Expanding Sets by Use of See References

You can exponentially increase the denseness of connectivity in the equivalence file by turning on the option called "See References". This greatly increases set size overall.

The concept of a "See" reference is the same as in a dictionary. When you are looking up the word "cat", you'll get a description and a few definitions which try to outline exactly what the concept of "cat" is all about. Then it may say at the end, "See also pet".

With See References set to on, the equivalence list associated with the word "cat" would be automatically expanded to include all equivalences associated with the word "pet". Not all equivalences have "See also" notations, but with See References on, all equivalences associated with any "See also" root word will be included as part of the original. With See References off, only the root word and its equivalences will be included in that word set.

In the Equivalence File, See References are denoted with the at sign (@). In this way, additional second level references can be added or deleted from a root word entry.

For some of the more common words like "take" and "life" and such, allowing See References can make a set surprisingly huge, so you should think twice before operating in this mode. It is really intended to expand the range of opportunity to the user, so that there is more to pick and choose from when editing the content of the word lists.

If you are using the default equivalence sets it is generally better to run with the "See" option "off". You would not normally want to be doing searches where the word lists are too large; we suggest limiting the set size to well under 100 in any case, whether you are running with See References either on or off.

In a theoretical sense, given no limitations, using endless levels of See References could eventually create a circle which covered the whole spectrum of life, and led right back to the word one had started with. Therefore Metamorph has intentionally built-in limitations on set size to prevent this connectivity of concept from becoming redundant or out of hand. Firstly, See References are restricted to only one level of reference. Secondly, if a word set approaches around 256, Metamorph will automatically truncate it in the search process, cutting off any words outside the numerical limit.

To make use of the See References option, set the corresponding APICP flag "see".