Kaiserslautern - Fachbereich Informatik
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We present an inference system for clausal theorem proving w.r.t. various kinds of inductivevalidity in theories specified by constructor-based positive/negative-conditional equations. The reductionrelation defined by such equations has to be (ground) confluent, but need not be terminating. Our con-structor-based approach is well-suited for inductive theorem proving in the presence of partially definedfunctions. The proposed inference system provides explicit induction hypotheses and can be instantiatedwith various wellfounded induction orderings. While emphasizing a well structured clear design of theinference system, our fundamental design goal is user-orientation and practical usefulness rather thantheoretical elegance. The resulting inference system is comprehensive and relatively powerful, but requiresa sophisticated concept of proof guidance, which is not treated in this paper.This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 314 (D4-Projekt)
Die Verwendung von existierenden Planungsansätzen zur Lösung von realen Anwendungs- problemen führt meist schnell zur Erkenntnis, dass eine vorliegende Problemstellung im Prinzip zwar lösbar ist, der exponentiell anwachsende Suchraum jedoch nur die Behandlung relativ kleiner Aufgabenstellungen erlaubt. Beobachtet man jedoch menschliche Planungsexperten, so sind diese in der Lage bei komplexen Problemen den Suchraum durch Abstraktion und die Verwendung bekannter Fallbeispiele als Heuristiken, entscheident zu verkleinern und so auch für schwierige Aufgabenstellungen zu einer akzeptablen Lösung zu gelangen. In dieser Arbeit wollen wir am Beispiel der Arbeitsplanung ein System vorstellen, das Abstraktion und fallbasierte Techniken zur Steuerung des Inferenzprozesses eines nichtlinearen, hierarchischen Planungssystems einsetzt und so die Komplexität der zu lösenden Gesamtaufgabe reduziert.
We describe a hybrid architecture supporting planning for machining workpieces. The archi- tecture is built around CAPlan, a partial-order nonlinear planner that represents the plan already generated and allows external control decision made by special purpose programs or by the user. To make planning more efficient, the domain is hierarchically modelled. Based on this hierarchical representation, a case-based control component has been realized that allows incremental acquisition of control knowledge by storing solved problems and reusing them in similar situations.
We describe a hybrid case-based reasoning system supporting process planning for machining workpieces. It integrates specialized domain dependent reasoners, a feature-based CAD system and domain independent planning. The overall architecture is build on top of CAPlan, a partial-order nonlinear planner. To use episodic problem solving knowledge for both optimizing plan execution costs and minimizing search the case-based control component CAPlan/CbC has been realized that allows incremental acquisition and reuse of strategical problem solving experience by storing solved problems as cases and reusing them in similar situations. For effective retrieval of cases CAPlan/CbC combines domain-independent and domain-specific retrieval mechanisms that are based on the hierarchical domain model and problem representation.
While most approaches to similarity assessment are oblivious of knowledge and goals, there is ample evidence that these elements of problem solving play an important role in similarity judgements. This paper is concerned with an approach for integrating assessment of similarity into a framework of problem solving that embodies central notions of problem solving like goals, knowledge and learning.
Contrary to symbolic learning approaches, which represent a learned concept explicitly, case-based approaches describe concepts implicitly by a pair (CB; sim), i.e. by a measure of similarity sim and a set CB of cases. This poses the question if there are any differences concerning the learning power of the two approaches. In this article we will study the relationship between the case base, the measure of similarity, and the target concept of the learning process. To do so, we transform a simple symbolic learning algorithm (the version space algorithm) into an equivalent case- based variant. The achieved results strengthen the hypothesis of the equivalence of the learning power of symbolic and case-based methods and show the interdependency between the measure used by a case-based algorithm and the target concept.
Im Bereich der Expertensysteme ist das Problemlösen auf der Basis von bekannten Fallbeispielen ein derzeit sehr aktuelles Thema. Auch für Diagnoseaufgaben gewinnt der fallbasierte Ansatz immer mehr an Bedeutung. In diesem Papier soll der im Rahmen des Moltke -Projektes1 an der Universität Kaiserslautern entwickelte fallbasierte Problemlöser Patdex/22 vorgestellt werden. Ein erster Prototyp, Patdex/1, wurde bereits 1988 entwickelt.
Patdex is an expert system which carries out case-based reasoning for the fault diagnosis of complex machines. It is integrated in the Moltke workbench for technical diagnosis, which was developed at the university of Kaiserslautern over the past years, Moltke contains other parts as well, in particular a model-based approach; in Patdex where essentially the heuristic features are located. The use of cases also plays an important role for knowledge acquisition. In this paper we describe Patdex from a principal point of view and embed its main concepts into a theoretical framework.
One of the problems of autonomous mobile systems is the continuous tracking of position and orientation. In most cases, this problem is solved by dead reckoning, based on measurement of wheel rotations or step counts and step width. Unfortunately dead reckoning leads to accumulation of drift errors and is very sensitive against slippery. In this paper an algorithm for tracking position and orientation is presented being nearly independent from odometry and its problems with slippery. To achieve this results, a rotating range-finder is used, delivering scans of the environmental structure. The properties of this structure are used to match the scans from different locations in order to find their translational and rotational displacement. For this purpose derivatives of range-finder scans are calculated which can be used to find position and orientation by crosscorrelation.
A map for an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) in an indoor environment for the purpose ofcontinuous position and orientation estimation is discussed. Unlike many other approaches, this map is not based on geometrical primitives like lines and polygons. An algorithm is shown , where the sensordata of a laser range finder can be used to establish this map without a geometrical interpretation of the data. This is done by converting single laser radar scans to statistical representations of the environ-ment, so that a crosscorrelation of an actu al converted scan and this representative results into the actual position and orientation in a global coordinate system. The map itsel f is build of representative scansfor the positions where the AMR has been, so that it is able to find its position and orientation by c omparing the actual scan with a scan stored in the map.
We tested the GYROSTAR ENV-05S. This device is a sensor for angular velocity. There- fore the orientation must be calculated by integration of the angular velocity over time. The devices output is a voltage proportional to the angular velocity and relative to a reference. The test where done to find out under which conditions it is possible to use this device for estimation of orientation.
Problem specifications for classical planners based on a STRIPS-like representation typically consist of an initial situation and a partially defined goal state. Hierarchical planning approaches, e.g., Hierarchical Task Network (HTN) Planning, have not only richer representations for actions but also for the representation of planning problems. The latter are defined by giving an initial state and an initial task network in which the goals can be ordered with respect to each other. However, studies with a specification of the domain of process planning for the plan-space planner CAPlan (an extension of SNLP) have shown that even without hierarchical domain representation typical properties called goal orderings can be identified in this domain that allow more efficient and correct case retrieval strategies for the case-based planner CAPlan/CbC. Motivated by that, this report describes an extension of the classical problem specifications for plan-space planners like SNLP and descendants. These extended problem specifications allow to define a partial order on the planning goals which can interpreted as an order in which the solution plan should achieve the goals. These goal ordering can theoretically and empirically be shown to improve planning performance not only for case-based but also for generative planning. As a second but different way we show how goal orderings can be used to address the control problem of partial order planners. These improvements can be best understood with a refinement of Barrett's and Weld's extended taxonomy of subgoal collections.
Real world planning tasks like manufacturing process planning often don't allow to formalize all of the relevant knowledge. Especially, preferences between alternatives are hard to acquire but have high influence on the efficiency of the planning process and the quality of the solution. We describe the essential features of the CAPlan planning architecture that supports cooperative problem solving to narrow the gap caused by absent preference and control knowledge. The architecture combines an SNLP-like base planner with mechanisms for explict representation and maintenance of dependencies between planning decisions. The flexible control interface of CAPlan allows a combination of autonomous and interactive planning in which a user can participate in the problem solving process. Especially, the rejection of arbitrary decisions by a user or dependency-directed backtracking mechanisms are supported by CAPlan.
