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Table of Contents

CLIPS APG


Reference Manual


Volume II



XSI/CLIPS Advanced Programming Guide

Version 6.xx , January 2010


The History of CLIPS


The origins of the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) date back to 1984 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. At this time, the Artificial Intelligence Section (now the Software Technology Branch) had developed over a dozen prototype expert systems applications using state of the art hardware and software. However, despite extensive demonstrations of the potential of expert systems, few of these applications were put into regular use. This failure to provide expert systems technology within NASA’s operational computing constraints could largely be traced to the use of LISP as the base language for nearly all expert system software tools at that time. In particular, three problems hindered the use of LISP based expert system tools within NASA: the low availability of LISP on a wide variety of conventional computers, the high cost of state of the art LISP tools and hardware, and the poor integra­tion of LISP with other languages (making embedded applications difficult).


The Artificial Intelligence Section felt that the use of a conventional language, such as C, would eliminate most of these problems, and initially looked to the expert system tool vendors to provide an expert system tool written using a conventional language. Although a number of tool vendors started converting their tools to run in C, the cost of each tool was still very high, most were restricted to a small variety of computers, and the projected availability times were discouraging. To meet all of its needs in a timely and cost effective manner, it became evident that the Artificial Intelligence Section would have to develop its own C based expert system tool.


The prototype version of CLIPS was developed in the spring of 1985 in a little over two months. Particular attention was given to making the tool compatible with expert systems under development at that time by the Artificial Intelligence Section. Thus, the syntax of CLIPS was made to very closely resemble the syntax of a subset of the ART expert system tool developed by Inference Corporation. Although originally modelled from ART, CLIPS was developed entirely without assistance from Inference or access to the ART source code.


The original intent for CLIPS was to gain useful insight and knowledge about the construction of expert system tools and to lay the groundwork for the construction of a replacement tool for the commercial tools currently being used. Version 1.0 demonstrated the feasibility of the project concept. After additional development, it became apparent that CLIPS would be a low cost expert system tool ideal for the purposes of training. Another year of development and internal use went into CLIPS improving its portability, performance, functionality, and supporting documentation. Version 3.0 of CLIPS was made available to groups outside of NASA in the summer of 1986.2


Further enhancements transformed CLIPS from a training tool into a tool useful for the development and delivery of expert systems as well. Versions 4.0 and 4.1 of CLIPS, released respectively in the summer and fall of 1987, featured greatly improved performance, external language integration, and delivery capabilities. Version 4.2 of CLIPS, released in the summer of 1988, was a complete rewrite of CLIPS for code modularity. Also included with this release were an architecture manual providing a detailed description of the CLIPS software architecture and a utility program for aiding in the verification and validation of rule based programs. Version 4.3 of CLIPS, released in the summer of 1989, added still more functionality.


Originally, the primary representation methodology in CLIPS was a forward chaining rule lan­guage based on the Rete algorithm (hence the Production System part of the CLIPS acronym). Version 5.0 of CLIPS, released in the spring of 1991, introduced two new programming paradigms: procedural programming (as found in languages such as C and Ada) and object oriented programming (as found in languages such as the Common Lisp Object System and Smalltalk). The object oriented programming language provided within CLIPS is called the CLIPS Object Oriented Language (COOL). Version 5.1 of CLIPS, released in the fall of 1991, was primarily a software maintenance upgrade required to support the newly developed and/or enhanced X Window, MS DOS, and Macintosh interfaces. Version 6.0 of CLIPS, released in 1993, provided support for the development of modular programs and tight integration between the object-oriented and rule-based programming capabilities of CLIPS. Version 6.1 of CLIPS, released in 1998, removed support for older non-ANSI C Compilers and added support for C++ compilers. Commands to profile the time spent in constructs and user-defined functions were also added.


Because of its portability, extensibility, capabilities, and low cost, CLIPS has received widespread acceptance throughout the government, industry, and academia. The development of CLIPS has helped to improve the ability to deliver expert system technology throughout the public and private sectors for a wide range of applications and diverse computing environments. CLIPS is being used by numerous users throughout the public and private community including: all NASA sites and branches of the mil­itary, numerous federal bureaus, gov­ernment contractors, uni­versities, and many private compa­nies.


CLIPS is now maintained as public domain software by the main program authors who no longer work for NASA. See appendix A of the Basic Programming Guide for information on obtaining CLIPS and support.


CLIPS Version 6.2+


Since version 6.2 CLIPS contains two major enhancements. First, CLIPS now provides a mechanism which allows an embedded application to create multiple environments into which programs can be loaded. Second, an improved Windows 95/98/NT CLIPS interface is now available and the Macintosh CLIPS interface has been enhanced to support MacOS X. For a detailed listing of differences between the 6.x releases of CLIPS, refer to appendix B of the Basic Programming Guide and appendix C of the Advanced Programming Guide.

CLIPS Documentation

Two documents are provided with CLIPS.

The CLIPS Reference Manual which is split into the following parts:

  • Volume I - The Basic Programming Guide, which provides the definitive description of CLIPS syntax and examples of usage.
  • Volume II - The Advanced Programming Guide, which provides detailed discus­sions of the more sophisticated features in CLIPS and is intended for people with extensive programming experience who are using CLIPS for advanced ap­plications.
  • Volume III - The Interfaces Guide, which provides information on machine specific interfaces.
  • The CLIPS User’s Guide which provides an introduction to CLIPS rule based and object oriented programming and is intended for people with little or no expert system experience.

