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SATURN+ VERSION 3.4 INTELLIGENT RELATIONAL DATABASE CONTENTS LET'S GO! ABOUT SATURN STARTING SATURN THE SATURN INTERFACE RETRIEVAL MENU DESCRIPTION OF OPTIONS INSTRUCTING SATURN CREATING KNOWLEDGE TREES REPLACEMENTS ACTION WORDS MEASUREMENTS FORMATTING OUTPUT KNOWLEDGE BASE COMPRESSION ERROR MESSAGES EXAMPLE APPLICATION THE SATURN EDITOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 Copyright 1993 Servile Software All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any other language or computer language in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, whether it be electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, manual or otherwise, without prior written consent of Servile Software. Servile Software disclaims all warranties as to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, functionality, data integrity or protection. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Thanks are due to the following people for their patience, assistance and incentives in the evolution of Saturn; Malcom Rowe Deloris Probert Stephen Yarrow Dave Mayer Dave Beecham System Requirements: Saturn requires a PC with an 80286 or higher processor and a colour (CGA,EGA,VGA,SVGA) monitor. MS/PC DOS version 3 or higher is required. No hard disk is required. 3 LET'S GO! Saturn is the easiest to use relational database in the world. It is easy to use because it accepts data, commands and queries in human English forming the links between data items itself! Saturn comes with an educational encyclopaedia file called "general.knb". When you start Saturn, it tries to read this file. If you want to access a different knowledge base, include its name when you start Saturn. For example, to get going with the general knowledge base start Saturn with the command; SATURN To use the example video catalogue knowledge base instead, start Saturn with the command; SATURN VIDEO And then select the QUERY option from the Saturn Interface menu.... 4 ABOUT SATURN Saturn is an easy to use relational database. You store your data in knowledge bases using the supplied program SATEDIT.EXE. The data is stored just as you would write it on paper. No formatting is required except for the usual English grammar and punctuation. Because Saturn is so quick and easy to use it lends itself to the sort of applications that home users want. Use Saturn to: * Catalogue your video/record/stamp/coin etc collection * Store details of your friends and family * Provide an educational reference for your children * Provide a technical reference for you * Assist with crossword puzzles Data is retrieved using English commands. The complete Saturn system is comprised of a number of programs: SATURN.EXE An interactive intelligent relational database. DBF2SAT.EXE A program for converting xBase files into Saturn knowledge bases. 5 STARTING SATURN Before using Saturn ensure that you have a second copy of your knowledge bases in case data corruption should occur. Saturn is started-up by entering the command SATURN from the DOS prompt. You can also specify the name of the knowledge base to load. If you don't specify the name of a knowledge base Saturn will assume GENERAL.KNB, the general knowledge base. For example. To Start Saturn with the general knowledge base, you would do the following; Firstly, make sure that DOS is set to the directory holding both Saturn and the general knowledge base. Then enter the command SATURN. For example. To Start Saturn with a knowledge base called "FAMILY", you would do the following; If the family knowledge base is in the same directory as Saturn, then make sure that DOS is set to the directory holding Saturn and the knowledge base and enter the command SATURN FAMILY. If, however, the knowledge base is in a different directory, perhaps C:\DATA\FAMILY, then you would make sure that DOS is set to the directory holding Saturn and enter the command SATURN C:\DATA\FAMILY\FAMILY. 6 THE SATURN INTERFACE When you start-up Saturn from the DOS command prompt, you are presented with the "Saturn Interface". This is a front-end menu providing access to facilities for editing, appending and querying data. At the bottom of the Saturn Interface screen is displayed a menu of available facilities. You should move the highlight bar with the cursor arrow keys to the facility you require, and then press ENTER to select that facility. ┌──────┐ │SATURN│ └──┬───┘ │ ┌──────────────────────┼────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ┌──┴───┐ ┌───┴────┐ ┌────┴────┐ │EDITOR│ │APPENDER│ │RETRIEVER│ └──────┘ └────────┘ └─────────┘ Saturn Modules ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ File Edit Append Query Font Exit │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The Saturn Interface 7 FILE: The "File" facility allows the name of a different knowledge base to be selected. The Saturn interface provides you with a window containing the names of the knowledge bases recorded in the current disk directory. There may be additional entries past the bottom of the window. These can be reached by pressing the cursor down arrow when the last entry in the window is highlighted. To select a knowledge base for the other facilities, highlight its name and press ENTER. If you want to create a new knowledge base, select the <NEW> entry. You will then be prompted to enter the name of the knowledge base to be created. This knowledge base may then be created with either the "Edit" or "Append" facility. