Subject: AIList V6 #52 - Prolog Digest, CLIPS, OPS5
From: AIList Moderator Kenneth Laws <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sat 19 Mar 1988 22:06-PST

AIList Digest            Sunday, 20 Mar 1988       Volume 6 : Issue 52

Today's Topics:
  Bindings - Prolog List & McRobbie & Boston AI Contacts,
  Queries - Compiling LISP & Boyer-Moore Theorem Prover in Common LISP &
    Bitnet Archives & Source for a Planning Program &
    TI microExplorer (Mac II Coprocessor) & AI and Chemistry &
    Parallel Inference Mechanism & Translators in Prolog/Lisp &
    KES Experience,
  Expert Systems - CLIPS & Student OPS5

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 88 11:18:19 MET
From: [email-masked]
Subject: missing prolog list

Date: 15 March 1988, 11:05:53 MET
From: Hans Buurman              +31 (15) 783538      TNPHHBU  at HDETUD1

Dear people,

Does anybody know what happened to the PROLOG  list ? The European subscribers
on EARN (BITNET) haven't seen anything since early december. Also, nobody
seems to be able to contact Chuck Restivo, the moderator.

The same seems to apply to the PROLOG-H(ackers) list. Could anybody tell us
what's wrong ?

     Hans Buurman
     TNPHHBU at HDETUD1.BITNET

  [Fernando Pereira tells me that Chuck is now a student at
  Cambridge.  I assume that the Prolog list will remain idle
  until a new moderator volunteers.  -- KIL]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 88 12:16:27 PDT
From: [email-masked] (Peter Ladkin)
Subject: address needed

If either you are Mike McRobbie of ANU, or you know his current address,
please let me know what it is!
Thanks,
peter ladkin
[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 88 11:26:37 SET
From: "Palli Wolfgang Mag."  <[email-masked]>
Subject: contact persons in boston

I want to visit the MIT in the week beginning at 28-mar-1988. I am interested
in expert systems and AI techniques.
Please send me a list of contact persons in or near by boston.
Thank You

  [I don't give out addresses of list subscribers, and don't
  have such a list for the MIT bboard readers in any case.
  Would anyone care to volunteer as a contact?  -- KIL]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 14 Mar 88 11:51 EST
From: Glenn Ross  <[email-masked]>
Subject: Compiling LISP

I am interested in converting some of my VAX-LISP programs into stand-alone
excecutables for IBM and VAX mainframes.  I've been told that there is a kyoto
common lisp compiler that compiles LISP into C.  Can anyone tell me how to get
it?  Is there a better solution?  Thanks in advance.

Glenn Ross
Dept. of Philosophy
Franklin & Marshall College
Lancaster, PA  17604-3003

G_ROSS@FANDM (BITNET)

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 88 10:30:37 SET
From: Herwig Mayr <[email-masked]>
Subject: boyer-moore theorem prover in common LISP

We are looking for a Common LISP version of the Boyer-Moore Theorem Prover
for use at our institute (mainly for lectures). Please, send replies over the
AIlist or to myself (K312631 at AEARN). Thank you||||

-herwig.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 88 13:16 H
From: [email-masked]
Subject: questions

Hello, I am a new user of Bitnet. I would like to know how to accesss and
and download journals/publications that have been uploaded onto Bitnet.
I am currently working on an expert system and intelligent tutoring
system with TI Explorer and KEE 3 at the National University of
Singapore.

------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 88 20:48:18 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Vibhu O. Mittal)
Subject: Wanted Source for a Planning Program

We would like to acquire the source of a planning program to use for
educational purposes in some of the undergraduate AI courses that are taught
here at Ohio State University. We would ideally like the program to be in
vanilla Common Lisp (without any system dependant window calls! .... unless
they're to X windows), and suitable as an example of a 'typical' planning
system to introduce to a class. The students would then be able to play
around with the program.

We have considered a few systems already, but they were all written with
particular machines and environments in mind, and none of them will run on '
just common lisp'. I would like to invite opinions from people who may

   - either have such a system with them, which they would be willing to allow
     us to use for teaching and playing around with, or

   - know of such a system through having used one themselves

And thank you all for any help that you might be able to give me -

Sincerely,

Vibhu Mittal

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                               Vibhu O. Mittal                                |
|                        Department of Computer Science                        |
|                           The Ohio State University                          |
|                                                                              |
| Phone: 614-292-4635                                    [email-masked] |
|                                                       ihnp4!osu-cis!mittal   |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 88 14:30:45 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (bill luciw)
Subject: TI microExplorer (Mac II coprocessor) ...