Acknowledgements

As with any large project, CLIPS is the result of the efforts of numerous people. The primary contributors have been: Robert Savely, who conceived the project and provided overall direction and support; Chris Culbert, who managed the project and wrote the original CLIPS Reference Manual; Gary Riley, who designed and developed the rule based portion of CLIPS, co authored the CLIPS Reference Manual, and developed the Macintosh interface for CLIPS; Brian Donnell, who designed and developed the CLIPS Object Oriented Language (COOL) and co authored the CLIPS Reference Manual; Bebe Ly, who developed the X Window interface for CLIPS; Chris Ortiz, who developed the original Windows 95 interface for CLIPS; Dr. Joseph Giarratano of the University of Houston-Clear Lake, who wrote the CLIPS User’s Guide; and Frank Lopez, who designed and developed CLIPS version 1.0 and wrote the CLIPS 1.0 User's Guide.


Many other individuals contributed to the design, development, review, and general support of CLIPS, including: Jack Aldridge, Carla Armstrong, Paul Baffes, Ann Baker, Stephen Baudendistel, Les Berke, Tom Blinn, Marlon Boarnet, Dan Bochsler, Bob Brown, Barry Cameron, Tim Cleghorn, Major Paul Condit, Major Steve Cross, Andy Cunningham, Dan Danley, Mark Engelberg, Kirt Fields, Ken Freeman, Kevin Greiner, Ervin Grice, Sharon Hecht, Patti Herrick, Mark Hoffman, Grace Hua, Gordon Johnson, Phillip Johnston, Sam Juliano, Ed Lineberry, Bowen Loftin, Linda Martin, Daniel McCoy, Terry McGregor, Becky McGuire, Scott Meadows, C. J. Melebeck, Paul Mitchell, Steve Mueller, Bill Paseman, Cynthia Rathjen, Eric Raymond, Reza Razavipour, Marsha Renals, Monica Rua, Tim Saito, Michael Sullivan, Gregg Swietek, Eric Taylor, James Villarreal, Lui Wang, Bob Way, Jim Wescott, Charlie Wheeler, and Wes White.

Section 1   Introduction

This manual is the Advanced Programming Guide for CLIPS. It is intended for users interested in the more sophisticated features of CLIPS. It is written with the assump­tion that the user has a complete understanding of the basic features of CLIPS and a back­ground in program­ming. Many sections will not be understandable without a working knowledge of C. Knowledge of other languages also may be helpful. The informa­tion presented here will require some experience to understand, but every effort has been made to implement capabilities in a simple manner consistent with the portability and efficiency goals of CLIPS.


Section 2 describes how to install and tailor CLIPS to meet specific needs. Section 3 of this document describes how to add user defined functions to a CLIPS expert system. Section 4 describes how to embed a CLIPS application in a C program. Section 5 describes how to create run time CLIPS programs. Section 6 dis­cusses integrating CLIPS with languages other than C. Section 7 details the input/ output (I/O) router system used by CLIPS and how the user can define his own I/O routers. Section 8 discusses CLIPS memory management.


Not all of the features documented here will be of use to all users. Users should pick those areas which are of specific use to them. It is advised that users complete the Basic Programming Guide before reading this manual.

1.1 Warning About Interfacing With CLIPS

CLIPS provides numerous methods for integrating with user defined code. As with any powerful capability, some care must be taken when using these features. By providing users with the ability to access internal information, we have also opened the door to the possibility of users corrupting or destroying data that CLIPS needs to work prop­erly. Users are advised to be careful when dealing with data structures or strings which are returned from calls to CLIPS functions. Generally, these data structures represent useful information to CLIPS and should not be modified or changed in any way except as described in this manual. A good rule of thumb is to duplicate in user-defined stor­age space every piece of information taken out of or passed into CLIPS. In particular, do not store pointers to strings returned by CLIPS as part of a permanent data structure. When CLIPS performs garbage collection on symbols and strings, the pointer reference to the string may be rendered invalid. To store a permanent reference to a string, allocate storage for a copy of the string and then copy the string returned by CLIPS to the copy’s storage area.

1.2 C++ Compatibility

The CLIPS source code can now be compiled using either an ANSI C or C++ compiler. Minimally, non-ANSI C compilers must support full ANSI style function prototypes and the void data type in order to compile CLIPS.

Section 2   Installing and Tailoring CLIPS

This section describes how to install and tailor CLIPS to meet specific needs.

2.1 Installing CLIPS

CLIPS executables for DOS, Windows 95/98/NT, and MacOS are available for download from the internet. See Appendix A in the Basic Programming Guide for details. To tailor CLIPS or to install it on another machine, the user must port the source code and create a new executable version.


Testing of CLIPS 6.20 included the following hardware/software environments:


• HP Pavilion running Windows 98 with DJGPP v2.01 (for creating 32-bit protected mode DOS applications), Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0, Borland C++ v5.0, and CodeWarrior Professional Release 4.


• PowerMac G3 running MacOS X.1 using Xtools 1.04p1 and CodeWarrior Professional Release 7.


