A.J. Rhem & Associates

Knowledge Acquisition and Development Tools
The suite of tools to be available in the Rhem KAF system spans the knowledge system development process, from acquiring and structuring knowledge to designing and implementing knowledge modules and systems. An important feature of the proposed system is the ability to identify and analyze a client's specific problem and then match the specifics of the problem to the most appropriate knowledge acquisition software tools. This entails a careful analysis of the problem, design of the proper solution, and building the knowledge based system with the best suite of tools.
Tools for building knowledge modules are chosen from the following types: expert systems, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and case based reasoning techniques. In some cases, combinations of tools may be used to develop hybrid knowledge modules that combine the best features of single approaches to build the most effective knowledge systems. For example, the problem analysis could indicate that a system is best built with an expert system component coupled with an artificial neural network.
The tools available from the Rhem KAF system for acquiring and structuring knowledge for seamless progression to the construction of effective knowledge modules include the following.

Knowledge Acquisition Tools

Acquire
Acquired Intelligence
Canada
This knowledge based authoring tool and expert system shell provides a step-by-step method for acquiring and structuring knowledge without the use of programming. Acquire is a knowledge acquisition system and expert system shell. It is a complete development environment for building and maintaining knowledge-based applications. It provides a step-by-step method for knowledge engineering that allows the domain experts themselves to be directly involved in structuring and encoding the knowledge. (The direct involvement of the domain expert improves the quality, completeness and accuracy of acquired knowledge, lowers development and maintenance costs, and increases their control over the form of the software application.) Features include a structured approach to knowledge acquisition; a model of knowledge acquisition based on pattern recognition; knowledge represented as objects, production rules and decision tables; handling uncertainty by qualitative, non-numerical procedures; extremely thorough knowledge bases; sophisticated report writing facilities; and self documenting knowledge bases in a hypertext environment.

CommonKADS
European
ESPRIT IT Programme
CommonKADS is a leading approach to support structured knowledge engineering. It has been gradually developed and has been validated by many companies and universities in the context of the European ESPRIT IT Programme. It now is the European de facto standard for knowledge analysis and knowledge-intensive system development, and it has been adopted as a whole or has been partly incorporated in existing methods by many major companies in Europe, as well as in the US and Japan. CommonKADS enables developers to spot the opportunities and bottlenecks in how organizations develop, distribute and apply their knowledge resources, and so gives tools for corporate knowledge management. CommonKADS also provides the methods to perform a detailed analysis of knowledge-intensive tasks and processes.
The core of CommonKADS is formed by its knowledge analysis framework. CommonKADS provides all the tools required to analyze knowledge-intensive tasks at different grain-size levels. The analyst is supported in the modeling process by powerful "templates", which constitute predefined reusable knowledge models that have proven to work in the past. The templates enable a top-down approach and provide handles for quality control and feasibility. assessment. The results of knowledge analysis are documented in the "knowledge model". It contains a specification of the information and knowledge structures involved in a knowledge-intensive task. The knowledge model plays a key role in both knowledge management work and in consecutive system-development activities.
ModelDraw is a drawing tool that can be used to create four UML (Unified Modelling Language) diagrams: use case diagrams, acitivity diagrams, class diagrams and state diagrams. The tool also supports the construction of CommonKADS knowledge modelling diagrams. The tool can generate diagrams in both Windows WMF/EMF and EPS formats for inclusion in Word and other documents.
KADS22 is an interactive interface for the CML2 Knowledge Modelling language. KADS22 provides an interactive graphical interface (much like the familiar Windows programs) with the following functionality: parsing CML2 files, pretty-printing, hypertext browsing, generation of the graphical notation, search, glossary generation, HTML generation.
CML2 (Conceptual Modelling Language) is the CommonKADS knowledge modelling language. The syntax description and the parser correspond to the draft CommonKADS book as submitted to the publisher.
The CML2 parser is a stand alone executable. The parser can be used to check a file containing CML2 for syntactical correctness.

