(knowledge representation) language, editors and debuggers, Eclipse, Java

When designing a knowledge-based system, the fisrt taks of an expert is to write a representation of his/her knowledge in the given domain. For this purpose we propose a knowledge representation language (expert language) that includes object represeentation and inference rules. It is suitable to provide this language with modern editing facilities: syntax highlighting, completion, syntactic verification on the fly... Once the knowledge base has been written and translated into operational code (in our case in C++), the second task is to test it, for instance using dynamic debugging facilities. Debugging should be performed at the right abstraction level, the expert one, not at the C++ one: error and trace messages should refer to expert language constructs, watch and break points should be put on expert significant objects (when triggering a particular rule, modifying an object attribute...), step by step execution should be performed at expert language statement granularity...

The objective of this internship is to define and implement an editor and a debugger for an existing expert language, using the facilities offered by the Eclipse environment.

The student will have to achieve the following tasks:

1. Get acquainted with our knowledge representation language;
2. If needed, get acquainted with extending the Eclipse environment;
3. Specify the conceptual models of the editor (pretty printing patterns, integrating the existing expert language parser for syntactic verifications...) and the debugger (scheme of a debugging session, nature of messages and interactions, type of breakpoints...);
4. Implement the expert language editor and debugger as eclipse perspectives and views.

Good knowledge of object-oriented design and programming, good practice of Java; notions about editing and debugging or about formal grammars are a plus, as well as a previous experience with Eclipse.

5 to 6 months.

ORION Team, INRIA Sophia-Antipolis.