KE Text

The KE Text facilities allow authors to compose a set of KB changes in text and add them to a Cyc KB in a single batch operation.

E-Mail Comments to: info@cyc.com.

Introduction

KE Text (Knowledge E Text, where the E stands for Editing, which is historically correct, or Entry, which is intuitively correct) is an ASCII text format for specifying changes to a Cyc KB. The text is parsed into KB operations (asserts, unasserts, renames, etc.) that are then evaluated using the KE API (ke-assert, ke-unassert, ke-rename, etc.) KE Text is processed through the browser through either the Load KE File page, which loads a KE Text file or the Compose KE Text page, which allows typing in KE Text.

The KE Text facilities allow authors to compose a set of KB changes in text and add them to a Cyc KB in a single batch operation. Choosing to use KE Text is strictly a matter of convenience. Operations entered using KE Text do not differ in the KB from those entered via other browser tools. Most users find it convenient in situations where many similar changes need to be made or when they are adding a related set of new constants and assertions.

KE Text Syntax

KE Text syntax is just a syntactic/notational variation of CycL. Many people find it easier and faster to write some types of CycL expressions using KE Text syntax than using “canonical” FOPC-in-Lisp CycL syntax, which partly explains why KE Text syntax continues to be supported by knowledge entry tools.

Notation
Expressions
Directives
Comments in KE Text
Order of Expressions
Another Example
Processing KE Text in the Cyc Web Interface
Loading a KE Test File from a Console Interactor

Notation

Variables

Variables occurring anywhere in a KE text (e.g., inside rule statements) must begin with a question mark (?). This convention signals the knowledge entry facilities to treat the object as a variable, rather than as a constant.

Constants

It is not necessary to include the initial “#$” in references to known constants (i.e., constants which Cyc already knows to exist), though it is not disallowed. For example, one could use either #$Siegel or Siegel; #$KeithsHouse or KeithsHouse. Accepted practice is to write KE text without the “#$” prefix.

Strings

Strings referred to in KE text (such as entries on the #$comment predicate for a constant) must be delimited by double quotes (e.g., “This is a string.”), as in Common Lisp and C.

To use double quotes inside comments, prefix them with a backslash. (e.g. “This comment \”contains\” double quotes.”)

KE File preserves tab and return/newline/linefeed characters that occur inside strings, but will remove any non-printing characters.

Keywords

Keywords occurring in formulas must be prefixed with a colon.

(e.g. “f: (genKeyword PublicConstant :PUBLIC-CONSTANT).”)

Symbols

Symbols occuring in formulas must be prefixed with a single quote.

(e.g. “f: (afterAdding genls ‘GENLS-AFTER-ADDING).”)

Expressions

A complete, meaningful syntactic unit of Cyc KE text is an “expression”.

Expressions in KE Text syntax are somewhat analogous to sentences in a natural language, or more closely, to expressions in a programming language such as Lisp or Java. In Java, the end of an expression is indicated by a semi-colon (;). In Lisp, the end of an expression is indicated by a right parenthesis that balances a corresponding left parenthesis. In KE Text syntax, each expression must end with a period (.), and the period must be outside a comment or a string. The general form of an expression in KE Text syntax is as follows:

 <directive>: <data-object-or-object-sequence>.

Directives

There are two types of objects which may fill the position in a KE text expression: reserved words and predicates.

Reserved Words
Predicate Directives
Special Handling for TheAssertionSentence

Reserved Words

The first type comprises reserved words (analogous to reserved words in a programming language), which are as follows:

Constant
In Mt
Default Mt
Truth Value (or TV)
Direction (or D)
Formula
Enter
Delete
Rename
Kill
Include

General

The syntax for all reserved words except Enter, Delete, and Rename is the same. Each reserved word is followed by a colon delimiter, exactly one data object, and a period. That is, the form of a reserved word expression in KE Text syntax is:

   <reserved-word>: <data-object>.