Expect Expect Integrated Environment for Knowledge Acquisition is an integrated acquisition interface that includes several techniques previously developed to support users in various ways as they add new knowledge to an intelligent system. As a result of this integration, the individual techniques can take better advantage of the context in which they are invoked and provide stronger guidance to users. The Expect project has focused on acquiring problem-solving knowledge for users for the last decade, using an expressive language that is open to inspection. The aim has been to alleviate the bottleneck in creating knowledge-based systems by providing support for both knowledge engineers and end users to specify problem-solving knowledge. See http://www.isi.edu/expect.

KMTOOL KMTOOL is a resource for planning knowledge management (KM) projects (i.e projects that promote sharing and use of knowledge such as ideas, expertise, best practices).

Epistemics Epistemics designs, writes and markets a number of software toolkits. These toolkits aid knowledge engineers and those working in knowledge management when performing a number of key tasks associated with knowledge acquisition, analysis, modelling, validation, publishing and implementation. Products include the following: PCPACK4, SOPHx-PACK PC, PACK 2, MetaPACK

Protégé Protégé-2000 is a tool that allows the user to:

construct a domain ontology
customize data entry forms
enter data
Protégé-2000 is a platform that can be extended with graphical widgets for tables, diagrams, animation components to access other knowledge-based systems embedded applications; library that other applications can use to access and display knowledge bases.
Protégé is available as free software under the open-source Mozilla Public License. See http://protege.stanford.edu.

Knowledge Network Knowledge Network is a knowledge acquisition tool from PRISM; used for acquisition, representation, and analysis of 3D knowledge in a distributed environment.

Knowledge System Development Tools

Development tools can either be standalone, to be used off-line following the recommendations in the Rhem KAF process, or by the use of what could be called "eTools", which are interactive, Web-based development that could be linked from a point in the KAF process. eTools are highly interactive and utilize graphical interfaces.

Expert System Tools

EXSYS With a proven history of continuous use, EXSYS software is not only one of the most successful expert system tools, but among the longest-lived software of any kind. EXSYS has always been a leader in knowledge automation expert systems with the first development tools aimed at the domain expert. EXSYS is also the first company providing the ability to run knowledge automation expert systems on the Web. Over the years, the EXSYS tools have been enhanced in many ways, but always with a focus on solving real-world problems through a practical easy-to-use development paradigm.
For 20 years EXSYS Inc. has developed proprietary proven technology to build and deploy interactive expertise advisory system. EXSYS software converts the knowledge business experts into interactive systems that can be delivered via Websites to improve performance, capability and efficiency, while reducing training and costly errors.
Exsys CORVID® software enables an expert to "describe" the steps in a decision-making process much as they would to another human. The development environment allows domain experts to build the logic of the system by codifying their decision-making process. The Exsys CORVID Runtime (Servlet/Java Applet) supports a flexible, interactive interface to query and gather information from system users. The Exsys CORVID Inference Engine automatically uses the expert's logic to determine what questions to ask, analyzes the input and creates customized recommendation results.
Exsys CORVID represents a proven approach to knowledge automation expert system technology which EXSYS Inc. has continued to enhance and refine through the years. Systems can be easily integrated into current and future MIS architectures. Data can be accessed from databases or other sources. CORVID systems run client-side via small Java applets, or run using the CORVID Servlet Runtime which interacts with the user dynamically creating customized HTML pages tailored to match the look-and-feel company Web sites. CORVID systems can be run on any computer that supports Java including Windows, Mac, UNIX and Linux platforms.

Acquire This knowledge based authoring tool and expert system shell provides a step-by-step method for acquiring and structuring knowledge without the use of programming. Acquire, provided by Acquired Intelligence in Canada, is a knowledge acquisition system and expert system shell. It is a complete development environment for building and maintaining knowledge-based applications. It provides a step-by-step method for knowledge engineering that allows the domain experts themselves to be directly involved in structuring and encoding the knowledge. (The direct involvement of the domain expert improves the quality, completeness and accuracy of acquired knowledge, lowers development and maintenance costs, and increases their control over the form of the software application.) Features include a structured approach to knowledge acquisition; a model of knowledge acquisition based on pattern recognition; knowledge represented as objects, production rules and decision tables; handling uncertainty by qualitative, non-numerical procedures; extremely thorough knowledge bases; sophisticated report writing facilities; and self documenting knowledge bases in a hypertext environment.

