If you want to try it, in the role of a user of an existing KB, then go to the Server User Page where you will find a link to connect to the knowledge server.
YOU AND YOUR BROWSER ISTAR
(CLIENT) (KNOWLEDGE SERVER)
Connecting Hyperlink ------------> (start message)
Welcome Page <------------ List the KBs available
When you click one of these, a starting message is sent, which indicates which KB you wish to run. Istar loads this KB and then presents in introduction page.
Select KB ------------> (start KB message)
KB Intro Page <------------ Load KB and register client
When you click the 'start inference' link, Istar starts an inference session for you, in which it repeatedly searches its KB (inference net) for an input node (question) that is not yet answered. (It does this by graph searching known as backward chaining, from one of the goal nodes on its goal list.) It will find the first of these and present it to you as the first question:
'Begin' ------------> (start inference message)
1st Question Page <------------ Seek first Question
Together, you and the Istar inference engine operate in cycles in which:
Answer Qn ------------> (Qn Answer message)
Receive and parse answer
Propagate it through infce net
Next Question Page <------------ Seek next question
Answer Qn ------------> (Qn Answer message)
Receive and parse answer
Propagate it through infce net
Next Question Page <------------ Seek next question
Answer Qn ------------> (Qn Answer message)
Receive and parse answer
Propagate it through infce net
Next Question Page <------------ Seek next question
.. and so on
When all questions have been answered, Istar presents you with a 'What Now' page, at which you can look at results of two kinds, resume, restart or stop.
Answer Qn ------------> (Qn Answer message)
Receive and parse answer
Propagate it through infce net
Seek next question
What-Now Page <------------ Finds none: End of Session
Ask for Results }
Restart } ------------> (request)
Stop } Act on request
etc. }
The seeking of questions to ask is via a Goal List, which is a list of one or more nodes of the KB whose value must be calculated. The whole session finished when all goals in the list are found to have been answered.
The results offered in the present version is either a list of final values for goals, or a document made up from these. At present most KBs offered do not produce a document; only the contract one does. Either result may, of course, be saved, and then loaded into your word processor for further modification.
struct svClient which holds information about the
internet client,
struct esSessionInfo which holds information about the
inference session.
svClient.aSI and
esSessionInfo.aQnChannel) so that each has exactly one of the
other to link to, and each can be found unambiguously from the other.
Last updated: 11 September 1999 integrated with other docs and pages.