FORK: A System for Object- and Rule-Oriented Programming.

We describe progress made within the FORK project, whose goals are the implementation of a primarily object-oriented knowledge representation system and its application to the design and fault diagnosis of technical systems. Whereas the kernel of the FORK representation system is completely object-oriented, the system as a whole is supposed to integrate a variety of different programming styles. In the following, an extension for rule-oriented programming is described, which raises the descriptive power of the FORK system beyond that of LOOPS. As an application of the rule-oriented component, a constraint language has been implemented which plays an important rule in our approach to the design and fault diagnosis of technical systems. The next steps in the FORK project will include the development of a general logical framework, comprising a logical reconstruction of object-centered representations, retrieval of complex descriptions by unification, and deductions on structured objects. The problem of non-monotonicity will be dealt with on the meta level by a module similar to DeKleer's ATMS. Further progress shall be achieved by concentrating on a general treatment of the problem of time in modelling technical systems which is to our opinion one of the most important issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]