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Frames

Frames  are descriptions of conceptual individuals. Frames can exist for ``real'' objects such as ``The Watergate Hotel'', sets of objects such as ``Hotels'', or more ``abstract'' objects such as ``Cola-Wars'' or ``Watergate''. Frames are essentially defined by their relationships with other frames. Relationships between frames are represented using slots. If a frame f is in a relationship r to a frame g, then we put the value g in the r slot of f.

For example, suppose we are describing the following genealogical tree:

picture147

The frame describing Adam might look something like:

Adam:
   sex:     Male
   spouse:  Beth
   child:   (Charles Donna Ellen)
where sex, spouse, and child are slots. Note that a single slot may hold several values (e.g. the children of Adam).

The genealogical tree would then be described by (at least) seven frames, describing the following individuals: Adam, Beth, Charles, Donna, Ellen, Male, and Female.



Micheal S. Hewett
Tue Oct 29 10:54:13 CST 1996