Consul(ID:1921/con036)

Constraint-based [future-based?] language with LISP-like syntax.
Related languages
TSL => Consul   Implementation
References:
  • Mark, W. "Representation and Inference in the Consul System" view details
          in Proceedings of the 7th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence IJCAI-81, (Vancouver, Canada, Aug 1981) Cambridge, Mass., 1981 view details
  • Baldwin, D. "Consul: A Parallel Constraint Language" view details Abstract: The author describes a constraint-based language, Consul, that can exploit implicit parallelism. The results are reported of the first stage of the Consul project, which was designed to produce empirical evidence for or against Consul as a parallel language. To produce the evidence, a parallel-execution model is developed that is based on local propagation and uses some important generalizations of earlier work on local propagation. A set of tools was developed to measure the execution of several Consul programs. The results suggest that considerable parallelism is available in Consul programs and that local propagation is a viable mechanism for solving most real-world constraints. The Consul programs demonstrate that programmers can control performance through the proper choice of algorithms, despite Consul's declarative nature.

          in IEEE Software 6(4) view details
  • Baldwin, Douglas "A status report on CONSUL" view details
          in Gelernter, D. A.Nicolau, D.Padua, (eds.), Procs. 2nd Workshop on Parallel Languages and Compilers, in the series Research Monograph in Parallel and Distributed Computing, Pitman, 1989 view details
  • Bernd Owsnicki-Klewe and Alfred Kobsa "Term Subsumption Languages in Knowledge Representation" view details Abstract: Term subsumption languages are
    knowledge representation formalisms
    that employ a formal language with a
    formal semantics for the definition of
    terms (more commonly referred to as
    concepts or classes) and that deduce
    whether one term subsumes (is more
    general than) another. These formalisms
    generally descend from the
    ideas presented in KL-One (Brachman
    and Schmolze 1985). TSLs are a generalization
    of both semantic networks
    and frames. One result of the workshop
    was to standardize use of the
    term terminological logics to describe
    these formalisms; term subsumption
    languages was chosen as a neutral
    term for describing the workshop.
    In the last few years, many knowledge
    representation systems have
    been built using TSLs, including
    Krypton (Brachman et al. 1985), KLTwo
    (Vilain 1984), NIKL (Robbins
    1986; Kaczmarek, Bates, and Robbins
    1986), Back (Peltason et al. 1989;
    Nebel and vonLuck 1988), Meson
    (Edelmann and Owsnicki 1986), SBOne
    (Kobsa 1990), Loom (MacGregor
    and Bates 1987), Quirk (Bergmann
    and Gerlach 1987), and Classic
    (Borgida et al. 1989). These systems
    go beyond a bare TSL in various
    ways: Almost all of them incorporate
    assertional languages that enable the
    systems to reason about instances of
    terms, some of them allow for retraction
    of told facts, and so on. The
    workshop not only concerned TSLs
    but also TSL-based knowledge representation
    systems and their use in
    larger AI systems.
    Outline of the Workshop
    The workshop was designed to encourage
    discussion. To aid this approach,
    no formal talks were presented, and
    no proceedings is being produced.
    For a large portion of the workshop,
    the attendees were divided into
    working groups of 7 to 15 participants.
    Each working group was devoted to
    in-depth discussion of particular
    topics. Moderators were chosen to
    keep the discussions flowing and on
    track and were assisted by preselected
    discussants who presented short position
    statements. Ample time was left
    for intensive discussion, although
    several of the discussions could not
    be completed within their allotted
    time and had to be continued in
    the evening. Moderators reported
    the results of the working groups in
    plenary sessions that also allowed
    for further discussion of the topics
    covered.
          in AI Magazine Summer 1990 view details