DecisionScript
Vanguard Software Corporation
DecisionScript is a Web application server and development platform for building server-side, JavaScript applications that use artificial intelligence. It is the first tool on the market developed explicitly for Web designers who build sites with decision-making capabilities. See http://www.vanguardsw.com.

WebFOCUS WebFOCUS is a powerful and fully integrated enterprise business intelligence suite from Information Builders that delivers maximum performance and scalability. From standard and self-service reports to ad hoc queries, OLAP analysis and dynamic scheduled or alert-based delivery, WebFOCUS provides all the features and functionality required to satisfy the diverse information needs of users within and beyond the enterprise.

Knowledge Builder Knowledge Builder is an enterprise strength environment for developing and deploying knowledge-based applications and components. Knowledge-based applications are software components that incorporate rules, expertise, know-how, procedures, policies and regulations which can collectively be called "Business Rules". The automation of business rules is the engine that powers the "knowledge economy" and "eBusiness"; this requires flexible and scaleable tools for the capture and deployment of business rules over the web.

XpertRule eLearning XpertRule eLearning is an advanced graphical environment for capturing, structuring and organising the learning content of teaching and training courses.
This software has

Concept maps to support knowledge driven instruction, which gives the student an overview of the course content and allow the student freedom of navigation and the order of studying the modules.
Concept maps that can display a visual representation of student progress through the course with concepts marked as "completed", "in progress" and "not currently available".
A central repository of learning resources (hyper media contents).
Support for developing highly graphical concept maps with choice of the shapes, colors, fonts and images for both the concepts and their connecting lines.
Concept maps that contain hyper links to multi media content, websites, other applications, other concept maps or knowledge.
Support for configurable / adaptive content which selects the course structure and content to meet the students needs.
Advanced rule based assessment that can be defined for each learning module.

CLIPS CLIPS 6.0 (C Language Integrated Production System) is an OPS-like forward chaining production system written in ANSI C by NASA. The CLIPS inference engine includes truth maintenance, dynamic rule addition, and customizable conflict resolution strategies. CLIPS, including the runtime version, is easily embeddable in other applications. CLIPS includes an object-oriented language called COOL (CLIPS Object-Oriented Language) which is directly integrated with the inference engine.

Artificial Neural Network Tools

Ward Systems Group AI Trilogy - a complete and discounted artificial intelligence toolkit of our most popular professional products that solves prediction and classification problems and can discover optimum values for model inputs.
NeuroShell Predictor - professional system to solve forecasting and estimation problems by learning historical data.
NeuroShell Classifier - professional system that learns historical patterns to categorize or classify data.
NeuroShell Run-Time Server - contains Excel addins and a programmer's "API" so you may apply (call) models created in either NeuroShell Predictor or Classifier from Excel, from your own programs or from a web page (Windows based servers only. For Unix based servers, please take a look at NeuroShell 2) with a license to distribute royalty free.
NeuroShell 2 - an experimentation kit of 16 classic neural network architectures primarily for students and professors.

NeuroSolutions NeuroSolutions 4.3 is a powerful and flexible neural network modeling tool. NeuroSolutions' icon-based graphical user interface provides the most powerful and flexible development environment available on the market today. Its intuitive wizards and optional Excel interface make it quick and easy to build and train a neural network to solve your problem. From there, you can easily deploy your neural network solution to a custom application. This leading edge neural network development software combines a modular, icon-based network design interface with an implementation of advanced learning procedures, such as conjugate gradients and backpropagation through time. Some other notable features include C++ source code generation, customized components through DLLs, neuro-fuzzy architectures, and programmatic control from Visual Basic using OLE Automation.