Note that reserved word directive names are not case-sensitive. For example, “constant” works just as well as “Constant”.

Enter and Delete

Enter and Delete have the following syntax:

  <reserved-word>.

Rename

Rename has the following syntax:

   <reserved-word> <old-constant-name> .

Constant

If the reserved word is “Constant”, the data object following the colon delimiter must be the name of a Cyc constant (e.g., Pittman, or MarksHouse, or some other Cyc constant). For example:

    Constant: Pittman.
    Constant: Muffet.

If the data object following the colon delimiter is not already known (by Cyc) to be a Cyc constant, users will be asked whether they want to create a new constant with that name.

When an expression beginning with a Constant directive is evaluated, it causes the default entry constant (the “current” constant) to be set to the named constant, the default truth value to be set to :unknown, the default direction to also be set to :unknown, and the default entry microtheory to be set to the BaseKB. The only exception to this is if the microtheory has previously been set via the Default Mt directive, in which case the use of the Constant directive leaves the microtheory unchanged. All of the settings made by the Constant directive persist until they are changed by some other (implicit or explicit) directive.

In MT

If the reserved word is “In Mt”, the data object following the colon delimiter must be a known (i.e., already existing) microtheory.

Example:

In Mt: HumanActivitiesMt.

When an expression beginning with an In Mt directive is evaluated, it causes the default entry microtheory to be set to the named microtheory. This setting persists until the next occurrence of an In Mt directive, a Default Mt directive, or a Constant directive.

Default MT

If the reserved word is “Default Mt”, the data object following the colon delimiter must be a known (i.e., already existing) microtheory.

For example:

Default Mt: HumanActivitiesMt.

When an expression beginning with a Default Mt directive is evaluated, is causes the entry/delete microtheory to be set to the named microtheory. This setting persists until the next occurrence of a Default Mt or In Mt directive, or the end of the file/text being processed. Once a directive has been overriden by another directive, the scope of the original directive is no longer valid, even if the second directive is itself overriden later. Note that this directive, unlike the In Mt directive, prevents each occurrence of a Constant directive from resetting the default microtheory to BaseKB. This directive makes it easier to process all (or most) of the expressions in a file/text segment in the same microtheory.

Truth Value

If the reserved word is “Truth Value” (or “TV”), the data object following the colon delimiter must be one of the keywords :default, :monotonic, or :unknown. (It’s also OK to omit the colon).

(Check the glossary for a quick description of the difference between default true and monotonically true.)

Examples:

Truth Value: :monotonic.
 TV: monotonic.

It should only very rarely be necessary for a user to use a Truth Value directive. KE Text assigns truth values to entry expressions automatically. If an entry expression begins with a predicate which is an instance of DefaultMonotonicPredicate (including isa and genls), the expression is automatically assigned a truth value of :monotonic.  All other entry expressions are automatically assigned a truth value of :default. Note that the strength of “implies” is :default, by default.The only reason to use a Truth Value directive is if you want to override these built-in defaults.

When an expression beginning with a Truth Value directive is evaluated, it causes the entry truth value for the following expression to be set to the indicated truth value. (Note that an expression might comprise several assertions. This will be explained more fully below). After the expression to be entered is evaluated, the setting immediately reverts to :unknown, until the next entry expression is encountered (and the truth value is automatically set to :default or :monotonic), or until another Truth Value directive is read.

When would you want to use this directive? Suppose you wanted to enter a rule with a truth value of :monotonic. Since the default setting for rules is :default, in your KE text you would want to precede the rule with this expression:

Truth Value: :monotonic.

Direction

If the reserved word is “Direction” (or “D”), the data object following the colon delimiter must be one of the keywords :forward (to indicate forward propagation), :backward (to indicate backward propagation), or :unknown. (It’s also OK to omit the colon).

Examples:

 Direction: :forward.
 d: backward.

