Using SOM as a clustering Operator

Question

Hi all,

Nowadays,  I have found SOM network (Self-Organizing Map) very efficient for text clustering (according to several valid publications), So I'm about to use it for document clustering with RM. but suddenly I found a strange fact:
                                       "SOM operator has been considered as a visualization operator in RM, not as a clustering operator"
Now, wthe question is that: Can I utilize the current visualization SOM algorithm for developing my own clustering SOM operartor? (I have bought the mannual and so I am familiar with extending rapidminer 5.0)

Anay idea would be greatly appreciated.

MariusHelf · Answer

Yeah, sometimes RapidMiner is not just about data mining, but also about creativity ;)

siamak_want · Answer

Thanks to your fantastic and also tricky method, Marius.
I think you solved the problem. Now I can use the "preprocessing model", exactly as a "cluster model".

thanks again to Marius.

MariusHelf · Answer

You can either apply a clustering algorithm on the SOMified data, or you could set the dimensionality of the SOM to 1 and the net size to the desired number of clusters. The SOM operator outputs a preprocessing model, which you can then apply on new data. See the attached process for an easy example.