RECON – A Controlled English for Business Rules Ed Barkmeyer 1 Fabian Neuhaus 1,2 1 National Institute of Standards and Technology 2 Prometheus Computing July 12th, 2013
RECON – A Controlled English for BusinessRules
Ed Barkmeyer 1 Fabian Neuhaus 1,2
1National Institute of Standards and Technology 2Prometheus Computing
July 12th, 2013
What is RECON?
Dictionary & Vocabulary
Examples, examples, examples
Summary
How NIST became interested in Controlled English
I Requirements:I Represent domain experts knowledge about complex domainI Apply automatic reasoning
I Challenge: Find KR language that isI Semantically unambiguousI Highly expressiveI Easy to learn and use for domain experts
I Solution:compile→ logic language
How NIST became interested in Controlled English
I Requirements:I Represent domain experts knowledge about complex domainI Apply automatic reasoning
I Challenge: Find KR language that isI Semantically unambiguousI Highly expressiveI Easy to learn and use for domain experts
I Solution: restricted Englishcompile→ logic language
How NIST became interested in Controlled English
I Requirements:I Represent domain experts knowledge about complex domainI Apply automatic reasoning
I Challenge: Find KR language that isI Semantically unambiguousI Highly expressiveI Easy to learn and use for domain experts
I Solution: RECON languagecompile→ logic language IKL
Example: RECONcompile→ IKL
RECON Every person who attends RuleML is located in Seattle.
IKL ( f o r a l l (? p e r s o n 1 )( i f
( and( p e r s o n ? p e r s o n 1 )( p e r s o n . a t t e n d s . c o n f e r e n c e ? p e r s o n 1 RuleML )
)( p e r s o n . i s l o c a t e d i n . t h i n g ? p e r s o n 1 S e a t t l e )
) )
Example: RECONcompile→ IKL
RECON Every person who attends RuleML is located in Seattle.
IKL ( f o r a l l (? p e r s o n 1 )( i f
( and( p e r s o n ? p e r s o n 1 )( p e r s o n . a t t e n d s . c o n f e r e n c e ? p e r s o n 1 RuleML )
)( p e r s o n . i s l o c a t e d i n . t h i n g ? p e r s o n 1 S e a t t l e )
) )
The big picture
Features of Approach
I Based on English words and usageI Reads like EnglishI Supports domain vocabularies
I Formal grammarI strongly limits freedom of expressionI unique parseI unique translation to IKL
I Writing the language requires training
IKL
I Extension of ISO Common Logic by Pat Hayes & Chris Menzel
I (Syntactically) Higher-order logic
I Nominalized propositions (e.g. ‘that it rains’)
I Enables ‘modal’ expressions (e.g. ‘It is required that the fieldis watered’)
RECON vs. SBVR
I Both expressive languages
I RECON semantics = mapping to IKL ◦ IKL model theory
I SBVR has no formal semantics
Dictionary & Vocabulary
Reminder
Dictionary
I Dictionary consists of word forms
I No semantics
I Example for dictionary entryDictionary Verb: run runs ran running run
Vocabulary
I Vocabulary = collection of terminological entriesI Terminological entry = collection of declarations
I Primary term (mandatory)I Alternative formsI (Formal) definitions in RECON languageI Free text definitions / comments
I Terminological entry belongs to a syntactic category
Example Vocabulary
Name: Bride of Neptune
Type Noun: tanker
Mass Noun: gasoline
Adjective: (thing) is registered
Verb: (party) ships (shipment)
Alternative: (shipment) is shipped by (party)
Property: (party) is the supplier () for (shipment)
Unit: gallon: volume
Examples, examples, examples
Example: Simple sentence
Bride of Neptune is a registered tanker.
( e x i s t s (? t a n k e r 1 )( and
( and( t a n k e r ? t a n k e r 1 )( t h i n g . i s r e g i s t e r e d ? t a n k e r 1 ) )
(= B r i d e o f N e p t u n e ? t a n k e r 1 ) ) )
Example: Quantification
Every supplier ships some shipment.
( f o r a l l (? s u p p l i e r 1 )( i f
( s u p p l i e r ? s u p p l i e r 1 )( e x i s t s (? sh ipment2 )
( and( sh ipment ? sh ipment2 )( p a r t y . s h i p s . sh ipment ? s u p p l i e r 1 ? sh ipment2 )
) ) ) )
Examples: Connectives
Connectives are allowed both between sentences and noun phrases
I ACME is registered or ACME is not registered.
I ACME owns both Bride of Neptune and Titanic.
Example: Qualifiers
Any shipment that is shipped via Bride of Neptune is registered.
( f o r a l l (? sh ipment1 )( i f
( and( sh ipment ? sh ipment1 )( sh ipment . i s s h i p p e d v i a . v e s s e l
? sh ipment1 B r i d e o f N e p t u n e ) )( t h i n g . i s r e g i s t e r e d ? sh ipment1 ) ) )
Examples: Properties – dual nature
ACME is the supplier for SH12345. [verb]The supplier for SH12345 ships SH12345. [noun]
( f o r a l l (? t h i n g 1 )( i f
( and( t h i n g ? t h i n g 1 )( t h i n g . i s t h e s u p p l i e r f o r . sh ipment
? t h i n g 1 SH12345 ) )( p a r t y . s h i p s . sh ipment ? t h i n g 1 SH12345 ) ) )
Example: Measurements, quantities, and mass nouns
SH12345 consists of 1000 gallons of gasoline.
( e x i s t s (? g a s o l i n e 1 )( and
( and( g a s o l i n e ? g a s o l i n e 1 )( q u a n t i t y . i s t h e v o l u m e o f . t h i n g
( Qvalue 1000 " g a l l o n ") ? g a s o l i n e 1 ) )( sh ipment . c o n s i s t s o f . t h i n g SH12345 ? g a s o l i n e 1 ) ) )
Example: Deontic rules
Every shipment must be registered.
( o b l i g a t i o n ( t h a t( f o r a l l (? sh ipment1 )
( i f( sh ipment ? sh ipment1 )( t h i n g . i s r e g i s t e r e d ? sh ipment1 ) ) ) ) )
Example: Nominalized propositions
NIST prevents the situation where Ed is located in Seattle.
( f o r a l l (? s i t u a t i o n 1 )( i f
( and( s i t u a t i o n ? s i t u a t i o n 1 )( t h i n g . hasTheme . t h i n g ? s i t u a t i o n 1
( t h a t( p e r s o n . i s l o c a t e d i n . t h i n g Ed S e a t t l e )
) ) )( p e r s o n . p r e v e n t s . s i t u a t i o n NIST ? s i t u a t i o n 1 )
) )
Summary of interesting features
I n-ary verbsI Compatible with Davidsonian events
I Boolean connectives
I Quantifiers
I Properties
I Quantities and units of measurements
I Nominalized propositions
I Modals
I Collections
Thank you
https://sourceforge.net/projects/nistreconst/files/?source=navbar