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;;; ****************************************************************
;;; Expert System Shells *******************************************
;;; ****************************************************************
;;; Written by Mark Kantrowitz
;;; expert_1.faq
This post contains the Expert System Shells FAQ.
If you think of questions that are appropriate for this FAQ, or would
like to improve an answer, please send email to us at mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu.
CONTRIBUTIONS to this summary should be sent to mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu.
Companies wishing to expand their entries should send product
summaries no longer than the RTworks or CLIPS entries, and should
focus on features and facts. Hype and vague generalizations will be removed.
*** Copyright:
Copyright (c) 1992-95 by Mark Kantrowitz. All rights reserved.
This FAQ may be freely redistributed in its entirety without
modification provided that this copyright notice is not removed. It
may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents
(e.g., published for sale on CD-ROM, floppy disks, books, magazines,
or other print form) without the prior written permission of the
copyright holder. Permission is expressly granted for this document
to be made available for file transfer from installations offering
unrestricted anonymous file transfer on the Internet.
If this FAQ is reproduced in offline media (e.g., CD-ROM, print form,
etc.), a complimentary copy should be sent to Mark Kantrowitz, School
of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue,
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891 USA.
This article is provided AS IS without any express or implied warranty.
*** Recent changes:
;;; 1.32:
;;; 8-AUG-95 mk Updated COMDALE entry in [1-6].
;;;
;;; 1.33:
;;; 21-DEC-95 mk Deleted GEST entry, per Stefan Roth.
;;; 22-DEC-95 mk Updated Gensym entry. New URL.
;;;
;;; 1.34:
;;; 18-JAN-96 mk Updated M.4 entry.
;;; 19-JAN-96 mk Updated the C-PRS entry.
;;;
;;; 1.35:
;;; 7-MAR-96 mk Updated various Haley Enterprises entries.
;;; 19-MAR-96 mk Updated ACQUIRE entry.
;;;
;;; 1.36:
;;; 10-MAY-96 mk Updated EXSYS entry.
;;; 4-JUN-96 mk Added TechMate entry.
;;; 20-JUN-96 mk Updated telephone numbers for ILOG France.
;;; 23-JUL-96 mk Updated XpertRule for Window entry.
;;; 29-JUL-96 mk Replaced AIM entry with ModelQuest entry.
;;; 18-NOV-96 mk Updated wxCLIPS entry.
*** Topics Covered:
[1-1] Introduction
[1-2] Other Sources of Information
[1-3] Bibliography of Expert Systems books, introductions,
documentation, periodicals, and conference proceedings.
[1-4] Note about 'Real-Time' expert systems
[1-5a] Free/Cheap Expert System Shells
[1-5b] Free/Cheap Expert System Shells: CLIPS and Related Systems
[1-6] Commercial Expert System Shells
[1-7] Associations
[1-8] Glossary
[1-A] Acknowledgements
Search for [#] to get to question number # quickly.
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Subject: [1-1] Introduction
Certain questions and topics come up frequently in the various network
discussion groups devoted to and related to Expert Systems. This
file/article is an attempt to gather these questions and their answers
into a convenient reference for AI researchers, students, and
practitioners. It is posted on a monthly basis. The hope is that this
will cut down on the user time and network bandwidth used to post,
read and respond to the same questions over and over, as well as
providing education by answering questions some readers may not even
have thought to ask.
Currently this FAQ is a primarily a list of free and commercial expert
system shells, but other questions and answers will be added as they
arise.
The latest version of this file is available by anonymous FTP from
ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/pubs/faqs/expert/expert_1.faq [128.2.206.173]
using username "anonymous" and password "name@host" (substitute your
email address) or via AFS in the Andrew File System directory
/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/ai-repository/ai/pubs/faqs/expert/expert_1.faq
You can also obtain a copy of the FAQ by sending a message to
ai+query@cs.cmu.edu with
Send ESS FAQ
in the message body.
The FAQ postings are also archived in the periodic posting archive on
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/expert/ [18.181.0.24]
If you do not have anonymous ftp access, you can access the archive by
mail server as well. Send an E-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
with "help" and "index" in the body on separate lines for more
information.
