code: def patternVector(self, vector):
          
          if not self.patterned: return vector
          if type(vector) == int:
              if self.getWord(vector) != '':
                  return self.getWord(vector)
              else:
                  return vector
          elif type(vector) == float:
              if self.getWord(vector) != '':
                  return self.getWord(vector)
              else:
                  return vector
          elif type(vector) == str:
              return vector
          elif type(vector) == list:
              if self.getWord(vector) != '':
                  return self.getWord(vector)
          # should be a list
          vec = []
          for v in vector:
              if self.getWord(v) != '':
                  retval = self.getWord(v)
                  vec.append( retval )
              else:
                  retval = self.patternVector(v)
                  vec.append( retval )                
          return vec
docs: Replaces vector with patterns. Used for loading inputs or
          targets from a file and still preserving patterns.