home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!jussieu.fr!oleane!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!howland.erols.net!infeed2.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!nntp.info.ucla.edu!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!mkant
- From: mkant+@cs.cmu.edu (Mark Kantrowitz)
- Newsgroups: comp.ai,comp.ai.shells,news.answers,comp.answers
- Subject: FAQ: Expert System Shells 1/1 [Monthly posting]
- Supersedes: <EXPERT_1_868777228@CS.CMU.EDU>
- Followup-To: poster
- Date: 13 Aug 1997 07:43:21 GMT
- Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
- Lines: 1428
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Distribution: world
- Expires: 24 Sep 1997 07:00:20 GMT
- Message-ID: <EXPERT_1_871455620@CS.CMU.EDU>
- Reply-To: mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu
- NNTP-Posting-Host: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu
- Keywords: Expert Systems, RETE, OPS
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.ai:48835 comp.ai.shells:3704 news.answers:109657 comp.answers:27554
-
- Archive-name: ai-faq/expert/part1
- Last-Modified: Wed Apr 30 14:01:59 1997 by Mark Kantrowitz
- Version: 1.41
- Maintainer: Mark Kantrowitz <mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu>
- URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/Groups/AI/html/faqs/ai/expert/part1/faq.html
- Size: 77655 bytes, 1437 lines
-
- ;;; ****************************************************************
- ;;; 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.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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, <month>, <year>,
- ftp.cs.cmu.edu:/user/ai/pubs/faqs/expert/expert_?.faq,
- mkant+ai-faq@cs.cmu.edu.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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 <a.sangster@aberdeen.ac.uk>
- URL: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~acc025/ijaes.html
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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
- <rtis@world.std.com>.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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 <riley@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov>.
- 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 <info@acw.com>,
- 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 <J.Smart@ed.ac.uk>.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- 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 <sales@aiinc.bc.ca>.
-
- 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
- oriented knowledge representation, forward, backward, bidirectional,
- and pattern matching rules, graphics, calls to/from other languages
- (C, Pascal, ...), and the Choreographer graphical user interface. For
- more information, write to Aion Corporation, 101 University Avenue,
- Palo Alto, CA 94301, call 800-845-2466 (415-328-9595), or fax
- 415-321-7728. For Europe, write to Software Generation,
- Kontichsesteenweg 40, B 2630 Aartselaar, Belgium, call
- 32-(0)3-877.12.93, or fax 32-(0)3-877.13.55
-
- Angoss Knowledge Seeker. Angoss is a data-mining tool that can be used
- to produce knowledge bases of rules by infering cause and effect
- relationships from a database. The DOS version costs $799 and the
- Windows version $899. For more information, write to Angoss Software
- International Ltd., 430 King Street W., Suite 201, Toronto M5V 1J5,
- Canada, call 416-593-1122, or fax 416-593-5077.
-
- ART*Enterprise (Brightware, Inc., formerly a division of Inference
- Corporation). ART*Enterprise is the latest of the family of rule-based
- development environments originating with ART in the mid-1980s. It is a
- development environment for enterprise-wide applications,
- incorporating rules, a full object system which includes features
- currently not present in C++ or Smalltalk, and a large collection of
- object classes for UI development across platforms (from Windows to
- OS/2 to Unix), access to databases (SQL-based and ODBC-based), and
- multi-person development. The ART*Enterprise environment provides a
- forward chaining engine where backward chaining can be implemented,
- though it is not supported directly. ART*Enterprise also provides a
- CBR kernel for those who are interested in incorporating it into their
- applications. For further information, contact Brightware, Inc.,
- 101 Rowland Way, Suite 310, Novato, CA 94945, call 1-800-532-2890
- (1-415-899-9070), fax 415-899-9080, or email info@brightware.com.
- Their home page is located at the URL
- http://www.brightware.com/
- In addition to the usual company and product information, this page features
- several job openings.
-
- Arity Expert Development Package is an expert system that integrates
- rule-based and frame-based representations of knowledge with several
- different kinds of certainty factors. The OS/2 version costs $495 and
- the DOS version $295. For more information, write to Arity Corporation,
- Damonmill Square, Concord, MA 01742, call 800-722-7489 (508-371-1243),
- fax 508-371-1487, or send email to 73677.2614@compuserve.com or Paul G.
- Weiss <pgweiss@netcom.com>.
-
- BABYLON. For more information, write to VW-GEDAS GmbH, Pascalstrasse
- 11, W-1000 Berlin 10, call +49 30-39-970-0, or fax +49 30-39-970-999.
-
- CAM Software sells two expert system tools, DClass and LogicTree.
- DClass is a decision-tree system used for manufacturing applications.
- LogicTree is a decision-making system designed for non-programmers.
- For more information, write to CAM Software, 390 W. 800 N., Suite 103,
- PO Box 276, Orem, UT 84059-0276, call 800-293-6777, or fax 801-225-0286.
-
- CBR Express (Inference Corporation). CBR Express family of
- products supports case-based retrieval of information. For further
- information contact Inference Corporation, 550 N. Continental Blvd., El
- Segundo, CA 90245, call 800-322-9923 (310-322-0200), fax 310-322-3242,
- or email marketing@inference.com. Their home page is located at the URL
- http://www.inference.com/
- In addition to the usual company and product information, this page
- features a live demo of case-based retrieval in action and several job
- openings.
-
- COGSYS. For more information, write to COGSYS Ltd., Enterprise House,
- Unit 37, Salford University Business Park, Salford M6 6AJ, England, or
- call 061-745-7604.
-
- COMDALE/C, COMDALE/X, and ProcessVision. COMDALE/C is a real-time
- expert system designed for industrial process monitoring and control.
- + COMDALE/C allows requests for justification of recommendations,
- conclusions, and control actions without interrupting the decision
- making process. It can deal with uncertainty in knowledge and data,
- and has an open architecture and time-based reasoning. Other features
- include: full object-oriented configuration; full networking
- capabilities; alarm processing; an interrupt driven controller;
- trending and historical data collection; time-scheduled events; a
- realtime database, and interfaces with DCSs, PLCs and other I/O
- devices.
