Patent US5844538A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0230349A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0230349A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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A method of operating an expert system on a data processing system
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1987-01-08
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-01-08
Abstract
Abstract A method for use in an expert system which selectively allows the system to avoid asking the user a question by providing the answer to that question based on related information that may have been previously attained in the system. The method involves providing an action attribute that can be attached to any node in the rule tree. The attribute is assigned to a node in the tree which provides an answer to a class question based on processing various other dependent nodes. When the answer is obtained, the action attribute then causes all other nodes in the rule base referencing the same class question to be set to the same answer. The user is therefore only requested to supply information as a last resort.
Inventors
- 👤 Thomas Jay Ashford
- 👤 Nancy Anne Burns
- 👤 Richard Lee Flagg
- 👤 Christine Tekla Iwaskiw
- 👤 Roberto Parrish Starbird
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 13:20
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06N; G06N5/00; G06N5/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of operating a data processing system for collecting information by tracing a rule base of an expert system, said data processing system having a processing unit which functions with said expert system program as an inference engine, characterised by the steps of, a) establishing in said rule base, a rule tree having a goal node and at least one evidence node which functions to obtain the answer to a class question by presenting said question to said user and storing said answer in association with said evidence node, b) establishing in said rule base, another node which is capable of determining said answer in accordance with data supplied by at least one dependent node, and settings that answer in said evidence node to the answer determined by said other node.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
132 words
A method of operating a data processing system for collecting information by tracing a rule base of an expert system, said data processing system having a processing unit which functions with said expert system program as an inference engine, characterised by the steps of, a) establishing in said rule base, a rule tree having a goal node and at least one evidence node which functions to obtain the answer to a class question by presenting said question to said user and storing said answer in association with said evidence node, b) establishing in said rule base, another node which is capable of determining said answer in accordance with data supplied by at least one dependent node, and settings that answer in said evidence node to the answer determined by said other node.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method as claimed in Claim 1 in which said evidence node and said other node are in the same rule tree.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as claimed in Claim 1 in which said evidence node and said other node are in different rule trees.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method as claimed in Claim 2, further including the step of providing in each node of said rule base that can obtain data, an attribute which functions to transfer said data to said evidence node.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method as claimed in Claim 4 in which said evidence node operates to present a class type question to said user only if the class question is designated "unasked," further including the step of designating said class question "asked" in response to deter- mining said answer from said other node.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
83 words
The method as claimed in Claim 5 in which said dependent node is an external node, further including the step of executing the external procedure specified by said external node and transferring the results obtained therefrom to said other node. 7. The method as claimed in Claim 6 in which said expert system is operating to diagnose said data processing system and said class question is directed to determining the model number of the specific system component that is attached to said system.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method as claimed in Claim 7 in which said system component is a printer.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method as claimed in Claim 8 in which said external procedure is a test unit for determining the type of printer attached to said system.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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