Software Reviews : IF/THEN ... Reviewed by Larry P. Hegstad,Pacific Lutheran University Publisher: If/Then Solutions,One Mallorca Way,Ste. 301,San Francisco,CA 94123 (telephone: [phone]) Year of Publication: 1987 Materials: One nonprotected disk,166-page user's manual Price: $69.95 Machine Specificity: IBM PC and compatibles System Requirements: LOTUS 1-2-3,Release 2 or higher Effectiveness: Excellent User-Friendliness: Excellent Documentation: Good

Abstract

This set of LOTUS 1-2-3 templates is a tutorial on basic expert system concepts, including explanations and demonstrations of backward chaining, forward chaining, stacks, depth-first and breadth-first searching, knowledge representation, demons and inheritance, and uncertainty. IF/THEN .. illustrates the ubiquitous LOTUS 1-2-3 as a programming language and transcends the requirement of knowing a specialized artificial intelligence (AI) programming language like LISP or Prolog to understand expert systems.