Best-First Surface Realization

Current work in surface realization concentrates on the use of general, abstract algorithms that interpret large, reversible grammars. Only little attention has been paid so far to the many small and simple applications that require coverage of a small sublanguage at different degrees of sophistication. The system TG/2 described in this paper can be smoothly integrated with deep generation processes, it integrates canned text, templates, and context-free rules into a single formalism, it allows for both textual and tabular output, and it can be parameterized according to linguistic preferences. These features are based on suitably restricted production system techniques and on a generic backtracking regime.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX source, one EPS figur

A Flexible Shallow Approach to Text Generation

In order to support the efficient development of NL generation systems, two orthogonal methods are currently pursued with emphasis: (1) reusable, general, and linguistically motivated surface realization components, and (2) simple, task-oriented template-based techniques. In this paper we argue that, from an application-oriented perspective, the benefits of both are still limited. In order to improve this situation, we suggest and evaluate shallow generation methods associated with increased flexibility. We advise a close connection between domain-motivated and linguistic ontologies that supports the quick adaptation to new tasks and domains, rather than the reuse of general resources. Our method is especially designed for generating reports with limited linguistic variations.Comment: LaTeX, 10 page

Visualising Discourse Structure in Interactive Documents

In this paper we introduce a method for generating interactive documents which exploits the visual features of hypertext to represent discourse structure. We explore the consistent and principled use of graphics and animation to support navigation and comprehension of non-linear text, where textual discourse markers do not always work effectively

Eine Untersuchung kommerzieller Terminverwaltungs-Software im Hinblick auf die Kopplung mit natürlichsprachlichen Systemen

Das Projekt COSMA (Cooperative Schedule Management Agent) verfolgt das Ziel, einen maschinellen Sekretariatsassistenten zu erstellen, der Termine mit mehreren Teilnehmern über elektronische Post in natürlicher Sprache weitgehend selbständig vereinbart. COSMA stellt natürlichsprachlichen Service für autonome maschinelle Terminplanungs-Agenten zur Verfügung. Eine Anbindung an unterschiedliche kommerzielle Softwareprodukte zur Terminverwaltung könnte die Generalisierbarkeit der in COSMA verfolgten Ansätze nachhaltig plausibel machen. In der hier dokumentierten Untersuchung wurden im Zeitraum März bis Mai 1995 auf dem deutschen Markt befindlichen Produkte untersucht und bewertet. Einige ermöglichen den Zugang zu ihren Termindaten über eine allgemeine Programmierschnittstelle; doch keines stellt Agentenfähigkeit zur Verfügung: Alle Planungs-und Entscheidungsvorgänge bleiben dem Benutzer überlassen. Eine Einbindung in COSMA ist in vielen Fällen technisch möglich, aber erst nach Entwicklung und Einbindung geeigneter Agentensysteme sinnvoll.The project COSMA (Cooperative Schedule Management Agent) is developing a machine secretarial assistent, that can autonomously schedule appointments with several participants via electronic mail in natural language. COSMA provides natural language service for autonomous appointment scheduling machine agents. Adaptation of different commercial software products for appointment management could support the claim of generality of the approaches pursued within COSMA. The study described in this document includes products available on the German market between March and May 1995. Some allow access to their appointment data via an application program interface, but no one provides any agent functionality; i.e. all planning and decision making is left to the user. For some systems, adaptation to COSMA is possible technically, but seems meaningful only after developing and adapting suitable agent systems

Generalisierte Phasenstruktur-Grammatiken und ihre Verwendung zur maschinellen Sprachverarbeitung