CLIPS was designed specifically for portability and has been installed on numerous other computers without making modifications to the source code. It should run on any system which supports an ANSI C or C++ compiler. Some compilers have extended syntax to support a particular platform which will add additional reserved words to the C language. In the event that this extended syntax conflicts with the CLIPS source, the user will have to edit the code. This usually only involves a global search-and-replace of the particular reserved word. The following steps de­scribe how to create a new executable version of CLIPS:


1) Load the source code onto the user's system

The following C source files are necessary to set up the basic CLIPS system:


* agenda.h dffnxpsr.h immthpsr.h prcdrfun.h analysis.h dfinsbin.h incrrset.h prcdrpsr.h argacces.h dfinscmp.h inherpsr.h prdctfun.h bload.h drive.h inscom.h prntutil.h bmathfun.h ed.h insfile.h proflfun.h bsave.h emathfun.h insfun.h reorder.h classcom.h engine.h insmngr.h reteutil.h classexm.h envrnmnt.h insmoddp.h retract.h classfun.h evaluatn.h insmult.h router.h classinf.h expressn.h inspsr.h rulebin.h classini.h exprnbin.h insquery.h rulebld.h classpsr.h exprnops.h insqypsr.h rulebsc.h clips.h exprnpsr.h iofun.h rulecmp.h clsltpsr.h extnfunc.h lgcldpnd.h rulecom.h cmptblty.h extobj.h match.h rulecstr.h commline.h factbin.h memalloc.h ruledef.h conscomp.h factbld.h miscfun.h ruledlt.h constant.h factcmp.h modulbin.h rulelhs.h constrct.h factcom.h modulbsc.h rulepsr.h constrnt.h factfun.h modulcmp.h scanner.h crstrtgy.h factgen.h moduldef.h setup.h cstrcbin.h facthsh.h modulpsr.h shrtlnkn.h cstrccmp.h factlhs.h modulutl.h sortfun.h cstrccom.h factmch.h msgcom.h strngfun.h cstrcpsr.h factmngr.h msgfun.h strngrtr.h cstrnbin.h factprt.h msgpass.h symblbin.h cstrnchk.h factrete.h msgpsr.h symblcmp.h cstrncmp.h factrhs.h multifld.h symbol.h cstrnops.h filecom.h multifun.h sysdep.h cstrnpsr.h filertr.h network.h textpro.h cstrnutl.h generate.h objbin.h tmpltbin.h default.h genrcbin.h objcmp.h tmpltbsc.h defins.h genrccmp.h object.h tmpltcmp.h developr.h genrccom.h objrtbin.h tmpltdef.h dffctbin.h genrcexe.h objrtbld.h tmpltfun.h dffctbsc.h genrcfun.h objrtcmp.h tmpltlhs.h dffctcmp.h genrcpsr.h objrtfnx.h tmpltpsr.h dffctdef.h globlbin.h objrtgen.h tmpltrhs.h dffctpsr.h globlbsc.h objrtmch.h tmpltutl.h dffnxbin.h globlcmp.h parsefun.h userdata.h dffnxcmp.h globlcom.h pattern.h utility.h dffnxexe.h globldef.h pprint.h watch.h dffnxfun.h globlpsr.h prccode.h


* agenda.c drive.c globlpsr.c prcdrfun.c analysis.c edbasic.c immthpsr.c prcdrpsr.c argacces.c edmain.c incrrset.c prdctfun.c bload.c edmisc.c inherpsr.c prntutil.c bmathfun.c edstruct.c inscom.c proflfun.c bsave.c edterm.c insfile.c reorder.c classcom.c emathfun.c insfun.c reteutil.c classexm.c engine.c insmngr.c retract.c classfun.c envrnmnt.c insmoddp.c router.c classinf.c evaluatn.c insmult.c rulebin.c classini.c expressn.c inspsr.c rulebld.c classpsr.c exprnbin.c insquery.c rulebsc.c clsltpsr.c exprnops.c insqypsr.c rulecmp.c commline.c exprnpsr.c iofun.c rulecom.c conscomp.c extnfunc.c lgcldpnd.c rulecstr.c constrct.c factbin.c main.c ruledef.c constrnt.c factbld.c memalloc.c ruledlt.c crstrtgy.c factcmp.c miscfun.c rulelhs.c cstrcbin.c factcom.c modulbin.c rulepsr.c cstrccom.c factfun.c modulbsc.c scanner.c cstrcpsr.c factgen.c modulcmp.c sortfun.c cstrnbin.c facthsh.c moduldef.c strngfun.c cstrnchk.c factlhs.c modulpsr.c strngrtr.c cstrncmp.c factmch.c modulutl.c symblbin.c cstrnops.c factmngr.c msgcom.c symblcmp.c cstrnpsr.c factprt.c msgfun.c symbol.c cstrnutl.c factrete.c msgpass.c sysdep.c default.c factrhs.c msgpsr.c textpro.c defins.c filecom.c multifld.c tmpltbin.c developr.c filertr.c multifun.c tmpltbsc.c dffctbin.c generate.c objbin.c tmpltcmp.c dffctbsc.c genrcbin.c objcmp.c tmpltdef.c dffctcmp.c genrccmp.c objrtbin.c tmpltfun.c dffctdef.c genrccom.c objrtbld.c tmpltlhs.c dffctpsr.c genrcexe.c objrtcmp.c tmpltpsr.c dffnxbin.c genrcfun.c objrtfnx.c tmpltrhs.c dffnxcmp.c genrcpsr.c objrtgen.c tmpltutl.c dffnxexe.c globlbin.c objrtmch.c userdata.c dffnxfun.c globlbsc.c parsefun.c utility.c dffnxpsr.c globlcmp.c pattern.c watch.c dfinsbin.c globlcom.c pprint.c
dfinscmp.c globldef.c prccode.c


Additional files must also be included if one of the machine specific user interfaces is to be set up. See the Utilities and Interfaces Guide for details on compiling the machine specific interfaces.