KE Text assigns directions to entry expressions automatically. Expressions beginning with a simple predicate (ground atomic formulas) are assigned a direction of :forward. All other entry expressions (most notably, all rules are assigned a direction of :backward.

The only reason to use a Direction directive is if you want to override these built-in defaults.

When an expression beginning with a Direction directive is evaluated, it causes the direction for the 'following' entry expression to be set to the indicated direction. After the expression to be entered is read, the setting immediately reverts to :unknown, until the next entry expression is encountered or another Direction directive is read.

The most common use for this directive is to enter rules with a direction of :forward.

Formula

If the reserved word is “F” (for “formula”), the data object following the colon delimiter must be a well-formed CycL Formula.

The constants referred to in the CycL formula must already be known to Cyc (i.e., must already exist, perhaps as a result of being created at some previous point in the KE text).

(KE Text will also accept the directive “EL” to specify a CycL Formula. “EL” stands for “Epistemological Level”, as distinct from “HL”, which stands for “Heuristic Level”.)

Examples:

F: (implies

(isa ?cat Tiger)

(hasVisibleSurfacePatternType ?cat StripedPattern)).

F:  (holdsIn (Year 1995) (owns Goolsbey KeithsHouse)).

F: (likesAsFriend SimoneSiegel KathyBurns).

Enter

If the reserved word is “Enter”, it must be followed by a period. All of the expressions following this reserved word until an occurrence of the reserved word “Delete” (or the end of the file/text) will be processed assuming that the resulting assertions should be entered into the Cyc KB.

For example:

Enter.
 F : (holdsIn (Year 1995) (owns Goolsbey KeithsHouse)).

The default processing mode for the KE Text facilities (KE File, Compose) is entry mode, so you don’t have to use this reserved word unless you want to start entering assertions after a region of text in which the processing mode was set to delete (see below).

Delete

If the reserved word is “Delete”, it must be followed by a period. All of the expressions following this reserved word until an occurrence of the reserved word “Enter” (or the end of the file/text) will be processed assuming that the resulting assertions should be removed from the Cyc KB.

For example:

Delete.

F: (holdsIn (Year 1996) (owns Goolsbey KeithsOldCar)).

Enter.

F: (holdsIn (Year 1996) (owns Goolsbey KeithsNewCar)).

Since the default processing mode for the KE Text facilities (KE File, Compose) is entry mode, you must use use the “Delete” reserved word if you want to remove assertions from the Cyc KB by processing KE Text. If the assertion to be removed is a local assertion, the method (FI function) used is KE-UNASSERT. If the assertion to be removed is a remote assertion, the method used is KE-BLAST. Exercise caution in using this directive.

Rename

If the reserved word is “Rename”, the colon delimiter must be followed by a constant name, a string indicating the new name, and a period.

For example:

Rename: NicksFirstKid “SimoneSiegel”.

The Rename directive provides a convenient way to do a batch of constant renames in a file/text.

A renamed constant does not become the “current” constant.

Kill

If the reserved word is “Kill”, the colon delimiter must be followed by the name of the constant to be killed.

For example:


Kill: highestVolcanoInRegion.

Include

If the reserved word is “Include”, the colon delimiter must be followed by the name of the file to be included in quotes.

For example:

Include: “another-file.ke”.

The above line will look for the file named another-file.ke in the same directory as the KE Text file being loaded. If the KE Text is being typed into a compose window, you can use the absolute path to the file you want to include. For example:

Include: “/home/user5/ke/another-file.ke”.

Predicate Directives

The second type of directive comprises Cyc predicates occurring within the scope of a (previously occurring) Constant directive. The Constant directive sets the “current” constant, which then is understood to be the first argument to assertions generated from the following predicate directive expressions.

(Note that predicate directive names, unlike reserved word directive names, are case-sensitive. After all, a predicate directive name is just the name of a CycL predicate, and CycL constant names are case-sensitive.)