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ dating.knb │ │ │ │ general.knb │ │ │ │ movies.knb │ │ │ │ myths.knb │ │ │ │ people.knb │ │ │ │ places.knb │ │ │ │ shake.knb │ │ │ │ video.knb │ │ │ │ virus.knb │ │ │ │ weapons.knb │ │ │ │ zoology.knb │ │ │ │ <NEW> │ │ │ └──────────────┘ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ File │ │Highlight the name of the required knowledge base and press ENTER. │ │Select <NEW> to create a new knowledge base. │ │Press Esc to return to the menu without selecting a different knowledge base. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Selecting a knowledge base with the Saturn Interface 8 APPEND: The "Append" facility allows an existing knowledge base to be appended to the end of the currently selected knowledge base. The Saturn Interface requires you to enter the name of the knowledge base which contains the entries to append to the current knowledge base. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Append │ │Enter the name of the knowledge base to append, or press Esc to abort entry │ │ │ │Name: │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Preparing to append a knowledge base to the current one 9 QUERY: The "Query" facility passes control through to the Saturn retrieval system. FONT: The "Font" facility enables users with an EGA, VGA or SVGA monitor to select a different typeface for displayed text. The supplied fonts all include their "height" in their name. The standard EGA font has a height of 14. Selecting a font with a smaller height enables more lines of text to be displayed. The computer's hardware will not display fonts which are bigger than the maximum height supported. VGA/SVGA monitors have a standard font height of 16. If your computer is equipped with a CGA monitor, selecting different fonts will not have any effect. Please note. The choice of font has no effect upon printed output from Saturn. A font remains in effect untill you exit Saturn. All fonts are 100% compatible with Servile Software's PC-FONT character generator software. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ┌──────────────┐ │ │ │ blob14.fnt │ │ │ │ blob16.fnt │ │ │ │ bway14.fnt │ │ │ │ bway16.fnt │ │ │ │ easy16.fnt │ │ │ │ human16.fnt │ │ │ │ newyk16.fnt │ │ │ │ print14.fnt │ │ │ │ print16.fnt │ │ │ │ script14.fnt │ │ │ │|script16.fnt │ │ │ └──────────────┘ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Highlight the name of the required character font and press ENTER. │ │ │ │Press Esc to return to the menu without selecting a different font. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Selecting a different Font Exit: The "Exit" facility terminates the Saturn Interface and returns control to the DOS. You can also select this facility by pressing Esc. 10 RETRIEVAL MENU The retirieval screen display is divided into three sectors: Title box, display box and menu box. Menu options are displayed in the bottom box. Each option may be highlighted in turn by pressing the cursor left and right arrow keys. The highlighted option may be selected by pressing the Enter key. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Loading knowledge base "general.knb" │ │Encoding knowledge base │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Show Print Show list Show details Print list │ │ │ │ Print details Load Browse Query Locate Sub Quit │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Saturn Retrieval System Menu 11 DESCRIPTION OF OPTIONS Show The 'Show' option may be selected to review data about any single subject. Saturn will request that you enter the subject you wish to review, and will then display the data stored about this subject in the display box. In the menu box may be displayed a scrolling list of associated topics. The associated topics menu may be too large to display all at once in the menu box. If there are more entries past the last one displayed, a downward pointing arrow will be displayed to the left of the last entry. Similarly, if there are more topics before the first one displayed an upward pointing arrow will be displayed to the left of the first displayed topic. You may move the highlight bar with the cursor up and down arrow keys, the page up and page down keys provide quick up and down movement, and the home and end keys highlight the first and last topics respectively. To display the details stored about the highlighted topic press the Enter key. To return to the main Saturn menu press the Esc key. