The Pattern Recognition Group is a part of the Faculty of Applied Physics in Delft. We do research on theory and applications of image processing and pattern recognition, with a special interest in sensors, measurements and measurement accuracy. Moreover, we study the development and use of tools in this area.

The SPRLIB/ANNLIB library is one of these tools, developed to facilitate research in both statistical pattern recognition and artificial neural networks.

SPRLIB & ANNLIB

Statistical Pattern
Recognition &
Artificial Neural Network
Library

NEWS

(December 3, 2003) The sources can now be downloaded directly, filling in a form is no longer necessary. The licensing terms still apply.

(November 20, 2000) An SPRLIB/ANNLIB mailing list has been started by Martin Krafft. Please see below for details on how to subscribe.

(March 5, 1998) SPRIB/ANNLIB version 3.1 has been released. This release includes a number of bugfixes, a number of new modules and a new manual. Also, the code is now ANSI C - compliant. From now on this will be the default library distributed.

(August 11, 1998) It is now possible to download the manual, NetTalk demo and some example SPRLIB/ANNLIB datasets straightaway, without filling in the form. For obtaining the SPRLIB/ANNLIB source tree, filling in the form is still required.

Statistical Pattern Recognition Library

In the context of the pattern recognition research within the Pattern Recognition Group, a software package SPRLIB was developed to support the easy construction and simulation of pattern classifiers. It consist of a library of functions (written in C) that can be called from your own program. Most of the well-known classifiers are present (k-nn, Fisher, Parzen, ....), as well as error estimation and dataset generation routines.

Moreover it supports a set of standard datastructures for data and memory management to monitor the memory usage. The library can be compiled for various platforms: SUN (SunOS, Solaris), SGI (Irix), HP (HPUX) and PC (Linux, MS-DOS + Turbo-C/Borland-C, MS-DOS + DJGPP (GNU C), Windows 95/NT) both in a static and a dynamic version. Also, extensive debugging options are available.

Artificial Neural Networks Library

Based on the data architecture laid down by SPRLIB, a neural network simulation library was developed. The library contains numerous functions for creating, training and testing feed-forward networks. Training algorithms include back-propagation, pseudo-Newton, Levenberg-Marquardt, conjugate gradient descent, BFGS.... Furthermore, it is possible - due to the datastructures' general applicability - to build Kohonen maps and other more exotic network architectures using the same data types.

SPRLIB and ANNLIB use the same set of support routines for memory management, file I/O etc. Therefore, the libraries are now distributed together.

Distribution for research purposes

The library (and its documentation) can be obtained from the Pattern Recognition Group. It is free for use, if and only if it is used for academic and/or research purposes. For any other use of the library (e.g. in a commercial application) please refer to the licensing information. We only ask that when results are published and the library was used to obtain these results, you include the following reference to our library:

Hoekstra, A., Kraaijveld, M.A., Ridder, D. de and Schmidt, W.F., "The Complete SPRLIB & ANNLIB", April 1996, Pattern Recognition Group, Delft University of Technology

Note: for standard numerical routines, the libraries use some routines from Numerical Recipes in C. These functions are not public domain; therefore, we are unable to distribute this code with the library. However, the manual indicates which NR in C functions are used; they can be found in [Press 1988] and [Press 1992].

The sources, manual, the NetTalk demo and a number of SPRLIB/ANNLIB datasets can be downloaded here.

Licensing for commercial purposes

For non-academic commercial use within the image processing market, licenses can be obtained through:

Foster Findley Ass. Ltd.
Newcastle Technopole
Kings Manor, Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 6PA United Kingdom

e-mail: delphine@ffaltd.demon.co.uk

For non-image processing use we supply the following licenses:

  1. A no-redistribution license for Dfl. 3,000. This license is intended for internal use within a single laboratory within a single research organization.
  2. A closed redistribution license for Dfl. 10,000 initially, with an additional 5% of the price of each resale. This license gives in addition to the no-redistribution license the permission to use and redistribute SPRLIB/ANNLIB routines included in commercial packages, provided that they are not visible nor accessible directly by the end user.
  3. A full redistribution license might be supplied on request. As we have already supplied exclusive licenses for some regions and scientific areas, new requests will have to be checked against these.

All these are source licenses. They are provided on an "as-is" basis: no support, no guarantees and a disclaimer for errors in the code as well as for damage caused by the correct and incorrect use of the code. The following procedure holds:

Documentation

A user's guide and reference manual to the library are currently available in written form as "The Complete SPRLIB & ANNLIB" (see: Distribution). To order this manual (at DFL 50,- + p&p), please contact the SPRLIB/ANNLIB manager: sprlib@ph.tn.tudelft.nl.

This book has been converted to HTML and is now available on-line. You can also download a PostScript or HTML version.

Mailing list

The SPRLIB/ANNLIB mailing list is supposed to be a forum for users of SPRLIB/ANNLIB, maintained by Martin Krafft. It should serve as a medium for discussion, as a source of help for everyone, with everyone being the potential helper, and as a general information board. Everyone who uses SPR/ANNLIB is encouraged to subscribe so that all users may share knowledge as a group. A digest version is being worked on. Please subscribe to the list for now or contact me at owner-sprannlib@sccs.swarthmore.edu if you wish to be added to the digest once it is up. To subscribe to the mailing list for SPRANNLIB, please send an email to:

majordomo@sccs.swarthmore.edu

with the following text in the body (!):

subscribe sprannlib

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the mailing list administrator at owner-sprannlib@sccs.swarthmore.edu.

Disclaimer

The Pattern Recognition Group in Delft is holder of the copyright of this documentation and the described software. Any use of this system, without the explicit permission of this group, is an infringement of the copyright. In addition, the Pattern Recognition Group and specially the authors of this documentation and software, cannot accept any responsibilities for damages or loss related to the use of this software, which is not guaranteed to be failure free. Any use of the SPRLIB/ANNLIB software is for the responsibility of the user and/or users of this software.

Finally, no rights may be derived from this text. Although we try to maintain these pages to the best of our ability, we cannot be held responsible for any errors present in the above information.

Pattern Recognition Group
SPRLIB/ANNLIB manager: sprlib@ph.tn.tudelft.nl