This paper represents a progress report on HyLite (Hypermedia Library technology): a research and development activity to produce a versatile system as part of NASA's technology thrusts in automation, information sciences, and communications. HyLite can be used as a system or tool to facilitate the creation and maintenance of large distributed electronic libraries. The contents of such a library may be software components, hardware parts or designs, scientific data sets or databases, configuration management information, etc. Proliferation of computer use has made the diversity and quantity of information too large for any single user to sort, process, and utilize effectively. In response to this information deluge, we have created HyLite to enable the user to process relevant information into a more efficient organization for presentation, retrieval, and readability. To accomplish this end, we have incorporated various AI techniques into the HyLite hypermedia engine to facilitate parameters and properties of the system. The proposed techniques include intelligent searching tools for the libraries, intelligent retrievals, and navigational assistance based on user histories. HyLite itself is based on an earlier project, the Encyclopedia of Software Components (ESC) which used hypermedia to facilitate and encourage software reuse

James, Mark L.

Jupin, Joseph H.

Ng, Edward W.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

AUTOMATION
N93-3215,5
AND HYPERMEDIA TECHNOLOGY
APPLICATIONS
Joseph H. Jupin
Edward W. Ng
Mark L. James
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Mail Stop 525-3660
Pasadena, CA 91109
Abstract
This paper relm_sents a progress report on HyLite CrI_edia Library technology): a research and
development activity to produce a versatile system as part of NASA's technology thrusts in
automation, information sciences and communications. HyLite can be used as a system or tool to
facilitate the creation and maintenance of large distributed electronic libraries. The contents of such
a library may be software components, hardware parts or designs, scientific datasets or databases,
configuration management information, etc. Proliferation of computer use has made the diversity
and quantity of information too large for any single user to sort process and utilize effectively. In
response to this information deluge, we have created HyLite to enable the user to process relevant
information into a more efficient organization for presentation, retrieval and readability. To
accomplish this end, we have incorporated various AI techniques into the HyLite hypermedia
engine to facilitate parameters and properties of the system. The proposed techniques include
intelligent searching tools for the libraries, intelligent retrievals, and navigational assistance based
on user histories. HyLite itself is based on an earlier project, the Encyclopedia of Software
Components (ESC) which used hypermedia to facilitate and encourage software reuse.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Space exploration in the 1990's is faced with an information deluge of increasing magnitude and
complexities.First,advanced sensor technology has dramaticallyenhanced our data acquisition
capability.As we consider the seriesof NASA's planetaryprobes, the Great Observatories,the
Earth Observing System, the Space StationFreedom, and the internationalsolar exploration
projects,we foresee a rich endowment with large volumes and complexities of scientificand
engineering data. Second, the ease of computer publishing,for betteror worse, has produced
exponentiallyincreasingamounts of documentation, thatmay include texts,schematics,images,
numbers, and even movies for scientificvisualization.Third, software continues to grow in
amounts and varieties,approaching a phenomenon called "software crisis"by lwao Toda,
Executive Vice President of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. in Japan. ( Rcf. IEEE
Software, P. 14, May 1992.)
In order to to assist in the management of this information deluge, a system called HyLIte has
been proposed as a means of sorting, tracking and managing many of the various pieces of
information that when assembled together form the software project. HyLite also expands beyond
the typical project management tool by facilitating the incorporation of hypermedia augmented with
Artificial Intelligence (A.I) techniques to provide even more functionality for the documentation and
presentation of information to the user. This paper introduces the various AI technologies that
have been selected for implementation into HyLite and the various benefits and justifications for
each.
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2.0 HYLITE
The Hypermedia Library Technology is a proposed hypermedia system designed for the
management, access, and presentation of information in a hypermedia format. Within HyLite will
be various tools that will assist the user in the design and implementation of their own hypermedia
application. The user will be able to incorporate video, animation, audio and program examples as
well the normal hypertext functionality normally associated with hypermedia systems. Though
HyLite is still in the conceptual state, a tool which will form the backbone of the system already
exists and is in use today. This tool is the Encyclopedia of Software Components (ESC) [1],
which was specifically designed for software re-engineering and reuse. However, as more
applications are pursued, variations of ESC will developed that are tailored for different application
domains.