Software development is becoming a more and more distributed process, which urgently needs supporting tools in the field of configuration management, software process/w orkflow management, communication and problem tracking. In this paper we present a new distributed software configuration management framework COMAND. It offers high availabilit y through replication and a mechanism to easily change and adapt the project structure to new business needs. To better understand and formally prove some properties of COMAND, we have modeled it in a formal technique based on distributed graph transformations. This formalism provides an intuitive rule-based description technique mainly for the dynamic behavior of the system on an abstract level. We use it here to model the replication subsystem.
In diesem Aufsatz wird die Arbeitsweise eines Werkzeuges dargestellt, mit dessen Hilfedie Analyse von Feature-Interaktionen in Intelligenten (Telefon-)Netzwerken unterstütztwird. Dieses Werkzeug basiert auf einem von uns entwickelten formalen Lösungsansatz, deraus einem geeigneten Spezifikationsstil, aus einem formalen Kriterium zur Erkennung vonFeature-Interaktionen und aus einer Methode zur Auflösung der erkannten Feature- Interaktionen besteht. Das Werkzeug führt eine statische Analyse von Estelle-Spezifikationendurch und erkennt dabei potientielle Feature-Interaktionen sowie nichtausführbare Transitionen. Darüberhinaus kann es die erkannten nichtausführbaren Transitionen zur Optimierung aus der Spezifikation entfernen. Wir erläutern zunächst kurz den zugrundeliegendenAnsatz und beschreiben danach die Anwendung auf Estelle anhand der Funktionsweisedes Werkzeuges.
Die Verfahren der Induktiven Logischen Programmierung (ILP) [Mug93] haben die Aufgabe, aus einer Menge von positiven Beispielen E+, einer Menge von negativen Beispielen E und dem Hintergrundwissen B ein logisches Programm P zu lernen, das aus einer Menge von definiten Klauseln C : l0 l1, : : : ,ln besteht. Da der Hypothesenraum für Hornlogik unendlich ist, schränken viele Verfahren die Hypothesensprache auf eine endliche ein. Auch wird oft versucht, die Hypothesensprache so einzuschränken, dass nur Programme gelernt werden können, für die die Konsistenz entscheidbar ist. Eine andere Motivation, die Hypothesensprache zu beschränken, ist, dass das Wissen über das Zielprogramm, das schon vorhanden ist, ausgenutzt werden soll. So sind für bestimmte Anwendungen funktionsfreie Hypothesenklauseln ausreichend, oder es ist bekannt, dass das Zielprogramm funktional ist.
Orderings on polynomial interpretations of operators represent a powerful technique for proving thetermination of rewriting systems. One of the main problems of polynomial orderings concerns thechoice of the right interpretation for a given rewriting system. It is very difficult to develop techniquesfor solving this problem. Here, we present three new heuristic approaches: (i) guidelines for dealingwith special classes of rewriting systems, (ii) an algorithm for choosing appropriate special polynomialsas well as (iii) an extension of the original polynomial ordering which supports the generation ofsuitable interpretations. All these heuristics will be applied to examples in order to illustrate theirpractical relevance.
An important property and also a crucial point ofa term rewriting system is its termination. Transformation or-derings, developed by Bellegarde & Lescanne strongly based on awork of Bachmair & Dershowitz, represent a general technique forextending orderings. The main characteristics of this method aretwo rewriting relations, one for transforming terms and the otherfor ensuring the well-foundedness of the ordering. The centralproblem of this approach concerns the choice of the two relationssuch that the termination of a given term rewriting system can beproved. In this communication, we present a heuristic-based al-gorithm that partially solves this problem. Furthermore, we showhow to simulate well-known orderings on strings by transformationorderings.
Die Induktive Logische Programmierung (ILP) ist ein Forschungsgebiet, das Techniken aus dem Maschinellen Lernen und der Logischen Programmierung vereint. Sie untersucht das klassische Problem induktiven Lernens aus klassifizierten Beispielen im Rahmen der Hornlogik erster Stufe. Inzwischen gibt es eine grosse Zahl verschiedener Ansätze für dieses Lernproblem, die sich hauptsächlich in der Suchrichtung im Hypothesenraum, den Generalisierungs- und Spezialisierungsoperatoren und den verwendeten nichtlogischen Beschränkungen (Bias) unterscheiden. Der Vergleich und die Integration dieser verschiedenen Ansätze war die Hauptmotivation für die Entwicklung des Systems MILES. MILES ist eine Programmierumgebung für die ILP, die neben Mechanismen zur Repräsentation und Verwaltung von Beispielen, Hintergrundwissen und Hypothesen einen Werkzeugkasten mit einem Grossteil der bekannten Generalisierungs-, Spezialisierungs- und Reformulierungsoperatoren enthält. Eine generische Kontrolle erlaubt, verschiedene dieser Operatoren in einen spezifischen ILP-Algorithmus zu integrieren. In diesem Beitrag wird ein kurzer Überblick über die Repräsentation, die Operatoren und die Kontrolle von MILES gegeben.
It is generally agreed that one of the most challenging issues facing the case-based reasoning community is that of adaptation. To date the lion's share of CBR research has concentrated on the retrieval of similar cases, and the result is a wide range of quality retrieval techniques. However, retrieval is just the first part of the CBR equation, because once a similar case has been retrieved it must be adapted. Adaptation research is still in its earliest stages, and researchers are still trying to properly understand and formulate the important issues. In this paper I describe a treatment of adaptation in the context of a case-based reasoning system for software design, called Deja Vu. Deja Vu is particularly interesting, not only because it performs automatic adaptation of retrieved cases, but also because it uses a variety of techniques to try and reduce and predict the degree of adaptation necessary.
The multiple-view modeling of a product in a design context is discussed in this paper. We study the existing approaches for multiple-view modeling of a product and we give a brief analysis of them. Then we propose our approach which incorporates the multiple-model approach in STEP standard current works based on a single model. We propose a meta-model inspired by this approach for a multiple-view design environment. Next, we validate this meta-model with a case study. Finally we conclude and give some perspectives of this work. Keywords: product data modeling, multiple-view modeling, product data integration, STEP, functional model.
We present a mathematical knowledge base containing the factual know-ledge of the first of three parts of a textbook on semi-groups and automata,namely "P. Deussen: Halbgruppen und Automaten". Like almost all math-ematical textbooks this textbook is not self-contained, but there are somealgebraic and set-theoretical concepts not being explained. These concepts areadded to the knowledge base. Furthermore there is knowledge about the nat-ural numbers, which is formalized following the first paragraph of "E. Landau:Grundlagen der Analysis".The data base is written in a sorted higher-order logic, a variant of POST ,the working language of the proof development environment OmegaGamma mkrp. We dis-tinguish three different types of knowledge: axioms, definitions, and theorems.Up to now, there are only 2 axioms (natural numbers and cardinality), 149definitions (like that for a semi-group), and 165 theorems. The consistency ofsuch knowledge bases cannot be proved in general, but inconsistencies may beimported only by the axioms. Definitions and theorems should not lead to anyinconsistency since definitions form conservative extensions and theorems areproved to be consequences.
