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<Paper uid="A83-1001">
  <Title>DOMAIN-INDEPENDENT NATURAL LANGUAGE INTI~tFACES:</Title>
  <Section position="2" start_page="0" end_page="0" type="metho">
    <SectionTitle>
BRIEF SUMMARIES
</SectionTitle>
    <Paragraph position="0"> [TB]: This is a retrospective view of the SUFID system, traclng i t s develpoment from the initlal design s p e c i f i c a t i o n s , tncludln g various stages of intermediate implementations and exparlence with different applications, and finally,endlng with a list of problems to be solved. TB conclude that robust ~ systems do not exist and provide some guidelines for the d e s i g n of such systems.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="1"> [CIN]:A robust ~ data base interface has been described. The system consists of two parts:a natural Language processor for building a formal representation and an application program for building a query in an augmented relational algebra. Portability is achieved by providing (i) definitions of new concepts for the NL processor and ( i l ) the connection between the relations in the data base and ~ processor c o n c e p t s .</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="2"> [ T T ] : T h e NL i n t e r f a c e ( A S K ) i s meant f o r a u s e r who w a n t s to c r e a t e , t e s t c h a n g e , augment, and, of course, u s e h e r / h i s knowledge base. The user interface is a limited subset of English.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="3"> Fast response time is a major goal. Transportability is achieved via a dialogue in ASK which drives the Bulk Data Input Capability. Dialogues In ASK can also he used to design dialogues. A unique feature of t h e s y s t e m i s t h a t I t h a s b e e n a l r e a d y i m p l e m e n t e d on a d e s k t r c o m p u t e r , R P 9 8 4 6 .</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="4"> fi[GT]:An ~ interface, IR-NLI, i s d e s c r i b e d , which i s meant f o r n o n professional users for accessing on-Line data bases. The b a s i c c o m p o n e n t s of t h e s y s t e m a r e described in general terms. An i l l u s t r a t i v e e x a m p t e i s p r e s e n t e d i n which , i n a d d i t i o n t o the user-system dialogue, the Internal representaclons and the search sCrategles are reported in the Euronet DIANE EUROLANGUAGE. Several future directions are suggesced,includlng t h e system taking more InlCiaCive and providing Justification of Its mode of operaclon.</Paragraph>
    <Paragraph position="5"> 5. TT have empahsized the speed of r e s p o n s e a s a m a j o r f e a t u r e of t h e i r s y s t e m . What a r e t h e t r a d e - o i l s b e t w e e n s p e e d and t h e m o d u l a r i t y of t h e d e s i g n ? TT s h o u l d comment on t h i s a s p e c t a s w a l l a s o c h e r r e l a t e d a s p e c t s due co t h e i r c o n c e r n f o r b r i n g i n g up t h e s y s t e m on a d e s k t o p c o m p u t e r . 6 . Most of t h e i s s u e s d i s c u s s e d by GT i n t h e f i r s t f o u r s e c t i o n s of t h e i r p a p e r p e r t a i n co making f o r m a l q u e r y l a n g u a g e ( F L ) i u c e r f a c e s also portable. ~n f a c t , many o f t h e i s s u e s about portability chat the o t h e r a u t h o r s have a d d r e s s e d co a r e a l s o r e l a t e d co FL interfaces. It would be very useful if soma(or all) of the authors discuss some specific problems about portability chat are special to NL interfaces in contrast to PL interfaces. Does the need for having flexible and 9ortable interfaces for data bases necessarily force us towards NL interfaces ? Ne hope so ! Perhaps, some of the authors will comment on Chls issue. Their specific experience with chelr own systems would be very relevant here. 7. A quesClon chaC is worth discussing by all the authors is whether portability and robustness can be helped if the design of the data base itself is d e c e m i n e d by the consideration chat an NL Interface will be hooked to IC ? If.</Paragraph>
  </Section>
  <Section position="3" start_page="0" end_page="0" type="metho">
    <SectionTitle>
SOME QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
</SectionTitle>
    <Paragraph position="0"> [. A l l a u t h o r s have d e a l t w i t h t h e i s s u e o f domain independence, an i m p o r t a n t a s p e c t o f portability and r o b u s t n e s s . The main s t r a t e g y for achieving this behavtour is to factor the s y s t e m i n t o two p a r t s , one b a s e d on domain i n d e p e n d e n t knowledge and t h e o c h e r on t h e domain d e p e n d e n t k n o w l e d g e . At l e a s t two systems[GRO and I'T] talk about Interactively acquiring the [nformaCion needed for adaptation. GRO and TT should discuss the similarities and d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e i r approaches to acquisition. 2. GIN u s e s t h e p r e f e r e n c e i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e d a t a b a s e c o n n e c t i o n p a r t of h i s s y s t e m to induce c o e r c i o n s ( e . g . , &amp;quot;a d o c t o r w i t h i n 200 miles&amp;quot; meaning &amp;quot;a ship wlth a doctor on it within 200 miles). GRO in TEAM achieves the ~ame effect by inference rules. ~t is noc clear Just what the difference is between GRO's approach and GEN&amp;quot;s approach, i.e., between inducing coercions and making the inferences. GRO nad GiN should discuss the realtive merits of their approaches. 3. The domain information schema of GHF specify the correspondence between information structures as chef appear in the text and the various internal representaclons of i n f o r m a t i o n in the system. The system described by GHF is the only one in this session which derives ice domain dependent knowledge from the texts Instead of domain expects. GHJ should discuss how successful ~he 7 are with thls approach. Also perhaps the 7 should discuss how their repreeenCatlons compare with those In TEAM[GROI. 4. T~ have reviewed the hlecory of EUFZD and ended up on a negative note. They feel robust systems do not really exlsC yet. Since a[l the other authors have described &amp;quot;robust&amp;quot; systems, perhaps TB should discuss their conclusions in some de,all and comment on ChL claims of these authors.</Paragraph>
  </Section>
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