Abstract

Object-oriented class libraries offer the potential for individual researchers to manage the large bodies of code generated in the experimental development of complex interactive systems. This article analyzes the structure of such a class library that supports the rapid prototyping of a wide range of systems including collaborative networking, shared documents, hypermedia, machine learning, knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation, and various combinations of these technologies. The overall systems architecture is presented in terms of a heterogeneous collection of systems providing a wide range of application functionalities. Examples are given of group writing, multimedia and knowledge-based systems which are based on combining these functionalities. The detailed design issues of the knowledge representation server component of the system are analyzed in terms of requirements, current state-of-the-art, and the underlying theoretical principles that lead to an effective obj...

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