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Loading knowledge base "general.knb" │ │Encoding knowledge base │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Subject? │ │> │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Requesting A Subject To Show 12 The following screen shot shows the result of a Saturn 'show' instruction with the subject 'frog'. This example was created with the supplied 'general' knowledge base. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │A FROG IS AN AMPHIBIAN OF THE ORDER ANURA. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Associated AMPHIBIAN │ │Topics ANIMAL │ │ WATER │ │ | OXIDE │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Associated Topics Menu With More Options Below 13 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │A FROG IS AN AMPHIBIAN OF THE ORDER ANURA. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Associated | OXIDE │ │Topics COMPOUND │ │ OXYGEN │ │ | ELEMENT │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Associated Topics Menu With More Options Above And Below 14 Print The 'Print' option is similar to the 'Show' option, but sends all data recorded about subjects applicable to the entered subject to the printer. Once again Saturn requires you to type in the subject to be retrieved. All data items related to the entered subject are then sent to the printer. Show List The 'Show List' option requests Saturn to display a list of all recorded data subjects meeting a specified criteria. The selection criteria may be left blank to list everything, or it may be entered to restrict the list. For example, you may wish to list the subject headings for every animal recorded in the current knowledge base. To do this select the 'Show List' option and enter the selection criteria 'animals'. The ambiguity of the English language provides a problem for Saturn. If the selection criteria is too general then loosly related items will be selected. If this is a problem try tightening up the selection criteria. For example replace the selection criteria 'animals' with 'mammals' or 'reptiles' or 'mammals and reptiles and birds'. Try to be as specific as possible. Show Details The 'Show Details' option requests Saturn to display all recorded data about subjects meeting a specified criteria. The selection criteria may be left blank to display everything, or it may be entered to restrict the display. For example, you may wish to review the data recorded for all composers recorded in the current knowledge base. To do this select the 'Show Details' option and enter the selection criteria 'composers'. Print List The 'Print List' option requests Saturn to print a list of all recorded data subjects meeting a specified criteria. The selection criteria may be left blank to list everything, or it may be entered to restrict the list. For example, you may wish to list the subject headings for every animal recorded in the current knowledge base. To do this select the 'Print List' option and enter the selection criteria 'animals'. 15 Print Details The 'Print Details' option requests Saturn to print all recorded data about subjects meeting a specified criteria. The selection criteria may be left blank to print everything, or it may be entered to restrict the display. For example, you may wish to review the data recorded for all composers recorded in the current knowledge base. To do this select the 'Print Details' option and enter the selection criteria 'composers'. Load The 'Load' option requests Saturn to load a knowledge base from disk replacing the current knowledge base. Saturn will ask you for the name of the knowledge base to load. If you don't supply a name, the current knowledge base will be reloaded. If you have the Shareware version of Saturn, then you are limited to 20 load operations. After this limit is exceeded Saturn will cease to function. You must then register your copy. 16 Browse The 'Browse' option displays a scrolling list of all the subject headings recorded in the current knowledge base in the display box. The browse menu may be too large to display all at once in the display box. If there are more entries past the last one displayed, a downward pointing arrow will be displayed to the left of the last entry. Similarly, if there are more topics before the first one displayed an upward pointing arrow will be displayed to the left of the first displayed topic. You may move the highlight bar with the cursor up and down arrow keys, the page up and page down keys provide quick up and down movement, and the home and end keys highlight the first and last subjects respectively. Typing at the keyboard will move the highlight bar to the first entry matching the characters typed. For example, to quickly move to the entry TURKEY type T the highlight bar moves to the first entry starting with T. Type U the highlight bar moves to the first entry starting TU. If no entry does starts with the characters typed the highlight bar will remain static. Any new characters typed at the keyboard will recommence the quick search starting with the next character typed. To display the details stored about the