In the context of the CONSTRUCT project (funded by the Belgian MInistry of Sciences through the IUAP programme**) we are developing COMMET : the COMponential METhodology. Together with its support tool, the KresT workbench, it supports the principled design and implementation of knowledge based applications and the reusability of components. Ultimately we want to allow for the easy configuration of applications by non-programmers.
COMMET is based on a knowledge level modeling framework. In COMMET descriptions are developed from three alternative perspectives : models, methods and tasks. The KresT workbench graphically supports the construction of such descriptions. It also supports the construction of the application itself by making it possible to explicitly link code and execution objects (i.e., symbol level components) with knowledge level components.
The concept of an application kit provides the basis for reusability. An application kit contains reusable fragments in the form of chunks.
An application kit manager is responsible for assisting a non-programmer in retrieving a chunk or filing it away for later usage.
The COMMET knowledge level framework is similar to other knowledge level frameworks, particularly to KADS, but it is simpler and therefore easier to learn, easier to use, and applicable to smaller applications, which after all form the bulk of knowledge systems today.
Also the COMMET framework is the first one to have a clear worked out theory on the relation between knowledge level descriptions and symbol level encodings. It is effective beyond toy problems because these chunks can link to arbitrarily large code fragments.
There have recently been many efforts to get genericity and reusability. In the KresT workbench it is possible to get genericity from any possible perspective : generic task structures, generic model dependency diagrams, generic domain models, generic methods, as well as combina-tions of any of these; including the symbol level objects attached to it. Moreover the genericity can be at any level of grainsize. The application kit managers provide a clear-cut first example how libraries of reusable components may be maintained and shared among a group of developers or end-users.
The KresT workbench is an excellent tool for small and medium-sized enterprises who want to engage in knowledge based systems and insist on a principled design and implementation methodology. It also supports sharing and reusability among groups of application developers.
Example : Project "Production Planning"
Interesting topics towards the achievement of this research goal include (but are not limited to): remote running of KresT, retrieving reusable components, fragments and projects.
the following experiments are being worked on:
- exploring a new interface to the KresT Workbench
- allowing for publication of KresT projects on the net in the form of software agents
Artificial Intelligence laboratory Vrije universiteit Brussel Pleinlaan 2 1050 Brussels - Belgium
For more information about COMMET and KREST you can send a mail to Sabine Geldof. Her e-mail is sabine@arti.vub.ac.be