2.1 ESC
The ESC (Figure #1) is a hypermedia tool designed to encourage software reuse. To this end,
many of the features of the tool have been designed to assist the user in locating, retrieving, and
browsing for various software artifacts. Much like the encyclopedia metaphor for which the tool is
based, a user browses a software encyclopedia looking for various pieces of information (in this
case software artifacts) that will assist him in his development efforts. The user is presented with
information on each component as he traverses the classification hierarchy. This information
includes such items as language type, hardware and software dependencies, animations, graphical
representations, and even examples of how the software component is called (calling procedure).
All these items allow for the user to arrive at an intelligent decision on whether the software artifact
is useful for his project. When arriving at a component that meets the user's requirements, the user
merely presses a button and the software is automatically retrieved.
It should be noted that the actual software may or may not reside within a local depository.
Therefore, the retrieval mechanism incorporated into the ESC accesses the Internet looking for the
requested software artifact. The ESC knows where the software is located based on information
within the component description which details not only the software's whereabouts, but also the
necessary files needed for the complete package to run. Much of the confusion associated with
software retrieval over the Internet is removed from the user's view which adds a level of ease that
many users would find appealing.
The previous retrieval was based on the use of the graphical user interface (GUI) representation of
an encyclopedia. There also exists within the ESC the ability to execute SQL-like queries on the
database to retrieve software. In this case, this feature is designed for advanced users who know
the specific item(s) or areas to search for. This functionality is the result of the classification
scheme of the ESC (based on semantic networks and frames). A user even has the ability to
rearrange the encyclopedia to reflect a specific area of interest (i.e., show volumes based only on
language, or graphics, etc).
Another feature of the ESC is the abihty to publish new software artifacts as they become available
into the ESC so that other users can become aware of their existence. One of the main
justifications for the ESC has been the ability to facilitate software reuse by making the search
process easier. Therefore, it is imperative that other software artifacts have the capability of
becoming a component or volume within the ESC. The publishing engine of the ESC allows a
user to describe (classify) the software and submit the information for inclusion into the ESC.
One f'mal feature of the ESC is the ability for the user to develop a user specific version of the ESC
that resides on his own hardware. This feature allows the user to create volumes independently on
his own hardware and organize and manage the software independently within the ESC. The ESC
is a self contained software package that will allow a user to change the encyclopedia's contents to
reflect their own interests. Thus, the user can make a personalized version of the ESC.
438
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439
Given all the functionality of the ESC, it is still important that AI techniques are part of the product
so that the software will become even more responsive and flexible for the user. Not only does
this benefit the user, but as the ESC is scaledup to become the HyLite system such flexibility and
power will be necessary in order for the software to be developed into a fully functional
hypermedia authoring/management system.
3.0 INCORPORATION OF AI INTO THE ESC
After the f'ast prototype of the ESC had been completed, research was conducted to determine the
feasibility of incorporating AI into the ESC. It was decided that AI could significantly augment the
ESC in usability and flexibility. As a result, several areas have been selected for a first pass
attempt at inserting different AI tools into the ESC architecture. These areas include navigation
assistance for traversing the hypergraph of components, intelligent searchers and intelligent
searchers (Figure #2). Each of these have been detailed further below.
• Intelligent Retrieval
Currently retrievals must be very specific and based upon predetermined keywords. The
keywords reflect the properties that have been used to classify the software and form the
connections between the differing components in constructing the classification hierarchy.
Thus, the user needs to have a specific idea of the type of artifact needed. In the current
system, this is accomplished by the user typing in a keyword (i.e., domain -
"Applications") or selecting it from a menu of possibilities. This constraint of keyword
driven retrieval needs to be eliminated and a more flexible format adopted.