An automatically generated HTML version of this FAQ is accessible by
WWW as part of the AI-related FAQs Mosaic page. The URL for this
resource is
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/Groups/AI/html/faqs/top.html
The direct URL for the Expert Systems FAQ is
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/Groups/AI/html/faqs/ai/expert/top.html
If you need to cite the FAQ for some reason, use the following format:
Mark Kantrowitz, "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about
Expert System Shells", comp.ai.shells, , ,
ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/pubs/faqs/expert/expert_?.faq,
mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu.
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Subject: [1-2] Other Sources of Information
In addition to the free expert system shells listed below, the Prolog
Resource Guide lists a variety of Prolog implementations and products.
In addition to being backward-chaining systems, many Prolog
implementations provide support for forward-chaining rules and other
expert systems requirements. For example, Amzi! Inc. sells Dennis
Merritt's book, "Building Expert Systems in Prolog", Springer-Verlag,
1989, for $52 (see entry in bibliography below).
The July/August 1992 issue of PC AI magazine includes their annual
product guide for expert systems and related tools. AI Expert Magazine
publishes an "Expert Systems Resource Guide" once per year, usually in
April.
The February 1991 issue of IEEE Computer has an article about Expert
System Tools. Another article of possible interest is "Selection
Criteria for Expert System Shells: A Socio-Technical Framework", by
Anthony C. Stylianou, Gregory R. Madey, and Robert D. Smith, CACM
35(10):30-48, October 1992.
The AI FAQ contains pointers to other resources that may be of
interest to readers of this FAQ. If you can't find the information
you're looking for here, try looking in the AI FAQ. The AI FAQ is
posted monthly to the newsgroup comp.ai and is also available from the
anonymous ftp locations mentioned above.
The Prime Time Freeware for AI CD-ROM collection includes several expert
system shells, including Babylon, CLIPS, ESIE, Frulekit, and OPS5, among
others. The sells (list) for $60 US plus applicable sales tax and
shipping and handling charges. Payable through Visa, Mastercard, postal
money orders in US funds, and checks in US funds drawn on a US bank. For
more information write to Prime Time Freeware, 370 Altair Way, Suite
150, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA, call 408-433-9662, fax 408-433-0727, or
send email to ptf@cfcl.com.
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Subject: [1-3] Bibliography of Expert Systems books, introductions,
documentation, periodicals, and conference proceedings.
This section contains a list of key references and introductions about
Production Systems, Expert Systems, and Match Algorithms. For other
AI-related books, see part 4 of the AI FAQ.
Overviews and Texts:
Bruce G. Buchanan and Edward H. Shortliffe, "Rule-Based Expert
Systems: The MYCIN Experiments of the Stanford Heuristic Programming
Project", Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1985. The Davis and King
paper (chapter 4, "An overview of production systems") provides
a good overview.
Frederick Hayes-Roth, "The knowledge based expert system: A tutorial",
IEEE Computer 17(9):11-28, 1984.
Bruce G. Buchanan and R.O. Duda, "Principles of Rule-Based Systems",
Tech Report HPP-82-14, 1982. (Discusses the design of expert
systems, including representation, inference, and uncertainty
management. Examples from numerous specific systems, and discusses
which problems are suitable for attack by rule-based systems.)
Send email to gsmith@hpp.stanford.edu for information on getting
the tech report, or see the later report:
Bruce Buchanan and Reid Smith, "Fundamentals of Expert
Systems", Annual Review of Computer Science 3, 23-58, 1988.
Joseph Giarratano and Gary Riley, "Expert Systems Principles and
Practice", PWS Publishing (20 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116-4324
1-800-842-3636, 1-617-542-3377, fax 1-617-338-6134), 1993, 644
pages, ISBN 0-534-93744-6, $53.94.
[This is the second edition of "Expert Systems: Principles and
Programming" and comes with an MS-DOS CLIPS 6.0 interpreter. The
book includes a good tutorial on using CLIPS.]
