Package weka.attributeSelection

Class ASSearch

java.lang.Object

weka.attributeSelection.ASSearch

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable, OptionHandler, RevisionHandler

Direct Known Subclasses:

BestFirst, GreedyStepwise, Ranker

public abstract class ASSearch
extends Object
implements Serializable, RevisionHandler, OptionHandler

Abstract attribute selection search class.

Version:

$Revision$

Author:

Mark Hall (mhall@cs.waikato.ac.nz)

See Also:

Serialized Form

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor	Description
ASSearch()

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
static ASSearch	forName(String searchName, String[] options)	Creates a new instance of a search class given it's class name and (optional) arguments to pass to it's setOptions method.
String[]	getOptions()	Gets the current settings of the search.
String	getRevision()	Returns the revision string.
Enumeration<Option>	listOptions()	Returns an enumeration describing the available options.
static ASSearch[]	makeCopies(ASSearch model, int num)	Creates copies of the current search scheme.
abstract int[]	search(ASEvaluation ASEvaluator, Instances data)	Searches the attribute subset/ranking space.
void	setOptions(String[] options)	Parses a given list of options.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

ASSearch

public ASSearch()

Method Detail

listOptions

public Enumeration<Option> listOptions()

Returns an enumeration describing the available options.

Specified by:

listOptions in interface OptionHandler

Returns:

an enumeration of all the available options.

setOptions

public void setOptions(String[] options)
                throws Exception

Parses a given list of options.

Specified by:

setOptions in interface OptionHandler

Parameters:

options - the list of options as an array of strings

Throws:

Exception - if an option is not supported

getOptions

public String[] getOptions()

Gets the current settings of the search.

Specified by:

getOptions in interface OptionHandler

Returns:

an array of strings suitable for passing to setOptions

getRevision

public String getRevision()

Returns the revision string.

Specified by:

getRevision in interface RevisionHandler

Returns:

the revision

search

public abstract int[] search(ASEvaluation ASEvaluator,
                             Instances data)
                      throws Exception

Searches the attribute subset/ranking space.

Parameters:

ASEvaluator - the attribute evaluator to guide the search

data - the training instances.

Returns:

an array (not necessarily ordered) of selected attribute indexes

Throws:

Exception - if the search can't be completed

forName

public static ASSearch forName(String searchName,
                               String[] options)
                        throws Exception

Creates a new instance of a search class given it's class name and (optional) arguments to pass to it's setOptions method. If the search method implements OptionHandler and the options parameter is non-null, the search method will have it's options set.

Parameters:

searchName - the fully qualified class name of the search class

options - an array of options suitable for passing to setOptions. May be null.

Returns:

the newly created search object, ready for use.

Throws:

Exception - if the search class name is invalid, or the options supplied are not acceptable to the search class.

makeCopies

public static ASSearch[] makeCopies(ASSearch model,
                                    int num)
                             throws Exception

Creates copies of the current search scheme. Note that this method now uses Serialization to perform a deep copy, so the search object must be fully Serializable. Any currently built model will now be copied as well.

Parameters:

model - an example search scheme to copy

num - the number of search scheme copies to create.

Returns:

an array of search schemes.

Throws:

Exception - if an error occurs