Brainmaker The BrainMaker System Includes:
NetMaker, which makes building and training neural networks easy by importing data and automatically creating BrainMaker's neural network files. NetMaker imports Lotus, Excel, dBase, MetaStock, CompuTrack and CSI financial, ASCII, binary, and BrainMaker files, accepts text or numeric data. NetMaker's simple spreadsheet-like interface helps you organize and preprocess raw data with column shifts, arithmetic operations, moving averages, moving medians and more. Professional also includes data analysis features and graphing.
BrainMaker Neural Network Development System
BrainMaker technology, user-friendly and accessible to everyone, runs on any Mac or PC. It supports most spreadsheets, databases, and graphics programs. BrainMaker lets you watch the network learn and easily finds a network that tests well. Professional has larger limits, runs faster, also offers feedback (recurrence), includes a Runtime License and more. BrainMaker uses the Back Propagation algorithm.

Fuzzy System Tools

FuzzyCLIPS

FuzzyCLIPS is a version of the CLIPS rule-based expert system shell with extensions for representing and manipulating fuzzy facts
and rules. In addition to the CLIPS functionality, FuzzyCLIPS can deal with exact, fuzzy (or inexact), and combined reasoning, allowing fuzzy and normal terms to be freely mixed in the rules and facts of an expert system. The system uses two basic inexact concepts, fuzziness and uncertainty. Versions are available for UNIX systems, Macintosh systems and PC systems.

Genetic Algorithm Tools

Ward Systems Group

GeneHunter - genetic algorithm product designed for optimizations such as finding the best schedules, financial indicators, mixes, model variables, locations, parameter settings, portfolios, etc.
NeuroDimensions

Genetic Server and Genetic Library provide a general purpose API for genetic algorithm design. The Genetic Server is an ActiveX component that can be used to easily build a custom genetic application in Visual Basic. Genetic Library is a C++ library that can be used for building custom genetic applications in C++.

Case Based Reasoning Tools

Cockatoo

Knowledge representation tool for producing a set of cases for use with a Case-Based Reasoning system.
Help!CPR

This product be Haley Enterprise, Inc. is a high-powered authoring environment for delivering knowledge to workstations, workgroups, and the web. Help!CPR is a Windows application that uses the CPR C++ class library to:

author knowledge or customize diagnostic case-bases
perform case-based problem resolution
Help!CPR empowers its users to find answers - not information - in a natural, easy to use manner that is not possible using on-line documentation or decision trees. Help!CPR improves the performance and productivity of help desk and field service personnel by supporting them in the rapid diagnosis of the underlying cause of reported symptoms and in adapting prior solutions to the problem at hand.