James P. Ignizio, "Introduction to Expert Systems: The Development
and Implementation of Rule-Based Expert Systems", McGraw-Hill,
1991. 402 pages, ISBN 0-07-909785-5 ($37.50). [Focuses on the
building of the knowledge-base model and its proper implmentation
from a decision-making perspective. Also covers knowledge
acquisition, inference, and validation. Especially good for
students in fields besides computer science, such as business,
engineering, and the social sciences. There are exercises at the
end of every chapter. Clear and concise explanations with good
examples. Also provides an introduction to EXSYS with an EXSYS demo disk.]
Samuel J. Biondo, "Fundamentals of Expert Systems Technology:
Principles and Concepts", Ablex, Norwood, NJ, 1990. 160 pages, ISBN
0-89391-701-X paper ($35).
Dennis Merritt, "Building Expert Systems in Prolog", Springer-Verlag, 1989.
358 pages, ISBN 0-387-97016-9 hardcover ($52).
Explains how to build various expert system shells in Prolog, including
forward/backward chaining, FOOPS, rete-network, frames, solving
Rubik's cube and more. Includes complete source code listings.
(Source code from the book is also sold on disk by Amzi! Inc. and
is available by anonymous FTP from
ftp.std.com:/ftp/vendors/amzi/programs/
ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/areas/expert/systems/amzi/programs/
as the files xsip.*) Their Web page is http://world.std.com/~amzi/
David Hu, "C/C++ for Expert Systems", Management Information
Source, Portland, OR, 1989. 565 pages, ISBN 0-943518-86-5 ($24.95).
[Includes a diskette of source code from the book.]
General AI books with extensive coverage of expert systems:
Firebaugh, Morris W., "Artificial Intelligence: A Knowledge-Based
Approach", PWS-Kent, Massachusetts, 1989. ISBN 0-87835-325-9
OPS5:
Charles L. Forgy, "OPS5 User's Manual", Technical Report
CMU-CS-81-135, Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer
Science, Pittsburgh, PA 1981.
Thomas Cooper and Nancy Wogrin, "Rule-based Programming with OPS5",
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1988, ISBN 0-934613-51-6, $49.95.
Match Algorithms:
RETE:
Charles L. Forgy, "RETE: A fast algorithm for the many
pattern/many object pattern match problem", Artificial
Intelligence 19(1):17-37, September 1982.
TREAT:
Daniel P. Miranker, "TREAT: A better match algorithm for AI
production systems". In Proceedings of the Sixth National
Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-87), pages 42-47,
August 1987.
Daniel P. Miranker, "TREAT: A New and Efficient Match Algorithm
for AI Production Systems", Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1990,
143 pages, ISBN 0-934613-71-0, $29.95.
MatchBox:
Mark Perlin, "The match box algorithm for parallel production
system match", Technical Report CMU-CS-89-163, Carnegie Mellon
University, School of Computer Science, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, May 1989.
DRETE:
Michael A. Kelly and Rudolph E. Seviora, "An evaluation of DRETE
on CUPID for OPS5 matching", in Proceedings of the Eleventh
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-89),
pages 84-90, Detroit MI, August 1989, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
Journals -- Expert Systems:
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS
Published 4 times annually. ISSN 0957-4174.
Subscriptions: Institutions L85 ($155), Individuals L45 ($72).
Pergamon Press Inc., 660 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591-5153,
email PPI@pergamon.com, or Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall,
Oxford OX3 0BW, England.
EXPERT SYSTEMS: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING
Published 4 times annually. ISSN 0266-4720.
Subscriptions: L85 ($110)
Learned Information Ltd., Woodside, Hinksey Hill, Oxford OX1 5AU, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)865-730275 Fax: +44 (0)085-736354
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERT SYSTEMS
Published 4 times annually. ISSN 0894-9077.
Subscriptions: Institutions $135; Individuals $75. Outside the US add
$10 for surface mail and $20 for airmail.
JAI Press Inc., 55 Old Post Road -- No. 2, PO Box 1678, Greenwich, CT
06836-1678.
KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERING REVIEW
Published quarterly, ISSN 0269-8889.
In the UK: Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building,
Cambridge CB2 1BR, UK.
In N. America: Cambridge University Press, Journals Department, 40 West
20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EXPERT SYSTEMS (IJAES)
Published three times annually. ISSN 0969-9317
Subscriptions: BP60.00/US$117.00.