In response to this problem, it has been suggested that along with the property-component
network, there should exist a mechanism for the representation of relationship between
properties and components. This would allow a means for intelligent retrievals to occur
since the processing engine would be able to infer from the relationships. For instance, a
request for Green's Theorem might yield no components from retrieval using the normal
keyword search. With the relationship network, the retrieval might suggest other calculus
solutions that are approximate to Green's Theorem.
• Browsing Assistance
There will be many sessions with the ESC for which the user does not have the context for
the desired component. That is, the user is searching blindly for components or even
merely casually browsing for anything interesting. To this end, it has been suggested that
the creation of a database of user sessions be maintained. From this database, it would be
possible for new users to quickly discover relevant components since these paths will have
been identified. One possible scenario is one in which a screen pops open displaying a
possible candidate at the end of the search path the user is currently navigating. The
candidate represents a component that has had multiple visits from other users which
translates to a high probability asthe object of the user's search.
Another application is specialized sessions based on user login. For instance, if user John
Doe consistently browses through the algorithms book of the ESC, then the learning
mechanism of the ESC should record this information such that the algorithm book
automatically opens for the user as he signs in. Not only does this translate into ease of use
for the user, but shows how the system is capable of becoming more responsive to the
individual users.
440
• Intelligent Spelling Correction
Spelling errors axe a natural phenomena that occur when people interact with a computer.
The ESC should be able to correct for common types of spelling mistakes in the context in
which they occur. That is if a request is made to retrieve an algorithm for sorting vectors
and the word vectors is spelled wrong, then the algorithm should only look for words that
are data types that can be sorted. The problem is difficult due to the fact there will be
hundreds of thousands of words known by the system. As a result, a spelling correction
algorithm cannot iterate over the entire set in a feasible amount of time. In order to delimit
the size of the lexicon to be searched, the spelling corrector needs to take into account
knowledge about the objects and actions to be initiated. This knowledge if based upon a
combination of the classification scheme of the components and an analysis of how actions
can be applied to the components (certain items can be sorted, while other items canno0.
• Overly Specific Requests
Another problem that will be frequently encountered is an overly specific retrieval request.
The user may have a specific idea of what is needed and make an appropriate request. The
ESC should be able to process this request not only as a single unit but as sub-sections
also. The resulting information will provide the user with more alternatives rather than
returning an empty retrieval. That is, if a request is made to retrieve an algorithm that
performs a heap sort of two-dimensional arrays and the only algorithm existing within the
ESC can sort one-dimensional arrays, then that algorithm should be retrieved with an
appropriate message from the ESC. The message should state why the alternate component
was retrieved relative to the stated request.
After these tools have been implemented, work is to continue to further research alternate AI
technologies for further expansion of the ESC/HyLite's capabilities.
3. CONCLUSION
It is felt that as HyLite and more specifically the ESC gain wider usage, the use of AI tools will
significantly facilitate the ease of use of the program. These tools will significantly enhance the
retrieval mechanism as well as assist the user in searching for the desired software artifacts.
Additionally, the user will gain assistance in the navigation of the large database associated with the
ESC. As the ESC transitions over to HyLite, the hypermedia authoring and development system
will greatly benefit from AI, also. AI has the potential for incorporation into many differing
aspects of the tool ranging from user interface assistance to intelligent file and memory
management. Further research is needed to evaluate other potential uses, but initial attempts
indicate that the inclusion of AI technology into hypermedia and software engineering tools will
significantly enhance the capabilities and ease-of-use of each.
4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to acknowledge Sheldon Shen for his input in this area from a database perspective.
441
ESC Database of
Properties &
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ESC System
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Database Engine
&
Classification
Scheme
Intelligent
Retrievals
Graphical User Interface
Browser
(Bookshelf Publisher Searcher
Intelligent Spellin!
Correction &
Overly Specific
Requests
Figure 2. AI fusion with ESC Architecture
Navigation
Assistance &
User Configuration
442
2.
.
.
.
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