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This paper describes a computer-aided constraint programming system. Traditional Constraint Programming Languages have been built on top of host languages such as Prolog, Lisp, C++. This means that the user must have reasonable knowledge of the syntax and semantics of the host language before being able to use the constraint technology effectively. On top of this, the user may also be required to specify the heuristics and, or algorithm to solve the constraint problem. This leads to a bottleneck in the amount of people who have the necessary expertise in both constraint programming and the host language to implement practical systems, which use constraint satisfaction techniques. Our aim is to abstract out as many of these details as possible, to produce a high level system, where the problem specification is the focus. We have defined a simple, intuitive, high level, declarative (the order in which constraints are specified has no significance) language called EaCL for specifying constraint satisfaction problems. We propose an open architecture in which future constraint solvers can reside. The architecture also allows multiple flexible interfaces. In this paper we present as an example, an exam time tabling system built on top of our system, using Visual Basic and Automation

Structural Non-Correspondence in Translation

Kaplan et al (1989) present an approach to machine translation based on co-description. In this paper we show that the notation is not as natural and expressive as it appears. We first show that the most natural analysis proposed in Kaplan et al (1989) cannot in fact cover the range of data for the important translational phenomenon in question. This contribution extends the work reported on in Sadler et al (1989) and Sadler et al (1990). We then go on to discuss alternatives which depart from or extend the formalism proposed in Kaplan et al (1989) in various respects, pointing out some directions for further research. The strategie

A Computer Aided Constraint Programming System

This paper describes a computer-aided constraint programming system. Traditional Constraint Programming Languages have been built on top of host languages such as Prolog, Lisp, C++. This means that the user must have reasonable knowledge of the syntax and semantics of the host language before being able to use the constraint technology effectively. On top of this, the user may also be required to specify the heuristics and, or algorithm to solve the constraint problem. This leads to a bottleneck in the amount of people who have the necessary expertise in both constraint programming and the host language to implement practical systems, which use constraint satisfaction techniques. Our aim is to abstract out as many of these details as possible, to produce a high level system, where the problem specification is the focus. We have defined a simple, intuitive, high level, declarative (the order in which constraints are specified has no significance) language called EaCL for specifying cons..