Taylor Graham Publishing, 500 Chesham House, 150 Regent Street,
London W1R 5FA UK.
Editor: Alan Sangster
URL: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~acc025/ijaes.html
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Subject: [1-4] Note about 'Real-Time' expert systems
Many "real-time" expert systems are 'soft' real-time systems, in that
they claim to be fast. A 'hard' real-time system would have features
that guarantee a response within a fixed amount of real-time (e.g.,
bounded computation, not just a fast match-recognize-act cycle).
Systems like G2 use event-driven processing (restricting certain rules
to execute only when specific WM elements change in a particular way)
as a method of limiting forward chaining.
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Subject: [1-5a] Free/Cheap Expert System Shells
Remember, when ftping compressed or compacted files (.Z, .gz, .arc, .fit,
etc.) to use binary mode for retrieving the files.
Files that end with a .gz suffix were compressed with the patent-free
gzip (no relation to zip). Source for gzip is available from:
prep.ai.mit.edu:pub/gnu/{gzip-1.2.3.shar,gzip-1.2.3.tar,gzip-1.2.3.msdos.exe}
If you do not have ftp access, you can FTP files by E-mail. Send a
message with the word "help" in the body to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com.
FOCL is an expert system shell and machine learning program written in
Common Lisp. The machine learning program extends Quinlan's FOIL
program by containing a compatible explanation-based learning
component. FOCL learns Horn Clause programs from examples and
(optionally) background knowledge. The expert system includes a
backward-chaining rule interpreter and a graphical interface to the
rule and fact base. For details on FOCL, see: Pazzani, M. and Kibler,
D., "The role of prior knowledge in inductive learning", Machine
Learning 9:54-97, 1992. It is available by anonymous ftp from
ics.uci.edu:/pub/machine-learning-programs/
as the files README.FOCL-1-2-3, FOCL-1-2-3.cpt.hqx (a binhexed,
compacted Macintosh application), FOCL-1-2-3.tar.Z (Common Lisp
source code), and FOCL-1-2-3-manual.hqx (binhexed manual). If you
use a copy of FOCL, or have any comments or questions, send mail to
pazzani@ics.uci.edu.
SOAR -- ftp.cs.cmu.edu:
/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/soar/public/Soar5/ -- Lisp Version
/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/soar/public/Soar6/ -- C Version
Contact: soar-request@cs.cmu.edu
Integrated Agent Architecture. Supports learning through chunking.
OPS5 -- ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/areas/expert/systems/ops5/ops5.tar.gz
BABYLON is a development environment for expert systems. It
includes frames, constraints, a prolog-like logic formalism, and a
description language for diagnostic applications. It is implemented in
Common Lisp and has been ported to a wide range of hardware platforms.
Available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.gmd.de:/gmd/ai-research/Software/Babylon/ [129.26.8.84]
as a BinHexed stuffit archive, on the Web via the URL
http://www.gmd.de/
on the Apple CD-ROM, or with the book "The AI Workbench BABYLON",
which contains *full source code* of BABYLON and the stand-alone
version for the Mac. The book describes the use of BABYLON in detail.
MOBAL is a system for developing operational models of application
domains in a first order logic representation. It integrates a manual
knowledge acquisition and inspection environment, an inference engine,
machine learning methods for automated knowledge acquisition, and a
knowledge revision tool. By using MOBAL's knowledge acquisition
environment, you can incrementally develop a model of your domain in
terms of logical facts and rules. You can inspect the knowledge you
have entered in text or graphics windows, augment the knowledge, or
change it at any time. The built-in inference engine can immediately
execute the rules you have entered to show you the consequences of
your inputs, or answer queries about the current knowledge. MOBAL also
builds a dynamic sort taxonomy from your inputs. If you wish, you can
use several machine learning methods to automatically discover
additional rules based on the facts that you have entered, or to form
new concepts. If there are contradictions in the knowledge base due to
incorrect rules or facts, there is a knowledge revision tool to help
you locate the problem and fix it. MOBAL (release 3.0b) is available
free for non-commercial academic use by anonymous ftp from
ftp.gmd.de:/gmd/mlt/Mobal/
The system runs on Sun SparcStations, SunOS 4.1, and includes a
graphical interface implemented using Tcl/TK.