The paper shows that characterizing the causal relationship between significant events is an important but non-trivial aspect for understanding the behavior of distributed programs. An introduction to the notion of causality and its relation to logical time is given; some fundamental results concerning the characterization of causality are pre- sented. Recent work on the detection of causal relationships in distributed computations is surveyed. The relative merits and limitations of the different approaches are discussed, and their general feasibility is analyzed.
We first show that ground term-rewriting systems can be completed in apolynomial number of rewriting steps, if the appropriate data structure for termsis used. We then apply this result to study the lengths of critical pair proofs innon-ground systems, and obtain bounds on the lengths of critical pair proofsin the non-ground case. We show how these bounds depend on the types ofinference steps that are allowed in the proofs.
We will answer a question posed in [DJK91], and will show that Huet's completion algorithm [Hu81] becomes incomplete, i.e. it may generate a term rewriting system that is not confluent, if it is modified in a way that the reduction ordering used for completion can be changed during completion provided that the new ordering is compatible with the actual rules. In particular, we will show that this problem may not only arise if the modified completion algorithm does not terminate: Even if the algorithm terminates without failure, the generated finite noetherian term rewriting system may be non-confluent. Most existing implementations of the Knuth-Bendix algorithm provide the user with help in choosing a reduction ordering: If an unorientable equation is encountered, then the user has many options, especially, the one to orient the equation manually. The integration of this feature is based on the widespread assumption that, if equations are oriented by hand during completion and the completion process terminates with success, then the generated finite system is a maybe non terminating but locally confluent system (see e.g. [KZ89]). Our examples will show that this assumption is not true.
Rules are an important knowledge representation formalism in constructive problem solving. On the other hand, object orientation is an essential key technology for maintaining large knowledge bases as well as software applications. Trying to take advantage of the benefits of both paradigms, we integrated Prolog and Smalltalk to build a common base architecture for problem solving. This approach has proven to be useful in the development of two knowledge-based systems for planning and configuration design (CAPlan and Idax). Both applications use Prolog as an efficient computational source for the evaluation of knowledge represented as rules.
A new approach for modelling time that does not rely on the concept of a clock is proposed. In order to establish a notion of time, system behaviour is represented as a joint progression of multiple threads of control, which satisfies a certain set of axioms. We show that the clock-independent time model is related to the well-known concept of a global clock and argue that both approaches establish the same notion of time.
Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, eine Methode zur Verfügung zu stellen, mit der ein Simulator für gebäudespezifische Aufgaben modelliert werden kann. Die Modellierung muß dabei so angelegt sein, daß sowohl einfache als auch sehr komplexe Simulatoren für spezielle Gebäude entworfen werden können. Aus dem erstellten Modell ist es anschließend möglich, mit Hilfe von Generatoren automatisch ein Programm zu erzeugen. Dadurch kann ein Entwerfer ohne spezielle Kenntnisse auf dem Gebiet der Simulation einen Gebäude-Simulator entwickeln. Zur Modellierung wurde ein domänenspezifischer Katalog von Entwurfsmustern erstellt. Dabei können die einzelnen Muster direkt zur Modellierung und Codegenerierung eingesetzt werden.
Patdex is an expert system which carries out case-based reasoning for the fault diagnosis of complex machines. It is integrated in the Moltke workbench for technical diagnosis, which was developed at the university of Kaiserslautern over the past years, Moltke contains other parts as well, in particular a model-based approach; in Patdex where essentially the heuristic features are located. The use of cases also plays an important role for knowledge acquisition. In this paper we describe Patdex from a principal point of view and embed its main concepts into a theoretical framework.
The background of this paper is the area of case-based reasoning. This is a reasoning technique where one tries to use the solution of some problem which has been solved earlier in order to obta in a solution of a given problem. As example of types of problems where this kind of reasoning occurs very often is the diagnosis of diseases or faults in technical systems. In abstract terms this reduces to a classification task. A difficulty arises when one has not just one solved problem but when there are very many. These are called "cases" and they are stored in the case-base. Then one has to select an appropriate case which means to find one which is "similar" to the actual problem. The notion of similarity has raised much interest in this context. We will first introduce a mathematical framework and define some basic concepts. Then we will study some abstract phenomena in this area and finally present some methods developed and realized in a system at the University of Kaiserslautern.
In this report, we first propose a dichotomy of topology preserving network models based on the degree to which the structure of a network is determined by the given task. We then look closer at one of those groups and investigate the information that is contained in the graph structure of a topology preserving neural network. The task we have in mind is the usage of the network's topology for the retrieval of nearest neighbors of a neuron or a query, as it is of importance, e.g., in medical diagnosis systems. In general considerations, we propose certain properties of the structure and formulate the respective expectable results of network interpretation. From the results we conclude that both topology preservation as well as neuron distribution are highly influential for the network semantics. After a short survey on hierarchical models for data analysis, we propose a new network model that fits both needs. This so called SplitNet model dynamically constructs a hierarchically structured network that provides interpretability by neuron distribution, network topology and hierarchy of the network layers. We present empirical results for this new model and demonstrate its application in the medical domain of nerve lesion diagnosis. Further, we explain a view how the interpretation of the hierarchy in models like SplitNet can be understood in the context of integration of symbolic and connectionist learning.
This technical report is a compilation of several papers on the task of solving diagnostic problems with the help of topology preserving maps. It first reviews the application of Kohonen's Self- Organizing Feature Map (SOFM) for a technical diagnosis task, namely the fault detection in CNC-Machines with the KoDiag system [RW93], [RW94]. For emergent problems with coding attribute values, we then introduce fuzzy coding, similarity assignment and weight updating schemes for three crucial data types (continuous values, ordered and unordered symbols). These techniques result in a SOFM type network based on user defined local similarities, thus being able to incorporate a priori knowledge about the domain [Rah95].
We present a framework for the integration of the Knuth-Bendix completion algorithm with narrowing methods, compiled rewrite rules, and a heuristic difference reduction mechanism for paramodulation. The possibility of embedding theory unification algorithms into this framework is outlined. Results are presented and discussed for several examples of equality reasoning problems in the context of an actual implementation of an automated theorem proving system (the Mkrp-system) and a fast C implementation of the completion procedure. The Mkrp-system is based on the clause graph resolution procedure. The thesis shows the indispensibility of the constraining effects of completion and rewriting for equality reasoning in general and quantifies the amount of speed-up caused by various enhancements of the basic method. The simplicity of the superposition inference rule allows to construct an abstract machine for completion, which is presented together with computation times for a concrete implementation.
Accelerating the maturation process within the software engineering discipline may result in boosts of development productivity. One way to enable this acceleration is to develop tools and processes to mimic evolution of traditional engineering disciplines. Principles established in traditional engineering disciplines represent high-level guidance to constructing these tools and processes. This paper discusses two principles found in the traditional engineering disciplines and how these principles can apply to mature the software engineering discipline. The discussion is concretized through description of the Collaborative Management Environment, a software system under collaborative development among several national laboratories.
Recent studies on planning, comparing plan re-use and plan generation, have shown that both the above tasks may have the same degree of computational complexity, even if we deal with very similar problems. The aim of this paper is to show that the same kind of results apply also for diagnosis. We propose a theoretical complexity analysis coupled with some experimental tests, intended to evaluate the adequacy of adaptation strategies which re-use the solutions of past diagnostic problems in order to build a solution to the problem to be solved. Results of such analysis show that, even if diagnosis re-use falls into the same complexity class of diagnosis generation (they are both NP-complete problems), practical advantages can be obtained by exploiting a hybrid architecture combining case-based and modelbased diagnostic problem solving in a unifying framework.
