IEEE Expert

Explaining how knowledge-based systems reason involves presentation user modeling, dialogue structure, and the way systems understand their own problem-solving knowledge and strategies. The authors concentrate on the last of these, noting that such understanding provides any explanations's content. The authors also note that most current approaches to knowledge-based system construction require ex... View full abstract»

The authors discuss explanation facility types found in most expert systems and shells used today, referring to these as practice systems, since they represent current practice in expert system work. Practice systems include nonresearch expert systems (being developed every day in industry) as well as nonresearch expert system shells. They maintain that an extensive explanation facility meeting th... View full abstract»

Benchmarks for use with expert system shells are considered. Two approaches are pursued: running a shell with a real knowledge base on different machines, and running an artificial, stylized benchmark knowledge base with different shells on the same machine. The realistic benchmark uses PC Plus, a Lisp-based shell and development environment with an inference engine that uses backward chaining (fo... View full abstract»

The first author, a graduate student in computer science, had just completed an introductory knowledge-based systems course taught by the other, a professor of computer science, when they read a recent IEEE Expert article title, 'Teaching an Introductory Course in Expert Systems' (p.59-63, Winter 1986). Because their respective experiences differed substantially from those of the authors of the ab... View full abstract»

Database management system (DBMS) support for expert system knowledge bases requires data-modeling tools matching system needs. To assess its power and fit for this application, the authors applied their logical data structures data-modeling tool, LDS, to an existing rule-based expert system, Galen, and produced a clear logical schema, comprehensible by its producers and other audiences. They beli... View full abstract»

A project is described that is intended to formalize the software requirement specification process by defining a specification model that characterizes the generic properties of a specification. An approach is presented in which the expert system that assists in specifying requirements is integrated with a transformational system that can synthesize programs from such specifications. The specific... View full abstract»

The authors describe what is wrong with conventional expert system development and consider whether these gaps can be filled by second-generation expert system development tools. They examine decision-tree approaches and knowledge shaping, which utilizes decision-tree power while eliminating problems commonly associated with their use. They conclude that knowledge shaping solves the problems encou... View full abstract»