MIKE (Micro Interpreter for Knowledge Engineering) is a full-featured,
free, and portable software environment designed for teaching purposes
at the UK's Open University. It includes forward and backward
chaining rules with user-definable conflict resolution strategies, and
a frame representation language with inheritance and 'demons' (code
triggered by frame access or change), plus user-settable inheritance
strategies. Automatic 'how' explanations (proof histories) are
provided for rule exectuion, as are user-specified 'why' explanations.
Coarse-grained and fine-grained rule tracing facilities are provided,
along with a novel 'rule graph' display which concisely shows the
history of rule execution. MIKE, which forms the kernel of an Open
University course on Knowledge Engineering, is written in a
conservative and portable subset of Edinburgh-syntax Prolog, and is
distributed as non-copy-protected source code. MIKE version 1 was
described in the October/November 1990 issue of BYTE. MIKE v1.50,
which was formerly available from a range of ftp servers, has been
superseded by two newer versions: MIKEv2.03, a full Prolog source code
version, incorporating a RETE algorithm for fast forward chaining, a
truth maintenance system, uncertainty handling, and hypothetical
worlds, and MIKEv2.50, a turnkey DOS version with menu-driven
interface and frame- and rule-browsing tools, fully compatible with
MIKEv2.03, but without source code. They are available by anonymous
ftp from hcrl.open.ac.uk [137.108.81.16] as the files
MIKEv2.03: /pub/software/src/MIKEv2.03/*
MIKEv2.50: /pub/software/pc/MIKEV25.ZIP
They are also available from the CMU AI Repository.
For further information, please contact Marc Eisenstadt,
M.Eisenstadt@open.ac.uk, Human Cognition Research Lab, The Open
University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK, phone +44 908-65-3149, fax +44
908-65-3169.
ES: The October/November 1990 issue of BYTE also described the ES
expert system. ES supports backward/forward chaining, fuzzy set
relations, and explanation, and is a standalone executable for
IBM-PCs. ES is available by anonymous ftp from
ftp.uu.net:/pub/ai/expert-sys/ [192.48.96.9] as summers.tar.Z.
ftp.uu.net is mirrored on unix.hensa.ac.uk [129.12.21.7] under
/pub/uunet/.
WindExS (Windows Expert System) is a fully functional Windows-based
forward chaining expert system. Its modular architecture allows the
user to substitute new modules as required to enhance the capabilites
of the system. WindExS sports Natural Language Rule Processor,
Inference Engine, File Manager, User Interface, Message Manager and
Knowledge Base modules. It supports forward chaining, and graphical
knowledge base representation. Write etoupin@aol.com for documentation
and operational system.
RT-Expert is a shareware expert system that lets C programmers
integrate expert systems rules into their C or C++ applications.
RT-Expert consists of a rule-compiler that compiles rules into C code,
and a library containing the rule execution engine. RT-Expert for DOS
works with Borland Turbo C, Borland C++, and Microsoft C/C++
compilers. The personal edition is licensed for educational, research,
and hobby use. Applications created with RT-Expert personal edition
are not licensed for commercial purposes. Professional editions are
available for commercial applications using DOS, Windows, and Unix
environments. RT-Expert is available by anonymous ftp from
world.std.com:/vendors/rtis/rtexpert
For more information, write to Real-Time Intelligent Systems Corporation
.
