Mary.Lou.Maher@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU (11/30/87)
I have to give a tutorial and workshop on Expert Systems at an engineering conference and would like to use the Mac since it has relatively little start up time. I am interested in simple rule based tools and object oriented tools that run on a Mac. Simplicity is more important than sophistication. Can anyone help? Mary Lou Maher maher@cive.ri.cmu.edu
roberts%cognos@math.waterloo.EDU (Robert Stanley) (12/06/87)
To the moderator: My apologies for sending this to your group, but I am unable to persuade my mailer that cive.ri.cmu.edu is a viable address on this unsupported Sunday afternoon. It then struck me that perhaps this information might be of interest to the group after all; I'll leave you to make that decision. When support arrives on Monday, I'll get this mailed directly to Mary.Lou.Maher. In article <8712010829.AA13510@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Mary.Lou.Maher@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU writes: >I have to give a tutorial and workshop on Expert Systems at an engineering >conference and would like to use the Mac since it has relatively little >start up time. I am interested in simple rule based tools and object >oriented tools that run on a Mac. Simplicity is more important >than sophistication. Can anyone help? Mary Lou Maher maher@cive.ri.cmu.edu There are a number of possibilities, depending on how much you wish to achieve, how big a Macintosh you have available, and how much you want to spend. You might also benefit from repeating your posting in comp.sys.mac, which is a very lively group featuring some knowledgeable players. With respect to Object-Oriented programming: * Probably the most interesting (and cheapest) approach is to use HyperCard, which comes free with all new Macs, and costs $49 (US) otherwise. This has a true object-oriented language named HyperTalk very well integrated into its environment. Drawback: needs minimum 128K ROMs, 1 Megabyte RAM, and is difficult to put to work without a hard disk. The language is somewhat muddled, but quite powerful and *very* easy to use. Consult your local Apple dealer. * Other object-oriented possibilities include SmallTalk, available cheaply from APDA, and *much* more expensively from Parc Place Systems (I am not sure that they have brought their Mac product to market yet); the language NEON (a sort of cross between SmallTalk and FORTH) from Kriya Systems; and MacScheme, if you want to step right down to the nitty-gritty level. Consult a month's worth of the Mac news-stand publications. With respect to shells and rule-based programming: * The hands-down winner in this field is NEXPERT Object from Neuron Data, but it is expensive, and runs best in large environments. This is a real tool, aimed at implementing real solutions to real problems, but I suspect that it needs quite some practice to master. On a Mac II with colour it runs rings around the VAX GPX II version. Neuron Data: 444 High Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (415) 321-4488 * At the other end of the scale, there is a micky-mouse implementation of OPS/5 for the Mac, but it only allows around 50 rules! I am sorry, but I have no reference to hand. To the best of my knowledge, there has been little or no attempt on the part of any of the innumerable shell-builders in the IBM-PC world to port their products to the Mac. This has left the Mac world pretty much devoid of simple tools in this class. Further possibilities: * LPA Associates have an acceptable implementation of Micro-Prolog for the Mac, which would give you access to tools such as APES (Augmented Prolog for Expert Systems). * Advanced AI Systems produce AAIS-Prolog, which appears to be currently the best Prolog implementation for the Mac. By no means perfect, but definitely practical. I hope these suggestions will go part way towards solving your problem. If you need more detailed references, e-mail me or telephone (we are on EST). Robert_S -- R.A. Stanley Cognos Incorporated S-mail: P.O. Box 9707 Voice: (613) 738-1440 (Research: there are 2!) 3755 Riverside Drive FAX: (613) 738-0002 Compuserve: 76174,3024 Ottawa, Ontario uucp: decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!roberts CANADA K1G 3Z4