Acquire Acquired Intelligence Canada	This knowledge based authoring tool and expert system shell provides a step-by-step method for acquiring and structuring knowledge without the use of programming. Acquire is a knowledge acquisition system and expert system shell. It is a complete development environment for building and maintaining knowledge-based applications. It provides a step-by-step method for knowledge engineering that allows the domain experts themselves to be directly involved in structuring and encoding the knowledge. (The direct involvement of the domain expert improves the quality, completeness and accuracy of acquired knowledge, lowers development and maintenance costs, and increases their control over the form of the software application.) Features include a structured approach to knowledge acquisition; a model of knowledge acquisition based on pattern recognition; knowledge represented as objects, production rules and decision tables; handling uncertainty by qualitative, non-numerical procedures; extremely thorough knowledge bases; sophisticated report writing facilities; and self documenting knowledge bases in a hypertext environment.
CommonKADS European ESPRIT IT Programme	CommonKADS is a leading approach to support structured knowledge engineering. It has been gradually developed and has been validated by many companies and universities in the context of the European ESPRIT IT Programme. It now is the European de facto standard for knowledge analysis and knowledge-intensive system development, and it has been adopted as a whole or has been partly incorporated in existing methods by many major companies in Europe, as well as in the US and Japan. CommonKADS enables developers to spot the opportunities and bottlenecks in how organizations develop, distribute and apply their knowledge resources, and so gives tools for corporate knowledge management. CommonKADS also provides the methods to perform a detailed analysis of knowledge-intensive tasks and processes. The core of CommonKADS is formed by its knowledge analysis framework. CommonKADS provides all the tools required to analyze knowledge-intensive tasks at different grain-size levels. The analyst is supported in the modeling process by powerful "templates", which constitute predefined reusable knowledge models that have proven to work in the past. The templates enable a top-down approach and provide handles for quality control and feasibility. assessment. The results of knowledge analysis are documented in the "knowledge model". It contains a specification of the information and knowledge structures involved in a knowledge-intensive task. The knowledge model plays a key role in both knowledge management work and in consecutive system-development activities. ModelDraw is a drawing tool that can be used to create four UML (Unified Modelling Language) diagrams: use case diagrams, acitivity diagrams, class diagrams and state diagrams. The tool also supports the construction of CommonKADS knowledge modelling diagrams. The tool can generate diagrams in both Windows WMF/EMF and EPS formats for inclusion in Word and other documents. KADS22 is an interactive interface for the CML2 Knowledge Modelling language. KADS22 provides an interactive graphical interface (much like the familiar Windows programs) with the following functionality: parsing CML2 files, pretty-printing, hypertext browsing, generation of the graphical notation, search, glossary generation, HTML generation. CML2 (Conceptual Modelling Language) is the CommonKADS knowledge modelling language. The syntax description and the parser correspond to the draft CommonKADS book as submitted to the publisher. The CML2 parser is a stand alone executable. The parser can be used to check a file containing CML2 for syntactical correctness.
Expect	Expect Integrated Environment for Knowledge Acquisition is an integrated acquisition interface that includes several techniques previously developed to support users in various ways as they add new knowledge to an intelligent system. As a result of this integration, the individual techniques can take better advantage of the context in which they are invoked and provide stronger guidance to users. The Expect project has focused on acquiring problem-solving knowledge for users for the last decade, using an expressive language that is open to inspection. The aim has been to alleviate the bottleneck in creating knowledge-based systems by providing support for both knowledge engineers and end users to specify problem-solving knowledge. See http://www.isi.edu/expect.
KMTOOL	KMTOOL is a resource for planning knowledge management (KM) projects (i.e projects that promote sharing and use of knowledge such as ideas, expertise, best practices).
Epistemics	Epistemics designs, writes and markets a number of software toolkits. These toolkits aid knowledge engineers and those working in knowledge management when performing a number of key tasks associated with knowledge acquisition, analysis, modelling, validation, publishing and implementation. Products include the following: PCPACK4, SOPHx-PACK PC, PACK 2, MetaPACK
Protégé	Protégé-2000 is a tool that allows the user to: construct a domain ontology customize data entry forms enter data Protégé-2000 is a platform that can be extended with graphical widgets for tables, diagrams, animation components to access other knowledge-based systems embedded applications; library that other applications can use to access and display knowledge bases. Protégé is available as free software under the open-source Mozilla Public License. See http://protege.stanford.edu.
Knowledge Network	Knowledge Network is a knowledge acquisition tool from PRISM; used for acquisition, representation, and analysis of 3D knowledge in a distributed environment.