highlighted subject press the Enter key. To return to the main Saturn menu press the Esc key. When a subject is selected with the 'Browse' option, it is displayed as though it had been selected with the 'Show' option. A list of associated topics is displayed in the menu box. 17 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ | SE5 │ │ SEA DART │ │ SEA GOOSEBERRY │ │ SEA KILLER │ │ SEA SPARROW │ │ SEA WOLF │ │ SEACAT │ │ SEAL │ │ SEASPRITE │ │ SEA_URCHIN │ │ SEA_URCHINS │ │ SECRETIN │ │ SEDGEMOOR │ │ | SEDGWICK │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Show Print Show list Show details Print list │ │ │ │ Print details Load Browse Query Locate Sub Quit │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ A browse Menu 18 Query The 'Query' option allows entry of ANY Saturn command direct into Saturn. Typical queries that Saturn can understand are: IS A HORSE AN ANIMAL? WHERE WAS SHAKESPEAR BORN? WHEN DID SHAKESPEAR DIE? WHAT IS A TREE? WHICH TREE DO ACORNS COME FROM? WHAT DOES THE HEART DO? WHAT DO CATS EAT? WHAT DOES ACID REACT WITH? WHAT IS THE CAPITAL OF ENGLAND? WHERE IS BOMBAY? WHICH COUNTRY IS DUBLIN IN? WHO WAS SHAKESPEAR? DO CATS EAT VEGETABLES? DOES ACID REACT WITH PAPER? WHO FOUNDED SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY? IS LONDON THE CAPITAL OF ENGLAND? DOES JOHN SMITH SMOKE? ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATURN+ V3.4 (c)1994│ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Enter query │ │> │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Entering A Query 19 Locate The 'Locate' option equates to a 'Where is....' command. Saturn requests that you enter a subject, and then displays the data relevant to that subject's location. Saturn locates subjects by searching for key words which describe position; CAPITAL OF, NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, BETWEEN, SEPARATING, BETWEEN and ON. Given a data item; "LONDON IS THE CAPITAL OF ENGLAND", Saturn will give the location of LONDON as "IN ENGLAND". Similarly, given the data item; "GHOSTBUSTERS IS ON TAPE 6 AT COUNTER 1340", Saturn will give the location of "GHOSTBUSTERS" as "ON TAPE 6 AT COUNTER 1340". Sub The 'Sub' option creates an extract knowledge base containing only entries from the current knowledge base which meet specified criteria. After creation, this knowledge base is loaded and replaces the current knowledge base. Saturn informs you how many entries are present in the extract knowledge base. This facility is intended for use where you wish to quickly and easily access only a part of an existing knowledge base. For example, with the dating agency example you may wish to create a 'Sub' of 'men' so that you can quickly browse just the male entries. Or if you have catalogued your video collection you may want a sub knowledge base of comedies. Quit The 'Quit' option terminates Saturn and passes control back to DOS. 20 CREATING KNOWLEDGE TREES Saturn is modelled upon the memory system of the human brain. Just like the human brain Saturn makes use of sets of data, "Knowledge Trees", to enhance the speed and reliability of data retrieval. If you are still unclear about the idea of knowledge trees, consider your knowledge of animals. You know that all mammals are animals. And so, taught that an item, "xyz" is a "mammal" you automatically store that information away with a tag identifying the item "xyz" with the set "animal". You know that all scientists are people, and so told that "abc" is a scientist, you can instantly deduce that "abc" is a person. Your knowledge of data sets was probably learnt so long ago that you forget learning them, or else the learning was so subtle as to be unnoticeable. Saturn requires knowledge trees to be declared by statements of the format; /ALL subject ARE set name For example; /ALL MAMMALS ARE ANIMALS Declares a data set "ANIMALS" and assigns a member, "MAMMALS" to it. A subsequent declaration; /ALL FISH ARE ANIMALS Appends the member "FISH" to the existing data set for "ANIMALS". These declarations can be added to a knowledge base with any text editor or word processor. There is no need to make duplicate sets for plural and singular forms of words, Saturn can deduce the singular from the plural. The main use of knowledge trees is for preventing erroneous deductions. Saturn will attempt to deduce facts when ever possible. However, just like a child, Saturn can make errors if it has not been taught enough. For example: Given that; "An adder is a snake" "A snake is a reptile" "A reptile is an animal" Saturn can deduce that an adder is an animal. However, given ambiguous data about the word "Turkey", that is that "Turkey is a country. A turkey is a bird" followed by other data relating to Turkey, the country such as: "Ankarra is the capital of Turkey" Saturn will erroneously deduce that Ankarra is a bird! It can be taught not to make this deduction by knowledge tree entries which declare capitals as separate from animals, for example: 21 /ALL BIRDS ARE ANIMALS /ALL CAPITALS ARE PLACES These knowledge tree definitions are essential for use with generalised knowledge bases where queries of associated data are required. For example. To extract details of all PLACES from the general knowledge base it is essential to specify; /ALL VILLAGES ARE PLACES /ALL TOWNS ARE PLACES /ALL CITIES ARE PLACES And so on. This enables Saturn to realise that given an entry such as; "Woking is a town in Surrey." That Woking is therefore a PLACE, because Woking is a town, and ALL TOWNS ARE PLACES. 