NeuralDataPair.java

/*
 * Encog(tm) Core v2.5 - Java Version
 * http://www.heatonresearch.com/encog/
 * http://code.google.com/p/encog-java/
 
 * Copyright 2008-2010 Heaton Research, Inc.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 *   
 * For more information on Heaton Research copyrights, licenses 
 * and trademarks visit:
 * http://www.heatonresearch.com/copyright
 */

package org.encog.neural.data;

import org.encog.engine.data.EngineData;

/**
 * Training data is stored in two ways, depending on if the data is for
 * supervised, or unsupervised training.
 * 
 * For unsupervised training just an input value is provided, and the ideal
 * output values are null.
 * 
 * For supervised training both input and the expected ideal outputs are
 * provided.
 * 
 * This interface abstracts classes that provide a holder for both of these two
 * data items.
 * 
 * @author jheaton
 */
public interface NeuralDataPair extends EngineData {

	/**
	 * @return The ideal data that the neural network should produce for the
	 *         specified input.
	 */
	NeuralData getIdeal();

	/**
	 * @return The input that the neural network
	 */
	NeuralData getInput();

	/**
	 * @return True if this training pair is supervised. That is, it has both
	 *         input and ideal data.
	 */
	boolean isSupervised();
}