diff --git a/src/DataSet/DataSet.cpp b/src/DataSet/DataSet.cpp
index 822f1f400e8eff7c9a5edc5d6fbd96389c93a6af..799d2df1b88bfedc1d8e3be0c3082caaa366096d 100644
--- a/src/DataSet/DataSet.cpp
+++ b/src/DataSet/DataSet.cpp
@@ -285,6 +285,7 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
     }
 
     void DataSet::normalize() {
+        this->normalized = false;
         if(!this->normalization_strategy) {
             THROW_INVALID_ARGUMENT_ERROR("There is no normalization strategy given for this data set, so it can not be "
                                          "normalized!");
@@ -333,10 +334,17 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
             }
         }
 
-//        this->normalized = true;
+        this->normalized = true;
 
     }
 
+    double DataSet::get_normalized_value(double val){
+        if(!this->normalized || !this->normalization_strategy) {
+            return val;
+        }
+        return this->normalization_strategy->normalize(val, this->max_min_inp_val.at(0), this->max_min_inp_val.at(1));
+    }
+
     void DataSet::get_input(std::vector<double> &d, size_t idx){
         assert(d.size() == this->data[idx].first.size());
         for (size_t j = 0; j < this->data[idx].first.size(); ++j) {
diff --git a/src/DataSet/DataSet.h b/src/DataSet/DataSet.h
index 8702313467dadff2acb4358ad9fc87ef0f02f736..fddb67dbabbfd018e1559a6e6d7f36148f32b789 100644
--- a/src/DataSet/DataSet.h
+++ b/src/DataSet/DataSet.h
@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
 //         */
 //        double min_inp_val = std::numeric_limits<double>::quiet_NaN();
 
+        bool normalized = false;
+
         /**
          * Maximum (index 0) and minimum (index 1) input value
          */
@@ -233,6 +235,13 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
          */
         LIB4NEURO_API void normalize();
 
+        /**
+         * returns the normalized value of @val
+         * @param val
+         * @return
+         */
+        LIB4NEURO_API double get_normalized_value(double val);
+
         /**
          * Denormalizes the data set
          */
diff --git a/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.cpp b/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.cpp
index a51d704c1d6af870ce4e993e050191638ec21b27..d48bfa27bbec4d2e209be998820792bbf75a5299 100644
--- a/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.cpp
+++ b/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.cpp
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
         return this->connection_list->size() - 1;
     }
 
-    void
+    size_t
     NeuralNetwork::add_connection_constant(size_t n1_idx, size_t n2_idx, double weight) {
 
         ConnectionFunctionConstant *con_weight_u1u2 = new ConnectionFunctionConstant( weight );
@@ -517,6 +517,8 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
         this->add_inward_connection(n2_idx, n1_idx, conn_idx);
 
         this->layers_analyzed = false;
+
+        return conn_idx;
     }
 
     void NeuralNetwork::add_existing_connection(size_t n1_idx, size_t n2_idx, size_t connection_idx,
diff --git a/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.h b/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.h
index 8edb9e876a526f4807c9756cf4795118a5eb76a1..00d189214fd92461fd6a0b8d6cbcb58dc5675c72 100644
--- a/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.h
+++ b/src/Network/NeuralNetwork.h
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ namespace lib4neuro {
          * @param n2_idx
          * @param weight
          */
-        LIB4NEURO_API void add_connection_constant(size_t n1_idx, size_t n2_idx, double weight);
+        LIB4NEURO_API size_t add_connection_constant(size_t n1_idx, size_t n2_idx, double weight);
 
         /**
          * Take the existing connection with index 'connection_idx' in 'parent_network' and adds it to the structure of this