Each predicate directive is followed by a colon delimiter, one or more data objects, and a period. That is, the form of a predicate expression in KE Text syntax is

<predicate>: <data-object-1> [<data-object-2>…<data-object-n>].

The data objects following the colon delimiter comprise the additional argument(s) to the predicate in the predicate directive.

Example:

Constant: Goolsbey.

isa: HumanCyclist ElectricalEngineer.

feelsTowardsObject: (SimoneSiegel Affection Positive)

(BillJ Curiosity Positive).

comment: “Keith Goolsbey is a member of the Cycorp technical board.”.

In this example, the Constant directive sets the “current” constant to be Goolsbey. Goolsbey is then assumed to be the first argument to assertions formed from the three following predicate directive expressions (the expressions which begin with “isa”, “feelsTowardsObject”, and “comment”).

If the predicate directive is the name of a binary predicate (such as isa and comment), each of the data objects following the colon delimiter is assumed to be part of an assertion in which the predicate directive is the predicate, the default constant is the first argument, and the data object is the second argument.

If the predicate directive is the name of an n-ary predicate where n is greater than 2 (such as #$feelsTowardsObject), each of the data objects following the colon delimiter must be a list. The elements in the list are assumed to be part of an assertion in which the predicate directive is the predicate, the default constant is the first argument, and the elements (in listed order) are the remaining arguments. So, when evaluated and processed, the KE text fragment in the example above would result in the addition of the following six assertions to the KB:

(#$isa #$Goolsbey #$HumanCyclist)

(#$isa #$Goolsbey #$ElectricalEngineer)

(#$feelsTowardsObject #$Goolsbey #$SimoneSiegel #$Affection #$Positive)

(#$feelsTowardsObject #$Goolsbey #$BillJ #$Curiosity #$Positive)

(#$comment #$Goolsbey “Keith Goolsbey is a member of the Cycorp technical board.”)

Note that because any number of data objects may follow a colon delimiter preceded by a predicate directive, one KE text expression may result in several assertions being added to the knowledge base. Any reserved word directive immediately preceding such a compound KE text expression (i.e., an expression yielding more than one assertion) will apply to all of the assertions resulting from the expression.

Also, note that since a “canonical” CycL Formula can be entered in KE text by using the F directive, the assertions resulting from the expressions in the example above are exactly the same as the assertions resulting from the expressions in the example immediately below.

Example:


F: (isa Goolsbey HumanCyclist).

F: (isa Goolsbey ElectricalEngineer).

F: (feelsTowardsObject Goolsbey SimoneSiegel Affection Positive).

F: (feelsTowardsObject Goolsbey BillJ Curiosity Positive).

F: (comment Goolsbey “Keith Goolsbey is a member of the Cycorp technical board.”).

If Cyc had the unary predicate “dog”, indicating membership in the class of all dogs (or the quality of “dogness”), assertions using this predicate could be entered with an expression such as this:

dog: Brandy .

F: (dog Brandy) .

Special Handling for TheAssertionSentence

The constant TheAssertionSentence has special support for referring to the previously asserted sentence, not including previous sentences that mentioned #$TheAssertionSentence itself. This is useful for making meta-assertions without having to copy the #$ist assertions formula multiple times.

For example:

;; an example rule:

In Mt: BaseKB.

f: (implies

      (and

             (termOfUnit ?NART (?FUNC . ?ARGS))

             (argIsa ?FUNC ?N ?COL)
      
             (argN ?ARGN ?N ?NART)

             (isa ?ARGN Collection))

  (isa ?ARGN ?COL)).

  ;; assert a ruleTrivialForJustificationParaphrase GAF about the rule

 In Mt: BaseKB.

 f: (ruleTrivialForJustificationParaphrase TheAssertionSentence).

 ;; assert a salientAssertions GAF about the rule (not about the

 ;;  ruleTrivialForJustificationParaphrase GAF

 In Mt: BaseKB.

 f: (salientAssertions argIsa TheAssertionSentence).

