Problem-Solving Methods: Understanding, Description, Development, and Reuse

✍ Scribed by Dieter Fensel

• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 173
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book provides a theory, a formal language, and a practical methodology for the specification, use, and reuse of problem-solving methods. The framework developed by the author characterizes knowledge-based systems as a particular type of software architecture where the applications are developed by integrating generic task specifications, problem solving methods, and domain models: this approach turns knowledge engineering into a software engineering discipline. All in all, this work, as an applicable theory of knowledge engineering, consolidates research work done during several decades. The present popularity of Internet-based services will provide unprecedented opportunities for deploying and sharing knowledge-based services and anybody wanting to participate in this area can learn from this book what knowledge engineering is about.

✦ Table of Contents

41kRavrv5AL......Page 1
00front-matter......Page 2
Problem-Solving Methods......Page 4
Preface......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 9
Table of Contents......Page 10
1 Making Assumptions for Efficiency Reasons......Page 12
1.1 A Definition of a Task......Page 15
1.2 A Non-efficient Problem Solver......Page 16
1.3 An Efficient Problem Solver......Page 18
1.4 Summary of the Case Study......Page 22
1.5 The Twofold Role of Assumptions......Page 24
1.6 How Deal Other Approaches with Assumptions and Efficiency......Page 27
1 Making Assumptions for Efficiency Reasons......Page 31
1.1 A Definition of a Task......Page 34
1.2 A Non-efficient Problem Solver......Page 35
1.3 An Efficient Problem Solver......Page 37
1.4 Summary of the Case Study......Page 41
1.5 The Twofold Role of Assumptions......Page 43
1.6 How Deal Other Approaches with Assumptions and Efficiency......Page 46
2 An Empirical Survey of Assumptions......Page 50
2.1.2 Identifying Causes......Page 51
2.1.3 Defining Hypotheses......Page 53
2.1.5 Summary......Page 54
2.2 Assumptions Necessary to Define an Efficient Problem Solver......Page 58
2.2.2 Reducing the Average-Case Behavior......Page 59
2.2.4 Summary......Page 61
2.3 Assumptions in System-Environment Interaction......Page 63
2.4 Summary......Page 64
3 A Four Component Architecture for Knowledge-Based Systems......Page 65
3.1.1 The Main Elements of a Specification......Page 66
3.1.2 The Main Proof Obligations......Page 70
3.2 Task......Page 71
3.3 Problem-Solving Method......Page 72
3.3.1 The Black Box Description: Competence and Requirements......Page 73
3.3.2 The Operational Specification......Page 74
3.4 Domain Model......Page 77
3.5.1 Connecting Task and Problem-Solving Method......Page 78
3.6 Related Work......Page 81
4 Logics for Knowledge-Based Systems: MLPM and MCL......Page 83
4.1 Specification Languages for Knowledge-Based Systems......Page 84
4.1.1 (ML)**2......Page 85
4.1.2 KARL......Page 88
4.1.3 Design Rationales for a Logic of Dynamics......Page 89
4.2.1 Modal Logic of Predicate Modification (MLPM)......Page 93
4.2.3 Modeling MLPM with MCL......Page 95
4.3.1 Formalizing KADS Languages......Page 96
4.3.2 Using MCL to Formalize Abstract State Machines......Page 97
4.3.3 Approaches Using Different Paradigms......Page 98
5 A Verification Framework for Knowledge-Based Systems......Page 100
5.2 Formalizing a Task......Page 101
5.3 Formalizing a Problem-Solving Method......Page 103
5.4 Proving Total Correctness of the Problem-Solving Method......Page 106
5.5 Adapter: Connecting Task and Problem-Solving Method......Page 108
5.6 A Specific Pattern in Specifying Architectures of Knowledge-Based Systems......Page 111
5.7 Future Work......Page 113
6 Methods for Context Explications and Adaptation......Page 114
6.1 Inverse Verification of Problem-Solving Methods......Page 117
6.1.1 First Example: A Local Serach Method......Page 119
6.1.2 Second Example: Finding an Abductive Explanation......Page 122
6.1.3 Heuristic Assumptions......Page 124
6.1.4 Related Work......Page 127
6.2 Stepwise Adaptation of Problem-Solving Methods......Page 128
6.2.1 Local Search......Page 129
6.2.3 Set-Minimizer......Page 130
6.2.4 Abductive Diagnosis......Page 132
6.2.5 Generalization and Limitation of Refinement with Adapters......Page 133
7 Organizing a Library of Problem-Solving Methods......Page 135
7.1 The Three Dimensions in Method Organization......Page 136
7.2 Deriving Task-Specific Problem-Solving Methods......Page 138
7.2.2 Local Search......Page 140
7.2.3 Local Search as Design Problem Solving......Page 141
7.2.4 Problem Type Parametric Design......Page 142
7.3 Variating the Problem-Solving Paradigm......Page 143
7.3.1 Derive Successor Candidates......Page 144
7.3.2 Select the Design Model that Is to Be Expanded Next......Page 145
7.4 Conclusions......Page 146
Open Issues......Page 148
Reasoning Agents in the Cyperspace......Page 149
References......Page 152