Die Mehrzahl aller CBR-Systeme in der Diagnostik verwendet für das Fallretrieval ein numerisches Ähnlichkeitsmass. In dieser Arbeit wird ein Ansatz vorgestellt, bei dem durch die Einführung eines an den Komponenten des zu diagnostizierenden technischen Systems orientierten Ähnlichkeitsbegriffs nicht nur das Retrieval wesentlich verbessert werden kann, sondern sich auch die Möglichkeit zu einer echten Fall- und Lösungstransformation bietet. Dies führt wiederum zu einer erheblichen Verkleinerung der Fallbasis. Die Ver- wendung dieses Ähnlichkeitsbegriffes setzt die Integration von zusätzlichem Wissen voraus, das aus einem qualitativem Modell der Domäne (im Sinne der modellbasierten Diagnostik) gewonnen wird.
Bestimmung der Ähnlichkeit in der fallbasierten Diagnose mit simulationsfähigen Maschinenmodellen
(1999)
Eine Fallbasis mit bereits gelösten Diagnoseproblemen Wissen über die Struktur der Maschine Wissen über die Funktion der einzelnen Bauteile (konkret und abstrakt) Die hier vorgestellte Komponente setzt dabei auf die im Rahmen des Moltke-Projektes entwickelten Systeme Patdex[Wes91] (fallbasierte Diagnose) und iMake [Sch92] bzw. Make [Reh91] (modellbasierte Generierung von Moltke- Wissensbasen) auf.
Integrated project management means that design and planning are interleaved with plan execution, allowing both the design and plan to be changed as necessary. This requires that the right effects of change are propagated through the plan and design. When this is distributed among designers and planners, no one may have all of the information to perform such propagation and it is important to identify what effects should be propagated to whom when. We describe a set of dependencies among plan and design elements that allow such notification by a set of message-passing software agents. The result is to provide a novel level of computer support for complex projects.
Cooperative decision making involves a continuous process, assessing the validity ofdata, information and knowledge acquired and inferred by the colleagues, that is, the shared knowledge space must be transparent. The ACCORD methodology provides aninterpretation framework for the mapping of domain facts - constituting the world model of the expert - onto conceptual models, which can be expressed in formalrepresentations. The ACCORD-BPM framework allows a stepwise and inarbitrary reconstruction of the problem solving competence of BPM experts as a prerequisite foran appropriate architecture of both BPM knowledge bases and the BPM-"reasoning device".
Die systematische Verbesserung von Techniken zur Entwicklung und Betreuung von Software setzt eine explizite Darstellung der in einem Projekt ablaufenden Vorgnge (Prozesse) voraus. Diese Darstellungen (Prozemodelle) werden durch Software- Prozemodellierung gewonnen. Eine Sprache zur Beschreibung solcher Modelle ist MVP-L. Verschiedene Standard-Prozemodelle existieren bereits. Bisher gibt es jedoch kaum dokumentierte Software-Entwicklungsprozesse, die speziell fr die Entwicklung reaktiver Systeme entworfen worden sind, d. h. auf die besonderen Anfordernisse bei der Entwicklung reaktiver Systeme zugeschnitten sind. Auch ist bisher nur wenig Erfahrung dokumentiert, fr welche Art von Projektkontexten diese Prozesse gltig sind. Eine Software- Entwicklungsmethode, die - mit Einschrnkungen - zur Entwicklung reaktiver Systeme geeignet ist, ist SOMT (SDL-oriented Object Modeling Technique). Dieser Bericht beschreibt die erfahrungsbasierte Modellierung der Software-Entwicklungsprozesse von SOMT mit MVP-L. Zunchst werden inhaltliche Grundlagen der Software-Entwicklungsmethode SOMT beschrieben. Insbesondere wird auf die eingesetzten Techniken und deren Kombination eingegangen. Anschlieend werden mgliche Projektkontexte charakterisiert, in denen das SOMT-Modell im Sinne eines Erfahrungselements Gltigkeit hat. Darauf werden der Modellierungsvorgang sowie hierbei gemachte Erfahrungen dokumentiert. Eine vollstndige Darstellung des Modells in grafischer MVP-L-Notation befindet sich im Anhang. Die Darstellung des Modells in textueller Notation kann der SFB-Erfahrungsdatenbank entnommen werden.
Tomorrow's ways of doing business are likely to be far more challenging and interesting than today's due to technological advances that allow people to operate or cooperate anytime, anywhere. Today's workers are becoming mobile without the need of a work home base. Organizations are evolving from the hierarchical lines of control and information flow into more dynamic and flexible structures, where "teams" and individuals are the building blocks for forming task forces and work groups to deal with short and long term project tasks, issues and opportunities. Those individuals and teams will collaborate from their mobile desktops, whether at their offices, home or on the road. A revised paradigm for conducting small and large-scale development and integration is emerging, sometimes called the "virtual enterprise", both in the military and industrial environments. This new paradigm supports communication, cooperation and collaboration of geographically dispersed teams. In this paper we discuss experiences with specific technologies that were investigated by TRW's Infrastructure for Collaboration among Distributed Teams (ICaDT) project; an Independent Research and Development (IR&D) effort.
The paper explores the role of artificial intelligence techniques in the development of an enhanced software project management tool, which takes account of the emerging requirement for support systems to address the increasing trend towards distributed multi-platform software development projects. In addressing these aims this research devised a novel architecture and framework for use as the basis of an intelligent assistance system for use by software project managers, in the planning and managing of a software project. This paper also describes the construction of a prototype system to implement this architecture and the results of a series of user trials on this prototype system.
An agent-based approach to managing distributed, multi-platform software development projects
(1999)
This paper describes work undertaken within the context of the P3 (Project and Process Prompter) Project which aims to develop the Prompter tool, a 'decision-support tool to assist in the planning and managing of a software development project'. Prompter will have the ability to help software project managers to assimilate best practice and 'know how' in the field of software project management and incorporate expert critiquing to assist with solving the complex problems associated with software project management. This paper focuses on Prompters agent- based approach to tackling the problems of distributed, platform independent support.
In 1978, Klop demonstrated that a rewrite system constructed by adding the untyped lambda calculus, which has the Church-Rosser property, to a Church-Rosser first-order algebraic rewrite system may not be Church-Rosser. In contrast, Breazu-Tannen recently showed that argumenting any Church-Rosser first-order algebraic rewrite system with the simply-typed lambda calculus results in a Church-Rosser rewrite system. In addition, Breazu-Tannen and Gallier have shown that the second-order polymorphic lambda calculus can be added to such rewrite systems without compromising the Church-Rosser property (for terms which can be provably typed). There are other systems for which a Church-Rosser result would be desirable, among them being X^t+SP+FIX, the simply-typed lambda calculus extended with surjective pairing and fixed points. This paper will show that Klop's untyped counterexample can be lifted to a typed system to demonstrate that X^t+SP+FIX is not Church-Rosser.
Verfahren des Maschinellen Lernens haben heute eine Reife erreicht, die zu ersten erfolgreichen industriellen Anwendungen geführt hat. In der Prozessdiagnose und -steuerung ermöglichen Lernverfahren die Klassifikation und Bewertung von Betriebszuständen, d.h. eine Grobmodellierung eines Prozesses, wenn dieser nicht oder nur teilweise mathematisch beschreibbar ist. Ausserdem gestatten Lernverfahren die automatische Generierung von Klassifizierungsprozeduren, die deterministisch abgearbeitet werden und daher für die Belange der Echtzeitdiagnose und -steuerung u.U. zeiteffektiver als Inferenzmechanismen auf logischer bzw. Produktionsregelbasis sind, da letztere immer mit zeitaufwendigen Suchprozessen verbunden sind.
