Debugging Knowledgebases

Starting the Debugger

To run a knowledgebase, select Run | Run or Run |Single Step from the main menu. This will open up two windows. On the left is the current state of the reasoning process and a log of its progress. On the right is a window that will display the output for the user, both questions and all output.

Run vs. Single Step

You can choose either to run the knowledgebase, in which case it will run until all solutions have been found. Or, you can step through the reasoning process, pausing after each set of actions has been processed.

The reasoning engine uses the facts and the rules in the knowledgebase to determine what other facts need to be obtained from the user. For each fact, a dialog box will appear asking you to enter a value. As the reasoning engine proves its goals, the solutions are displayed in the right hand window.

Log Detail Level

You can control the level of detail displayed in the execution log by selecting Run | Log Detail then Low, Medium or High. You need to select the detail level before running your knowledgebase.

Compiling Knowledgebases

Knowledgebases can be compiled for execution within the Workshop or under any other environment, including the Web. Compiled knowledgebases have these advantages:

1. They run faster than interpreted (source code) knowledgebases.
2. The contents of the knowledgebase cannot be read by your users.

Compiled knowledgebases end in the suffix '.kbc'. To compile a knowledgebase select the Run | Compile command.

When running (or single stepping) your knowledgebase in the Workshop, the compiled version will be used if it is more recent than the source code version (.kb).

You can also open a compiled knowledgebase in any of the runtimes by specifying the knowledgebase name with a .kbc suffix. As with the Workshop, if both source and compiled versions are present, the compiled version will be used only if it is more recent.