- + COMDALE/X is an off-line consultative expert system which
- queries the user for information required to make its decisions.
- COMDALE/X is included with COMDALE/C as the development tool for
- real-time expert systems. COMDALE/X has the capability to incorporate
- hypertext documents with the reasoning abilities of the expert system
- to produce expert hyper manuals which provide information and generate
- advice through an easy to use interface.
- + ProcessVision is a real-time process monitoring and control
- software package. Based on an open and modular architecture,
- ProcessVision provides a graphical operator interface; intuitive
- object-oriented display configuration, smart alarming, sensor
- validation, hot standby, and unlimited connectivity to all your
- process instrumentation in one global environment.
- For more information, write to Comdale Technologies (Canada) Inc., The
- Comdale Building, 701 Evans Avenue, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA,
- M9C 1A3, call 416-620-1234, fax 416-620-4526, or send email to
- info@comdale.com, or see their web site,
- http://www.comdale.com/
-
- C-PRS (Procedural Reasoning System in C) aims at representing and
- executing operating procedures. It allows the user to express and
- represent the conditional sequences of complex operations and to
- ensure their execution in real time while embedded in the application
- environment. C-PRS is useful for process control and supervision
- applications. The PRS technology has been applied to different tasks
- with real-time constraints and demands including the monitoring of
- several subsystems of the NASA space shuttle, the diagnosis and
- supervision of telecommunication networks (Telecom Australia), the
- control of mobile robots (SRI, LAAS), the control system of
- surveillance aircrafts (Grumman) and air traffic management (Civil
- Aviation Authority). The procedural reasoning technology was
- initially developed at the Artificial Intelligence Center of the
- Stanford Research Institute (Menlo Park, California). ACS
- Technologies has further developed and now markets C-PRS, the first
- commercial implementation of the Procedural Reasoning technology.
- C-PRS was developed with the most currently recognized standards: C,
- UNIX, X11, MOTIF. It guarantees some real time properties. It is
- available on numerous platforms and operating systems, including
- SPARC, DECstation, Sony News, Hewlett Packard, VxWorks, and others.
- For more information write to ACS Technologies, 5, Place du Village
- d'Entreprises, B.P. 556 31674 LABEGE Cedex, FRANCE, call
- 33-62-24-99-20, fax 33-61-39-86-74, or send email to email to
- <ingrand@ingenia.fr> or <cprs@ingenia.fr>.
-
- CPR (Case-based Problem Resolution) is a C++ class library and
- Help!CPR is a helpdesk and knowledge authoring application that uses
- CPR. CPR is being embedded within call tracking systems and Help!CPR
- competes directly with Inference Corporations's CBR Express and
- CasePoint (CasePoint being CBR Express without authoring
- capabilities). For more information, write to The Haley Enterprise,
- Inc., 413 Orchard Street, Sewickley, PA 15143, call 800-233-2622
- (412-741-6420), fax 412-741-6457, send email to info@haley.com, or see
- their web site
- http://www.haley.com/
- or ftp site
- ftp://ftp.haley.com/
- These sites include their literature in PostScript and HTML, as well
- as their software.
-
-
- CRYSTAL runs on personal computers and is available from Intelligent
- Environemnts. For more information, write to Intelligent Environments
- Europe Ltd., Crystal House, PO Box 51, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex TW16
- 7UL, England, call 44-0-932-772266, or fax 44-0-932-771499.
- See PC Magazine 8(2), January 31, 1989.
-
- CxPERT is an expert system shell that produces royalty-free C code. For
- more information, write to Software Plus Ltd., 1315 Pleasant Meadow
- Road, Crofton, MD 21114, or call 301-261-0264.
-
- The Easy Reasoner (TM) is a Case-Based Retrieval (CBR) tool with
- Reasoning that provides an adaptive associative memory; retrieves
- similar cases from memory given a new case; extends Query-by-Example
- (QBE) by providing Query-by-Similarity(TM) (QBS); indexes existing
- databases using decision trees; supports xBase, ODBC, and SQL
- databases; maximizes information while minimizing complexity;
- automatically filteres noise to simplifies decision trees; induces
- automatically or under explicit control; ranks and retrieves
- classified cases by similarity; efficiently retrieves similar cases
- from large databases; efficiently retrieves most similar case from
- large DBs; efficiently retrieves "next most similar" case; supports
- multiple decision tree indices per database; supports multiple
- decision trees per field; classifies new information using any
- decision tree; automatically or interactively classifies new cases;
- handles missing data and "don't know" responses; provides customizable
- thesaurus for nominal fields; provides adaptive, context-sensitive,
- default reasoning; provides adaptive estimation using decision trees;
- predicts or ranks values for nominal or ordinal fields; automatically
- learns N-dimensional similarity spaces; quickly retrieves closest case
- from similarity space; ranks cases by distance in similarity space;
- retrieves records where similarity depends on text; circumvents
- spelling problems with N-M-grams; recognizes various forms of English
- dictionary words; automatically determines information content per
- word; automatically determines thesaural information content. Easy
- Reasoner. The Easy Reaoner 16 bit Windows Toolkit costs $249, The Easy
- Reaoner 32 bit Windows Toolkit costs $499, The Easy Reasoner OS/2
- Toolkit costs $499, and The Easy Reasoner UNIX X/Motif Toolkit costs
- $999. UNIX Versions available for Sun OS, Sun Solaris, HP UX, Data
- General, AIX. For more information, write to The Haley Enterprise,
- Inc., 413 Orchard Street, Sewickley, PA 15143, call 800-233-2622
- (412-741-6420), fax 412-741-6457, send email to info@haley.com, or see
- their web site
- http://www.haley.com/
- or ftp site
- ftp://ftp.haley.com/
- These sites include their literature in PostScript and HTML, as well
- as their software.