22 REPLACEMENTS Replacements are of two types; the first refers to where something comes from or to deduce something about an object and follows the format; +object replacement For example; +ENGLISH ENGLAND or +AFRICAN AFRICA or +MEN HE This first type of replacement allows Saturn to understand phrases such as; A BADGER LIVES IN ENGLAND And deduce from it that; A BADGER IS ENGLISH And to allow selection of data relating to 'MEN' based upon references to 'HE' within the data. Problems arise when data refers to both 'HE' and 'SHE' in such cases. For example the following data refernce will confuse Saturn into believing that Queen Alexandra is both a man and a woman! *ALEXANDRA QUEEN ALEXANDRA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF CHRISTIAN IX OF DENMARK. SHE WAS BORN IN 1844 AND DIED IN 1925. SHE MARRIED EDWARD VII IN 1863 WHEN HE WAS THE PRINCE OF WALES. The offending item is the word 'HE' which refers to Edward VII. Saturn is not intelligent enough to realise that the word 'HE' does not refer to the primary subject, Queen Alexandra. 23 The second type of replacement forces Saturn to read the data associated with another entry. This follows the format; *object #other object For example; *CATS #CAT 24 ACTION WORDS Action words (verbs) are declared to Saturn by the @ prefix in the knowledge base. Saturn uses action words to select answers to questions such as WHAT DOES A thing DO? For example, to tell Saturn that the word "REACT" is an action, put the line; @REACT In the knowledge base. Saturn automatically adds suffixes, "ING", and "S" to actions when trying to deduce actions. So there is no need for separate entries for "REACTS" and "REACTING". 25 MEASUREMENTS Measurements and comparisons of measurements are used everyday by people. We have no problem with the concept of 'size'. For example, I was contacted by a user of Saturn version 2.2 who wanted to use Saturn to run a dating agency. He wanted to be able to extract names on the basis of people who weighed between values and who were over or under certain heights. That is, "give me a list of all Greek men who weigh more than 9 stone and weigh less than 12 stone and who are between 5ft 6" and 6ft tall". Although you and I, as humans can readily understand and indeed extract from a file of details people matching these requirements, the process we use to do so is very esoteric. The psychology of size comparison is a complex area which we take for granted. If I say that I have a brother who is 5ft 4" tall, and that I am 5ft 8" tall. And I then ask you which of us is tallest, you will have no problem in deciding that I am taller. How do we make these decisions? If we break the data down we might realise. The data states that 'brother' is '5ft 4" tall' and that 'I' am '5ft 6" tall'. Previous data has established within our mind that the term 'taller' requires us to compare the size of the known items and accept only the larger. In this case the data item 'I'. The addition of superflous data, such as weight will not confuse the human mind. If the data statement is changed to: "My brother is 5ft 4" tall and weighs 8 stone and has size 7 feet. I am 5ft 8" tall and weigh 9 stone and have size 9 feet" We can still easily decide "which is taller" by scanning the data for units of measurement applicable to the term 'taller'. If we ask the question, "which is larger?" we will get different answers from different people. Some people will equate 'larger' with weight, and some with 'height' and some with both. Some very bright people may ask us to qualify our question. The term 'larger' is a general term relating to a comparison of size, but which unit of size? I hope I am not boring you with this discussion of measurement, but I wish to point out that comparisons of measurement is a non-exact science. It is highly error prone and as such does not naturally lend itself to being handled by a computer program. This is why Saturn has not previously attempted to understand size, and why for the forseable future Saturn's handling of size will be limited almost to the extent of idiotic. With version 2.4 Saturn introduced three size comparison qualifiers. 