Note that this support breaks the ability to make assertions about TheAssertionSentence itself using KE Text.

Comments in KE Text

Comments (text to be read by a human, but not interpreted or entered by a program) are allowed in KE text. The comment indicator is the semi-colon (;), as in Common Lisp. Lines beginning with a semi-colon will be ignored. More precisely, any sequence of characters following a semi-colon (and including the semi-colon) up until the next occurrence of a return (line-break, line-feed) character will be ignored, except when the semi-colon occurs inside a string (a character sequence delimited by double quotes) which is not itself inside a comment.

Order of Expressions

Expressions in KE text are evaluated and processed in the order of their occurrence in the text. In general, it’s a good idea to write KE text expressions about a constant only after the point where a Constant directive for that constant occurs (unless, of course, the constant is already known to Cyc).

Another Example

Constant: Siegel.

isa: HumanCyclist CulturalAnthropologist.

In Mt: NaiveBiologicalDescentMt.

children: SimoneSiegel.

In Mt: LanguageAndWritingSystemMt.

Direction: :forward.

F: (implies

       (languageSpoken ?person EasternPahariLanguage)

       (likesAsFriend Siegel ?person)).

Evaluation of the expressions above would result in the four assertions being added to the Cyc KB.

In the BaseKB, we would have:

(#$isa #$Siegel #$HumanCyclist)

(#$isa #$Siegel #$CulturalAnthropologist)

In the NaiveBiologicalDescentMt, we would have:

(#$children #$Siegel #$SimoneSiegel)

And in the LanguageAndWritingSystemMt, with direction :forward (forward propagation), we would have:

(#$implies

       (#$languageSpoken ?person #$EasternPahariLanguage)

       (#$likesAsFriend #$Siegel ?person))

Processing KE Text in the Cyc Web Interface

The Cyc Web Interface provides two facilities for processing KE Text: the Compose page and KE-File. Both may be accessed from the “KE-File” section of the Cyc Navigator page. The Compose page can also be accessed from the Tools menu.

On the Compose page, you compose KE Text expressions in a large input pane. Clicking the “Eval” button submits the completed expressions for processing.

On the KE-File page, you enter the pathname of the KE Text format file that you want to process. Clicking the “Load” button loads the file. The file must be in the filesystem of the Cyc Server Machine.

Either way, the KE Text Parser will process your KE Text and present its results to you before making any changes to the KB.

If it finds syntactic errors in your expressions, it will ask you to correct them before proceeding.

If it finds that you have referred to constants which do not yet exist, it will ask you whether you want to create them.

When the KE Text expressions parse without error or question, it will display the proposed changes as FI operations and ask for confirmation.

If the changes are confirmed, the operations are queued for processing on the Cyc Server Machine.

Loading a KE Test File from a Console Interactor

To process a KE Text file from a console interactor pane, call the function LOAD-KE-TEXT-FILE.

(In a Lisp implementation of Cyc, make sure you have set the package to “cyc” by evaluating (in-package “cyc”) before calling LOAD-KE-TEXT-FILE).

LOAD-KE-TEXT-FILE takes four arguments:

The first is the user’s Cyc constant name (a character string delimited by double quotes).
The second is the pathname of the file to be entered (another character string).
The third indicates where the request should be queued, either :agenda, :aux, or NIL.
The fourth specifies whether there will be “no user interaction”. T means no user interaction; NIL indicates there will be user interaction. This argument defaults to NIL.

Unless the fourth argument is T, the user will be asked questions as the file is processed. The user is given the opportunity to preview and confirm the batch of assertions before they are queued for processing.

Appendix A: KE Text History

KE Text syntax is just a syntactic/notational variation of CycL. To some extent, it is a holdover from when Cyc was a frame-based system and CycL was a frame-based language. Many people find it easier and faster to write some types of CycL expressions using KE Text syntax than using “canonical” FOPC-in-Lisp CycL syntax, which partly explains why KE Text syntax continues to be supported by knowledge entry tools.

