Logical testing for rule-base management

Abstract

We present a procedure to logically reduce simple implications that comprise the rule-base of an expert system. Our method uses topological sorting on a digraph representation that detects logical inconsistency and circular reasoning in linear-time. Then, the sort order provides an efficient method to detect and eliminate forced values and redundant rules. We consider additional diagnostic aids for the rule-base manager, notably how to range the number of propositions that could be true and how to consolodate the rule-base. We than show how the simple case may be extended to logically test a general rule-base with a decomposition principle.