Portability of an Expert System Knowledge Base

Abstract

To ensure the widest possible use of an expert system knowledge base, the knowledge base, in its final form, must be portable to a broad spectrum of user operating environments. Demonstrating that possibility was the objective of the research reported in this paper. Three cognitive issues, knowledge representation, inference mechanisms and problem solving procedures, as they pertain to portability were examined. Structuring the portability question in terms of these cognitive issues, two commercially available expert system shells, EXSYS and TI PC+, were used to ferret out problems and suggest practical solutions. Results determined that it is possible to formulate a consistent model of domain information in a knowledge base which is portable between shells.