · Project Window Refresh. When a requester is activated or the program
     is busy no refresh is performed on project windows.

   · Error Checking of Requesters' Input. None or limited.

   · In this release, the memory buffers of the network editor are big
     enough to use up to 127 neurons per layer. RESPECT THIS LIMIT or
     the guru will visit you...

   All these problems will be fixed in the next release. The program is
   Enforcer Clean, Mungwall reported no errors. Our tests haven't shown
   evidence of critical bugs.

   Developed in 2.5 months with SAS/C V6.55, recompiled (partly) with V6.56
   The V6.56 compiler AND global optimizer showed up an enormous bug
   - a CXERR - in the middle of the project :(

   Tested under Kickstart V40 with 68030+68882, 68040, chipset ECS.


How to use Visual Neurocomputing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   The program is Style Guide compliant. Everything is on the right place.
   Standard application behaviour is guaranteed. System clipboard is
   supported.

   Menu Extended Selection: it works, but the exended selection chain is
   broken if a command that may quit the program is selected.

   Mouse Selection of Items: it works like Workbench's icon selection.

   Requesters: Although hotkeys are still not supported the couple
   Left Amiga + 'V' and Left Amiga + 'B' works as expected.

   Project Windows: scroll bars work as in Workbench's windows. The cursor
   keys (and qualifiers) can be used to scroll the window's contents.

   Graphics: all implemented graphics routines *should* work with alien
   graphic cards (RTG) - sorry! We have not gfx card to perform tests.
   The application is V39+ aware. It knows how to use pens and how to adapt
   to screen font and display resolution.

   Clipboard: this program saves its networks as IFF VNC0 files.
   This format is left undocumented because it will be revised in the
   next release. The clipboard unit 1 is used to exchange data.

   A true documentation to Visual Neurocomputing will be distributed with
   the next release. We apologize for this:

   - If You know Neural Networks You know how to use Visual Neurocomputing;
     if You don't know Neural Network You don't need Visual Neurocomputing.
   - Ugly english :)

   Enjoy (we hope...)