-
- ECLIPSE runs on personal computers (DOS, Windows). System V Unix and
- POSIX versions are also available. The syntax is derived from
- Inference Corporations' ART and is compatible with NASA's CLIPS.
- Features include data-driven pattern matching, forward and backward
- chaining, truth maintenance, support for multiple goals, relational
- and object-oriented representations, and integration with dBase. For
- more information, write to The Haley Enterprise, Inc., 413 Orchard
- Street, Sewickley, PA 15143, call 800-233-2622 (412-741-6420), fax
- 412-741-6457, or send email to info@haley.com, or see their web site
- http://www.haley.com/
- or ftp site
- ftp://ftp.haley.com/
- These sites include their literature in PostScript and HTML, as well
- as their software. See also IEEE Computer, February 1991, pages
- 4-12. The cost is $499 for the Eclipse 16 bit Windows Toolkit, $999
- for Eclipse 32 bit Windows Toolkit or Eclipse OS/2 Toolkit, and $1,999
- for Eclipse UNIX X/Motif Toolkit. Versions are available for Sun OS,
- Sun Solaris, HP UX, Data General, AIX.
-
- Emerald Empower Procedural Advisor for Macintosh or PC Windows. $6800
- Fault trees are built graphically to automate the decision path that an
- expert uses for troubleshooting a problem. Emerald Intelligence, Inc,
- 3850E Research Park Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, call 313-663-8757, or fax
- 313-663-8757.
-
- Esteem is a case-based reasoning tool for Windows that integrates
- case-based reasoning with rules. For more information write to Esteem
- Software Inc., 302 E. Main, Cambridge City, IN 47327, call
- 317-478-3955, or fax 317-478-3550.
-
- EXSYS Professional runs under MS-DOS, MS-Windows, Macintosh, SunOS,
- Solaris, Unix and Vax. It supports backward and forward chaining, linear
- programming, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and has a SQL interface.
- For more information please visit their
- web page at
- http://www.exsysinfo.com/
- For examples of EXSYS applications running over the web
- try their Web Runtime Engine demonstrations at
- http://www.exsysinfo.com/Wren/wren.html
- For an MS-Windows executable demo of EXSYS Professional/EXSYS RuleBook
- ftp://ftp.exsysinfo.com/pub/demos/
- These sites include their literature in PDF and HTML, as well as their
- software.
- For more information, send Email to info@exsysinfo.com,
- write to Exsys, Inc., 1720 Louisiana Boulevard, NE, Suite 312,
- Albuquerque, NM 87110, call 800-676-8356 (505-256-8356), or fax
- 505-256-8359. See also PC Tech Journal 7(1):115, January, 1989.
-
- FLEX is a hybrid expert system toolkit available across a wide range of
- different hardware platforms which offers frames, procedures and rules
- integrated within a logic programming environment. FLEX supports
- interleaved forward and backward chaining, multiple inheritance,
- procedural attachment, an automatic question and answer system. Rules,
- frames and questions are described in a English-like Knowledge
- Specification Language (KSL) which enables the development of easy-to-read
- and easy-to-maintain knowledge bases. FLEX is implemented in, and has
- access to, Prolog. FLEX is available from LPA (who originally developed
- flex on the PC), and also from most major Prolog vendors under license,
- including Quintus, BIM, Interface, and ISL. FLEX has been used in
- numerous commercial expert systems, and prices on a PC running Windows or
- on a Macintosh start at around $1,000. [A review of Quintus-flex is
- expected in an upcoming issue of PC-AI. --mk] For more information contact:
- Logic Programming Associates Ltd, Studio 4, R.V.P.B., Trinity Road,
- London, SW18 3SX. Tel: +44 (0) 181-871-2016; Fax: +44 (0) 181-874-0449.
- Email: lpa@cix.compulink.co.uk. In the US call 1-800-949-7567.
- Their web page is located at the URL
- http://www.lpa.co.uk
-
- Foundation Technologies sells expert system products and services for
- financial applications, such as pension management. For more
- information write to Foundation Technologies Inc., One Kendall Square,
- Cambridge, MA 02139, call 617-720-2760, or fax 617-720-4153.
-
- Gensym's G2 offers a graphical, object-oriented environment for
- creating intelligent applications that monitor, diagnose, and control
- dynamic events in on-line and simulated environments. Featuring a
- structured natural language for creating rules, models, and
- procedures, G2 is the foundation of all Gensym application products
- and end-user applications. Gensym's application products include the G2
- Diagnostic Assistant (GDA), which provides a visual programming
- environment for creating intelligent process management applications.
- NeurOn-Line, another Gensym product, allows users to easily create
- neural network applications. G2 includes concurrent execution of
- rules and procedures and the ability to reason about behavior over
- time. G2 GUIDE allows users to easily create graphical end user
- interfaces and real-time displays. Gensym's Telewindows provides a
- powerful multi-user client/server environment that allows users to share G2
- applications. Gensym also offers G2 Bridge Products for connectivity to other
- programs (C and ADA) and real-time data systems including relational
- databases, distributed control systems, and programmable logic controllers.
- Gensym supports its products worldwide through 26 direct sales offices and a
- network of over 100 marketing partners. For more information, please write
- to Gensym Corporation, 125 Cambridge Park Drive, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA,
- call +617-547-2500, fax +617-547-1962, or send email to info@gensym.com.
- Gensym's homepage is located at
- http://www.gensym.com
- (The Gensym page was formerly located at http://www.industry.net/gensym.
- The IndustryNet page will be removed this spring.)
