enorris@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Gene Norris) (11/03/90)
The current version, 2.0, of our not-for-hackers backprop simulator, bps, was released on Friday, Nov. 2, 1990. It is available from gmuvax2.gmu.edu by anonymous ftp. To retrieve, ftp to that machine and cd nn. set your ftp mode to bin and copy what you want. This new version contains: online help -- uses included help file simulated annealing command-line interface option There are now 4 separately tar'ed/compressed packages for 4 hosts: VMSbps for VAX 8xxx/VMS -- if you have problems with this, we will put .obj files here along with a loader.com file for you to re-link on your own machine. UltrixBps for VAX/Ultrix (v. 3.1?) DOSbps for 8088 and for 286/386 machines SparcBps for SparcStation 1 In addition there is a Macintosh executable, which is version 1. It does not run under multifinder, and may seem to time out on a Mac II if you don't enter commands quickly enough. It seems just fine on smaller (and older) Macs including Plus, SE, and 512's. Each file XXXbps.tar is a compressed tar-formatted version of bps, our backprop simulator. An ascii help file should be placed in the directory you put the executable file in. We have found that the user interface(s) is/are sufficiently intuitive that we no longer make the tutorial available. If you feel you need this, please email to me (address is below) and I'll send you a copy. The file is in Macintosh Word 4.0 format. In order to use bps, you must uncompress and then tar the version you want. When you get that far, read the brief file readme.now before proceeding further. This file hasn't been updated recently. A SOURCE CODE license is now available, and I can send you a pro-forma invoice if you need to arrange payment with your institution. The license fee is $100.00, payable with your order;-- we cannot generate bills. For ordering details, please contact me at one of the addresses below. This fee entitles you to one copy of the highly portable C source code, and makefiles for Turboc/DOS, Unix, and VMS systems. The code consistes of some 8,000 lines of C in 15 modules and is internally documented. Licensees also receive an external code document. Licensees will receive the right to modify the simulator as needed for their use at their own computing site, but do not receive the right of further distribution of the modified or unmodified program or source code. The program is protected by copyright. The documentation explains the simulator's highly modular structure and the very slight differences among the various compilations. Prof. Eugene Norris CS Dept George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22032 (703)323-2713 enorris@gmuvax2.gmu.edu fax (703)323-3026 Eugene Norris CS Dept George Mason University Fairfax, VA 22032 (703)323-2713 enorris@gmuvax2.gmu.edu