Der vorliegende Artikel setzt sich mit der Syntaxtheorie der Generalisierten Phrasenstruktur-Grammatiken (GPSG) auseinander, gibt eine neue formale Definition des aktuellen Formalismus aus und zeigt die mit diesem Formalismus verbundenen Probleme auf. Darüber hinaus wird begründet, warum der Formalismus nicht effizient implementierbar ist. Es wird eine konstruktive Version von GPSG vorgeschlagen, die für die maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung (Parsing und Generierung) geeignet ist. Der Artikel kann gleichzeitig als eine Grundlage für Lehrveranstaltungen über GPSG dienen.This article describes the syntax theory of Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG), introduces a new formal definition and reveals the problems connected with this formalism. Moreover it is shown why the formalism cannot be implemented. A constructive version of GPSG is suggested that is suitable for parsing and generation. This report may also serve as a basis for lectures about GPSG

Using pattern-action rules for the generation of GPSG structures from separate semantic representations

In many tactical NL generators the semantic input structure is taken for granted. In this paper, a new approach to multilingual, tactical generation is presented that keeps the syntax separate from the semantics. This allows for the system to be directly adapted to application-dependent representations. In the case at hand, the semantics is specifically designed for sentence-semantic transfer in a machine translation system. The syntax formalism used is Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG). The mapping from semantic onto syntactic structures is performed by a set of pattern-action rules. Each rule matches a piece of the input structure and guides the GPSG structure-building process by telling it which syntax rule(s) to apply. The scope of each pattern-action rule is strictly local, the actions are primitive, and rules can not call each other. These restrictions render the production rule approach both highly modular and transparent

Generalisierte Phasenstruktur-Grammatiken und ihre Verwendung zur maschinellen Sprachverarbeitung

Der vorliegende Artikel setzt sich mit der Syntaxtheorie der Generalisierten Phrasenstruktur-Grammatiken (GPSG) auseinander, gibt eine neue formale Definition des aktuellen Formalismus aus und zeigt die mit diesem Formalismus verbundenen Probleme auf. Darüber hinaus wird begründet, warum der Formalismus nicht effizient implementierbar ist. Es wird eine konstruktive Version von GPSG vorgeschlagen, die für die maschinelle Sprachverarbeitung (Parsing und Generierung) geeignet ist. Der Artikel kann gleichzeitig als eine Grundlage für Lehrveranstaltungen über GPSG dienen.This article describes the syntax theory of Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar (GPSG), introduces a new formal definition and reveals the problems connected with this formalism. Moreover it is shown why the formalism cannot be implemented. A constructive version of GPSG is suggested that is suitable for parsing and generation. This report may also serve as a basis for lectures about GPSG

Natural Language Dialogue Service for Appointment Scheduling Agents

Appointment scheduling is a problem faced daily by many individuals and organizations. Cooperating agent systems have been developed to partially automate this task. In order to extend the circle of participants as far as possible we advocate the use of natural language transmitted by e-mail. We describe COSMA, a fully implemented German language server for existing appointment scheduling agent systems. COSMA can cope with multiple dialogues in parallel, and accounts for differences in dialogue behaviour between human and machine agents. NL coverage of the sublanguage is achieved through both corpus-based grammar development and the use of message extraction techniques.Comment: 8 or 9 pages, LaTeX; uses aclap.sty, epsf.te

COSMA - multi-participant NL interaction for appointment scheduling

We discuss the use of NL systems in the domain of appointment scheduling. Appointment scheduling is a problem faced daily by many people and organizations, and typically solved using communication in natural language. In general, cooperative interaction between several participants is required whose calendar data are distributed rather than centralized. In this distributed multi-agent environment, the use of NL systems makes it possible for machines and humans to cooperate in solving scheduling problems. We describe the COSMA (Cooperative Schedule Managament Agent) system, a secretarial assistant for appointment scheduling. A central part of COSMA is the reusable NL core system DISCO, which serves, in this application, as an NL interface between an appointment planning system and the human user. COSMA is fully implemented in Common Lisp and runs on Unix Workstations. Our experience with COSMA shows that it is a plausible and useful application for NL systems. However, the appointment planner was not designed for NL communication and thus makes strong assumptions about sequencing of domain actions and about the error-freeness of the communication. We suggest that further improvements of the overall COSMA functionality, especially with regard to flexibility and robustness, be based on a modified architecture