-
- GBB, generic blackboard framework: provides:
- -- A high-performance blackboard database compiler and
- runtime library, which support pattern-based, multidimensional
- range-searching algorithms for efficient proximity-based retrieval
- of blackboard objects
- -- KS representation languages
- -- Generic control shells and agenda-management utilities
- -- Interactive, graphic displays for monitoring and examining
- blackboard and control components
- These components provide the infrastructure needed to build
- blackboard-based applications. GBB is available for DOS/Windows, Mac,
- Unix workstations (Sun, HP/Apollo, IBM, DEC, Silicon Graphics),
- Symbolics and TI Explorer Lisp machines. (GBB is a significantly enhanced,
- commercial version of the UMass GBB research framework, available via
- FTP from ftp.cs.umass.edu:/gbb/.) NetGBB, distributed extension to
- GBB, provides to GBB the communication and coordination facilities
- needed to build heterogenous distributed blackboard applications.
- For more information write to Blackboard Technology Group, Inc., 401 Main
- Street, Amherst, MA 01002, call 800-KSS-8990 or 413-256-8990, or fax
- 413-256-3179. To be added to the mailing lists, send mail to
- gbb-user-request@bn.cs.umass.edu. There are two mailing lists, gbb-user
- (moderated) and gbb-users (unmoderated). Blackboard Technlogy has a
- WWW page at the URL
- http://www.bbtech.com/
-
- GOLDWORKS III. For more information, write to Gold Hill Computers, Inc.,
- 26 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, call 800-242-5477
- (617-621-3300), or fax 617-621-0656.
-
- GURU is an expert system development environment and RDBMS that offers a
- wide variety of information processing tools combined with
- knowledge-based capabilities such as forward chaining, backward
- chaining, mixed chaining, multi-value variables, and fuzzy reasoning.
- For more information about GURU and the other database engines,
- development tools, and services offered by Micro Data Base Systems,
- please write to Micro Data Base Systems, Inc., 1305 Cumberland Avenue,
- P.O. Box 2438, West Lafayette, IN 47906-0438, call 800-445-MDBS/6327
- (317-463-7200), fax 317-463-1234, or send email to info@mdbs.com.
-
- HUGIN System is a software package for construction of model based expert
- systems in domains characterized by inherent uncertainty. The Hugin System
- contains an easy to use probability based deduction system, applicable to
- complex networks with cause-effect causal relations subject to uncertainty.
- The Hugin System presents a novel development. The implementation is based
- on an improvement of the award winning work by Lauritzen and Spiegelhalter:
- Local Computation with Probabilities on Graphical Structures and their
- Application to Expert Systems. The Hugin Demonstration, for
- Sun Workstations and PC-Windows, is available for anonymous ftp from
- hugin.dk:/pub/README [130.225.63.15]
- The WWW home page for HUGIN is accessible by the URL
- http://hugin.dk/
- For more information write to Hugin Expert A/S, Niels Jernes Vej 10,
- DK-9220 Aalborg O, Phone +45 9815 6644, Fax: +45 9815 8550, Email:
- info@hugin.dk.
-
- Icarus is an expert systems development tool for PCs. It includes
- links to Lotus and dBASE files, forward and backward chaining, and
- Bayesian confidence factors. For more information, write to Icarus,
- 11300 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 02852-3088, call 301-881-9350, or
- fax 301-881-2542.
-
- ILOG RULES is a high performance embeddable rule-based inference
- engine. It is a forward chaining tool, written in C++ (hence it is
- object-oriented and supports inheritance mechanisms) and is also
- provided as a C++ library. It runs virtually on any Unix platform
- (e.g., HP97X0, Sun4, RS/6000, DecStations) as well as on PCs running
- DOS (with or without MS/Windows) or OS/2. It extends OPS/5 with
- nested premises (objects as values), rule packets (logical grouping of
- rules), a full Truth Maintenance System (TMS) for efficient
- non-monotonic reasoning, compilation of rules into C/C++ code, and an
- object oriented data-model in C++. ILOG RULES work directly on user
- objects, so interfacing is straightforward. C/C++ code may be included
- in rule conditions and actions. ILOG RULES is based on the fast XRETE
- implementation of the RETE algorithm developed by Thomson-CSF. For
- more information, contact ILOG, Inc., 2073 Landings Drive, Mountain
- View, CA 94043, tel 415-390-9000, fax 415-390-0946, e-mail
- info@ilog.com. European customers should contact ILOG SA, 9, rue de
- Verdun, BP 85, 94253 Gentilly CEDEX, France,
- tel +33 (1) 49-08-35-00, fax +33 (1) 49-08-35-10, e-mail info@ilog.fr.
- The URL of ILOG's web page is
- http://www.ilog.fr
-
- INTELLIGENCE COMPILER. For more information, write to Intelligence
- Ware 9800 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90045-5228 call
- 213-417-8896, or fax 213-417-8897.
-
- KDS is a case-based system that produces rules from cases. For more
- information, write to KDS Corporation, 934 Cornell Street, Wilmeete, IL
- 60091-1405, call 708-251-2621, or fax 708-251-6489.
-
- KEE, ProKappa, and Kappa are expert system development packages that run
- on personal computers, workstations, and Lisp machines. Features include
- ATM, rule-based reasoning, and OOP support. For more information, write
- to IntelliCorp, Inc., 1975 El Camino Real West, Suite 101, Mountain View, CA
- 94040-2216, call 415-965-5700/5500 or fax 415-965-5647. In Europe call
- +44-344-305305. See also CACM 31(4):382-401, April, 1988.
-
- KES and SNAP run on personal computers (KES $4,000), workstations (KES
- $10,000, SNAP $40,000 on most platforms), minicomputers (KES $25,000),
- IBM mainframes (KES $60,000). Although KES can be purchased
- separately, it is part of SNAP. For more information write to Software
- Architecture and Engineering, Inc., 1600 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 500,
- Arlington, VA 22209, call 703-276-7910, or fax 703-284-3821. Write to
- Template Software, 13100 Worldgate Drive, Suite 340, Herndon, Virginia
- 22070, call 703-318-1000, or fax 703-318-7378.
-
- Knowledge Craft is an expert-system development toolkit for
- scheduling, design, and configuration applications. For more
- information, write to Carnegie Group, 5 PPG Place, Pittsburgh, PA
- 15222, call 800-284-3424 (412-642-6900), or fax 412-642-6906.