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Subject: [1-5b] Free/Cheap Expert System Shells: CLIPS and Related Systems
CLIPS 6.0 (C Language Integrated Production System) is an OPS-like
forward chaining production system written in ANSI C by NASA. The
CLIPS inference engine includes truth maintenance, dynamic rule
addition, and customizable conflict resolution strategies. CLIPS,
including the runtime version, is easily embeddable in other
applications. CLIPS includes an object-oriented language called COOL
(CLIPS Object-Oriented Language) which is directly integrated with the
inference engine. CLIPS runs on many platforms including IBM PC
compatibles (including Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS 386 versions),
Macintosh, VAX 11/780, Sun 3/260, and HP9000/500. CLIPS is available
from COSMIC at a "nominal" fee (the MS-DOS/Windows 3.1 version $350
for the software and $115 more for the documentation, with discounts
for US academic institutions; for update orders $100 and $200,
respectively) for unlimited copies with no royalties. (CLIPS is
available free to NASA, USAF, and their contractors for use on NASA
and USAF projects.) For more information, send email to
service@cossack.cosmic.uga.edu, write COSMIC, University of Georgia,
382 East Broad Street, Athens, GA 30602, call 706-542-3265, or fax
706-542-4807. To subscribe to the CLIPS mailing list, send a message
to the list server
listserv@cossack.cosmic.uga.edu (128.192.14.4)
with message body
SUBSCRIBE CLIPS-LIST
The CLIPS help desk phone number is 713-286-8919 (fax 713-286-4479/244-5698)
and email address is stbprod@fdr.jsc.nasa.gov. (The address is STB
Products Help Desk, LinCom Corporation, 1020 Bay Area Boulevard, #200,
Houston, TX 77058-2628.) The Software Technology Branch's home page is
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/stb/STB_homepage.html
NASA Information Services's home page is
http://hypatia.gsfc.nasa.gov/NASA_homepage.html
and the CLIPS home page is
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/~clips/CLIPS.html
[Note: Folks who obtain CLIPS from COSMIC can do anything they wish
with it, including redistribute it. Folks who obtain CLIPS directly
from NASA are restricted to using it for US government purposes only.]
The CLIPS FAQ list and bug fixes are available from
hubble.jsc.nasa.gov:/pub/clips/
and are maintained by Gary Riley .
Joseph Giarratano and Gary Riley's book, "Expert Systems Principles
and Practice", comes with an MS-DOS CLIPS 6.0 interpreter (see [1-3]
above). CLIPS is also available on the various AI CD-ROMs, and the
MS-DOS version is available for $50 from Austin Code Works ,
11100 Leafwood Lane, Austin, Texas 78750-3409, phone 512-258-0785,
fax 512-258-8831, or BBS 512-258-8831.
DYNACLIPS (DYNAamic CLIPS Utilities), is a set of blackboard, dynamic
knowledge exchange, and agent tools for CLIPS 5.1 and 6.0. It is
implemented as a set of libraries that can be linked with CLIPS 5.1 or
CLIPS 6.0. Versions 3.0 and 3.1 will work with either CLIPS 5.1 or CLIPS 6.0.
Source code is not available. Agents use the blackboard to
communicate with other intelligent agents in the framework. Each
intelligent agent can send and receive facts, rules, and commands.
Rules and facts are inserted and deleted dynamicly while the agents
are running. Knowledge can be transfered on a temporary or permanent
basis. For more information, please contact Yilmaz Cengeloglu, PO Box
4142, Winter Park, FL 32793-4142, or send email to
cengelog@escmail.orl.mmc.com, yil@engr.ucf.edu or 73313.775@compuserve.com.
It is available from the CMU AI Repository in
ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/areas/expert/systems/clips/dyna/
AGENT_CLIPS is a multi-agent tool for MACINTOSH. Multiple copies of CLIPS
run at the same time on MACINTOSH. Each Agent (CLIPS) can send CLIPS
commands to other active agents at run time. AGENT_CLIPS handles incoming
commands automatically. Command transfer is also mean that agents can
exchange facts, rules at run time. This is a form of Knowledge Exchange
Among Intelligent Agents. AGENT_CLIPS does NOT use Blackboard Architecture.
Library for AGENT_CLIPS is also included in this package. You can link
this library with other CLIPS applications such as fuzzyCLIPS.
AGENT_CLIPS can be obtained by anonymous ftp from
ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/areas/expert/systems/clips/agent/
It is also available from Compuserve, AIEXPERT Forum, Libraries,
Expert System. For more information contact Yilmaz Cengeloglu at
73313.775@compuserve.com.
