INCLUDING EXPERT-SYSTEM CAPABILITIES IN OBJECT-ORIENTED APPLICATION MANAGEMENT

This paper explores the embedding of deductive and reactive capability, in the form of rule support, in applications developed in an object-oriented language. The presented design shows how this capability can be attached with minimum -and deterministic- change to an existing system, using a mix between the active rule approach and the traditional production rule system approach, so that a compromise can be achieved between space use and efficiency. Inference engines usually monitor working memory changes by polling on a change set. We revise this by considering the start of an inferencing period as the action of an active rule. Active rules are attached to the class definition of objects to monitor certain change events. The premises of the rules are then evaluated by each affected object, under the control of an inference engine adapted for this, which eventually fires the actions expressed in the rules, in a conventional manner.