-
- KnowledgeWorks from Harlequin runs on a variety of Unix platforms,
- including Sun Sparc and clones (SunOS and Solaris), IBM RS/6000 (AIX),
- DEC MIPS (Ultrix), DEC Alpha (OSF/1), HP PA (HP-UX), and SGI (IRIX).
- It includes a CLOS-based object system, OPS compatible forward chainer
- (2500 firings/sec on a Sparc2), Prolog compatible backward chainer
- (40 KLIPS), graphical programming environment, user-defined conflict
- resolution, MetaRule Protocol for extending execution model, and a
- SQL interface for relational databases. For further information,
- contact by e-mail worldwide:
- knowledgeworks-request@harlequin.com (OR @harlequin.co.uk)
- or in the US:
- FAX: 617-252-6505
- Voice: 800-WORKS-4-YOU (800-967-5749) or 617-374-2400 or 617-252-0052
- Mail: Harlequin Inc., One Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142
- or in Europe:
- FAX: 0223-872-519 (OR 44-1223-872-519 from outside UK)
- Voice: 0223-873-800 OR -872-522 (OR 44-1223-873-800 from outside UK)
- Telex: 818440 harlqn g
- Mail: Harlequin Ltd., Barrington Hall, Barrington, Cambridge, CB2 5RG
- Harlequin also sells LispWorks (a Common Lisp and Prolog programming
- environment described in part 4 of the Lisp FAQ), MLWorks (an ML
- programming environment), and Watson (an intelligence analysis tool).
-
- K-Vision is a knowledge acquisition and visualization tool. It runs on
- Windows, DOS, and UNIX workstations. For more information write to
- Ginesys Corporation, 1200 Woodruff Road, Suite C-9, Greenville, SC
- 29607-5731, call 800-277-8338 (803-288-8338), or fax 803-458-9050.
-
- Laser. For more information, write to Bell Atlantic Knowledge Systems,
- Inc., P.O. Box 3528, Princeton, NJ 08543-3528, or call 800-552-2257
- (609-275-8393).
-
- LEVEL5 OBJECT for Microsoft Windows runs on an IBM PC compatible
- computer using Windows 3.1 or above. LEVEL5 OBJECT is a robust
- object-oriented application development system with a tunable inference
- engine product. For more information, write to Information Builders,
- 503 Fifth Avenue, Indialantic, FL 32903, call 800-444-4303
- (407-729-9046), fax 407-727-7615, or email to 76366.323@compuserve.com,
- techsup@l5r.com, or sales@l5r.com. Their Web server is located at the URL
- http://www.l5r.com/level5.html
- For Customer Support call 407-984-8705.
-
- There are several versions of the M.4 product. M.4 VB is a Visual
- Basic custom control that sells for $199. The full M.4 package runs on
- personal computers (DOS, Windows) and sells for $995. It features a modular
- kernel library that can be linked into C-language applications, backward and
- forward chaining, pattern matching, certainty factors, procedural control,
- an object-oriented representation, and ODBC hooks. M.4 is embeddable,
- configurable, and extendable and is provided as libraries, a custom control
- (VBX), and as a DDE Server. Working VB, Visual C++, ToolBook, and DOS GUIs
- are provided to illustrate various integration techniques. M.4 is also
- available as embeddable libraries for Sun SPARCstations for $2,495 and as
- embeddable libraries for Macintosh System 7 for $995. For more information,
- write to Teknowledge Corporation (formerly Cimflex Teknowledge Corporation),
- 1810 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, or call 800-285-0500
- (415-424-0500), fax 415-493-2645, or visit http://www.teknowledge.com/M4
-
- MailBot, from Daxtron Labs, is a personal E-Mail agent for Microsoft Mail.
- MailBot provides filtering, forwarding, notification, automatic
- question answering and listserv like capabilities. MailBot can act as a
- expert system shell for mail. The front-end translates user rule inputs
- into a variant of Prolog. A API exists for writting action code in
- Visual Basic. More information is available from the URL
- http://www.polaris.net/~daxtron/mailbot.htm
-
- MEM-1 is a Lisp-based language that aids in the development of
- Case-Based Reasoning systems; provides facilities to define case
- structures, create cases, divide cases into sub-cases, weigh case
- attributes, define indexing schemes and similarity functions, adapt
- solutions and define procedural adaptation rules. Runs on Windows, DOS,
- Sun, DECStation, RS/6000, and Macintosh. Price: $199 ($50 for
- educational institutions). For more information, write to CECASE, 2291
- Irving Hill Drive, Lawrence, KS 66045, call 913-864-4896, fax
- 913-864-7789, or send email to mem1info@cecase.ukans.edu
-
- ModelQuest 4.0. Runs on Windows 3+, NT, 95 ($995). ModelQuest is easy to
- learn and use so you can quickly take advantage of its power. ModelQuest
- produces more accurate and robust models as well as royalty-free C code.
- For more information, write to Abtech Corporation, 1575 State Farm
- Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22901, call 804-977-0686, fax
- 804-977-9615, e -mail sales@abtech.com, or visit their web page
- http://www.abtech.com/
-
- MUSE. For more information, write to Cambridge Consultants, Science
- Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 4DW, England, or call
- 0223-420024 Cambridge.