2) Modify all include statements (if necessary)

All of the “.c” files and most of the “.h” files have #include statements. These #include statements may have to be changed to either match the way the compiler searches for include files or to include a different “.h” file.


3) Tailor CLIPS environment and/or features

Edit the setup.h file and set any special options. CLIPS uses compiler directives to allow machine dependent features. The first flag in the setup.h file tells CLIPS on what kind of machine the code is being compiled. The default setting for this flag is GENERIC, which will create a ver­sion of CLIPS that will run on any computer. The user may set this flag for the user’s type of system. If the system type is unknown, the first flag should be set to GENERIC. If you change the system type to anything other than GENERIC, make sure that the version number of your compiler is greater than or equal to the version number listed in the setup.h file (as earlier versions of a compiler may not support some system dependent features). Other flags in the setup.h file also allow a user to tailor the features in CLIPS to specific needs. For more information on using the flags, see section 2.2


4) Compile all of the “.c” files to object code

Use the standard compiler syntax for the user's machine. The “.h” files are include files used by the other files and do not need to be com­piled. Some options may have to be set, depending on the compiler.


If user de­fined functions are needed, compile the source code for those functions as well and modify the UserFunctions definition in main.c to reflect the user's functions (see section 3 for more on user defined functions).


5) Create the interactive CLIPS executable element

To create the interactive CLIPS executable, link together all of the object files. This executable will provide the interactive interface defined in section 2.1 of the Basic Programming Guide.

2.1.1 Additional Considerations

Although compiling CLIPS should not be difficult even for inexperienced C program­mers, some non-obvious problems can occur. One type of problem is linking with inappropriate system libraries. Normally, default libraries are specified through the envi­ronment; i.e., not specified as a part of the compile/link process. On occasion, the default system libraries are inappropriate for use with CLIPS. For example, when using a compiler which supports different memory models, be sure to link with the system libraries that match the memory model under which the CLIPS code was compiled. The same can be said for floating point models. Some computers provide multiple ways of storing floating point numbers (typically differing in accuracy or speed of proc­essing). Be sure to link with system libraries that use the same storage formats with which the CLIPS code was compiled. Some additional considerations for compiling CLIPS with specific compilers and/or operating systems are described following.


DJGPP v2.01

The CLIPS 32 bit DOS executable for 386 or higher PCs was created using the free DJGPP C compiler. This executable can access memory beyond the DOS 640K limit, but your environment must have DMPI services available in order to run this executable. If you are running Windows 3.1, Windows 95, or OS/2, DPMI services are provided for you.


The built-in MicroEMACS editor will not work with this compiler, so the EMACS_EDITOR compiler directive in setup.h should be set to 0. With the compiler installed, the following command will compile CLIPS


gcc -o clipsdos *.c -lm

UNIX

If the EX_MATH compiler directive is enabled, then the -lm option must be used when compiling CLIPS with the gcc command. Similary, if the EMACS_EDITOR compiler directive is enabled, the -ltermcap option must be used when compiling CLIPS. If all of the CLIPS source code is contained in the same directory and the compiler directives are set to their default values in the setup.h file, then the following command line will compile CLIPS


gcc -o clips *.c -lm -ltermcap

2.2 Tailoring CLIPS

CLIPS makes use of compiler directives to allow easier porting and recompiling of CLIPS. Compiler directives allow the incorporation of system dependent features into CLIPS and also make it easier to tailor CLIPS to specific applications. All avail­able compiler options are controlled by a set of flags defined in the setup.h file.


The first flag in setup.h indicates on what type of compiler/machine CLIPS is to run. The source code is sent out with the flag for GENERIC CLIPS turned on. When com­piled in this mode, all system dependent features of CLIPS are excluded and the program should run on any system. A number of other flags are available in this file, indi­cating the types of compilers/machines on which CLIPS has been compiled previ­ously. If the user's implementation matches one of the available flags, set that flag to 1 and turn the GENERIC flag off (set it to 0). The code for most of the features controlled by the compil­er/machine type flag is in the sysdep.c file.


Many other flags are provided in setup.h. Each flag is described below.


ALLOW_ENVIRONMENT_GLOBALS

If this flag is on, then global variables are used to track the current environment and environment indices. If this flag is off, then no global variables are used by CLIPS. If this is disabled, then ENVIRONMENT_API_ONLY will be automatically enabled and EMACS_EDITOR will be automatically disabled. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

AUXILIARY_MESSAGE_HANDLERS

; This flag determines if before and after message handlers are available for use in object message dispatch. These handler types enhance declarative control over the message dispatch (see section 9.4.3 of the Basic Programming Guide). This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory and marginally increase the speed of the message dispatch.

BASIC_IO This flag controls access to the basic I/O functions in CLIPS. These functions are printout, read, open, and close. If this flag is off, these functions are not available. This would be used to save some memory in systems which used custom I/O routines. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

BLOAD This flag controls access to the binary load command (bload). This would be used to save some memory in systems which require binary load but not save capability. This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

BLOAD_AND_BSAVE

This flag controls access to the binary load and save commands. This would be used to save some memory in systems which require neither binary load nor binary save capability. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

BLOAD_INSTANCES

; This flag controls the ability to load instances in binary format from a file via the bload instances command (see section 13.11.4.7 of the Basic Programming Guide). This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory.