EXSYS	With a proven history of continuous use, EXSYS software is not only one of the most successful expert system tools, but among the longest-lived software of any kind. EXSYS has always been a leader in knowledge automation expert systems with the first development tools aimed at the domain expert. EXSYS is also the first company providing the ability to run knowledge automation expert systems on the Web. Over the years, the EXSYS tools have been enhanced in many ways, but always with a focus on solving real-world problems through a practical easy-to-use development paradigm. For 20 years EXSYS Inc. has developed proprietary proven technology to build and deploy interactive expertise advisory system. EXSYS software converts the knowledge business experts into interactive systems that can be delivered via Websites to improve performance, capability and efficiency, while reducing training and costly errors. Exsys CORVID® software enables an expert to "describe" the steps in a decision-making process much as they would to another human. The development environment allows domain experts to build the logic of the system by codifying their decision-making process. The Exsys CORVID Runtime (Servlet/Java Applet) supports a flexible, interactive interface to query and gather information from system users. The Exsys CORVID Inference Engine automatically uses the expert's logic to determine what questions to ask, analyzes the input and creates customized recommendation results. Exsys CORVID represents a proven approach to knowledge automation expert system technology which EXSYS Inc. has continued to enhance and refine through the years. Systems can be easily integrated into current and future MIS architectures. Data can be accessed from databases or other sources. CORVID systems run client-side via small Java applets, or run using the CORVID Servlet Runtime which interacts with the user dynamically creating customized HTML pages tailored to match the look-and-feel company Web sites. CORVID systems can be run on any computer that supports Java including Windows, Mac, UNIX and Linux platforms.
Acquire	This knowledge based authoring tool and expert system shell provides a step-by-step method for acquiring and structuring knowledge without the use of programming. Acquire, provided by Acquired Intelligence in Canada, is a knowledge acquisition system and expert system shell. It is a complete development environment for building and maintaining knowledge-based applications. It provides a step-by-step method for knowledge engineering that allows the domain experts themselves to be directly involved in structuring and encoding the knowledge. (The direct involvement of the domain expert improves the quality, completeness and accuracy of acquired knowledge, lowers development and maintenance costs, and increases their control over the form of the software application.) Features include a structured approach to knowledge acquisition; a model of knowledge acquisition based on pattern recognition; knowledge represented as objects, production rules and decision tables; handling uncertainty by qualitative, non-numerical procedures; extremely thorough knowledge bases; sophisticated report writing facilities; and self documenting knowledge bases in a hypertext environment.
DecisionScript Vanguard Software Corporation	DecisionScript is a Web application server and development platform for building server-side, JavaScript applications that use artificial intelligence. It is the first tool on the market developed explicitly for Web designers who build sites with decision-making capabilities. See http://www.vanguardsw.com.
WebFOCUS	WebFOCUS is a powerful and fully integrated enterprise business intelligence suite from Information Builders that delivers maximum performance and scalability. From standard and self-service reports to ad hoc queries, OLAP analysis and dynamic scheduled or alert-based delivery, WebFOCUS provides all the features and functionality required to satisfy the diverse information needs of users within and beyond the enterprise.
Knowledge Builder	Knowledge Builder is an enterprise strength environment for developing and deploying knowledge-based applications and components. Knowledge-based applications are software components that incorporate rules, expertise, know-how, procedures, policies and regulations which can collectively be called "Business Rules". The automation of business rules is the engine that powers the "knowledge economy" and "eBusiness"; this requires flexible and scaleable tools for the capture and deployment of business rules over the web.
XpertRule eLearning	XpertRule eLearning is an advanced graphical environment for capturing, structuring and organising the learning content of teaching and training courses. This software has Concept maps to support knowledge driven instruction, which gives the student an overview of the course content and allow the student freedom of navigation and the order of studying the modules. Concept maps that can display a visual representation of student progress through the course with concepts marked as "completed", "in progress" and "not currently available". A central repository of learning resources (hyper media contents). Support for developing highly graphical concept maps with choice of the shapes, colors, fonts and images for both the concepts and their connecting lines. Concept maps that contain hyper links to multi media content, websites, other applications, other concept maps or knowledge. Support for configurable / adaptive content which selects the course structure and content to meet the students needs. Advanced rule based assessment that can be defined for each learning module.
CLIPS	CLIPS 6.0 (C Language Integrated Production System) is an OPS-like forward chaining production system written in ANSI C by NASA. The CLIPS inference engine includes truth maintenance, dynamic rule addition, and customizable conflict resolution strategies. CLIPS, including the runtime version, is easily embeddable in other applications. CLIPS includes an object-oriented language called COOL (CLIPS Object-Oriented Language) which is directly integrated with the inference engine.