A knowledge-based support system for prototyping simulations with a reusable software library

A knowledge-based expert system for the support of a discrete-event simulation library of reusable software objects is described. The expert system facilitates the design of object-oriented simulations by assisting the user in building models that satisfy specified requirements. In the context of this work, modeling is a process that involves the selection and combination of library objects. The representation of the knowledge pertaining to the simulation library’s capabilities and structure is discussed with regard to features that are typical of object-oriented programming. The authors believe that the concepts presented here can be easily applied to other types of object-oriented software libraries.