Version: 0.4-2
Date: 2025-03-20
Title: Knowledge Space Theory Input/Output
Description: Knowledge space theory by Doignon and Falmagne (1999) <doi:10.1007/978-3-642-58625-5> is a set- and order-theoretical framework which proposes mathematical formalisms to operationalize knowledge structures in a particular domain. The 'kstIO' package provides basic functionalities to read and write KST data from/to files to be used together with the 'kst', 'kstMatrix', 'CDSS', 'pks', or 'DAKS' packages.
License: GPL (≥ 3)
Depends: R (≥ 4.4.0), pks (≥ 0.4-0), MASS, stringr, sets, relations
Imports: kstMatrix
Suggests: kst (≥ 0.5-1)
Author: Cord Hockemeyer [aut, cre]
Maintainer: Cord Hockemeyer <cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at>
NeedsCompilation: no
Repository: CRAN
Encoding: UTF-8
Packaged: 2025-04-04 05:25:18 UTC; cord
Date/Publication: 2025-04-04 06:20:02 UTC

kstIO File formats

Description

Knowledge space theory by Doignon and Falmagne (1985, 1999) is a set- and order-theoretical framework, which proposes mathematical formalisms to operationalize knowledge structures in a particular domain. The 'kstIO' package provides basic functionalities to read and write KST data from/to files.

Details

This page focuses on the different file formats that can be used with the kstIO functions.

File Formats

Over time and in different research groups with knowledge space theory, different file formats have evolved.

Matrix Format

The probably simplest and most direct approach is to store the information in a binary ASCII matrix where a "1" in row i and column j means that item j is element of state/response pattern i.

There is no separating character between the columns, and there should be no trailing whitespace at the end of the line. The last line of the matrix must carry an EndOfLine - in most editors (except vi) this means an empty line after the matrix.

KST Tools Format

This format (Hockemeyer, 2001) extends the matrix format by two preceding header lines containing the number of items and the number of states/response patterns, respectively.

SRBT Tools Format

This format (Poetzi & Wesiak, 2001) extends the KST tools format by yet another preceding header line with format and content metadata. This new header line has the format 

#SRBT v2.0 <struct> ASCII <comment>

where ⁠<struct>⁠ specifies the type of data stored in the file and ⁠<comment>⁠ is an optional arbitrary comment.

Furthermore, SRBT files may contain an arbitrary number of comment lines after the number of states/patterns.

The following data types are supported by the respective kstIO functions:

For kbase and surmise relation files, the encoding information "ASCII" is missing because these files are always in ASCII format.

CSV Format

CSV (comma separated values) is a standard file format for data tables. Within a row, the different columns are separated by commas. Please note that in some European countries and for some programs, rows are instead separated by semicolon, and the comma replaces the decimal point.

CSV files written/read by kstIO functions start with a head row containing the item IDs. The subsequent rows build the matrix as described n the previous format descriptions.

Special File/Data Types

Base Files

Base files are not available in KST tools format.

Their matrix part differs from the other files in that it contains "0", "1", and "2". A "1" means that the state is minimal for the item and a "2" means that it is not (but contains the item). A "0" stands (as always) for the state not containing the item.

Surmise Relation Files

Surmise relation files are not available in KST Tools format, either.

Their matrices are somewhat transposed in comparison to all the other formats. Row i and column j is equal to "1" if knowing i can be surmised from knowing j, and equal to "0" otherwise. Thus, column j describes the minimal state for item j.

Surmise Function Files

Surmise function files are available only in CSV format.

The matrix is here preceded by a row which denotes the item for which the respective state is a clause.

Example

#SRBT v2.0 structure ASCII
3
5
# Some comment or item information
000
100
110
101
111

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Doignon, J.-P. & Falmagne, J.-C. (1985). Spaces for the assessment of knowledge. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 23, 175–196.

Doignon, J.-P. & Falmagne, J.-C. (1999). Knowledge Spaces. Springer Verlag, Berlin.

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

See Also

kbase space_property kstructure

Read base file

Description

Read a base from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_kbase(filename, format = "auto", as.letters = TRUE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "KST", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers?

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by thje read_XXX function.

If as.letters is TRUE the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

Value

A list with the following elements:

matrix

the read structure/data as binary matrix

sets

the read structure as object of class kbase

Note

In automatic format detection, the distinction between "matrix" and "KST" formats work somewhat heuristic. In other words, in rare cases the automatic detection might give the wrong result.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kbase, kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a base file
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
b <- kbase(kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))))
write_kbase(b, "DF7.bas", "KST") # (Old) KST format
# Read file
read_kbase("DF7.bas") # Automatic format detection
read_kbase("DF7.bas", "KST") # Explicit format specification
setwd(d)

Read a response patterns file

Description

Read a set of response patterns from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_kdata(filename, format = "auto", as.letters = TRUE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the data file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "KST", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers?

