| Abstract: | Code-compliance checking in any engineering design process is typically a nonsequential activity that requires extensive data managmenkt and decision making. Knowledge-based system methodology can be applied to solve some of the problems in processing code specifications that could not be addressed by traditional procedural programming languages. Many software development tools are currently available to assist in the development of knowledgte-based systems for specific applications. The characteristics of each tool vary with the knowledge representation and inference methodologies, and differ with the user interface and other features for development. An evaluation of seven knowledge-based system development tools is presented in this paper. The suitability of each development enviornment for design assistance by processing code specifications is investigated by means of prototype design applications. A brief descrioption of the features of each development too, implementation details of prototype applications, and a qualitative comparison of the tools on the basis of suitability to process design code spacifications are presented. |