Well, our KBS Lab is ordering a microExplorer, the coprocessor for the Mac II.
It will be equipped with 12MB of memory (using a daughter-board), and we will
be using the Development System from TI as well as trying to run TCP/IP.  I
wonder if anyone (beta-sites, maybe) has had some relevant experiences with
the product or can comment on some of our concerns:

1) What impact (if any) does the alledged lack of "true" DMA have on the
paging performance of the microExplorer?

2) Is TI's implementation of RPC available to other applications (such as those
developed under MPW)?

3) How well integrated is the microExplorer into the rest of the Mac
environment - (cut, copy, paste, print on an AppleTalk printer) ?

4) Can you install the "load bands" on third party disks (SuperMac 150) or do
they need to remain on the Apple hard disk (the load bands are supposed to be
normal, finder accessible files)?

5) How much of a hassle is it to port applications over to the little beastie
from a normal Explorer (what about ART, KEE, SIMKIT, etc.)?

6) Do any benchmarks (ala Gabriel) exist for this machine?

7) How about ToolBox access from the Lisp Environment? (or am I dreaming?)

That'll do for starters ...

Our group is responsible for testing this type of technology and developing a
"delivery vehicle strategy."  Ideally, said delivery vehicle should be under
$10K, but it looks like we'll be around $20K before we're through. This puts
the microExplorer in the same price range as a "reasonably" equiped Sun 3/60FC.

Thankyou in advance for all your comments and I will post our experiences
(good or bad, of course) as they develop ...

Happy St. Patty's Day ...

--
Bill Luciw / Technology Leader        ATTnet:  (716) 477-5384
Knowledge-Based Systems Group           UUCP: ...rutgers!rochester!kodak!luciw
Eastman Kodak Company                   ARPA: [email-masked]
 "Don't take life seriously, you'll never get out of it alive!"  -- Bugs Bunny

------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 88 21:45:39 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (ulhas warrier)
Subject: Info on AI and Chemistry

Organization: Oregon State Universtiy - CS - Corvallis, Oregon
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Chemistry

        I would appreciate it very much if someone can give me information
on companies (name,address & area of research) doing substantial work on
Artificial Intelligence applications in Chemistry.
        Please e-mail the response to me and if there is enough interest, a
list will be posted later.
        Thanks in advance,
                                Ulhas Warrier

------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 88 16:04:21 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Daniel Lippmann)
Subject: parallel inference mechanism

In an article "a new parallel inference mechanism based on
sequential processing", published in the IFIP-86 based book
"Fifth generation computer architecture" (J.V Woods edit.)
the authors refer to the so called " KABU-WAKE " method.
Does anybody heard of this method and can explain how and
where learn about it ?
the authors were :
-Yukio Sohma, Ken Satoh, Kouichi Kumon, Hideo Hasuzawa and
Akihino Itashiki from the A.I Fujitsu laboratory.
Once more does anybody know if it possible to contact them ?
thanking everybody in advance
daniel (...!seismo!mcvax!inria!vmucnam!daniel)

------------------------------

Date: 16 Mar 88 23:39:22 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Chris Bloom)
Subject: translators in Prolog/Lisp

I have written a translator in "C" that converts a simulation model written
in the CADAT simulation modeling language to either one of two other widely
accepted languages being used for simulation modeling.  EDIF (Electronic
Design Interchange Format) and VHDL (Very_Large_Scale_Integrated Hardware
Design Language) are the two language types that can be produced from a
CADAT structural model using this program.

I have been told that Prolog is optimal for this type of translator.  Does
anyone have references on the topic of writing translators in Prolog (or
Lisp).

I am currently modifying the translator to add chip placement information
into the EDIF netlist view (which was originally translated from a CADAT
model).  This will then be run through my homebrew auto-router to produce
a schematic.  This is currently being done in "C" which is fine.  I would
though like to know about any similiar work being done using a list
processing language.

-->Chris B. Bloom

------------------------------

Date: 15 Mar 88 21:19:15 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Rion Cassidy)
Subject: KES experience ?

Our local Prime sales rep has been trying to convince us that Software
Architecture and Engineering's Knowledge Engineering System (KES) is
what we need for a robotics path planning and control system.  I
intend to get a demo and ask a lot of questions, but am hoping that
*someone* out here has had some contact with this company and/or
product, and willl be wiling to share their experiences.

Any help would be appreciated.

