[1] Formal in this context means that the specification is ontologically committed[2] to the semantics and syntax prescribed by a knowledgebase processor (aka, an engine).
The first iterations were simply a visual representation of dependency networks stored in a LISP-like syntax.
NetWeaver quickly evolved into an interactive interface where the visual environment was also capable of editing the dependency networks and saving them in the ICKEE file format.
Eventually NetWeaver became "live" in the sense that it could evaluate the dependency networks in real time.
Considered in its entirety, the complete knowledgebase specification for a problem can be thought of a mental map of the logical dependencies among propositions.
[4] Cognitive theory suggests that human beings have two fundamental modes of reasoning: logical (albeit however informally some folks may do that when left to their own devices) and spatial.
Second, synergies similar to those observed in organizing the reasoning of individual subject-matter experts also can occur in knowledge engineering projects that require the interaction of multiple disciplines.
Use of a formal logic system, with well defined syntax and semantics, allows specialists’ representation of their problem solving approach to be expressed in a common language, which in turn facilitates understanding of how all the various perspectives of the different specialists fit together.
The NetWeaver engine is a Windows dynamic link library (DLL) developed by Rules of Thumb, Inc. (North East, PA).
Each logic network in a NetWeaver knowledge base represents a proposition about the condition of some ecosystem state or process.
[6][7][8][9][10] Equivalently, think of the truth value metric as expressing the degree to which evidence supports the proposition of the network or data link; in EMDS, the symbology for maps displaying network truth values is based on the concept of strength of evidence.
Molecular diagnostics of economically important Ceratitis fruit fly species (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Africa using PCR and RFLP analyses.
online Heaton, Jill S., Kenneth E. Nussear, Todd C. Esque, Richard D. Inman, Frank M. Davenport, Thomas E. Leuteritz, Philip A. Medica, Nathan W. Strout, Paul A. Burgess, and Lisa Benvenuti.
Spatially explicit decision support for selecting translocation areas for Mojave desert tortoises.
Ying yong sheng tai xue bao (The journal of applied ecology) 18:2841-5. online Janssen, R., H. Goosen, M.L.
Decision support for integrated wetland management, Environmental Modelling & Software Volume 20: 215–229.
online Paterson, Barbara, Greg Stuart-Hill, Les G. Underhill, Tim T. Dunne, Britta Schinzel, Chris Brown, Ben Beytell, Fanuel Demas, Pauline Lindeque, Jo Tagg, and Chris Weaver.
A fuzzy decision support tool for wildlife translocations into communal conservancies in Namibia, Environmental Modelling & Software Volume 23: 521–534.