This report presents the properties of a specification of the domain of process planning for rotary symmetrical workpieces. The specification results from a model for problem solving in this domain that involves different reasoners, one of which is an AI planner that achieves goals corresponding to machining workpieces by considering certain operational restrictions of the domain. When planning with SNLP (McAllester and Rosenblitt, 1991), we will show that the resulting plans have the property of minimizing the use of certain key operations. Further, we will show that, for elastic protected plans (Kambhampati et al., 1996) such as the ones produced by SNLP, the goals corresponding to machining parts of a workpiece are OE-constrained trivial serializable, a special form of trivial serializability (Barrett and Weld, 1994). However, we will show that planning with SNLP in this domain can be very difficult: elastic protected plans for machining parts of a workpiece are nonmergeable. Finally, we will show that, for sufix, prefix or sufix and prefix plans such as the ones produced by state-space planners, it is not possible to have both properties, being OEconstrained trivial serializable and minimizing the use of the key operations, at the same time.
Emerging technologies such as the Internet, the World Wide Web, JavaTM technology, and software components, are changing the software business. Activities that have in the past been constrained by the need for intense information management increasingly involve cooperating organizations. Information management tools and techniques do not scale well in the face of this organizational complexity. An informal approach to information sharing, based largely on manual copying of information, cannot meet the demands of the task as size and complexity increase. Formal approaches to sharing information are based on groupware tools, but cooperating organizations do not always enjoy the trust or commonality of sophisticated infrastructure, methods, and skills that this approach requires. Bridging the gap requires a simple, loosely coupled, highly flexible strategy for information sharing. Extensive information relevant to different parts of the software life cycle should be interconnected in a simple, easily described way; such connections should permit selective information sharing by a variety of tools and in a variety of collaboration modes that vary in the amount of organizational coupling they require.
The amount of user interaction is the prime cause of costs in interactiveprogram verification. This paper describes an internal analogy techniquethat reuses subproofs in the verification of state-based specifications. Itidentifies common patterns of subproofs and their justifications in orderto reuse these subproofs; thus significant savings on the number of userinteractions in a verification proof are achievable.
Proof planning is an alternative methodology to classical automated theorem prov-ing based on exhausitve search that was first introduced by Bundy [8]. The goal ofthis paper is to extend the current realm of proof planning to cope with genuinelymathematical problems such as the well-known limit theorems first investigated for au-tomated theorem proving by Bledsoe. The report presents a general methodology andcontains ideas that are new for proof planning and theorem proving, most importantlyideas for search control and for the integration of domain knowledge into a general proofplanning framework. We extend proof planning by employing explicit control-rules andsupermethods. We combine proof planning with constraint solving. Experiments showthe influence of these mechanisms on the performance of a proof planner. For instance,the proofs of LIM+ and LIM* have been automatically proof planned in the extendedproof planner OMEGA.In a general proof planning framework we rationally reconstruct the proofs of limittheorems for real numbers (IR) that were first computed by the special-purpose programreported in [6]. Compared with this program, the rational reconstruction has severaladvantages: It relies on a general-purpose problem solver; it provides high-level, hi-erarchical representations of proofs that can be expanded to checkable ND-proofs; itemploys declarative contol knowledge that is modularly organized.
In recent years several computational systems and techniques fortheorem proving by analogy have been developed. The obvious prac-tical question, however, as to whether and when to use analogy hasbeen neglected badly in these developments. This paper addresses thisquestion, identifies situations where analogy is useful, and discussesthe merits of theorem proving by analogy in these situations. Theresults can be generalized to other domains.
Constructing an analogy between a known and already proven theorem(the base case) and another yet to be proven theorem (the target case) oftenamounts to finding the appropriate representation at which the base and thetarget are similar. This is a well-known fact in mathematics, and it was cor-roborated by our empirical study of a mathematical textbook, which showedthat a reformulation of the representation of a theorem and its proof is in-deed more often than not a necessary prerequisite for an analogical inference.Thus machine supported reformulation becomes an important component ofautomated analogy-driven theorem proving too.The reformulation component proposed in this paper is embedded into aproof plan methodology based on methods and meta-methods, where the latterare used to change and appropriately adapt the methods. A theorem and itsproof are both represented as a method and then reformulated by the set ofmetamethods presented in this paper.Our approach supports analogy-driven theorem proving at various levels ofabstraction and in principle makes it independent of the given and often acci-dental representation of the given theorems. Different methods can representfully instantiated proofs, subproofs, or general proof methods, and hence ourapproach also supports these three kinds of analogy respectively. By attachingappropriate justifications to meta-methods the analogical inference can oftenbe justified in the sense of Russell.This paper presents a model of analogy-driven proof plan construction andfocuses on empirically extracted meta-methods. It classifies and formally de-scribes these meta-methods and shows how to use them for an appropriatereformulation in automated analogy-driven theorem proving.
This case study examines in detail the theorems and proofs that are shownby analogy in a mathematical textbook on semigroups and automata, thatis widely used as an undergraduate textbook in theoretical computer scienceat German universities (P. Deussen, Halbgruppen und Automaten, Springer1971). The study shows the important role of restructuring a proof for findinganalogous subproofs, and of reformulating a proof for the analogical trans-formation. It also emphasizes the importance of the relevant assumptions ofa known proof, i.e., of those assumptions actually used in the proof. In thisdocument we show the theorems, the proof structure, the subproblems andthe proofs of subproblems and their analogues with the purpose to providean empirical test set of cases for automated analogy-driven theorem proving.Theorems and their proofs are given in natural language augmented by theusual set of mathematical symbols in the studied textbook. As a first step weencode the theorems in logic and show the actual restructuring. Secondly, wecode the proofs in a Natural Deduction calculus such that a formal analysisbecomes possible and mention reformulations that are necessary in order toreveal the analogy.
This paper shows how a new approach to theorem provingby analogy is applicable to real maths problems. This approach worksat the level of proof-plans and employs reformulation that goes beyondsymbol mapping. The Heine-Borel theorem is a widely known result inmathematics. It is usually stated in R 1 and similar versions are also truein R 2 , in topology, and metric spaces. Its analogical transfer was proposedas a challenge example and could not be solved by previous approachesto theorem proving by analogy. We use a proof-plan of the Heine-Boreltheorem in R 1 as a guide in automatically producing a proof-plan of theHeine-Borel theorem in R 2 by analogy-driven proof-plan construction.
This paper addresses a model of analogy-driven theorem proving that is more general and cognitively more adequate than previous approaches. The model works at the level ofproof-plans. More precisely, we consider analogy as a control strategy in proof planning that employs a source proof-plan to guide the construction of a proof-plan for the target problem. Our approach includes a reformulation of the source proof-plan. This is in accordance with the well known fact that constructing ananalogy in maths often amounts to first finding the appropriate representation which brings out the similarity of two problems, i.e., finding the right concepts and the right level of abstraction. Several well known theorems were processed by our analogy-driven proof-plan construction that could not be proven analogically by previous approaches.
This paper addresses analogy-driven auto-mated theorem proving that employs a sourceproof-plan to guide the search for a proof-planof the target problem. The approach presen-ted uses reformulations that go beyond symbolmappings and that incorporate frequently usedre-representations and abstractions. Severalrealistic math examples were successfully pro-cessed by our analogy-driven proof-plan con-struction. One challenge example, a Heine-Borel theorem, is discussed here. For this ex-ample the reformulaitons are shown step bystep and the modifying actions are demon-strated.