Rion Cassidy
Ford Aerospace
[email-masked]
...{sgi,sun,ucbvax}!wdl1!rion

Disk Claimer: My employer forced me to write this at gun-point.
I assume no responsibility whatsoever for what I've said here.

------------------------------

Date: 14 Mar 88 18:13:19 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Richard Robison)
Subject: Every heard of KLIPS ???

A professor here is interested in a program called KLIPS.  He was very vague
about what it was, but did say that it was some kind of AI application.  Any
help locating this program would be very helpful.  Thanks.

-Richard
--
Richard Robison

UUCP:   [email-masked]        (404-894-6221)
        ...!{allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,ulysses}!gatech!gt-cmmsr!rr
INTERNET:       [email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: 15 Mar 88 22:43:23 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Lee Mellinger)
Subject: Re: Every heard of KLIPS ???

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked]
(Richard Robison) writes:
:
:A professor here is interested in a program called KLIPS.  He was very vague
:about what it was, but did say that it was some kind of AI application.  Any
:help locating this program would be very helpful.  Thanks.
:
:-Richard
:--
:Richard Robison
:
:UUCP:  [email-masked]        (404-894-6221)
:        ...!{allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,ulysses}!gatech!gt-cmmsr!rr
:INTERNET:      [email-masked]

There is an expert system language called CLIPS (C Language Integrated
Production System) that was written by the Mission Planning and Analysis
Division of the Johnson Spaceflight Center, NASA.  It is available from
COSMIC at the University of Georgia.  The program number is MSC-21208.
The COSMIC phone number is 404/525-3265.

Lee

The

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
|Lee F. Mellinger                         Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA|
|4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 818/393-0516  FTS 977-0516      |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|UUCP: {ames!cit-vax,psivax}!elroy!jpl-devvax!jplpro!leem                 |
|ARPA: [email-masked] -or- [email-masked]            |
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

------------------------------

Date: 15 Mar 88 16:55:45 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (John B. Nagle)
Subject: Re: Ever heard of KLIPS ???

     KLIPS has been used as an acronym for Kilo Logical Inferences Per
Second.  In the Prolog community, the execution of one Prolog statement
is considered one logical inference, and Prolog systems are thus rated
in LIPS, Logical Inferences Per Second, to which the usual metric prefixes
are applied when appropriate.

------------------------------

Date: 17 Mar 88 17:38:29 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Dale Kirmse)
Subject: Re: Every heard of KLIPS ???

The program KLIPS that you are probably looking for is CLIPS.
The README file for the version that I have access to reads as follows:

The Artificial Intelligence Section of the Mission Planning and
Analysis Division at NASA/Johnson Space Center has completed the
first release version of CLIPS, a tool for the development of
expert systems. CLIPS is an inference engine and language syntax
which provides the framework for the construction of rule-based
expert systems.

CLIPS was entirely developed in C for performance and portability and
is available for a wide variety of computers, from PC's to a CRAY.
The key features of CLIPS are:

Powerful Rule Syntax: CLIPS allows Forward Chaining Rules with free form
   patterns, single and multi-field variable bindings across patterns, user
   defined predicate functions on the LHS of a rule, and other powerful
   features.

Portable: CLIPS has been installed on over half a dozen machines
   without little or no code changes.

High Performance: CLIPS performance on minicomputers (VAX, SUN) is
   comparable to the performance of high powered expert system tools in
   those environments. On microcomputers, CLIPS outperforms most other
   microcomputer based tools.

Embeddable: CLIPS systems may be embedded within other C programs
   and called as a subroutine.

Interactive Development: CLIPS provides an interactive, text oriented
   development environment, including debugging aids.

Completely integrated with C: Users may define and call their own
   functions from within CLIPS.

Extensible: CLIPS may be easily extended to add new capabilities.

Source Code: CLIPS comes with all source code and can be modified or
   tailored to meet a specific users's needs.

Fully Documented: CLIPS comes with a full reference manual complete
   with numerous examples of CLIPS syntax. Examples are also given on how
   to create user defined functions and  CLIPS extensions. A User's Guide to
   introduce expert system programming with CLIPS is also available.

CLIPS is available at no cost to NASA, DoD or other government agencies.
Call the CLIPS Help Desk at (713) 280-2233 to obtain a copy.
Other organizations can obtain CLIPS and/or documentation
for a nominal fee through COSMIC:

  COSMIC
  382 E. Broad St
  Athens, GA  30602
  (404) 542-3265
________________

I understand from talking to NASA personnel that the current plans
are to include Macitosh and X window interfaces in later versions.
And, an ART sales representative has told me that CLIPS was the initial
basis of microART which is currently underdevelopment and will have many
features not now in CLIPS.
--
Dale Kirmse
Chemical Engineering Department
University of Florida
Gainesville, Florida 32611
Internet:       [email-masked]  Phone: (904-392-0862)
Dale Kirmse @bikini.cis.ufl.edu

------------------------------

Date: 16 Mar 88 03:45:28 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Joel Shprentz)
Subject: Re: Every heard of KLIPS ???

