TiMBL
TiMBL is an open source software package implementing several memory-based learning algorithms, among which IB1-IG, an implementation of k-nearest neighbor classification with feature weighting suitable for symbolic feature spaces, and IGTree, a decision-tree approximation of IB1-IG. All implemented algorithms have in common that they store some representation of the training set explicitly in memory. During testing, new cases are classified by extrapolation from the most similar stored cases.
Provided tools & services
libtimbl
Memory-based Learning Library with API for C++
- Type
-
- Software Library
- Executable name
- libtimbl
timbl
Memory-based learner, command-line tool
- Type
-
- Command-line Application
- Executable name
- timbl
Tool suite: TiMBL
The following closely related tools are in a tool suite together with TiMBL:
python3-timbl 2025.5.2
Python 3 language binding for the Tilburg Memory-Based Learner [view more]
- Scientific/Engineering
- Text Processing > Linguistic
- k-nearest-neighbours
- knn
- machine-learning
- python
- timbl
- Bsd
- Linux
- Macos
- Python
Created: 2013-02-11
Modified: 2025-05-02
References
- Walter Daelemans
- Jakub Zavrel
- Ko van der Sloot
- Antal van den Bosch
- Walter Daelemans
- Antal van den Bosch
Citation
Please use one of the above reference publications to cite the software, if you want to cite the software directly, you can use the following citation generated from the metadata:
- van der Sloot, Ko
- van den Bosch, Antal
- Daelemans, Walter
- van Gompel, Maarten <proycon@anaproy.nl>
- Weijters, Ton
- Zavrel, Jakub
- Centre for Language and Speech Technology
Logs & Reviews
- Name
- Automatic software metadata validation report for TiMBL 6.11
- Author
-
- codemetapy validator using software.ttl
- Date
- 2026-02-07 03:32:08
- Review
Please consult the CLARIAH Software Metadata Requirements at https://github.com/CLARIAH/clariah-plus/blob/main/requirements/software-metadata-requirements.md for an in-depth explanation of any found problems Validation of TiMBL 6.11 was successful (score=3/5), but there are some warnings which should be addressed: 1. Warning: Documentation *SHOULD* be expressed (This is missing in the metadata) 2. Info: Reference publications *SHOULD* be expressed, if any (The metadata does express this currently, but something is wrong in the way it is expressed. Is the type/class valid?) 3. Info: The funder *SHOULD* be acknowledged (This is missing in the metadata) 4. Info: The technology readiness level *SHOULD* be expressed (This is missing in the metadata)
- Rating
(log file starts at Sat Feb 7 03:32:01 UTC 2026)
[harvester info] --> Processing timbl (https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl) [Sat Feb 7 03:32:01 UTC 2026]
[harvester info] Git updating cached clone of https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl...
[harvester info] Found release v6.11
[harvester info] Using 'v6.11'
[harvester info] Git reference: v6.11
[harvester info] Scanning directory /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache/timbl for harvestable resources...
[harvester info] found codemeta.json for timbl (md5sum ce9ad1863c7e90f4da74c567fa61ffe2); **NOTE: this is considered authoritative and most other detection methods will be skipped now!**
[harvester info] Inferring repostatus information from git activity (used only as a fallback if not explicitly provided)...
[harvester info] Inferred repostatus https://www.repostatus.org/#active
[harvester info] Looking for repostatus information in README.md in master branch...
[harvester info] Looking for repostatus information in README in master branch...
[harvester info] Parsing MAINTAINERS from master branch...
[harvester info] Setting group TiMBL
[harvester info] Reconciliating: codemetapy --baseuri https://tools.clariah.nl --baseuri https://tools.clariah.nl --includecontext --addcontext https://w3id.org/nwo-research-fields --addcontext https://w3id.org/research-technology-readiness-levels --addcontextgraph https://vocabs.dariah.eu/rest/v1/tadirah/data?format=text/turtle --trl --identifier "timbl" --codeRepository "https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl" --validate /etc/software.ttl --released --enrich --textv "Please consult the CLARIAH Software Metadata Requirements at https://github.com/CLARIAH/clariah-plus/blob/main/requirements/software-metadata-requirements.md for an in-depth explanation of any found problems" -O /tmp/out/timbl.codemeta.json /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/99-repostatus.timbl.codemeta.json /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/10-jsonld.timbl.codemeta.json /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/05-maintainers.timbl.codemeta.json /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/04-applicationSuite.timbl.codemeta.json
-- begin log --
/usr/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pyshacl/extras/__init__.py:6: UserWarning: pkg_resources is deprecated as an API. See https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/pkg_resources.html. The pkg_resources package is slated for removal as early as 2025-11-30. Refrain from using this package or pin to Setuptools<81.
import pkg_resources
Passed 4 files/sources but specified 0 input types! Automatically guessing types...