FuzzyCLIPS 6.02 is a version of the CLIPS rule-based expert system
shell with extensions for representing and manipulating fuzzy facts
and rules. In addition to the CLIPS functionality, FuzzyCLIPS can deal
with exact, fuzzy (or inexact), and combined reasoning, allowing fuzzy
and normal terms to be freely mixed in the rules and facts of an
expert system. The system uses two basic inexact concepts, fuzziness
and uncertainty. Versions are available for UNIX systems, Macintosh
systems and PC systems. There is no cost for the software, but please
read the terms for use in the FuzzyCLIPS documentation. FuzzyCLIPS is
available via WWW (World Wide Web). It can be accessed indirectly
through the Knowledge Systems Lab Server using the URL
http://ai.iit.nrc.ca/home_page.html
or more directly by using the URL
http://ai.iit.nrc.ca/fuzzy/fuzzy.html
or by anonymous ftp from
ai.iit.nrc.ca:/pub/fzclips/
For more information about FuzzyCLIPS send mail to fzclips@ai.iit.nrc.ca.
wxCLIPS provides a simple graphical front end to CLIPS 5.1, CLIPS 6.0 and
CLIPS 6.0 with fuzzy extensions. It is essentially CLIPS modified to work
with an event driven style of programming, and a set of GUI functions.
wxCLIPS is available as Sun Open Look, Sun Motif, Linux Open Look, Windows
3.1, Windows 32-bit, and Windows 95 binaries. wxCLIPS is available by
anonymous FTP from
ftp.aiai.ed.ac.uk:/pub/packages/wxclips/ [192.41.104.6]
or the URL
http://www.aiai.ed.ac.uk/~jacs/wxclips/wxclips.html
To be added to the wxclips-users or wxclips-announce mailing lists, send
mail to wxclips-users-request@aiai.edinburgh.ac.uk. For more information,
write to Julian Smart .
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Subject: [1-6] Commercial Expert System Shells
The commercial products below are listed in alphabetical order.
ACQUIRE is knowledge acquisition system and expert system shell. It is a
complete development environment for building and maintaining
knowledge-based applications. It provides a step-by-step methodology for
knowledge engineering that allows the domain experts themselves to be
directly involved in structuring and encoding the knowledge. (The direct
involvement of the domain expert improves the quality, completeness and
accuracy of acquired knowledge, lowers development and maintenance
costs, and increases their control over the form of the software
application.) Features include a structured approach to knowledge
acquisition; a model of knowledge acquisition based on pattern
recognition; knowledge represented as objects, production rules and
decision tables; handling uncertainty by qualitative, non-numerical
procedures; extremely thorough knowledge bases; sophisticated report
writing facilities; and self documenting knowledge bases in a hypertext
environment.
ACQUIRE-SDK, their Software Development Kit, provides: callable libraries for
MS-DOS,and SCO Unix; DLL's for Asmetrix TooBook, Windows, Windows NT,
Windows 95 and Win 32; and custom controls for Visual Basic. Call or email
them for information on how to utilize the SDK to deliver applications over
the WWW.
The ACQUIRE development package (knowledge acquisition system and expert
system shell) costs $995 for Windows 3.1 and includes manual, a tutorial,
on-line help and telephone helpline. For more information please visit their
web page at
http://vvv.com/ai/
For an example of an ACQUIRE application that is running over the web
try their Whale Watcher demonstration at
http://vvv.com/ai/demos/whale.html
For more information, write to Acquired Intelligence Inc, Suite 205,
1095 McKenzie Avenue, Victoria, Canada V8P 2L5, call 604-479-8646, fax
604-479-0764, or send email .
ACTIVATION FRAMEWORK runs on personal computers (DOS, Windows) and UNIX
workstations. This tool is not a traditional expert system shell,
rather is a tool for building real-time data interpretation
applications. The vendor claims the tool competes with Gensym's G2 in
terms of application domains. For more information, write to the sales
office at The Real-Time Intelligent Systems Corporation, 26 Worthen,
Chelmsford, MA 01824, call 508-250-4633, or fax 508-256-8132. To reach
the development office write to 76 Otis Street, Westborough, MA 01581,
call 508-870-0043, fax 508-870-0148, or send email to rtis@world.std.com.
Aion Development System (ADS) runs on numerous platforms, including
DOS, OS/2, SunOS, Microsoft Windows, and VMS. It includes an object
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