Neural net default error: "Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn"."

I have not used any neural net programs before, and am trying the built-in neural net example called "Simple Clusters" via the Gui App. When I load the example data, and choose the default 10 neurons, I get this error:

Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".

As far as I know, I have not changed any default settings, the distanceFnc is still the default "linkdist", which exists in my path. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,

[Greg Heath]

Show relevant code and error messages

[Jipei Chen]

I also encountered the same problem. Is there any solution currently? Is it a source code issue?

Answer 1

[Greg Heath]

1. Review

   a. doc selforgmap
   b. help selforgmap

2.What happens when you cut and paste the help example with each of the following alternatives:

 net = selforgmap;
 net = selforgmap( [8 8]);
 net = selforgmap( [8 8],100,3,'hextop',linkdist' );

Hope this helps

Greg

[Emily]

Thanks again. I tried these with the same results as the first. I have read the doc and help, and done multiple google searches to try to understand. I purchased and installed the neural net toolbox several months after the rest of matlab, maybe I will reinstall so all toolboxes are recognized from the beginning.

>> net = selforgmap;
Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".
Error using nnetParamInfo (line 28)
Not enough input arguments.

Error in selforgmap>get_info (line 88)
  info = nnfcnNetwork(mfilename,'Self-Organizing Map',fcnversion, ...

Error in selforgmap (line 44)
  if isempty(INFO), INFO = get_info; end

>> net = selforgmap( [8 8]);
Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".
Error using nnetParamInfo (line 28)
Not enough input arguments.

Error in selforgmap>get_info (line 88)
  info = nnfcnNetwork(mfilename,'Self-Organizing Map',fcnversion, ...

Error in selforgmap (line 44)
  if

   isempty(INFO), INFO = get_info; end

>> net = selforgmap( [8 8],100,3,'hextop','linkdist' );
Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".
Error using nnetParamInfo (line 28)
Not enough input arguments.

Error in selforgmap>get_info (line 88)
  info = nnfcnNetwork(mfilename,'Self-Organizing Map',fcnversion, ...

Error in selforgmap (line 44)
  if isempty(INFO), INFO = get_info; end

[Greg Heath]

Why don't you cut and paste the examples in

 help fitnet

and

 help patternnet

to see if the NNTBX works at all

Answer 2

[Monique]

In case someone ends up here after googling the issue like I did, since I am afraid Greg's answer was not particularly useful... What happened in my case (and what may be the issue for you as well) was that I had a function in my path, conflicting with the toolbox - in my case a dist.m I wrote a long time ago and had forgotten about. So you might want to check whether there is a dist.m in your path.

If not, run net = selforgmap; right when launching a "clean" version of matlab with no personal directories added to the path. If it works, add paths in your directories one by one (addpath/rmpath) until you narrow down which one causes the function to fail, and then narrow down to the function... (since I had no idea what I was looking for, once I found the directory I had to remove functions from it until I found which one was the culprit). Hope it helps!

[Rey9]

Thanks @Monique, I have same problem with SOM tollbox, I tried "net = selforgmap" unfortunately problem exist.I already used it without problem several times.I think the "NNTBX" doesn't work in my computer.

net = selforgmap
Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".
Error using nnetParamInfo (line 28)
Subscripted assignment dimension mismatch.
Error in selforgmap>get_info (line 98)
  nnetParamInfo('distanceFcn','Distance Function','nntype.distance_fcn','linkdist',...
Error in selforgmap (line 44)
if isempty(INFO), INFO = get_info; end
end

[Rey9]

Actually, the problem occurred when I add new toolbox pass (In my case FMRLAB),when I removed it from MATLAB, I could run my program again.

[Sinan Islam]

Thanks alot Monique. I had a function called dist.m

Honestly, I find it a bit weird that matlab core functions and toolboxes functions do not have their own namespace. Also, I am not sure if matlab have the concept of Environments. Anyhow, I renamed the function and the issue was fixed.

[Emily]

Yes, thanks Monique! I have a function dist.m, too! The problem disappeared when I worked on a version matlab without any of my personal paths installed. (@Sinan Islam) thanks for bumping this up!

Answer 3

[Greg Heath]

If you can't figure it out, try the command line approach and keep my comment in mind.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for formally accepting my answer

Greg

[Emily]

Thanks for your answer, but I have tried on the command line, too and get the same error, although a bit more information on the error.

>> net = selforgmap([8 8]);

Default value is not a member of type "nntype.distance_fcn".
Error using nnetParamInfo (line 28)
Not enough input arguments.

Error in selforgmap>get_info (line 88)
  info = nnfcnNetwork(mfilename,'Self-Organizing Map',fcnversion, ...

Error in selforgmap (line 44)
  if isempty(INFO), INFO = get_info; end

Answer 4

[Daniel Perez Rapela]

I just found the solution here: https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/339194-error-in-feedforwardnet-default-value-is-not-a-member-of-type-nntype-training_fcn#answer_266546