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by thje read_XXX function.

If as.letters is TRUE the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

Value

A binary matrix with the response patterns.

Note

In automatic format detection, the distinction between "matrix" and "KST" formats work somewhat heuristic. In other words, in rare cases the automatic detection might give the wrong result.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a data file
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
df <- as.binmat(DoignonFalmagne7$N.R)
write_kdata(df, "DF7.dat", "matrix") # matrix format (without any headers)
# Read file
read_kdata("DF7.dat") # Automatic format detection (default)
read_kdata("DF7.dat", "matrix") # Explicit ormat specification
setwd(d)

Read a family of sets from file

Description

Read a family of sets from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_kfamset(filename, format = "auto", as.letters = TRUE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the space file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "KST", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers?

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by thje read_XXX function.

read_kfamset() reads any knowledge space file (space, structure, basis) and ignores any file type infor in SRBT file headers.

If as.letters is TRUE the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

Value

A list with the following elements:

matrix

the read structure/data as binary matrix

sets

the read structure as kspace.

Note

In automatic format detection, the distinction between "matrix" and "KST" formats work somewhat heuristic. In other words, in rare cases the automatic detection might give the wrong result.

There exists no write_kfamset function on purpose.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

space_property, kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a space file
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
ksp <- kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE)))
write_kspace(ksp, "DF7.spc") # Write in (default) SRBT format
# Read file
read_kfamset("DF7.spc") # Automatic format detection (default)
read_kfamset("DF7.spc", "SRBT") # Explicit format specification
setwd(d)

Read a knowledge space file

Description

Read a knowledge space from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_kspace(filename, format = "auto", 
	      as.letters = TRUE, close = FALSE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the space file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "KST", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers?

close

logical, determines whether a closure under union is performed on the read structure.

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by thje read_XXX function.

If as.letters is TRUE the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

If close is TRUE, a closure under union is computed to ensure that the returned knowledge space really is one.

Value

A list with the following elements:

matrix

the read structure/data as binary matrix

sets

the read structure as kspace.

Note

In automatic format detection, the distinction between "matrix" and "KST" formats work somewhat heuristic. In other words, in rare cases the automatic detection might give the wrong result.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

space_property, kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a space file
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
ksp <- kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE)))
write_kspace(ksp, "DF7.spc") # Write in (default) SRBT format
# Read file
read_kspace("DF7.spc") # Automatic format detection (default)
read_kspace("DF7.spc", "SRBT") # Explicit format specification
setwd(d)

Read a knowledge structure file

Description

Read a knowledge structure from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_kstructure(filename, format = "auto", as.letters = TRUE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the structure file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "KST", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers?

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by thje read_XXX function.

If as.letters is TRUE the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

Value

A list with the following elements:

matrix

the read structure/data as binary matrix

sets

the read structure as object of class kstructure.

Note

In automatic format detection, the distinction between "matrix" and "KST" formats work somewhat heuristic. In other words, in rare cases the automatic detection might give the wrong result.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstructure, kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a structure file
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
kst <- kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))
write_kstructure(kst, "DF7.struct") # Write in (default) SRBT format
# Read file
read_kstructure("DF7.struct") # Automatic format detection (default)
read_kstructure("DF7.struct", "SRBT") # Explicit format specification
setwd(d)

Read surmise function file

Description

Read a surmise function from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_surmisefunction(filename)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

Details

Surmise function files exist (so far) only in CSV format.

Value

A list with two elements:

relation

The surmise relation as object of class relation.

matrix

The incidence matrix of the surmise relation.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

See Also

kstIO-package

Read surmise relation file

Description

Read a surmise relation from a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  read_surmiserelation(filename, format = "auto", as.letters = TRUE, close = FALSE)

Arguments

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT", "matrix", "CSV", or "auto" (default).

as.letters

logical, should the elements of the sets be letters or numbers? Defaults to TRUE.

close

logical, should the relation be closed under reflexivity and transitivity? Defaults to FALSE

Details

The format values "SRBT" and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package. The value "auto" (default) requests an automatic detection of the format by the read_XXX function.

If as.letters is TRUE (default), the elements of the sets are letters, otherwise numbers.

