CLIPS 4.3 Expert System Tool

[wordproc]

Due to the numerous requests for more information about the CLIPS Expert System
Tool I mentioned in an earlier posting, the following is some information
about it and where to get it if you want the full package.


The CLIPS Expert Systems Tool is a very impressive expert
systems language and package developed by the Mission Planning and Analysis
Division's Artificial Intelligence Section, NASA Johnson Space Flight Center.

Expert systems have received considerable attention in recent years, but the
delivery of expert systems applications has proved difficult.  The Artificial
Intelligence Section at NASA/JSC has encountered a number of problems delivering
LISP-based expert systems to NASA users.  Three particular problems originally
hindered the use of expert systems within NASA: (1) low availability of LISP on
conventional computers, (2) high cost of state-of-the-art LISP tools and 
hardware; and (3) poor integration of LISP with other languages, making embedded
applications difficult.

To solve these problems, the AIS developed an expert system tool written in
and fully integrated with the C language:  the 'C' Language Production System
(CLIPS).  CLIPS was designed specifically to provide high portability, low
cost and easy integration with external systems.

The primary representation methodology is a forward-chaining rule language
based on the Rete algorithm.  CLIPS provides reasonable performance on a wide
variety of computers and also includes tools for debugging an application.
CLIPS is in use at most NASA centers, numerous universities and many places
in private industry.

Three volumes of documentation are available for CLIPS:

  o  The CLIPS Reference Manual, which is part of the standard documentation.
     It is split into the following parts:

     o  Part I: The Basic Programming Guide, which provides the definitive
	        description of CLIPS syntax and examples of usage;
     o	Part II: The Advanced Programming Guide, which provides detailed
	         discussion of the more sophisticated features in CLIPS
		 and is intended for people with extensive programming
		 experience who are using CLIPS for advanced applications;
     o	Part III: The Utilities and Interfaces Guide, which provides
		  information on machine-specific interfaces and CLIPS
		  utility programs.

  o  The CLIPS User's Guide, also part of the standard documentation.
     It provides an introduction to rule-based systems using CLIPS
     and is intended for people who have little or no expert systems
     experience.  It is designed for people who want an introduction
     to expert systems programming in a hands-on manner.  Thus, the
     examples are of a general nature.  Other than knowledge of basic
     programming, no special background is assumed about the reader.

  o  The CLIPS Architecture Manual, which provides a detailed description of
     the CLIPS software architecture.  This manual describes each module of
     CLIPS in terms of functionality and purpose.  It is intended for people
     with extensive programming experience who are interested in modifying
     CLIPS or who want to gain a deeper understanding of how CLIPS works. 
     This manual is not needed by the majority of persons who would obtain the
     CLIPS system.  Due to the high cost of distributing documentation, it
     has been omitted from the distribution package.  Those persons needing
     the CLIPS Architecture Manual must contact the CLIPS Help Desk or COSMIC
     (see below).

The standard distribution format for the IBM PC system is on twelve 360K
MSDOS format diskettes.

The standard distribution for the Macintosh system is on four 800K Macintosh
format diskettes.

The standard format for the DEC VAX is as a labelled 9-track magnetic tape
(label=PCLIPS) recorded at 1600 BPI containing one saveset written in DEC VAX
BACKUP format (saveset name=CLIPS.BCK).  The saveset contains a total of
189 files.


	******  HOW TO GET CLIPS 4.3  ********

CLIPS is available free to NASA and DoD groups and other government
agencies by calling the CLIPS Help Desk between 9AM to 4PM CST Monday through
Friday at (713) 280-2233.

Private individuals can contact COSMIC at (404) 542-3265.

CLIPS is not a commercial product and therefore there is no official technical
support.  However, NASA and DoD groups can contact the CLIPS Help desk at the
above number.  They will contact you at a later time to discuss and help solve
any problem you may encounter.

A demo of an an expert system -- a power plant model --  written in CLIPS is
supplied with the package.

The entire source code can be quickly re-compiled to change options and so forth
if necessary.  MAKE files are included for Turbo C and others on the PC, as
well as for the Mac and VAX.


All of this and more information is in the manual and on the help screens.
Please E-Mail me if you want more information or discussion.


-- Marcus Clenney
   U. of Central Fla
   wordproc at ucf-cs.ucf.edu