Analogy in CLAM
(1999)
CL A M is a proof planner, developed by the Dream group in Edinburgh,that mainly operates for inductive proofs. This paper addresses the questionhow an analogy model that I developed independently of CL A M can beapplied to CL A M and it presents analogy-driven proof plan construction as acontrol strategy of CL A M . This strategy is realized as a derivational analogythat includes the reformulation of proof plans. The analogical replay checkswhether the reformulated justifications of the source plan methods hold inthe target as a permission to transfer the method to the target plan. SinceCL A M has very efficient heuristic search strategies, the main purpose ofthe analogy is to suggest lemmas, to replay not commonly loaded methods,to suggest induction variables and induction terms, and to override controlrather than to construct a target proof plan that can be built by CL A Mitself more efficiently.
Independent development of system components may cause integration problems if their interaction is faulty. This problem may be solved by enforcing required component interactions at the system level. We have developed a system that automatically integrates control-oriented components, to make them consistent with aggregate system behavior re- quirements. Ourmethod is based on the automated synchronization method that modifies independently designed compo-nents to make them satisfy a set of user defined receptive safety properties. The automated synchroniza-tion allows us to design the compo nents as independent controllers that satisfy their individual requirements and to compose a correct executable system by combining the components and enforcing their interaction constraints. This approach gives component designers the freedom to design independently, and produce a functional system by combining the components and specifying their interaction requirements.
Following Buchberger's approach to computing a Gröbner basis of a poly-nomial ideal in polynomial rings, a completion procedure for finitely generatedright ideals in Z[H] is given, where H is an ordered monoid presented by a finite,convergent semi - Thue system (Sigma; T ). Taking a finite set F ' Z[H] we get a(possibly infinite) basis of the right ideal generated by F , such that using thisbasis we have unique normal forms for all p 2 Z[H] (especially the normal formis 0 in case p is an element of the right ideal generated by F ). As the orderingand multiplication on H need not be compatible, reduction has to be definedcarefully in order to make it Noetherian. Further we no longer have p Delta x ! p 0for p 2 Z[H]; x 2 H. Similar to Buchberger's s - polynomials, confluence criteriaare developed and a completion procedure is given. In case T = ; or (Sigma; T ) is aconvergent, 2 - monadic presentation of a group providing inverses of length 1 forthe generators or (Sigma; T ) is a convergent presentation of a commutative monoid ,termination can be shown. So in this cases finitely generated right ideals admitfinite Gröbner bases. The connection to the subgroup problem is discussed.
The increasing use of distributed computer systems leads to an increasingneed for distributed applications. Their development in various domains like of-fice automation or computer integrated manufacturing is not sufficiently sup-ported by current techniques. New software engineering concepts are needed inthe three areas 'languages', 'tools', and 'environments'. We believe that object-oriented techniques and graphics support are key approaches to major achieve-ments in all three areas. As a consequence, we developed a universal object-oriented graphical editor ODE as one of our basic tools (tool building tool).ODE is based on the object-oriented paradigm, with some important extensionslike built-in object relations. It has an extensible functional language which al-lows for customization of the editor. ODE was developed as part of DOCASE, asoftware production environment for distributed applications. The basic ideas ofDOCASE will be presented and the requirements for ODE will be pointed out.Then ODE will be described in detail, followed by a sample customization ofODE: the one for the DOCASE design language.
Der ständig zunehmende Einsatz verteilter DV-Systeme führt zu einem stark steigendenBedarf an verteilten Anwendungen. Deren Entwicklung in den verschiedensten Anwen-dungsfeldern wie Fabrik- und Büroautomatisierung ist für die Anwender bislang kaum zuhandhaben. Neue Konzepte des Software Engineering sind daher notwendig, und zwar inden drei Bereichen 'Sprachen', 'Werkzeuge' und 'Umgebungen'. Objekt-orientierte Me-thoden und graphische Unterstützung haben sich bei unseren Arbeiten als besonders taug-lich herausgestellt, um in allen drei Bereichen deutliche Fortschritte zu erzielen. Entspre-chend wurde ein universeller objektorientierter graphischer Editor, ODE, als einesunserer zentralen Basis-Werkzeuge ('tool building tool') entwickelt. ODE basiert aufdem objekt-orientierten Paradigma sowie einer leicht handhabbaren funktionalen Sprachefür Erweiterungen; außerdem erlaubt ODE die einfache Integration mit anderen Werk-zeugen und imperativ programmierten Funktionen. ODE entstand als Teil von DOCASE,einer Software-Produktionsumgebung für verteilte Anwendungen. Grundzüge von DO-CASE werden vorgestellt, Anforderungen an ODE abgeleitet. Dann wird ODE detaillier-ter beschrieben. Es folgt eine exemplarische Beschreibung einer Erweiterung von ODE,nämlich der für die DOCASE-Entwurfssprache.
The value of software inspection for uncovering defects early in the development lifecycle has been well documented. Of the various types of inspection methods published to date, experiments have shown perspective-based inspection to be one of the most effective, because of its enhanced coverage of the defect space. However, inspections in general, and perspective-based inspections in particular, have so far been applied predominantly in the context of conventional structured development methods, and then almost always to textual artifacts, such as requirements documents or code modules. Object oriented-models, particularly of the graphical form, have so far not been adequately addressed by inspection methods. This paper tackles this problem by first discussing the difficulties involved in tailoring the perspective-based inspection approach to object-oriented development methods and, second, by presenting a generalization of the approach which overcomes these limitations. The new version of the approach is illustrated in the context of UML-based object-oriented development.
Although it is acknowledged that internal iterators are easier and safer to use than conventional external iterators, it is commonly assumed that they are not applicable in languages without builtin support for closures and that they are less flexible than external iterators. We present an iteration framework that uses objects to emulate closures, separates structure exploration and data consumption, and generalizes on folding, thereby invalidating both the above statements. Our proposed "transfold" scheme allows processing one or more data structures simultaneously without exposing structure representations and without writing explicit loops. We show that the use of two functional concepts (function parameterization and lazy evaluation) within an object-oriented language allows combining the safety and economic usage of internal iteration with the flexibility and client control of external iteration. Sample code is provided using the statically typed EIFFEL language.
We propose a specification language for the formalization of data types with par-tial or non-terminating operations as part of a rewrite-based logical frameworkfor inductive theorem proving. The language requires constructors for designat-ing data items and admits positive/negative conditional equations as axioms inspecifications. The (total algebra) semantics for such specifications is based onso-called data models. We present admissibility conditions that guarantee theunique existence of a distinguished data model with properties similar to thoseof the initial model of a usual equational specification. Since admissibility of aspecification requires confluence of the induced rewrite relation, we provide aneffectively testable confluence criterion which does not presuppose termination.
We propose an approach to the problem of proof control for our new first-order inductive theorem prover QuodLibet that is characterized by a great deal of flexibility w.r.t. the forms of proof control the prover supports. The approach is based on so-called (proof) tactics, i.e. proof control routines written in a special proof control language named QML. QuodLibet provides a set of tactics (in addition to the elementary inference rules), which range from tactics for trivial simplification steps to tactics representing comprehensive inductive proof strategies. Moreover, QuodLibet allows new tactics that are written by the user in QML to be integrated into the system to dynamically extend its functionality.
This paper describes a system that supports softwaredevelopment processes in virtual software corporations. A virtual software corporation consists of a set of enterprisesthat cooperate in projects to fulfill customer needs. Contracts are negotiated in the whole lifecycle of asoftware development project. The negotiations really influence the performance of a company. Therefore, it isuseful to support negotiations and planning decisions with software agents. Our approach integrates software agentapproaches for negotiation support with flexible multiserver workflow engines.