If close is TRUE (default is FALSE), the relation is closed under reflexivity and transitivity, otherwise it is returned as is.

Value

A list with two elements:

relation

The surmise relation as object of class relation.

matrix

The incidence matrix of the surmise relation.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstIO-package

Examples

# Produce a relation file
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
r <- as.relation(kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))))
write_surmiserelation(r, "DF7.rel", "SRBT") # SRBT format
# Read file
read_surmiserelation("DF7.rel") # Automatic format detection
read_surmiserelation("DF7.rel", "SRBT") # Explicit format specification
setwd(d)

Write a base file

Description

Write a base to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_kbase(x, filename, format = "SRBT")

Arguments

x

The data to be written, either a binary matrix or an object of kbase class.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT" (default), "KST", "CSV", or "matrix".

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kbase, kstIO-package

Examples

# Obtain data to write from the 'pks' package
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
b <- kbase(kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))))
# Write base to file
write_kbase(b, "DF7.bas") # Write in (default) SRBT format
write_kbase(b, "DF7.bas", "KST") # (Old) KST format
setwd(d)

Write a knowledge space theory file

Description

Write a data set to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_kdata(x, filename, format = "SRBT")

Arguments

x

The data to be written, as a binary matrix.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the data file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT" (default), "KST", "CSV", or "matrix".

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstIO-package

Examples

# Obtain data to write from the 'pks' package
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
df <- as.binmat(DoignonFalmagne7$N.R)
# Write data to file
write_kdata(df, "DF7.dat") # Write in (default) SRBT format
write_kdata(DoignonFalmagne7$K, "DF7.dat", "matrix") # matrix format (without any headers)
setwd(d)

Write a knowledge space file

Description

Write a knowledge space to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_kspace(x, filename, format = "SRBT")

Arguments

x

The data to be written, either a binary matrix or an object of kspace class.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT" (default), "KST", "CSV", or "matrix".

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

space_property, kstIO-package

Examples

# Obtain data to write from the 'pks' package
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
ksp <- kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE)))
# Write space to file
write_kspace(ksp, "DF7.spc") # Write in (default) SRBT format
write_kspace(DoignonFalmagne7$K, "DF7.spc", "KST") # Write the matrix directly in (old) KST format
setwd(d)

Write a knowledge structure file

Description

Write a knowledge structure to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_kstructure(x, filename, format = "SRBT")

Arguments

x

The data to be written, either a binary matrix or an object of kstructure class.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT" (default), "KST", "CSV", or "matrix".

Details

The format values "SRBT", "KST", and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstructure, kstIO-package

Examples

# Obtain data to write from the 'pks' package
library(kst)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
kst <- kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))
# Write structure to file
write_kstructure(kst, "DF7.struct") # Write in (default) SRBT format
# Write the matrix directly in (old) KST format
write_kstructure(DoignonFalmagne7$K, "DF7.struct", "KST") 
setwd(d)

Write a surmise function file

Description

Write a surmise function to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_surmisefunction(x, filename)

Arguments

x

The data to be written, either a quadratic binary matrix or an object of relation class.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

Details

SUrmise function can (so far) be stored only in CSV format.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

See Also

kstIO-package

Write a (surmise) relation file

Description

Write a surmise relation to a file. The file formats are described in the kstIO-package information page.

Usage

  write_surmiserelation(x, filename, format = "SRBT")

Arguments

x

The data to be written, either a quadratic binary matrix or an object of relation class.

filename

A character string specifying the name of the base file.

format

Specification of the files format. Can be "SRBT" (default), "CSV", or "matrix".

Details

The format values "SRBT" and "matrix" refer to the different generations of file formats described in kstIO-package.

Author(s)

Cord Hockemeyer cord.hockemeyer@uni-graz.at

References

Hockemeyer, C. (2001). KST Tools User Manual (2nd ed.). https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/KST-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf.

Poetzi, S. & Wesiak, G. (2001). SRbT Tools User Manual. https://resources.cord-hockemeyer.info/techreports/SRBT-Tools_TechRep_FWF01.pdf

See Also

kstIO-package

Examples

# Obtain data to write from the 'pks' package
library(kst)
library(pks)
d <- getwd()
setwd(tempdir())
data(DoignonFalmagne7)
r <- as.relation(kspace(kstructure(as.pattern(DoignonFalmagne7$K, as.set=TRUE))))
# Write surmise relation to file
write_surmiserelation(r, "DF7.bas") # Write in (default) SRBT format
write_surmiserelation(r, "DF7.bas", "matrix") # matrix format
setwd(d)

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