UT Qualitative Reasoning Software
Various pieces of software are available from our ftp
site. This page contains links to the most commonly FTPed systems.
Please visit our FTP site directly to view all of the software that
is available.
Obtaining Software
All of our software is distributed under explicit copyright
agreement. Most of the systems are distributed via compressed tar files,
with the suffix .tar.Z. This format is not appropriate for viewing, so
please just save them to your local disk. Execute the following Unix command
to unpack the file and create the appropriate directory structure on your
system:
zcat [filename] | tar xvf -
Execute this command in the directory in which you intend to place the
system.
The following systems are available for FTP:
- QSIM: a qualitative simulation engine with a
variety of extensions and additions.
- Algernon: an advanced knowledge representation
system utilizing Access Limited Logic.
- QPC: a Qualitative Process Compiler.
Compiles qualitative process theory models into qualitative differential equations
that can be simulated using QSIM.
QSIM:
Lisp vs. C++
The most complete versions of QSIM are implemented in Lisp. However, CQ, a
C++ implementation of the core qualitative simulation algorithm, was created
by Dan Dvorak.
A group at PIK Potsdam, Germany, produced
QC2, an extended version of CQ, which they applied to
sustainability problems in fisheries. Unfortunately, no source code for
their extension appears to be available.
Distribution and Installation Info:
All of the Lisp QSIM distributions include installation instructions along
with a draft of the QSIM manual. The latest version of QSIM has been tested
on the folloiwing platforms:
- Allegro Common Lisp on a Unix workstation running X-windows
- Allegro Common Lisp on PC running Linux (available for free from Allegro)
- Lucid Common Lisp on a Unix Workstation running X-windows
- CLISP running on a Unix workstation running X-windows
- MCL 3.9 on a MacIntosh Power PC
- Allegro Common Lisp on a PC running Windows 95
Porting QSIM to a new Lisp is fairly straight forward and we will attempt
to help you with this task. In general, it is best to port it to a system
running X-Windows so that the display routines can work. If you are interested
in using QSIM on a PC running Windows,
please read the new section in the installation manual (
html ) (
ps ) that discusses how to display the results.
Releases:
We recommend that you obtain the latest release available. We have had
very few problems with bugs in new releases as the code is very stable.
The latest release will contain many recent extensions.
Documentation
Algernon: our implementation of Access-Limited Logic.
QPC: The Qualitative Process Compiler.