A Tailored Real Time Temporal Logic for Specifying Requirements of Building Automation Systems
(1999)
A tailored real time temporal logic for specifying requirements of building automation systems is introduced and analyzed. The logic features several new real time operators, which are chosen with regard to the application area. The new operators improve the conciseness and readability of requirements as compared to a general-purpose real time temporal logic. In addition, some of the operators also enhance the expressiveness of the logic. A number of properties of the new operators are presented and proven.
A generic approach to the formal specification of system requirements is presented. It is based on a pool of requirement patterns, which are related to design patterns well-known in object-oriented software development. The application of such patterns enhances the reusability and genericity as well as the intelligibility of the formal requirement specification. The approach is instantiated by a tailored real-time temporal logic and by selecting building automation systems as application domain. With respect to this domain, the pattern discovery and reuse tasks are explained and illustrated, and a set of typical requirement patterns is presented. Finally, the results of a case study where the approach has been applied are summarized.
HOT is an automated higher-order theorem prover based on HTE, an extensional higher-order tableaux calculus (Kohlhase 95). The first part of the paper introduces a variant of the calculus which closely corresponds to the proof procedure implemented in HOT. The second part discusses HOT's design that can be characterized as a concurrent Blackboard architecture. We show the usefulness of the implementation by including benchmark results for over one hundred solved problems from logic and set theory.
Reusing Proofs
(1999)
We develop a learning component for a theorem prover designed for verifying statements by mathematical induction. If the prover has found a proof, it is analyzed yielding a so-called catch. The catch provides the features of the proof which are relevant for reusing it in subsequent verification tasks and may also suggest useful lemmata. Proof analysis techniques for computing the catch are presented. A catch is generalized in a certain sense for increasing the reusability of proofs. We discuss problems arising when learning from proofs and illustrate our method by several examples.
This paper introduces a multi-valued variant of higher-order resolution and provesit correct and complete with respect to a natural multi-valued variant of Henkin'sgeneral model semantics. This resolution method is parametric in the number of truthvalues as well as in the particular choice of the set of connectives (given by arbitrarytruth tables) and even substitutional quantifiers. In the course of the completenessproof we establish a model existence theorem for this logical system. The workreported in this paper provides a basis for developing higher-order mechanizationsfor many non-classical logics.
Dynamic Lambda Calculus
(1999)
The goal of this paper is to lay a logical foundation for discourse theories by providing analgebraic foundation of compositional formalisms for discourse semantics as an analogon tothe simply typed (lambda)-calculus. Just as that can be specialized to type theory by simply providinga special type for truth values and postulating the quantifiers and connectives as constantswith fixed semantics, the proposed dynamic (lambda)-calculus DLC can be specialized to (lambda)-DRT byessentially the same measures, yielding a much more principled and modular treatment of(lambda)-DRT than before; DLC is also expected to eventually provide a conceptually simple basisfor studying higher-order unification for compositional discourse theories.Over the past few years, there have been a series of attempts [Zee89, GS90, EK95, Mus96,KKP96, Kus96] to combine the Montagovian type theoretic framework [Mon74] with dynamicapproaches, such as DRT [Kam81]. The motivation for these developments is to obtain a generallogical framework for discourse semantics that combines compositionality and dynamic binding.Let us look at an example of compositional semantics construction in (lambda)-DRT which is one ofthe above formalisms [KKP96, Kus96]. By the use of fi-reduction we arrive at a first-order DRTrepresentation of the sentence A i man sleeps. (i denoting an index for anaphoric binding.)
Coloring terms (rippling) is a technique developed for inductive theorem proving which uses syntactic differences of terms to guide the proof search. Annotations (colors) to terms are used to maintain this information. This technique has several advantages, e.g. it is highly goal oriented and involves little search. In this paper we give a general formalization of coloring terms in a higher-order setting. We introduce a simply-typed lambda calculus with color annotations and present an appropriate (pre-)unification algorithm. Our work is a formal basis to the implementation of rippling in a higher-order setting which is required e.g. in case of middle-out reasoning. Another application is in the construction of natural language semantics, where the color annotations rule out linguistically invalid readings that are possible using standard higher-order unification.
The introduction of sorts to first-order automated deduction has broughtgreater conciseness of representation and a considerable gain in efficiency byreducing the search space. It is therefore promising to treat sorts in higherorder theorem proving as well.In this paper we present a generalization of Huet's Constrained Resolutionto an order-sorted type theory SigmaT with term declarations. This system buildscertain taxonomic axioms into the unification and conducts reasoning withthem in a controlled way. We make this notion precise by giving a relativizationoperator that totally and faithfully encodes SigmaT into simple type theory.
A lot of the human ability to prove hard mathematical theorems can be ascribedto a problem-specific problem solving know-how. Such knowledge is intrinsicallyincomplete. In order to prove related problems human mathematicians, however,can go beyond the acquired knowledge by adapting their know-how to new relatedproblems. These two aspects, having rich experience and extending it by need, can besimulated in a proof planning framework: the problem-specific reasoning knowledge isrepresented in form of declarative planning operators, called methods; since these aredeclarative, they can be mechanically adapted to new situations by so-called meta-methods. In this contribution we apply this framework to two prominent proofs intheorem proving, first, we present methods for proving the ground completeness ofbinary resolution, which essentially correspond to key lemmata, and then, we showhow these methods can be reused for the proof of the ground completeness of lockresolution.
We transform a user-friendly formulation of aproblem to a machine-friendly one exploiting the variabilityof first-order logic to express facts. The usefulness of tacticsto improve the presentation is shown with several examples.In particular it is shown how tactical and resolution theoremproving can be combined.
Typical examples, that is, examples that are representative for a particular situationor concept, play an important role in human knowledge representation and reasoning.In real life situations more often than not, instead of a lengthy abstract characteriza-tion, a typical example is used to describe the situation. This well-known observationhas been the motivation for various investigations in experimental psychology, whichalso motivate our formal characterization of typical examples, based on a partial orderfor their typicality. Reasoning by typical examples is then developed as a special caseof analogical reasoning using the semantic information contained in the correspondingconcept structures. We derive new inference rules by replacing the explicit informa-tion about connections and similarity, which are normally used to formalize analogicalinference rules, by information about the relationship to typical examples. Using theseinference rules analogical reasoning proceeds by checking a related typical example,this is a form of reasoning based on semantic information from cases.
This paper addresses two modi of analogical reasoning. Thefirst modus is based on the explicit representation of the justificationfor the analogical inference. The second modus is based on the repre-sentation of typical instances by concept structures. The two kinds ofanalogical inferences rely on different forms of relevance knowledge thatcause non-monotonicity. While the uncertainty and non-monotonicity ofanalogical inferences is not questioned, a semantic characterization ofanalogical reasoning has not been given yet. We introduce a minimalmodel semantics for analogical inference with typical instances.
Mechanised reasoning systems and computer algebra systems have apparentlydifferent objectives. Their integration is, however, highly desirable, since in manyformal proofs both of the two different tasks, proving and calculating, have to beperformed. Even more importantly, proof and computation are often interwoven andnot easily separable. In the context of producing reliable proofs, the question howto ensure correctness when integrating a computer algebra system into a mechanisedreasoning system is crucial. In this contribution, we discuss the correctness prob-lems that arise from such an integration and advocate an approach in which thecalculations of the computer algebra system are checked at the calculus level of themechanised reasoning system. This can be achieved by adding a verbose mode to thecomputer algebra system which produces high-level protocol information that can beprocessed by an interface to derive proof plans. Such a proof plan in turn can beexpanded to proofs at different levels of abstraction, so the approach is well-suited forproducing a high-level verbalised explication as well as for a low-level machine check-able calculus-level proof. We present an implementation of our ideas and exemplifythem using an automatically solved extended example.