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked]
(Richard Robison) writes:

> A professor here is interested in a program called KLIPS.  He was very vague
> about what it was, but did say that it was some kind of AI application.  Any
> help locating this program would be very helpful.  Thanks.

HOW TO GET CLIPS

Clips is available as program #MSC-21208 from COSMIC, NASA's software
distribution center at the University of Georgia.  Their address is:

        COSMIC
        The University of Georgia
        382 East Broad Street
        Athens, Georgia  30602

        Phone: (404) 542 3265
        Telex: 490 999 1619

We received Clips on six IBM-PC floppy disks.  Other formats are
available.  The disks included the C source code, PC executables,
utility programs, and some examples.  The C source code is portable;
we compiled it on a Sun workstation.

CLIPS VS. OPS5

Clips (C Language Integrated Production System) is similar to OPS5.
OPS5 skills are directly transferable to Clips.  Clips rules, like OPS5
rules, are compiled into a network for efficient matching with the Rete
algorithm.  This algorithm is inherently forward chaining.

One noticeable difference between OPS5 and Clips is that OPS5 tags
values in working memory elements but Clips does not.  For example,
an OPS5 memory element may be

        (Person ^name Smith ^age 23 ^eyes blue)

Because the OPS5 values are tagged, they may be reordered without
changing their meaning:

        (Person ^age 23 ^name Smith ^eyes blue)

When matching OPS5 patterns, partial working memory elements may be
specified.  This pattern selects people with blue eyes:

        (Person ^eyes blue)

Clips uses the value's position within the memory element to associate
it with some meaning.  The Clips version of the same person is

        (Person Smith 23 blue)

To match blue eyed people with Clips, wildcards must match values that
don't matter:

        (Person ? ? blue)

The value tagging difference makes Clips program development more
error prone than OPS5 development.

THE C INTERFACE

Clips can interface to C programs in three ways.  First, Clips rules can
call C functions.  This is great for complex calculations and
user interfaces. The C functions must be listed in a table compiled
into Clips.

Second, C programs may call the Clips inference engine to do logical
processing.  The Clips system is embedded within a C program.

Third, Clips provides C functions to assert information, define rules,
etc.  The standard clips user environment simply provides interactive
access to these functions.

Clips may also be interfaced with languages other than C.  Examples
show how to interface to Ada and FORTRAN.

--
Joel Shprentz                   Phone:  (703) 848-7305
BDM Corporation                 Uucp:  {rutgers,vrdxhq,rlgvax}!bdmrrr!shprentz
7915 Jones Branch Drive         Internet:  [email-masked]
McLean, Virginia  22102

------------------------------

Date: 16 Mar 88 15:33:37 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Digital has you now!)
Subject: Re: Student versions of OPS5

  In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Scott R. Turner) writes:
> I don't think the Vax version [of OPS5] uses Rete (at least, it allows
> calculations in the LHS).

  In fact, VAX OPS5 uses the high-performance compiled Rete, first used
  by OPS83, wherein each node in the network is represented by machine
  instructions.  This makes it easy for the compiler to support inline
  expression evaluation and external function calls in the LHS.

        Bill Barabash
        DEC AI Advanced Systems & Tools
        [email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: 16 Mar 88 17:20:25 GMT
From: [email-masked]  (Scott R. Turner)
Subject: Re: Student versions of OPS5

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Thomas Muhr) writes:
>I have now available a few common-lisp
>sources (each about 100KB big) which I will try to convert to a PC-runnable
>version in the near future.

It should be possible to write an OPS5-like language in a lot less than
100K.  The only difficult part of OPS5 to implement is the RETE algorithm.
Throw that out, ignore some of the rules for determining which rule out
of all the applicable rules to use (*), and you should be able to implement
OPS5 in a couple of days.  Of course, this version will be slow and GC
every few minutes or so, but those problems will be present to some extent
in any version written in Lisp.

(*) My experience is that most OPS5 programmers (not that there are many)
ignore or actively counter the "pick the most specific/least recently used"
rules anyway.

                                        -- Scott Turner

------------------------------

End of AIList Digest
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