BLOAD_ONLY This flag controls access to the binary and ASCII load commands (bload and load). This would be used to save some memory in systems which require binary load capability only. This flag is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

BLOCK_MEMORY This option controls memory allocation. If the flag is on, memory is allocated from the operating system in large blocks. This can improve performance if the system memory allocation routines are extremely inefficient or place arbitrary restrictions on the number of memory allocations that can be made. This flag is off in the stan­dard CLIPS executable.

BSAVE_INSTANCES

; This flag controls the ability to save instances in binary format to a file via the bsave instances command (see section 13.11.4.4 of the Basic Programming Guide). This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory.

CONFLICT_RESOLUTION_STRATEGIES

This flag controls the availability of conflict resolution strategies (see sections 5.2 and 5.3 of the Basic Programming Guide) for use with the defrule construct. If it is off, then the depth conflict resolution strategy is the only strategy used and the functions set-strategy and get-strategy are not available. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

CONSTRUCT_COMPILER

This flag controls the construct compiler functions. If it is turned on, constructs may be compiled to C code for use in a run time module (see section 5). This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEBUGGING_FUNCTIONS

This flag controls access to commands such as agenda, facts, ppdefrule, ppdeffacts, etc. This would be used to save some memory in BLOAD_ONLY or RUN_TIME systems. This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFFACTS_CONSTRUCT

This flag controls the use of deffacts. If it is off, deffacts are not allowed which can save some memory and performance during resets. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. If this flag is off, the (initial-fact) fact is still created during a reset if the DEFTEMPLATE_CONSTRUCT flag is on.

DEFFUNCTION_CONSTRUCT

; This flag controls the use of deffunction. If it is off, deffunction is not allowed which can save some memory. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFGENERIC_CONSTRUCT

; This flag controls the use of defgeneric and defmethod. If it is off, defgeneric and defmethod are not allowed which can save some memory. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFGLOBAL_CONSTRUCT

; This flag controls the use of defglobal. If it is off, defglobal is not allowed which can save some memory. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFINSTANCES_CONSTRUCT

This flag controls the use of definstances (see section 9.6.1.1 of the Basic Programming Guide). If it is off, definstances are not allowed which can save some memory and performance during resets. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. If this flag is off, the [initial-object] instance is still created during a reset if the INSTANCE_PATTERN_MATCHING flag is on.

DEFMODULE_CONSTRUCT

; This flag controls the use of the defmodule construct. If it is off, then new defmodules cannot be defined (however the MAIN module will exist). This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFRULE_CONSTRUCT

This flag controls the use of the defrule construct. If it is off, the defrule construct is not recognized by CLIPS. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DEFTEMPLATE_CONSTRUCT

; This flag controls the use of deftemplate. If it is off, deftemplate is not allowed which can save some memory. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

DYNAMIC_SALIENCE

This flag controls the availability of dynamic salience (see sections 5.2 and 5.4.9 of the Basic Programming Guide) for use with the defrule construct. If it is off, then dynamic salience can not be used and the functions refresh-agenda, get-salience-evaluation, and get-salience-evaluation are not available. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

EMACS_EDITOR This flag controls the integrated MicroEMACS editor. If it is turned on, the editor will be available. If it is turned off, the editor will not be available but about 40K of memory will be saved. NOTE: The editor is machine dependent and will not run on all machines. See the setup.h file for a description of which machines can support the editor. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

ENVIRONMENT_API_ONLY

If this flag is on, then the standard embedded functions require their first argument to be a generic pointer to an environment. This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

EX_MATH This flag indicates whether the extend­ed math package should be included in the compilation. If this flag is turned off (set to 0), the final executable will be about 25 30K smaller, a consideration for machines with limited memory. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

EXT_IO This flag controls access to the extended I/O functions in CLIPS. These functions are format and readline. If this flag is off, these functions are not available. This would be used to save some memory in systems which used custom I/O rou­tines or only the basic I/O routines. This is on in the stan­dard CLIPS executable.

HELP_FUNCTIONS If this flag is on, the on line help system will be available from the CLIPS top level interface. When this is turned on, the HELP_DEFAULT flag should be set to point to the full path name for the CLIPS help file. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

IMPERATIVE_MESSAGE_HANDLERS

; This flag determines if around message handlers and the following functions are available for use in object message dispatch: next handlerp, call next handler and override next handler. These functions allow imperative control over the message dispatch by calling shadowed message handlers (see section 9.5.3 of the Basic Programming Guide). This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory and marginally increase the speed of the message dispatch.

IMPERATIVE_METHODS

; This flag determines if the following functions are available for use in generic function methods: next methodp, call next method, override next method and call specific method. These functions allow imperative control over the generic dispatch by calling shadowed methods (see section 8.5.3 of the Basic Programming Guide). This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory and marginally increase the speed of the generic dispatch.

INCREMENTAL_RESET

This flag controls the availability of incremental reset (see sections 5.1 and 12.1.7 of the Basic Programming Guide) for use with the defrule construct. If it is off, then newly defined rules are not aware of facts or instances that were created before the rule was defined. In addition, the functions set-incremental-reset and get-incremental-reset are not available if this flag is off. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

INSTANCE_SET_QUERIES

; This flag determines if the instance set query functions are available. These functions are any instancep, do for instance, do for all instances, delayed do for all instances,, find instance, and find all instances,. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory.

INSTANCE_PATTERN_MATCHING

; This flag controls the ability to include object patterns on the LHS of rules (see section 5.4.1.8 of the Basic Programming Guide). This is on in the standard CLIPS executable. Turning this flag off can save some memory.