Even though it is not very often admitted, partial functions do play asignificant role in many practical applications of deduction systems. Kleenehas already given a semantic account of partial functions using three-valuedlogic decades ago, but there has not been a satisfactory mechanization. Recentyears have seen a thorough investigation of the framework of many-valuedtruth-functional logics. However, strong Kleene logic, where quantificationis restricted and therefore not truth-functional, does not fit the frameworkdirectly. We solve this problem by applying recent methods from sorted logics.This paper presents a resolution calculus that combines the proper treatmentof partial functions with the efficiency of sorted calculi.
Even though it is not very often admitted, partial functionsdo play a significant role in many practical applications of deduction sys-tems. Kleene has already given a semantic account of partial functionsusing a three-valued logic decades ago. This approach allows rejectingcertain unwanted formulae as faulty, which the simpler two-valued onesaccept. We have developed resolution and tableau calculi for automatedtheorem proving that take the restrictions of the three-valued logic intoaccount, which however have the severe drawback that existing theo-rem provers cannot directly be adapted to the technique. Even recentlyimplemented calculi for many-valued logics are not well-suited, since inthose the quantification does not exclude the undefined element. In thiswork we show, that it is possible to enhance a two-valued theorem proverby a simple strategy so that it can be used to generate proofs for the the-orems of the three-valued setting. By this we are able to use an existingtheorem prover for a large fragment of the language.
Die Beweisentwicklungsumgebung Omega-Mkrp soll Mathematiker bei einer ihrer Haupttätigkeiten, nämlich dem Beweisen mathematischer Theoreme unterstützen. Diese Unterstützung muß so komfortabel sein, daß die Beweise mit vertretbarem Aufwand formal durchgeführt werden können und daß die Korrektheit der so erzeugten Beweise durch das System sichergestellt wird. Ein solches System wird sich nur dann wirklich durchsetzen, wenn die rechnergestützte Suche nach formalen Beweisen weniger aufwendig und leichter ist, als ohne das System. Um dies zu erreichen, ergeben sich verschiedene Anforderungen an eine solche Entwicklungsumgebung, die wir im einzelnen beschreiben. Diese betreffen insbesondere die Ausdruckskraft der verwendeten Objektsprache, die Möglichkeit, abstrakt über Beweispläne zu reden, die am Menschen orientierte Präsentation der gefundenen Beweise, aber auch die effiziente Unterstützung beim Füllen von Beweislücken. Das im folgenden vorgestellte Omega-Mkrp-System ist eine Synthese der Ansätze des vollautomatischen, des interaktiven und des planbasierten Beweisens und versucht erstmalig die Ergebnisse dieser drei Forschungsrichtungen in einem System zu vereinigen. Dieser Artikel soll eine Übersicht über unsere Arbeit an diesem System geben.
This paper describes a declarative approach forencoding the plan operators in proof planning,the so-called methods. The notion of methodevolves from the much studied concept of a tac-tic and was first used by A. Bundy. Signific-ant deductive power has been achieved withthe planning approach towards automated de-duction; however, the procedural character ofthe tactic part of methods hinders mechanicalmodification. Although the strength of a proofplanning system largely depends on powerfulgeneral procedures which solve a large class ofproblems, mechanical or even automated modi-fication of methods is necessary, since methodsdesigned for a specific type of problems willnever be general enough. After introducing thegeneral framework, we exemplify the mechan-ical modification of methods via a particularmeta-method which modifies methods by trans-forming connectives to quantifiers.
To prove difficult theorems in a mathematical field requires substantial know-ledge of that field. In this paper a frame-based knowledge representation formalismis presented, which supports a conceptual representation and to a large extent guar-antees the consistency of the built-up knowledge bases. We define a semantics ofthe representation by giving a translation into the underlaying logic.
To prove difficult theorems in a mathematical field requires substantial know-ledge of that field. In this thesis a frame-based knowledge representation formal-ism including higher-order sorted logic is presented, which supports a conceptualrepresentation and to a large extent guarantees the consistency of the built-upknowledge bases. In order to operationalize this knowledge, for instance, in anautomated theorem proving system, a class of sound morphisms from higher-orderinto first-order logic is given, in addition a sound and complete translation ispresented. The translations are bijective and hence compatible with a later proofpresentation.In order to prove certain theorems the comprehension axioms are necessary,(but difficult to handle in an automated system); such theorems are called trulyhigher-order. Many apparently higher-order theorems (i.e. theorems that arestated in higher-order syntax) however are essentially first-order in the sense thatthey can be proved without the comprehension axioms: for proving these theoremsthe translation technique as presented in this thesis is well-suited.
Planverfahren
(1999)
Caching has long been used to reduce average access latency, from registers and memory pages cached by hardware, to the application level such as a web browser retaining retrieved documents. We focus here on the high-level caching of potentially shared networked documents and define two terms in relation to this type of caching: Zero latency refers to the condition where access to a document produces a cache hit on the local machine, that is, there is little or no latency due to the network (we assume that latency due to local disk and memory access is insignificant in comparison to network latency). A document with zero latency usually has been placed in the cache after a previous access, or has been pulled there through some prefetching mechanism. Negative latency refers to automatic presentation, or push, of a document to a user based on a prediction that the user will want that document. With an ideal system, a user would be presented with documents either that she was about to request, or that she would not know to request but that would be immediately useful to her.
We have developed a middleware framework for workgroup environments that can support distributed software development and a variety of other application domains requiring document management and change management for distributed projects. The framework enables hypermedia-based integration of arbitrary legacy and new information resources available via a range of protocols, not necessarily known in advance to us as the general framework developers nor even to the environment instance designers. The repositories in which such information resides may be dispersed across the Internet and/or an organizational intranet. The framework also permits a range of client models for user and tool interaction, and applies an extensible suite of collaboration services, including but not limited to multi-participant workflow and coordination, to their information retrievals and updates. That is, the framework is interposed between clients, services and repositories - thus "middleware". We explain how our framework makes it easy to realize a comprehensive collection of workgroup and workflow features we culled from a requirements survey conducted by NASA.
Information technology support for complex, dynamic, and distributed business processes as they occur in engineering domains requires an advanced process management system which enhances currently available workflow management services with respect to integration, flexibility, and adapt ation. We present an uniform and flexible framework for advanced process management on an a bstract level which uses and adapts agent technology from distributed artificial intelligence for both modelling and enacting of processes. We identify two different frameworks for applying agent tec hnology to process management: First, as a multi-agent system with the domain of process manag ement. Second, as a key infrastructure technology for building a process management system. We will then follow the latter approach and introduce different agent types for managing activities, products, and resources which capture specific views on the process.
This paper develops a sound and complete transformation-based algorithm forunification in an extensional order-sorted combinatory logic supporting constantoverloading and a higher-order sort concept. Appropriate notions of order-sortedweak equality and extensionality - reflecting order-sorted fij-equality in thecorresponding lambda calculus given by Johann and Kohlhase - are defined, andthe typed combinator-based higher-order unification techniques of Dougherty aremodified to accommodate unification with respect to the theory they generate. Thealgorithm presented here can thus be viewed as a combinatory logic counterpartto that of Johann and Kohlhase, as well as a refinement of that of Dougherty, andprovides evidence that combinatory logic is well-suited to serve as a framework forincorporating order-sorted higher-order reasoning into deduction systems aimingto capitalize on both the expressiveness of extensional higher-order logic and theefficiency of order-sorted calculi.