There are some aliases for directives which are retained for backward compatibility with files written for older versions of KE Text:

Unit = Constant
 Access Level or AL = Direction
 0 = :forward
 4 = :backward
 EL = Formula

In the past you could not include references to a constant in a file/text if the constant appears in a kill expression earlier in the file/text. This would cause problems when the resulting kill expressions are processed by the Cyc Agenda, since the following expressions would reference what is now a dead (non-existent) constant.

Appendix B: KE Text Syntax

{ke-file}         ::= “”

| {full-expression}

 | {full-expression} {ke-file}

 {full-expression} ::= {expression} “.”

{expression}      ::= {directive}

 | {predicate-assertion}


 {directive} ::= {assert-mode-directive}

 | {constant-directive}

 | {in-mt-directive}

 | {default-mt-directive}

 | {assertion-direction-directive}

 | {assertion-truth-directive}

 | {include-ke-file-directive}

 | {kill-directive}

 | {rename-directive}

 | {formula-directive}


 {assert-mode-directive} ::= {enter-directive} | {delete-directive}

 {enter-directive} ::= {enter-keyword}

 {enter-keyword} ::= “enter”



{delete-directive} ::= {delete-keyword}

 {delete-keyword} ::= “delete”



{in-mt-directive} ::= {in-mt-keyword} “:” {microtheory}

 {in-mt-keyword} ::= “in mt”

{microtheory} ::= a string representing an instance of #$Microtheory



 {default-mt-directive} ::= {default-mt-keyword} “:” {microtheory}

 {default-mt-keyword} ::= “default mt”

{microtheory} ::= a string representing an instance of #$Microtheory



 {assertion-direction-directive} ::= {assertion-direction-keyword} “:”

{assertion-direction-indicator}

 {assertion-direction-keyword} ::= “d” | “al” | “access level” | “direction”

{assertion-direction-indicator} ::= “:” {assertion-direction-indicator-keyword}

 | {assertion-direction-indicator-keyword}

 {assertion-direction-indicator-keyword} ::= “0” | “forward”

| “4” | “backward”

| “code” | “unknown”



{assertion-truth-directive} ::= {assertion-truth-keyword} “:”

{assertion-truth-indicator}

 {assertion-truth-keyword} ::= “truth value” | “tv”

{assertion-truth-indicator} ::= “:” {assertion-truth-indicator-keyword}

 | {assertion-truth-indicator-keyword}

 {assertion-truth-indicator-keyword} ::= “:default” | “:monotonic” | “:unknown”



{constant-directive} ::= {constant-keyword} “:” {constant-name}

 {constant-keyword} ::= “constant” | “unit”

{constant-name} ::= a string representing the name of the constant



 {kill-directive} ::= {kill-keyword} “:” {existing-constant}

 {kill-keyword} ::= “kill”

{existing-constant} ::= a string representing an existing constant



 {rename-directive} ::= {rename-keyword} “:” {existing-constant}

 {new-constant-name-string}

 {rename-keyword} ::= “rename”

{existing-constant} ::= a string representing an existing constant

 {new-constant-name-string} ::= a quoted string of the new constant name



 {include-ke-file-directive} ::= {include-ke-file-keyword} “:” {filepath}

 {include-ke-file-keyword} ::= “include”

{filepath} ::= path to the file



 {formula-directive} ::= {formula-keyword} “:” {formula}

 {formula-keyword} ::= “f” | “el” | “formula”

{formula} ::= a CycL formula



 {predicate-assertion} ::= {pred-assertion-arity-2}

 | {pred-assertion-arity-3}

 | {pred-assertion-arity-4}

 | {pred-assertion-arity-5}

 {pred-assertion-arity-2} ::= {binary-pred} “:” {atoms}

 {atoms} ::= {atom} | {atom} {atoms}

 {atom} ::= fort | string | number | ?TODO?

