Modal Change Logic (MCL): Specifying the reasoning of knowledge-based systems

We investigate the formal specification of the reasoning process of knowledge-based systems in this paper. We analyze the corresponding parts of the KADS specification languages KARL and (ML)(2) and deduce some general requirements. The essence of these languages is that they integrate a declarative specification of inferences with control information. The languages differ in the way they achieve this integration and each of them has shortcomings. We propose a unifying semantical framework that integrates the core of the different solutions and overcomes their problems. We define a semantics and axiomatization with the Modal Change Logic (MCL). The main contribution of the paper is not to introduce yet another specification language. Instead we aim at four goals: (1) defining a framework for describing the dynamic reasoning behavior of knowledge-based systems which integrates existing approaches; (2) defining a semantics for the specification of the dynamic reasoning behavior of a knowledge-based system within the stares as algebras setting that overcomes several shortcomings and ad hoc solutions of existing approaches; and (3) providing an axiomatization that enables the development of mechanized proof support. (4) Through conceptual and semantical clarity, we investigate the relationships to similar work in software engineering and database engineering opening possibilities for further cross-fertilization of these fields. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.