'OVER', 'UNDER' and 'BETWEEN'. These require a value followed by a unit. For example; "OVER 9 STONE" "UNDER 6 FEET" "BETWEEN 5 AND 6 FEET" "BETWEEN 30 AND 40 YEARS" The BETWEEN qualifier MUST follow the illustrated form: BETWEEN <value> AND <value> <unit> 26 There are a number of restrictions on the use of these three qualifiers. Saturn cannot understand phrases such as: "list all men over 20 years and under 30 years" What will happen is that Saturn will decipher this to mean: "list all men over 20 years and then list all men under 30 years" Instead you should say: "list all men between 20 and 30 years" 27 FORMATTING OUTPUT Special characters in the data about an object are "|" and "_". When Saturn encounters a "|" symbol in the data it is displaying it immediately displays the following data on a new line. The "_" symbol is never displayed but joins words together to inhibit and force cross referencing to occur. 28 COMBATTING AMBIGUITY The problem of ambiguity is well ullustrated by the example of the data item 'Turkey'. Turkey is the name of a country, and also the name of a type of bird. Where you have ambiguous item names like this you are advised to create two separate entries in the knowledge base with a qualification added to the item name, for example; Turkey (Bird) Turkey (Country) 29 KNOWLEDGE BASE COMPRESSION When a knowledge base is read, it is automatically compressed before being stored. This allows much more data to be stored than with previous versions. 30 ERROR MESSAGES Sometimes things can go wrong! Saturn may not be able to continue to operate because of a variety of reasons. In these circumstances an error message will be displayed and Saturn will cease functioning, returning control to the computer's DOS. FATAL ERROR: Out of memory Saturn could not access sufficient memory to continue. If you have other programs running, try deactivating them and then run Saturn again. FATAL ERROR: Knowledge tree too complex This could be for one of three reasons. Firstly a reference in the knowledge tree references itself, such as; /ALL PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE Or, there are more than 100 /ALL entries in the knowledge base, or the knowledge tree really is too large for another reason. Try pruning it and run Saturn again. FATAL ERROR: Unable to open knowledge base For some reason Saturn could not access the specified knowledge base, perhaps it does not exist in the specified disk directory? FATAL ERROR: Out Of Memory Creating Knowledge Tree Saturn could not access sufficient memory to continue. If you have other programs running, try deactivating them and then run Saturn again. FATAL ERROR: Too many declared actions There is a limit of 50 actions that can be declared in a knowledge base. FATAL ERROR: Too many declared replacements There is a limit of 50 replacements that can be declared in a knowledge base. FATAL ERROR: Out of memory loading data The knowledge base is too large for the available memory. If you have other programs running, try deactivating them and then run Saturn again. If not, try reducing the size of the knowledge base by making use of Saturn's unrivalled relational capabilities. FATAL ERROR: Too many data items in knowledge base Saturn can access a maximum of 7000 data items. The knowledge base contains more than this limit. 31 If Saturn displays the message; "I can't. The printer's not responding". You should check that you have a printer connected to the computer. You should also check that the printer has paper loaded. Also check that the printer is switched on, plugged in, and on line. Saturn only prints to the parallel port, it cannot make use of serial printers. 32 EXAMPLE APPLICATION Cataloguing your home recorded videos with Saturn: Saturn is perfect for storing a catalogue of any description. It provides the means to quickly locate items, extract items by categories on-the-fly so to speak etc. Let's imagine you have a collection of home recorded videos, WHICH IS ILLEGAL and NOT CONDONED BY SERVILE SOFTWARE. To catalogue the collection you need to be able to identify each video cassette, so you may wish to number them. You can then enter data about each film/program/cartoon etc into a knowledge base using SATEDIT. A typical entry will have as its subject the name of the film/program/cartoon and the body of the data will mention; which casette it is on what the counter position is the type of recording - cartoon, comedy, horror, children's the starring actors. The following example, taken from the example file VIDEO.KNB illustrates a typical film entry. The film's title is 'TOPPER' which is the subject entry. The film is a comedy, so that's mentioned as are the starring actors and the location of the film. *TOPPER Topper is a black and white comedy starring Cary Grant, Constance Bennett and Roland Young. It is on video 1 at counter 0000. Armed with this information Saturn can answer questions such as "Where is Topper" which it will answer with "on video 1 at counter 0000." A quick way to do this is to select the 'Locate' option from the menu, and type in the subject 'Topper'. The 'List Details' menu option can be used to remind you of what comedies you have. Simply enter 'Comedy' as the criteria and Saturn will display the recorded details of all the comedies in your collection. Cataloguing your CD collection with Saturn: Just like the video catalogue application, Saturn can be used to catalogue your record, tape and CD collection. Enabling you to quickly locate which albumn that particular song is on, remind you of which songs are on which albumns and who performs what songs. 