 {pred-assertion-arity-3} ::= {ternary-pred} “:” {atom-pairs}

 {atom-pairs} ::= {atom-pair} | {atom-pair} {atom-pairs}

 {atom-pair} ::= “(” {atom} {atom} “)”

{pred-assertion-arity-4} ::= {quaternary-pred} “:” {atom-triplets}

 {atom-triplets} ::= {atom-triplet} | {atom-triplet} {atom-triplets}

 {atom-triplet} ::= “(” {atom} {atom} {atom} “)”

{pred-assertion-arity-5} ::= {quintary-pred} “:” {atom-quartets}

 {atom-quartets} ::= {atom-quartet} | {atom-quartet} {atom-quartets}

 {atom-quartet} ::= “(” {atom} {atom} {atom} {atom} “)”

Appendix G ++++++++++

Common Cyc Abbreviations

Abbrev.

Definition

:AIS
;AbstractInformationStructure 

API Application Programmers’ Interface 
Arg Logical ‘argument’ position of some relation in the CYC KB. 
BLO #$BiologicalLivingObject 
CNF Conjunctive Normal Form 
CW Conceptual Work 
CycL The Cyc description language; extended predicate logic; formerly called CL (Constraint Language), then EL (Epistemological Language); see #$CycL (includes HL) 
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 
Defn Definition 
DNF Disjunctive Normal Form 
EL Epistemological Level (user-level representations) 
FI Functional Interface 
Fn Function 
FOPC First-Order Predicate Calculus 
fp Forward Propagate 
GAF Ground Atomic Formula 
genl Generalization (i.e. a more general term); #$genls is star-closure 
GT General Transitivity 
HL Heuristic Level (an internal machine represention) 
HPKB The DARPA High-Performance Knowledge Bases project 
IBO #$InformationBearingObject 
IBQS #$IntervalBasedQuantitySlot 
IBT #$InformationBearingThing 
IDE Integrated Development Environment 
IKB Integrated Knowledge Base — the version of the Cyc Knowledge Base released for the High-Performance Knowledge Base project 
KB #$KnowledgeBase, specifically, the Cyc Knowledge Base 
KE Knowledge Entry (into the Cyc KB) 
KFD Knowledge Formation through Dialog 
LHS Left-Hand Side (of a rule); the antecedent 
MELD Moderately Expressive Logical Description language; a superset of CycL 
Mt #$Microtheory 
MWW Multi-Word-Word 
NART Non-Atomic Reified Term 
NAT Non-Atomic Term; a function together with its argument(s) 
NAUT Non-Atomic Un-reified Term; a functional term that is semantically valid but Cyc has currently not thought about (like John Smith’s great-great grandmother) 
NL Natural Language 
NLP Natural Language Processing; also Natural Language Parsing 
NLU Natural Language Understanding 
OE Ontological Engineer or Engineering (no longer used) 
PIT #$PropositionalInformationThing 
pred #$Predicate 
PSC #$ProblemSolvingCntxt 
Reln Relation 
RHS Right-Hand Side (of a rule); the consequent 
RKF Rapid Knowledge Formation — the DARPA follow-on research project to HPKB 
SDBI Semantic Database Integration 
SKSI Semantic Knowledge Source Integration 
SME Subject Matter Expert 
spec Specialization (i.e. a more specialized term); (inverse of #$genls); specs is star-closure 
STIB Short Time Interval Before [see #$STIB] 
STIF Short Time Interval Following [see #$STIF] 
SubL A dialect of Lisp designed to implement the Cyc application 
TMS Truth-Maintenance System 
WALES Web-Assisted Lexical Entry System 
WFF Well-formed formula; pronounced ‘woof.’ Used as an adjective to denote correctness (i.e. ‘This CycL sentence is not wff.’)

