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An agent-based architecture for software tool coordination

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Book cover Intelligent Agent Systems Theoretical and Practical Issues (IAS 1996)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1209))

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Abstract

This paper presents a practical multi-agent architecture for assisting users to coordinate the use of both special and general purpose software tools for performing tasks in a given problem domain. The architecture is open and extensible being based on the techniques of agent-based software interoperability (ABSI), where each tool is encapsulated by a KQML-speaking agent. The work reported here adds additional facilities for the user to describe the problem domain, the tasks that are commonly performed in that domain and the ways in which various software tools are commonly used by the user. Together, these features provide the computer with a degree of autonomy in the user's problem domain in order to help the user achieve tasks through the coordinated use of disparate software tools.

This research focuses on the representational and planning capabilities required to extend the existing benefits of the ABSI architecture to include domain-level problem-solving skills. In particular, the paper proposes a number of standard ontologies that are required for this type of problem, and discusses a number of issues related to planning the coordinated use of agent-encapsulated tools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer and Information Science, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Stephen Cranefield & Martin Purvis

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  1. Stephen Cranefield
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  2. Martin Purvis
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Lawrence Cavedon Anand Rao Wayne Wobcke

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cranefield, S., Purvis, M. (1997). An agent-based architecture for software tool coordination. In: Cavedon, L., Rao, A., Wobcke, W. (eds) Intelligent Agent Systems Theoretical and Practical Issues. IAS 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1209. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-62686-7_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-62686-7_27

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-62686-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-68433-6

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