A knowledge base approach to the specification of real time system requirements

The use of pattern recognition based on a Holland classifier produced a fast, efficient expert system with a malleable rule base. By decoupling the inference mechanism from the knowledge base it is a simple process to add new rules or extended the scope of the rules within the rule base. In addition, Smalltalk-80 provided a highly interactive rapid prototyping environment which, with its resident bit block transfer mechanism, is ideal for the fast manipulation of large character strings implemented as bitmap masks. By using breakpoints in the code at run-time, debug windows can be opened which provide such facilities as single-step execution and inspection of bitmaps using the bit editor. Such powerful debugging facilities greatly reduced the implementation time for the tool