Using the Event-B Formal Method and the Rodin Framework for Verification the Knowledge Base of an Rule-Based Expert System

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Synergies Between Knowledge Engineering and Software Engineering

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 626))

  • 558 Accesses

Abstract

Verification and validation of a knowledge base of an expert systems are distinct activities that allow to increase the quality and reliability of these systems. While validation ensures the compliance of a developed knowledge base with the initial requirements, the verification ensures that the knowledge base is logically consistent. Our work is focused on the verification activity, which is a difficult task that mainly consists in determination of potential structural errors of the knowledge base. More exactly, we aimed to study the consistency of knowledge bases of rule-based expert systems that use the forward chaining inference, a very important aspect in the verification activity, among others, such as completeness and correctness. We use Event-B as a modelling language because it has a mathematical background that allows to model a dynamic system by specifying its static and dynamic properties. In addition we use the Rodin platform, a support tool for Event-B, which allows to verify the correctness of the specified systems and its properties. For a better understanding of our method, an example written in the CLIPS language is presented in the paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Adrion, W., Branstad, M., Cherniavsky, J.: Validation, verification and testing of computer software. Comput. Surv. 14(2), 159–192 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Meseguer, P.: Towards a conceptual framework for expert system validation. AI Commun. 5(3), 119–135 (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Laurent, J.P.H.: Proposals for a valid terminology in KBS validation. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Artificial Intelligence - ECAI, pp. 829–834. Wiley, Vienna, Austria (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hoppe, T., Meseguer, P.: On the terminology of VVT: a proposal. IEEE Expert 93, 48–55 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sommerville, I.: Software Engineering. Addison-Wesley, USA (2011)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Meseguer, P., Preece, A.: Verification and validation of knowledge-based systems with formal specifications. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 10(4), 331–343 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Preece, A.: Evaluating verification and validation methods in knowledge engineering. Industrial Knowledge Management, pp. 91–104. Springer, London (2001)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  8. O’Keefe, R.M., O’Leary, D.E.: Expert system verification and validation: a survey and tutorial. Artif. Intell. Rev. 7(1), 3–42 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Meseguer, P.: A new method to checking rule bases for inconsistency: a petri net approach. In: Proceedings of ECAI 90, pp. 437–442. Espoo, Finland (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  10. He, X., Yang, W.C.H., Yang, S.: A new approach to verify rule-based systems using petri nets. In: Proceedings of 23th Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference, pp. 462–467. Los Alamitos, CA, USA (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Wu, C.H., Lee, S.J.: Enhanced high-level petri nets with multiple colors for knowledge verification/validation of rule-based expert systems. IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern. Part B: Cybern. 27(5), 760–773 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ramaswamy, M., Sarkar, S., Sho, C.Y.: Using directed hypergraphs to verify rule-based expert systems. IEEE Trans. Knowl. Data Eng. 9(2), 221–237 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gursaran, G., Kanungo, S., Sinha, A.: Rule-base content verification using a digraph-based modelling approach. Artif. Intell. Eng. 13(3), 321–336 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Laita, L., Roanes-Lozano, E., de Ledesma, L., Alonso, J.: A computer algebra approach to verification and deduction in many valued knowledge systems. Soft Comput. 3(1), 7–19 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Pierret-Golbreich, C., Talon, X.: TFL: an algebraic language to specify the dynamic behaviour of knowledge-based systems. Knowl. Eng. Rev. 11, 253–280 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Baumeister, J., Seipel, D.: Anomalies in ontologies with rules. Web Semant. Sci. Serv. Agents World Wide Web 8(1), 55–68 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Krotzsch, M., Rudolph, S., Hitzler, P.: ELP: tractable rules for OWL. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Semantic Web Conference - ISVC, pp. 649–664. Springer (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Event-B, the Rodin Platform. http://www.event-b.org/

  19. ProB. http://www.stups.uni-duesseldorf.de/ProB/index.php5/ProB_for_Rodin

  20. Woodcock, J., Davies, J.: Using Z: Specification, Refinement and Proof. Prentice Hall, London (1996)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. Smith, G.: The Object-Z Specification Language. Springer, US (2000)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  22. Jones, C.: Systematic Software Development Using VDM. Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs (1986)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. Abrial, J.R.: The B Book: Assigning Programs to Meanings. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1996)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  24. Abrial, J.R.: Modeling in Event-B: System and Software Engineering. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2010)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  25. Kropf, T.: Introduction to Formal Hardware Verification. Springer, Berlin (1998)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. Lamport, L.: The temporal logic of actions. ACM Trans. Program. Lang. Syst. 16(3), 872–923 (1994)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Hoare, C.: Communicating Sequential Processes. Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs (1985)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  28. Milner, R.: Communication and Concurrency. Prentice-Hall International, New York (1989)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  29. Bidoit, M., Mosses, P.: CASH User Manual: Introduction to Using the Common Algebraic Specification. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2900. Springer, Berlin (2004)

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  30. Goguen, J., Malcolm, G.: Algebraic Semantics of Imperative Programs. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  31. Deploy. http://www.deploy-project.eu/

  32. Advance. http://www.advance-ict.eu/

  33. Leuschel, M., Butler, M.: ProB: an automated analysis toolset for the B method. Int. J. Softw. Tools Technol. Transf. 10(2), 185–203 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Butler, M., Maamria, I.: Practical theory extension in event-B. Theories of Programming and Formal Methods. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8051, pp. 67–81. Springer, Berlin (2013)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  35. CLIPS. http://clipsrules.sourceforge.net/

  36. Jess. http://herzberg.ca.sandia.gov/jess/

  37. Chan, W., Anderson, R.J., Beame, P., Burns, S., Modugno, F., Notkin, D., Reese, J.D.: Model checking large software specifications. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 24(7), 498–520 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Nguyen, T., Perkins, W., Pecora, D.: Knowledge base verification. AI Mag. 8(2), 69–75 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marius Brezovan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Brezovan, M., Badica, C. (2018). Using the Event-B Formal Method and the Rodin Framework for Verification the Knowledge Base of an Rule-Based Expert System. In: Nalepa, G., Baumeister, J. (eds) Synergies Between Knowledge Engineering and Software Engineering. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 626. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64161-4_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64161-4_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64160-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64161-4

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Navigation