-
- NEXPERT OBJECT runs on over 30 platforms supported including personal
- computers ($5000), Macintosh ($5000), workstations ($12,000),
- minicomputers, and mainframes. Nexpert Object is written in C, and
- includes a graphical user interface, knowledge acquisition tools, and
- forms system. For more information, write to Neuron Data, 156
- University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301, call 800-876-4900
- (415-321-4488), or fax 415-321-3728. Other offices include New York,
- 212-832-8900; Philadelphia, 215-941-2981; Washington, DC,
- 703-821-8800; Los Angeles, 714-851-4621; Chicago, 708-955-3688;
- Houston, 713-739-9020; United Kingdom, 44-71-408-2333, fax
- 44-71-495-6274; France, 33-1-40-70-04-21, fax 33-1-47-23-71-43; and
- Japan, 81-3-3746-4371, fax 81-3-3746-4374. See also IEEE Software
- 5(5):98, September, 1988, PC Tech Journal 6(11):112, November, 1988,
- MacUser 4(12):134, December, 1988, MacUser 4(9):136, September, 1989,
- Computer Language 6(12):123, December, 1989, PC Week 7(26):43, July 2,
- 1990, MacWeek 4(25):10, July 10, 1990, and IEEE Expert December, 1991,
- page 72. [This entry is a bit out of date. Nexpert Object is now part
- of a larger product called "Smart Elements", which includes Open
- Interface 2.0 -- an object-oriented GUI developer -- in addition to
- Nexpert Object 3.0. Any Neuron Data folks out there want to redo this entry?]
-
- Object Management Workbench* (OMW) is the first object-oriented
- analysis and design tool which incorporates directly executable
- diagrams and business rules. OMW works with Kappa(, an integrated,
- visual programming environment for developing client/server
- applications. Kappa applications are developed on Unix and can be
- delivered on either Unix or MS Windows. With Kappa CommManager*, an
- object request broker, customers can distribute Kappa applications,
- including program logic, across Unix, MS Windows and MVS. Kappa-PC(
- is IntelliCorps' integrated MS Windows-based programming environment
- for departmental developers. For more information, write to
- IntelliCorp, Inc., 1975 El Camino Real West, Mountain View, CA
- 94040-2216, call 415-965-5700 or fax 415-965-5647. In Europe call
- +44-344-305305. See also CACM 31(4):382-401, April, 1988.
-
- OPS83 was developed by the developers of OPS5 as a successor to OPS5.
- OPS83 is written in C, and OPS83 rule bases can be embedded in C
- programs. OPS83 was the first OPS-like language to provide this
- integration of rule bases with C. OPS83 supports Generalized Forward
- Chaining (GFC), a new control structure that permits rules to be more
- expressive; one GFC rule can replace several conventional flat rules.
- (Details and examples are available on request.) The current version
- of OPS83 uses the proprietary Rete II algorithm to enable it to handle
- large, complex rule sets efficiently. A multi-windowed,
- point-and-click development environment called the OPS83 Workbench is
- offered. OPS83 is available for DOS, OS/2, UNIX, VMS, and some
- proprietary operating systems. For information, write Production
- Systems Technologies, Inc., 5001 Baum Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213,
- call 412-683-4000, or fax 412-683-6347.
-
- Personal Consultant Plus. For more information, write to Texas Instruments
- PO Box 2909, MS/2240, Austin, TX 78769, or call 800-527-3500.
-
- PowerSMARTS (multimedia rule-based logic), DataSMARTS (database mining),
- NeuroSMARTS (neural net) for Macintosh or PC Windows. Costs range from
- $495 to $4995. Cognition Technology Corporation, 1000 Massachusetts Ave,
- Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-492-0246, FAX 617-492-0247, Internet ctcma@aol.com
-
- RAL (Rule-extended Algorithmic Language) is a high-performance C-based
- expert systems tool. It was designed to permit seamless integration
- of rules and objects into C programs. RAL is a superset of C. RAL
- rules can operate directly on the data types used by the C code in
- your application. RAL "understands" C type declarations, function
- prototypes, #define constants, etc. C expressions, statements,
- macros, function calls, etc. can be embedded directly in the rules.
- RAL has an open architecture that permits it to be used with any GUI
- builder, data base library, or other library that can be used with C.
- No bridges are required. For efficiency, RAL rules are compiled into
- C code. Charles Forgy, the inventor of Rete, has developed a more
- efficient match algorithm called Rete II for RAL. (Benchmark results
- are available on request.) A special version of the language, called
- RAL/RT, adds the features that are required for real-time expert
- systems. RAL and RAL/RT have a multi-windowed, point-and-click
- development environment called the RAL Workbench. RAL and RAL/RT are
- available for DOS, MS Windows, OS/2, and UNIX. License fees for
- development systems are available on request. There are no run-time
- fees charged for distributing applications developed using RAL. For
- information, write Production Systems Technologies, Inc., 5001 Baum
- Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, call 412-683-4000, or fax 412-683-6347.
-
- ReMind. ReMind is a case-based reasoning tool. For more information,
- write to Cognitive Systems Inc., 880 Canal Street, Stamford, CT 06907,
- call 203-356-7756, or fax 203-356-7760.
-
- Rete++ supports both forward and backward chaining. With Rete++ the
- programmer can develop object hierarchies and instantiate, manipulate,
- and access them using either C++, the standard rule-based syntax, or
- C. Asserting and modifying the data that is considered by rules is
- done by creating a C++ instance and performing assignments to and
- accessing the member data of the instance. Rete++ automatically
- generates C++ class taxonomies. The C++ components of Rete++
- applications use these generated classes directly or further subclass
- them as needed. The Rete++ inference engine automatically considers
- any instances of a generated class (or its subclasses) in the matching
- of rule conditions. C++ data types provided by Rete++ allow more
- flexible representation and automatic reasoning using standard C++
- syntax without extraneous function calls. Rete++ automatically
- monitors changes to C++ objects without requiring programmers to
- explicitly code function calls. Rete++ is provided as a C++ class
- library. As such, it may be linked as part of your C++ application.
- You may completely embed Rete++, with or without its graphical
- development environment. Modules for developing Case Based Reasoning
- and integration with databases are available for Rete++ applications.
