In 1985 -1996 I designed and implemented the knowledge-based tools for activities in complex business domains. For that purpose, I developed an approach to knowledge representation in complex domains and created a framework for expert-level front-ends. I used this approach in the tool Envir that allowed building knowledge-based, user-friendly front-ends for complex scientific / engineering / business application packages and implemented two versions of the tool.
Using this tool, the expert-level front-ends for two applications were built: two-dimensional evaluation of nuclear radiation intensity and numerical problems solving.
Several articles about this work were published, one of them in the USA.
In 1995-1996, extending the approach, I, together with my friend and colleague, developed a method for building models of complex business domains. The goal of this research was to create a general, uniform, powerful conceptual framework for modeling and automation of complex problem domains and activities. The method has a very broad range of applications, providing new approach to architecture of user-oriented, context-dependent applications, for example, personalizable applications. To verify and demonstrate new ideas and applications, several prototypes were built using the existing tool Envir.
The research was supported by the Fundamental Research Fund of the Russian State Academy of Sciences and an article (see below) was published in the journal on computer science of the Russian State Academy of Sciences (the English translation is available from the authors).
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Sergey Diev, Alexander Rubin
"Programmirovanie". Moscow, Russia, 1997, N 2, pp.27-38.
English translation is also available from Interperiodica Publishing (Russia). Distributed worldwide by Plenum/Consultant Bureau as "Programming and Computer Software". ISSN 0361-7688.
Abstract
A method for building context-sensitive models of complex activities is presented. An overall approach for organization of entities - actions, objects, properties, etc. - is developed and a method for their description and for establishing relationships between entity's activity and a context which the entity belongs to is proposed. As a result, it becomes possible to exclude the employment of entities that are not relevant to the current context, to present a user-oriented view of a problem domain, and so on.
The main structure, hyperelement, represents an entity. A hyperlement may be in one of the following states: active, neutral or extinguished. The values of hyperelement's components are produced by data units (algebraic expressions, procedures, etc.), or by external sources that deliver information from the outside world, or by ensembles. An ensemble is a union of hyperelements; it describes some activity or object. Information from an ensemble is delivered via a special integrating mechanism - resulting function - that produces results and properties of a given activity (such as the degree of an aim attaining, the amount of expenditure of a resource, and so on).
The method is intended for use in tools for activity automation, in particular, for development of intelligent shells for software packages, office systems, tutorial systems, etc.
Copyright © 2001-2004 Sergey Diev. All rights reserved