Rules integrate data in a multicriteria decision support system

An integrated multicriteria decision support system is presented that supports the decision-making process from the very beginning, i.e. the scanning of the available data, up to the moment of the choice. In this system the descriptive data of the multiattribute problem are transformed, by rules, into a manageable decision matrix. An expert system architecture is described to realize this transfer of the descriptive data to the multiattribute matrix. The decision matrix obtained can be processed by any multicriteria method. The authors key points come in the construction of the decision rules for the system. In their system the order between the alternatives, which is a part of the burden ordinarily devoted to the determination of weights, is moved to the conceptual analysis preceding the writing of the rules. An application is presented of an interactive program allowing an intelligent exploration of choices that uses artificial intelligence ideas