- Rete++ integrates a dependency based Truth Maintenance System to
- preserve logically sound and complete reasoning in spite of
- non-monotonicity. Multiple rulesets and agendas support modular
- development and cooperating expert systems. Rete++ has an advanced
- browser for rule based programming. The Rete++ windowing development
- environment monitors the knowledge base with multiple views that are
- all updated in real-time, allowing for debugging, browsing, the
- monitoring and setting of break points, and the tracing of rules,
- facts and goals. Rete++ 16 bit Windows Toolkit costs $999, Rete++ 32
- bit Windows Toolkit costs $1,999, Rete++ OS/2 Toolkit costs $1,999,
- and Rete++ UNIX X/Motif Toolkit costs $2,999. UNIX Versions available
- for Sun OS, Sun Solaris, HP UX, Data General, AIX. For more
- information write to The Haley Enterprise, Inc. 413 Orchard St.,
- Sewickley, PA 15143, call 800-233-2622 (412-741-6420 or 412-967-1100), fax
- 412-741-6457, or send email to info@haley.com, or see
- their web site
- http://www.haley.com/
- or ftp site
- ftp://ftp.haley.com/
- These sites include their literature in PostScript and HTML, as well
- as their software.
-
- RT/Expert is an expert system development package integrated into the
- SystemBuild development environment that runs on PCs, UNIX, and VMS
- systems. For more information, write to Integrated Systems Inc., 3260
- Jay Street, Santa Clara, CA 95054, call 408-980-1500, or fax 408-980-0400.
-
- RTworks is a family of independent software modules developed for
- intelligent real-time data acquisition and monitoring, data analysis,
- message/data distribution, and message/data display. RTworks offers a
- number of sophisticated problem-solving strategies including
- knowledge-based systems, a point-and-click graphical user interface,
- temporal and statistical reasoning, and the ability to distribute an
- application over a heterogeneous network. Included with RTworks is a
- high-speed inference engine (RTie) which is used to analyze the data
- using objects, classes, procedures, and rules. The IE can perform
- trending, prediction and temporal reasoning of rapidly changing data.
- Displays can be built by non-programmers using a user-friendly DRAW
- program. More than 60 different formats are provided for displaying
- input data including strip charts, bar charts, control charts, dials,
- pie charts, and high-low graphs. Graphical objects can be tied to
- variables which dynamically control attributes such as color, scale,
- rotation, motion, animation, and more. RTworks runs in a
- client-server architecture in which the RTserver process intelligently
- distributes the application's messages and data to only the client
- prcoesses which need them. User-defined client processes can connect
- to the RTserver and send and receive messages with other processes in
- the application. Possible applications include process control,
- network monitoring, financial trading, and command and control.
- RTworks is available on a variety of Unix and VMS platforms under a
- floating license in which you pay only for the number of simultaneous
- users, and the software is not node-locked to a particular machine.
- Current RTworks customers include Lockheed, NASA, Dow Chemical, PG&E
- (Pacific, Gas, and Electric), SWIFT, Mazda, and NTT. For further
- information, write to Talarian Corporation, 444 Castro Street, Suite
- 140, Moutain View, CA 94041, call 415-965-8050, fax 415-965-9077, or
- send E-mail to info@talarian.com, or look on the world-wide web at
- http://www.mainstreet.net/talarian/
-
- SMECI is an expert system shell based on Lisp. For more information,
- contact ILOG, Inc., 2073 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, tel
- 415-390-9000, fax 415-390-0946, email info@ilog.com. European
- customers should write to ILOG, 2, av. Gallieni, BP 85, 94253 Gentilly
- Cedex, France, tel +33 (1) 46-63-66-66, fax +33 (1) 46-63-15-82, email
- info@ilog.fr.
-
- Sophos. For more information, write to Cognisys Consultants Inc., 7355
- Trans Canada Highway, Suite 210, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, CANADA H4T
- 1T3, call 514-856-2311, or fax 514-856-2368.
-
- STATUTE Corporate V3.0 for Windows. Includes facilities for automatic
- document generation. Interfaces for Visual Basic, C, C++, and
- applications that can link to DLLs. Phone: 1-800-229-1954 (616-242-1982).
- Fax: 1-800-229-1959 (616-242-1948).
-
- TechMate is a real life expert system designed to serve as a decision
- aid and productivity tool for maintenance engineers and technicians.
- TechMate minimizes the expertise required from the technician to
- troubleshoot and diagnose problems in even highly sophisticated and
- complex units. Oriented for the functional level, TechMate can
- troubleshoot units that contain analog, digital and mechanical modules
- in electronic, electro-optic, hydraulic, or mechanical systems and
- devices. TechMate is used in many fault isolation applications in
- field service, depot facilities, and production lines. Its learning
- algorithms make TechMate grow smarter with use. TechMate is a
- model-based system that derives its intelligence from universal
- built-in knowledge bases and inference mechanisms, and from specific
- knowledge about the UUT (Unit Under Test) supplied by the test
- designer. It generates diagnostic assessments from the equipments
- block diagram (which can be entered manually or imported
- electronically) and the characteristics of the symptoms and tests. It
- is also capable of diagnosing multiple faults. For a given set of
- symptoms and test results (including BIT results), TechMate's
- diagnostic algorithms rank candidate faulty modules by their
- likelihood of failure. It may also zoom in to further assess the fault
- likelihood of each individual sub-module. Next, TechMate identifies
- and evaluates the tests that may be used to isolate a fault, and
- proposes the most cost-efficient tests. The sequence of tests is
- dynamically reordered based on the symptoms, BIT and test responses,
- thereby eliminating redundant tests. TechMate provides on-line
- documentation of the device and its tests. It also includes a database
- tool for storing and retrieving administrative data and sharing it
- with commercial DBMS. TechMate can be interfaced with a wide variety
- of test instruments and ATE systems. TechMate runs on Microsoft
- Windows and on UNIX/X-Windows. TechMate customers include Texas
- Instruments, Northrop, Raytheon, Honeywell, BARCO, British Gas,
- Deutche Aerospace, and Siemens Plessey. For further information, call
- IET Intelligent Electronics at 617-229-5855, fax 617-221-5692, or send
- E-mail to sales@ietusa.com, or look on the world-wide web at
- http://www.ietusa.com/
-
- TestBench, Shell is available from the Carnegie Group, Pittsburgh,
- Pennsylvania. The development environment runs on the SUN
- workstations and the production environment on a number of platforms
- including PCs and NeXT machines. For more information, write to
- Carnegie Group, 5 PPG Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, call 800-284-3424
- (412-642-6900), or fax 412-642-6906.
