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From: plogan@mentor.com (Patrick Logan)
Newsgroups: comp.object
Subject: Re: Combining AI and OOP ?
Message-ID: <1990Jul10.004326.2259@mentor.com>
Date: 10 Jul 90 00:43:26 GMT
References: <1990Jul5.175904.810@urz.unibas.ch> <1947@runxtsa.runx.oz.au>
Organization: engr
Lines: 37
In-reply-to: timm@runxtsa.runx.oz.au's message of 8 Jul 90 21:56:50 GMT

In article <1947@runxtsa.runx.oz.au> timm@runxtsa.runx.oz.au (Tim Menzies) writes:
 >   [...]
 >
 >   [Missing is a list of various ways the typical IS-A inheritance relation has
 >    been used/abused.]
 >
 >   then, a dramatic chord. nowhere, observes brachman, in that list is
 >   "pass this property" or "block this property". inheritance has no
 >   semantics per se. it can be used to implement (read, muddle up) a
 >   variety of semantic properites. brachman's thesis is that these
 >   semantic properties should eb offerred as seperate building blocks in a 
 >   KR tool and not thrown in together in a mess. 
 >
 >   [...]
 >
 >   this is all blasphemy of course. objects give you a window into the 
 >   fundamental truths of the universe. as soon as you buy your copy of your
 >   KEE/Eiffel/ C++/ CLOS/ Smalltalk/ ADS 5.1/ KAPPA/ Egeria/ (etc. etc.) 
 >   system, then all your specification problems will disappear and all will
 >   become so clear. 

The Carnegie Representation Language, part of the Knowledgecraft
system from Carnegie Group, has a very flexible facility for defining
custom relationships. It is highly declarative, falling back on the
underlying CommonLISP if necessary. Relationships and entire classes
or individual objects can be refined on the fly. Very powerful for
prototyping. I used it for nearly two years and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'd like to use something like it again.

It's not a be-all-and-end-all, it just offers a powerful way to
implement the domain's concepts. It's still necessary to build
supporting objects that are not a part of the actual domain.
There's still a long way to go.
-- 
Patrick Logan  uunet!mntgfx!plogan        |
Mentor Graphics Corp. 8500 SW Creekside P |
Beaverton, Oregon 97005-7191              |