In this paper a classification system, which corisists of a neural network and a decision element, is presented, both parts processing information in series. For the neural network, we propose a training algorithm based on the direct equalization of weights and components of prototype vectors, and a neuronal function that detects similarities between its inputs and the weights. This systematics allows, in addition to a good performance in recognition, an easy, time-controlled reprogramming process of the network, even for large patterns. To test and validate the system, a real classifier is presented and studied, a classifier that is designed to recognize segmented handwritten characters corresponding to the NIST SD19 database and with which good results for digits and lower-case letters are obtained.