-
- VBXpert is a VBX custom control that uses the Rete Algorithm to add
- expertise to Visual Basic applications. VBXpert extends Visual Basic
- to support rule-based knowledge-based systems development by encapsulating
- the Rete Algorithm within a VBX custom control. It is a true custom
- control with Visual Basic property and event editing support and provides
- convenient properties that can be accessed and set by VB code to control
- embedded reasoning. VBXpert also provides: inference engine events that
- execute code you enter using the Visual Basic editor; a general-purpose
- "Callback" event to call Visual Basic from the actions of rules; efficient
- processing, even for a thousand if-then rules; automatic subgoaling and
- logical deduction; automatic retraction of invalid or outdated conclusions;
- Visual Basic declarations for Eclipse DLLs; supports Visual Basic's ANY
- and Variant data types; supports multiple concurrent Visual Basic apps;
- includes Eclipse DLLs and executable; includes C source code for the VBX;
- VBXpert for Windows $99 (price shown is for domestic check, VISA,
- MasterCard, and American Express orders only.) The Haley Enterprise, Inc.
- 413 Orchard St., Sewickley, PA 15143-2029 (800) 233-2622, 412-741-6420,
- Info@Haley.COM, or see their web site
- http://www.haley.com/
- or ftp site
- ftp://ftp.haley.com/
- These sites include their literature in PostScript and HTML, as well
- as their software.
-
- Visual Expert is a GUI-based expert system development tool for Windows.
- For more information, write to SoftSell Technologies, 16150 NE 85th
- Avenue, Suite 224, Redmond, WA 98052, call 206-556-1436, or fax 206-883-9002.
-
- VP-EXPERT version 3.1 runs on the IBM PC under DOS. It costs $349. A
- student version of the product is available for around $40. The
- student version is fully functional but limited to 16k in the total
- size of the system. For more information, write to Wordtech Systems
- Inc., PO Box 1747, Orinda, CA 94563, call 510-689-1200, or fax
- 510-689-1263. See also MacUser 4(12):134, December, 1988.
-
- XpertRule for Windows represents knowledge as decision trees, tables
- of decision examples, exception trees and sets of pattern rules. It
- can produce C code. Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Algorithm optimization
- are included. For more information, write to Attar Software USA, PO Box
- 68, Harvard, MA 01451-0068, call 800-456-3966, or fax 508-456-8383.
- European customers should write to Attar Software Limited, Newlands
- House, Leigh, Lancashire, UK WN7 4HN, or send email to info@attar.co.uk
- See also their home page at http://www.attar.com/
-
- YAPS is a tool for building expert systems and other programs that use
- a rule-based knowledge representation in Lisp. The YAPS library
- provides a CLOS class and appropriate methods which the programmer may
- mix into his/her own classes or use directly. Rules and facts about
- an instance are associated with the instance. Instead of one large
- knowledgebase with many rules which are hard to debug and maintain,
- the programmer creates smaller knowledge-bases which are modular and
- more efficient. The YAPS knowledge-bases can interact with and be
- controlled by the programmer's other modules, making hybrid systems
- straightforward. Introduced by Liz Allen at AAAI-83, YAPS is now
- available on Apple Macintosh, Sun3 and Sun4 (SPARC), DEC VAX under VMS
- and Ultrix, and 88Open platforms. On workstations, a single license
- costs $3995 and on the Macintosh (under Macintoch Common Lisp), it is
- $445. YAPS runs in most commercial Common Lisps including Allegro CL,
- Harlequin LispWorks, Lucid CL, IBUKI CL, and Macintosh Common Lisp.
- YAPS is also available for the TI Explorer and Symbolic Lisp Machines,
- and a Flavors version is available for Sun3 in Franz Lisp. Other
- ports are underway -- for price and availability contact College Park
- Software at 461 W. Loma Alta Dr., Altadena, CA 91001-3841, USA; or by
- email at info@cps.altadena.ca.us, or call 818-791-9153 (voice) or
- 818-791-1755 (FAX).
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- Subject: [1-7] Associations
-
- INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF KNOWLEDGE ENGINEERS (IAKE)
- IAKE, 973-D Russell Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20879-3276.
- 301-948-5390, fax 301-926-4243. Email: iake@umuc.umd.edu
- $65 regular ($110 2-year), $30 students in US/Canada.
- Add $10/year for Carribean, Central America, Mexico.
- Add $25/year for Europe, North Africa, South America.
- Add $30/year for Asia, USSR, Central and South Africa, Australia, and
- New Zealand.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- Subject: [1-8] Glossary
-
- Expert System Shell A shell is a program that facilitates the
- development of expert systems.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- Subject: [1-A] Acknowledgements
-
- This FAQ was originally based on posts by Jason Trenouth
- <jason@harlequin.co.uk>, George Betzos <gabetzos@mailbox.syr.edu>, and
- Douglas Foxvog <foxvog@cyc.com>, as well as parts of the
- commercial products section of the AI FAQ. Thanks also to Arnold
- Bloemer <bloemer@tnt.uni-hannover.de>, Hans Voss, Stephan Weber, Tom
- Laffey, ljs@zycor.lgc.com, Hal Waters, Philip Vanneste, Daniel
- Corkill, Bruce Chih-Lung Lin, Willem Van Dyk, Kan-Lee Liou, Les
- Degroff, Alex Kean, Bob Orchard, Steve Witt, Cameron Laird, Thomas A.
- Russ, Peter Pavek, Ingemar Hulthage, Jerry Franke, Julian Smart,
- Andrew Verden, Remi Lissajoux, Patrick Albert, Patrick Suel, Liz
- Allen. Thanks to Richard Fozzard for information about MIKE and ES.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- ;;; *EOF*
-