33 THE SATURN EDITOR The Saturn Editor is selected from the "Edit" facility of the Saturn Interface menu. The editor provides a convenient means of creating new knowledge bases, and editing the data in existing knowledge bases. Creating a new knowledge base: To create a new knowledge base select the "File" facility from the Saturn Interface menu. Highlight the '<NEW>' file name and press ENTER. Saturn will then prompt you to enter the name of the knowledge base to create. Enter the name and press ENTER. Now select the "Edit" facility from the Saturn Interface Menu. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATEDIT V2.0 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Loading knowledge base newbase.knb from disk WARNING! Unable to load knowledge base. SUBJECT: F1 Help F2 Save F3 Load F4 Record Esc Exit Fig 1. Creating a new knowledge base 34 Adding/amending a subject: Next to the SUBJECT: prompt, type in the title of the subject to add or amend and press Enter. The Saturn Editor will then open a large edit window. In this edit window will be displayed the data already recorded about the subject. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Servile Software SATEDIT V2.0 (c)1994│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Knowledge Base: general.knb SUBJECT: England ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │England is a country in west Europe. It is the largest division of the united │ │kingdom._ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ F1 Help F2 Insert subject F3 Insert previous subject F4 Replay Amending data Saving: From the Subject prompt you can save the changes you have made by pressing F2 Loading: From the Subject prompt you can load a different knowledge base by pressing F3. The changes you have made to the existing knowledge base are saved, and you are then prompted to enter the name of the knowledge base to load. 35 Record: Pressing F4 allows a string of characters to be recorded. This string can then be inserted into the edit window by pressing F4 in the edit window. Exiting: Press return or Esc at the subject prompt and satedit will ask if you wish to save the changes you have made to the knowledge base. Press Y to save and N to lose any changes you have made. If you select N, to lose any changes made to the knowledge base, Satedit will ask for confirmation. You should press Y to exit without saving the changes, or N to changeyour mind and save them. 36 The edit window: The edit window provides you with the maximum available area for a data item, 12 lines. Editing starts in overtype mode, indicated by a small rectangular cursor. You can toggle between insert and over-type modes by pressing the key marked "Insert". To exit the edit window press the key marked "Esc". The table below lists all special keys used in the edit window. Key Function Esc Save text and exit. Left arrow Move left one character Right arrow Move right one character Up arrow Move up one line Down arrow Move down one line Home Move to start of line End Move to end of line Tab Move to next tab position Shift-Tab Move to previous tab position Ctrl-T Delete word to right Ctrl-Y Delete current line Page Up Move to top of page Page Down Move to bottom of Page Ctrl-Home Move to start of text Ctrl-End Move to end of text. Delete Delete character at cursor Backspace Delete character to left of cursor Insert Toggle insert mode Return Insert a blank line line Ctrl-Page Up Move to first line of window Ctrl-Page Down Move to last line of window F1 Help F2 Auto-type current subject heading. This saves retyping subject names in the edit window. F3 Auto-type previous subject heading. This saves retyping subject names in the edit window. F4 Auto-type a previously recorded string of text. 37 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Saturn was developed under a desire to satisfy a need for a particular individual. Saturn is dedicated to that individual, Deloris. Data used in the supplied knowledge bases has been derived from information recorded in a multitude of works including: The Waverley Encyclopaedia The Modern Cyclopaedia (1906) Pears Encyclopaedia (Editions 78, 89 and 99) The Chancellor Illustrated Family Encylopedic Dictionary (1989) Murrays Manual of Mythology (1936) Soviet Airpower (1978) The Concise Oxford Dictionary (6th Edition) Odhams Encyclopaedia (Illustrated) 38 This program is protected by international copyright law. You may freely copy the Shareware version so long as it is supplied in an unmodified form with all supporting documentation. SATURN was written by Matthew Probert and published by Servile Software. All enquiries should be addressed to; Matthew Probert Servile Software 5 Longcroft Close Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 1XG England Telephone 0256 478576 SUPPORT IS ONLY AVAILABLE TO REGISTERED USERS!