Detected input types: [('/tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/99-repostatus.timbl.codemeta.json', 'json'), ('/tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/10-jsonld.timbl.codemeta.json', 'json'), ('/tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/05-maintainers.timbl.codemeta.json', 'json'), ('/tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/04-applicationSuite.timbl.codemeta.json', 'json')]
Adding to contextgraph: /tmp/turtle
Initial URI automatically generated, may be overriden later: https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl
Processing source #1 of 4
Parsing json-ld file from /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/99-repostatus.timbl.codemeta.json
NOTE: Not a valid JSON-LD document, @context missing! Attempting to inject automatically...
Injected (possibly temporary) URI https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl
[CODEMETA COMPOSITION (https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl)] processed 1 new triples, total is now 2
Processing source #2 of 4
Parsing json-ld file from /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/10-jsonld.timbl.codemeta.json
Injected (possibly temporary) URI https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl
[CODEMETA 2 TO 3] Updating contIntegration -> continuousIntegration
[CODEMETA 2 TO 3] Updating targetProduct -> isSourceCodeOf
[CODEMETA 2 TO 3] Updating targetProduct -> isSourceCodeOf
[CODEMETA CORRECTION (timbl)] automatically converting spdx license URI from https:// to http:///
[CODEMETA COMPOSITION (timbl)] processed 131 new triples, total is now 131
Processing source #3 of 4
Parsing json-ld file from /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/05-maintainers.timbl.codemeta.json
Found main resource with URI https://tools.clariah.nl/maintainers/snapshot
Injected (possibly temporary) URI https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl
[CODEMETA COMPOSITION (timbl)] processed 14 new triples, total is now 144
Processing source #4 of 4
Parsing json-ld file from /tmp/codemeta-harvester.cache//tmp/04-applicationSuite.timbl.codemeta.json
NOTE: Not a valid JSON-LD document, @context missing! Attempting to inject automatically...
Injected (possibly temporary) URI https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl
[CODEMETA COMPOSITION (timbl)] processed 1 new triples, total is now 145
Remapping URI to (possibly) new identifier and version component: https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl -> https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl/6.11
[CODEMETA VALIDATION (timbl)] done
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://tools.clariah.nl/stub/H34d61d9ec36c63ed as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2493-656X as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://tools.clariah.nl/stub/H-53d39f89055080f as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1046-0006 as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://tools.clariah.nl/stub/H08b430439d5e3104 as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding author https://tools.clariah.nl/stub/H-6016a4f446b1806e as contributor
[CODEMETA ENRICHMENT (timbl)] adding affiliation(s) of first author as producer
VALIDATION https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl/6.11 #1: Warning: Documentation *SHOULD* be expressed (This is missing in the metadata)
VALIDATION https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl/6.11 #2: Info: Reference publications *SHOULD* be expressed, if any (The metadata does express this currently, but something is wrong in the way it is expressed. Is the type/class valid?)
VALIDATION https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl/6.11 #3: Info: The funder *SHOULD* be acknowledged (This is missing in the metadata)
VALIDATION https://tools.clariah.nl/timbl/6.11 #4: Info: The technology readiness level *SHOULD* be expressed (This is missing in the metadata)
-- end log --
[harvester info] Output written to /tmp/out/timbl.codemeta.json
[harvester info] <-- Finished processing timbl (https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl) [Sat Feb 7 03:32:08 UTC 2026]
Metadata Properties
- Version
- 6.11 (release notes)
- Interface types
-
- Command-line Application
- Software Library
- Software website
- Source code repository
- https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl
- Keywords
-
- decision tree
- k-nearest neighbours
- knn
- machine learning
- memory based learning
- natural language processing
- nlp
- Development Status
-
-
- Issue Tracker (Support)
- https://github.com/LanguageMachines/timbl/issues
- Documentation
- License
- Maintainer(s)
-
- Maarten van Gompel <proycon@anaproy.nl> (KNAW Humanities Cluster) (KNAW Humanities Cluster & CLST, Radboud University)
- Ko van der Sloot
- Contributor(s)
-
- Ko van der Sloot (Centre for Language and Speech Technology)
- Antal van den Bosch (https://cls.ru.nl)
- Walter Daelemans
- Maarten van Gompel <proycon@anaproy.nl> (Centre for Language and Speech Technology) (Humanities Cluster) (Centre for Language Studies) (https://knaw.huc.nl)
- Ton Weijters
- Jakub Zavrel
- Producer
- Programming Language
-
- C++
- Continuous Integration Tests
- None
- Software dependencies
-
- libxml2
- ticcutils
- Metadata validation
- Created
- 1998