Apparatus and method for generating a knowledge base

Claim 1

A system including a computer and a display means for constructing a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch and displaying a graphical representation of said logical tree for use in automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer comprising: a) node generation means for generating a node in said tree wherein a graphical representation of said node is displayed on said display means; b) type definition means for defining the type of said node wherein permissible node types include a test node type and a solution node type; c) test definition means for defining a test associated with said test node type node; d) solution definition means for defining a solution associated with said solution node type node; e) leg definition means for defining a leg associated with two nodes wherein a graphical representation of said leg may be displayed on said display means; and f) formula definition means for defining a formula associated with said leg.

Claim 2

A system including a computer and a display means for constructing a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch and displaying a graphical representation of said logical tree for use in automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer comprising: a) node generation means for generating a node in said tree wherein a graphical representation of said node is displayed on said display means; b) type definition means for defining the type of said node wherein permissible node types include a test node type and a solution node type; c) test definition means for defining a test associated with said test node type node; d) solution definition means for defining a solution associated with said solution node type node; e) leg definition means for defining a leg associated with two nodes wherein a graphical representation of said leg may be displayed on said display means; and f) formula definition means for defining a formula associated with said leg.

Claim 5

A method for automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer from a graphical representation of a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch, comprising the steps of: a) verifying the organization of said logical tree; b) verifying the content of said logical tree; c) generating a plurality of global attributes; d) creating a plurality of classes; and e) creating a plurality of rules as defined by said tree using said plurality of global attributes and said plurality of classes, wherein said rules are executable by an inference engine in a backward chaining mode; wherein said step of verifying the content of said tree comprises the steps of: b1) verifying that a valid formula is associated with each said leg; b2) verifying that a valid test is associated with each said test node; b3) verifying that a valid solution is associated with each solution node; and b4) verifying that each link node in said logical tree is linked to either a procedure or to a domain.

Claim 6

A method for automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer from a graphical representation of a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch, comprising the steps of: a) verifying the organization of said logical tree; b) verifying the content of said logical tree; c) generating a plurality of global attributes; d) creating a plurality of classes; and e) creating a plurality of rules as defined by said tree using said plurality of global attributes and said plurality of classes, wherein said rules are executable by an inference engine in a backward chaining mode; wherein said step of verifying the content of said tree comprises the steps of: b1) verifying that a valid formula is associated with each said leg; b2) verifying that a valid test is associated with each said test node; b3) verifying that a valid solution is associated with each solution node; and b4) verifying that each link node in said logical tree is linked to either a procedure or to a domain.

Claim 17

A method for automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer from a graphical representation of a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch, comprising the steps of: a) verifying the organization of said logical tree; b) verifying the content of said logical tree; c) generating a plurality of global attributes; d) creating a plurality of classes; and e) creating a plurality of rules as defined by said tree using said plurality of global attributes and said plurality of classes, wherein said rules are executable by an inference engine in a backward chaining mode; wherein said step of creating a plurality of rules comprises the steps of: e1) starting with a first node of an ordered node list, identifying a left-most path leg leading into said first node; e2) identifying the node from which the left-most path leg identified in step e1 originates; e3) if the first node is a solution node, formatting a rule consequent by adding this node to a global solution attribute list; e4) if the first node is a domain link node, formatting the rule consequent by adding this node to the global solution attribute list; e5) if the first node is a procedure link node, formatting the rule consequent by asserting a global truth attribute associated with the root node of the linked procedure to true; e6) if the first node is a test node, formatting the rule consequent by asserting the global truth attribute associated with this node to true; e7) formatting a Boolean expression in the knowledge base language based on a formula found at the current path leg, wherein this expression is made a part of a rule antecedent; e8) determining if the node from which this path originates is the root node and, if not, formatting a Boolean expression to test the global truth attribute associated with the originating node, wherein this expression is made a part of the rule antecedent, and concatenating the node and path Boolean expressions with a logical AND; e9) repeating steps e1 through e8 for each path leading into the first node and, each time a path is processed, concatenating the resulting expression to the rule antecedent with a logical OR; and e10) generating a knowledge base language rule using the formatted rule antecedent and the rule consequent.

Claim 18

A method for automatically generating a knowledge base in a computer from a graphical representation of a logical tree having at least one non-disjunctive branch, comprising the steps of: a) verifying the organization of said logical tree; b) verifying the content of said logical tree; c) generating a plurality of global attributes; d) creating a plurality of classes; and e) creating a plurality of rules as defined by said tree using said plurality of global attributes and said plurality of classes, wherein said rules are executable by an inference engine in a backward chaining mode; wherein said step of creating a plurality of rules comprises the steps of: e1) starting with a first node of an ordered node list, identifying a left-most path leg leading into said first node; e2) identifying the node from which the left-most path leg identified in step e1 originates; e3) if the first node is a solution node, formatting a rule consequent by adding this node to a global solution attribute list; e4) if the first node is a domain link node, formatting the rule consequent by adding this node to the global solution attribute list; e5) if the first node is a procedure link node, formatting the rule consequent by asserting a global truth attribute associated with the root node of the linked procedure to true; e6) if the first node is a test node, formatting the rule consequent by asserting the global truth attribute associated with this node to true; e7) formatting a Boolean expression in the knowledge base language based on a formula found at the current path leg, wherein this expression is made a part of a rule antecedent; e8) determining if the node from which this path originates is the root node and, if not, formatting a Boolean expression to test the global truth attribute associated with the originating node, wherein this expression is made a part of the rule antecedent, and concatenating the node and path Boolean expressions with a logical AND; e9) repeating steps e1 through e8 for each path leading into the first node and, each time a path is processed, concatenating the resulting expression to the rule antecedent with a logical OR; and e10) generating a knowledge base language rule using the formatted rule antecedent and the rule consequent.