LOGICAL_DEPENDENCIES

This flag controls the availability of logical dependencies (see section 5.4.8 of the Basic Programming Guide) for use with the defrule construct. If it is off, then the logical CE cannot be used on the LHS of a rule and the functions dependencies and dependents are not available. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

MULTIFIELD_FUNCTIONS

This flag controls access to the multifield manipulation func­tions in CLIPS. These functions are subseq$, delete$, insert$, replace$, explode$, implode$, nth$, member$, first$, rest$, progn$, and subsetp. The function create$ is always available regardless of the setting of this flag. This would be used to save some memory in systems which performed limited or no operations with multifield values. This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

OBJECT_SYSTEM

; This flag controls the use of defclass, definstances, and defmessage-handler. If it is off, these constructs are not allowed which can save some memory. If this flag is on, the MULTIFIELD_FUNCTIONS flag should also be on if you want to be able to manipulate multifield slots. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

PROFILING_FUNCTIONS

This flag controls access to the profiling func­tions in CLIPS. These functions are get-profile-percent-threshold, profile, profile-info, profile-reset, and set-profile-percent-threshold. This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

RUN_TIME This flag will create a run time version of CLIPS for use with compiled constructs. It should be turned on only after the constructs-to-c function has been used to generate the C code representation of the constructs, but before compiling the constructs C code. When used, about 90K of memory can be saved from the basic CLIPS executable. See section 5 for a de­scription of how to use this. This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

SHORT_LINK_NAMES

ANSI C compilers must be able to distinguish between identifiers which use at least 31 significant characters. Some linkers, however, use considerably fewer characters when determining name conflicts (potentially as few as 6 characters). If this flag is on, then identifiers which cannot be uniquely distinguished within 6 characters are replaced with alternate names that are distinguishable with 6 characters. This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.

STRING_FUNCTIONS

This flag controls access to the string manipulation functions in CLIPS. These functions are str-cat, sym-cat, str length, str compare, upcase, lowcase, sub string, str index, eval, and build. This would be used to save some memory in systems which perform limited or no operations with strings. This flag is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

TEXTPRO_FUNCTIONS
This flag controls the CLIPS text-processing functions. It must be turned on to use the fetch,toss, and print-region functions in a user defined help system. It also must be turned on to use the on line help system. This is on in the standard CLIPS executable.

WINDOW_INTERFACE

This flag indicates that a windowed interface is being used. In some cases, this may include CLIPS console applications (for example Win32 console applications as opposed to a DOS application). Currently, the help system uses this flag to determine whether it should handle more processing by itself or allow the interface to take care of more processing. This is off in the standard CLIPS executable.



Section 3   Integrating CLIPS with External Functions

One of the most important features of CLIPS is an ability to integrate CLIPS with external functions or applications. This section discusses how to add external functions to CLIPS and how to pass arguments to them and return values from them. A user can define external functions for use by CLIPS at any place a function can normally be called. In fact, the vast majority of system defined functions and commands provided by CLIPS are integrated with CLIPS in the exact same manner described in this section. The examples shown in this section are in C, but section 6 discusses how other languages can be com­bined with CLIPS. Prototypes for the functions listed in this section can be included by using the clips.h header file.

3.1 Declaring User Defined External Functions

All external func­tions must be described to CLIPS so they can be properly accessed by CLIPS programs. User defined functions are described to CLIPS by modifying the function UserFunctions. This function is initially in the CLIPS main.c file and may be modified there or moved to a user's file. Within UserFunctions, a call should be made to the DefineFunction rou­tine for every function which is to be integrated with CLIPS. The user's source code then can be compiled and linked with CLIPS.


int DefineFunction(functionName,functionType,

functionPointer,actualFunctionName);

char *functionName, functionType, *actualFunctionName;

int (*functionPointer)();

An example UserFunctions declaration follows:


UserFunctions()
{

/*========================================*/

/* Declare your C functions if necessary. */

/*========================================*/


extern double rta();

extern void *dummy();


/*=========================================================*/

/* Call DefineFunction to register user-defined functions. */

/*=========================================================*/


DefineFunction(“rta”,'d',PTIF rta,“rta”);
DefineFunction(“mul”,'l',PTIF mul,“mul”);
}

The first argument to DefineFunction is the CLIPS function name, a string representation of the name that will be used when calling the function from within CLIPS.


The second argument is the type of the value which will be returned to CLIPS. Note that this is not necessarily the same as the function type. Allowable return types are shown as follows:


| Return Code | Return Type Expected |

a External Address
b Boolean
c Character
d Double Precision Float
f Single Precision Float
i Integer
j Unknown Data Type (Symbol, String, or Instance Name Expected)
k Unknown Data Type (Symbol or String Expected)
l Long Integer
m Multifield
n Unknown Data Type (Integer or Float Expected)
o Instance Name
s String
u Unknown Data Type (Any Type Expected)
v Void—No Return Value
w Symbol
x Instance Address


Boolean functions should return a value of type int (0 for the symbol FALSE and any other value for the symbol TRUE). String, symbol, instance name, external address, and instance address functions should return a pointer of type void *. Character return values are converted by CLIPS to a symbol of length one. Integer return values are converted by CLIPS to long integers for internal storage. Single precision float values are converted by CLIPS to double precision float values for internal storage. If a user function is not going to return a value to CLIPS, the func­tion should be defined as type void and this argument should be v for void. Return types o and x are only available if the object system has been enabled (see section 2.2).