Appendix L ++++++++++

OpenCyc License

The OpenCyc Knowledge Base

The OpenCyc Knowledge Base consists of code, written in the declarative language CycL, that represents or supports the representation of facts and rules pertaining to consensus reality. OpenCyc is licensed using the Apache License, Version 2, whose text can be found here. The OpenCyc CycL code base is the “Work” referred to in the Apache license. The terms of this license equally apply to renamings and other logically equivalent reformulations of the Knowledge Base (or portions thereof) in any natural or formal language.

The OpenCyc Java API and Other Non-CycL Open Source Code

Some other programs from those listed above are provided as open source. All of the programs of this type that currently ship with OpenCyc use the Apache License, but it is possible that future released programs may use a different license. All license and copyright information for these programs are included in their distributions.

The OpenCyc Knowledge Server

The OpenCyc Knowledge Server consists of a binary derivative version of the Cyc® Inference Engine and Knowledge Base Index, a binary derivative version of the Cyc® Knowledge Base Browser, and a suite of tools for rapidly extracting knowledge from a domain expert.

Cycorp is providing a free-of-charge license to the OpenCyc Knowledge Server that grants the Licensee the irrevocable right to download, to use, and to distribute the OpenCyc Knowledge Server in binary form for commercial or non-commercial use. By obtaining information, software, and/or documentation of the OpenCyc Knowledge Server in whole or in part (collectively, “Material”), you agree to be legally bound by the following terms.

The OpenCyc OWL Ontologies

These files contain an OWL representation of information contained in the OpenCyc Knowledge Base. The content of these OWL files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license whose text can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode. The content of these OWL files, including the OpenCyc content they represent, constitutes the “Work” referred to in the Creative Commons license. The terms of this license equally apply to, without limitation, renamings and other logically equivalent reformulations of the content of these OWL files (or portions thereof) in any natural or formal language, as well as to derivations of this content or inclusion of it in other ontologies.

Appendix SubL +++++++++++++

http://www.cyc.com/documentation/subl-reference/

I have been studying OpenCyc and I was disappointed when the SubL guide I found didn't have any mention of the KB creation and access commands.

I have also been using AIMLpad which is a Alice.org chatbot program. It had a Cyc interface. By inspecting the documentation that came with AMLpad.

{NOTE: I have been informed that the FI-* commands are being depreciated, that CYC-* commands should be used instead. I have not tested this and will update the page once I can provide concrete feedback)

SubL commands: (FI-CREATE '"Cone4" )

Creates a new constant in Cyc. (FI-ASSERT '(#$isa #$Cone4 #$Cone) '#$BaseKB ':Default 'nil)

Makes assertion into Cyc knowledgebase. The second argument is the name of the microtheory to assert the fact. The third argument is the chaining direction. (FI-UNASSERT '(#$isa #$TomBelpasso #$Dog) '#$BaseKB )

Retracts previously asserted facts. (FI-RENAME '#$Cone4 "Cone6")

Changes the name of the constant to a new sting. (fi-ask '(#$isa '?ISIT #$Cone) #$EverythingPSC)

Does a KB query.

These commands are queued, I think there are are versions of the commands that are immediately applied.

•Introduction •KE Text Syntax •Appendix A: KE Text History •Appendix B: KE Text Syntax

Appendix T ++++++++++ KE-Text/Terms

KE-Text

KE Text

Contents

Introduction

KE Text Syntax

Notation

Variables

Constants

Strings

Keywords

Symbols

Expressions

Directives

Reserved Words

General

Enter and Delete

Rename

Constant

In MT

Default MT

Truth Value

Direction

Formula

Enter

Delete

Rename

Kill

Include

Predicate Directives

Special Handling for TheAssertionSentence

Comments in KE Text

Order of Expressions

Another Example

Processing KE Text in the Cyc Web Interface

Loading a KE Test File from a Console Interactor

Appendix A: KE Text History

Appendix B: KE Text Syntax

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