Function types j, k, m, n, and u are all passed a data object as an argument in which the return value of function is stored. This allows a user defined function to return one of several possible return types. Function type u is the most general and can return any data type. By convention, function types j, k, m, and n return specific data types. CLIPS will signal an error if one of these functions return a disallowed type. See section 3.3.4 for more details on returning unknown data types.

The third argument is a pointer to the actual function, the compiled function name (an extern declaration of the function may be appropriate). The CLIPS name (first argu­ment) need not be the same as the actual function name (third argument). The macro identifier PTIF can be placed in front of a function name to cast it as a pointer to a function returning an integer (primarily to prevent warnings from compilers which allow function prototypes).


The fourth argument is a string representation of the third argument (the pointer to the actual C function). This name should be identical to the third argument, but enclosed in quotation marks.


DefineFunction returns zero if the function was unsuccessfully called (e.g. bad function type parameter), otherwise a non zero value is returned.


User defined functions are searched before system functions. If the user defines a function which is the same as one of the defined functions already provided, the user function will be executed in its place. Appendix A of the Basic Programming Guide contains a list of function names used by CLIPS.


In place of DefineFunction, the DefineFunction2 function can be used to provide additional information to CLIPS about the number and types of arguments expected by a CLIPS function or command.


int DefineFunction2(functionName,functionType,

functionPointer,actualFunctionName,

functionRestrictions);


char *functionName, functionType, *actualFunctionName;

int (*functionPointer)();

char *functionRestrictions


The first four arguments to DefineFunction2 are identical to the four arguments for DefineFunction. The fifth argument is a restriction string which indicates the number and types of arguments that the CLIPS function expects. The syntax format for the restriction string is


<min-args> <max-args> [<default-type> <types>*]


The values <min-args> and <max-args> must be specified in the string. Both values must either be a character digit (0-9) or the character *. A digit specified for <min-args> indicates that the function must have at least <min-args> arguments when called. The character * for this value indicates that the function does not require a minimum number of arguments. A digit specified for <max-args> indicates that the function must have no more than <max-args> arguments when called. The character * for this value indicates that the function does not prohibit a maximum number of arguments. The optional <default-type> is the assumed type for each argument for a function call. Following the <default-type>, additional type values may be supplied to indicate specific type values for each argument. The type codes for the arguments are as follows:





| Type Code | Allowed Types |

a External Address
d Float
e Instance Address, Instance Name, or Symbol
f Float
g Integer, Float, or Symbol
h Instance Address, Instance Name, Fact Address, Integer, or Symbol
i Integer
j Symbol, String, or Instance Name
k Symbol or String
l Integer
m Multifield
n Integer or Float
o Instance Name
p Instance Name or Symbol
q Symbol, String, or Multifield
s String
u Any Data Type
w Symbol
x Instance Address
y Fact Address
z Fact address, Integer, or Symbol


Examples

The restriction string for a function requiring a minimum of three arguments is:


“3*”


The restriction string for a function requiring no more than five arguments is:


“*5”


The restriction string for a function requiring at least three and no more than five arguments (each of which must be an integer or float) is:


“35n”


The restriction string for a function requiring exactly six arguments (of which the first must be a string, the third an integer, and the remaining arguments floats) is:


“66fsui”

3.2 Passing Arguments from CLIPS to External Func­tions

Although arguments are listed directly following a function name within a function call, CLIPS actually calls the function without any arguments. The arguments are stored internally by CLIPS and can be accessed by calling the argument access functions. Access functions are provided to determine both the number and types of arguments.

3.2.1 Determining the Number of Passed Arguments

User-defined functions should first determine that they have been passed the correct number of arguments. Several functions are provided for this purpose.


int RtnArgCount();
int ArgCountCheck(functionName,restriction,count);
int ArgRangeCheck(functionName,min,max);


int restriction, count, min, max;
char *functionName;

A call to RtnArgCount will return an integer telling how many arguments with which the function was called. The function ArgCountCheck can be used for error checking if a function expects a minimum, maximum, or exact number of arguments (but not a combination of these restrictions). It returns an integer telling how many arguments with which the function was called (or -1 if the argument restriction for the function was unsatisfied). The first argument is the name of the function to be printed within the error message if the restriction is unsatisfied. The restriction argument should be one of the values NO_MORE_THAN, AT_LEAST, or EXACTLY. The count argument should contain a value for the number of arguments to be used in the restriction test. The function ArgRangeCheck can be used for error checking if a function expects a range of arguments. It returns an integer telling how many arguments with which the function was called (or -1 if the argument restriction for the function was unsatisfied). The first argument is the name of the function to be printed within the error message if the restriction is unsatisfied. The second argument is the minimum number of arguments and the third argument is the maximum number of arguments.

3.2.2 Passing Symbols, Strings, Instance Names, Floats, and Integers

Several access functions are provided to retrieve arguments that are symbols, strings, instance names, floats, and integers.


char *RtnLexeme(argumentPosition);
double RtnDouble(argumentPosition);
long RtnLong(argumentPosition);

int argumentPosition;


A call to RtnLexeme returns a character pointer from either a symbol, string;, or instance name data type (NULL is returned if the type is not SYMBOL, STRING, or INSTANCE_NAME), RtnDouble returns a floating point number from either an INTEGER or FLOAT data type, and RtnLong returns a long integer from either an INTEGER or FLOAT data type. The arguments have to be requested one at a time by specify­ing each argument’s position number as the argumentPosition to RtnLexeme, RtnDouble, or RtnLong. If the type of argu­ment is unknown, another function can be called to determine the type. See section 3.2.3 for a further discussion of unknown argument types. Do not store the pointer returned by RtnLexeme as part of a permanent data structure. When CLIPS performs garbage collection on symbols and strings, the pointer reference to the string may be rendered invalid. To store a permanent reference to a string, allocate storage for a copy of the string and then copy the string returned by RtnLexeme to the copy’s storage area.

Example

The following code is for a function to be called from CLIPS called rta which will return the area of a right triangle.


/* This include definition */
#include “clips.h” /* should start each file which */
/* has CLIPS functions in it */


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“rta”,'d',PTIF rta,“rta”,“22n”);

*/

double rta()

{

double base, height;


/*==================================*/

/* Check for exactly two arguments. */

/*==================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“rta”,EXACTLY,2) == -1) return(-1.0);


/*===============================================*/

/* Get the values for the 1st and 2nd arguments. */

/*===============================================*/


base = RtnDouble(1);

height = RtnDouble(2);


/*==================================*/

/* Return the area of the triangle. */

/*==================================*/


return(0.5 * base * height);

}


As previ­ously shown, rta also should be defined in UserFunctions. If the value passed from CLIPS is not the data type ex­pected, an error occurs. Section 3.2.3 describes a method for testing the data type of the passed arguments which would allow user-defined functions to do their own error handling. Once compiled and linked with CLIPS, the function rta could be called as shown following.


CLIPS> (rta 5.0 10.0)

25.0

CLIPS> (assert (right-triangle-area (rta 20.0 10.0)))

CLIPS> (facts)

f-0 (right-triangle-area 100.0)

For a total of 1 fact.

CLIPS>

3.2.3 Passing Unknown Data Types

Section 3.2.2 described how to pass data to and from CLIPS when the type of data is explicitly known. It also is possible to pass parameters of an unknown data type to and from external functions. To pass an unknown parameter to an external function, use the RtnUnknown function.


#include “clips.h” /* or “evaluatn.h” */

DATA_OBJECT *RtnUnknown(argumentPosition, &argument);

int GetType(argument);
int GetpType(&argument);

int ArgTypeCheck(char *,argumentPosition,

expectedType,&argument);

char *DOToString(argument);
char *DOPToString(&argument);
double DOToDouble(argument);
double DOPToDouble(&argument);
float DOToFloat(argument);
float DOPToFloat(&argument);
long DOToLong(argument);
long DOPToLong(&argument);
int DOToInteger(argument);
int DOPToInteger(&argument);
void *DOToPointer(argument);
void *DOPToPointer(&argument);

int argumentPosition, expectedType;
DATA_OBJECT argument;


Function RtnUnknown should be called first. It copies the elements of the internal CLIPS structure that represent the unknown type argument into the DATA_OBJECT structure pointed to by the second argument. It also returns a pointer to that same structure, passed as the second argument. After ob­taining a pointer to the DATA_OBJECT structure, a number of macros can be used to extract type information and the arguments value.


Macros GetType or GetpType can be used to determine the type of argument and will return an integer (STRING, SYMBOL, FLOAT, INTEGER, MULTIFIELD, INSTANCE_ADDRESS, INSTANCE_NAME, or EXTERNAL_ADDRESS) defined in the clips.h file. Once the data type is known, the functions DOToDouble, DOPToDouble, DOToFloat, or DOPToFloat (for FLOAT), DOToString,or DOPToString (for STRING, SYMBOL, or INSTANCE_NAME), DOToLong, DOPToLong, DOToInteger,or DOPToInteger (for INTEGER), and DOToPointer and DOPToPointer (for INSTANCE_ADDRESS and EXTERNAL_ADDRESS) can be used to extract the actual value of the variable from the DATA_OBJECT structure. Accessing multifield values is discussed in section 3.2.4. Do not store the pointer returned by DOToString or DOPToString as part of a permanent data structure. When CLIPS performs garbage collection on symbols and strings, the pointer reference to the string may be rendered invalid. To store a permanent reference to a string, allocate storage for a copy of the string and then copy the string returned by DOToString or DOPToString to the copy’s storage area.


The function ArgTypeCheck can be used for error checking if a function expects a specific type of argument for a particular parameter. It returns a non-zero integer value if the parameter was of the specified type, otherwise it returns zero. The first argument is the name of the function to be printed within the error message if the type restriction is unsatisfied. The second argument is the index of the parameter to be tested. The third argument is the type restriction and must be one of the following CLIPS defined constants: STRING, SYMBOL, SYMBOL_OR_STRING, FLOAT, INTEGER, INTEGER_OR_FLOAT, MULTIFIELD, EXTERNAL_ADDRESS, INSTANCE_ADDRESS, INSTANCE_NAME, or INSTANCE_OR_INSTANCE_NAME. If the FLOAT type restriction is used, then integer values will be converted to floating point numbers. If the INTEGER type restriction is used, then floating point values will be converted to integers. The fourth argument is a pointer to a DATA_OBJECT structure in which the unknown parameter will be stored.

Example

The following function mul takes two arguments from CLIPS. Each argument should be either an integer or a float. Float arguments are rounded and converted to the nearest integer. Once converted, the two arguments are multiplied together and this value is returned. If an error occurs (wrong type or number of arguments), then the value 1 is returned.


#include <math.h> /* ANSI C library header file */

#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“mul”,'l',PTIF mul,“mul”,“22n”);

*/


long mul()

{

DATA_OBJECT temp;

long firstNumber, secondNumber;

/*==================================*/

/* Check for exactly two arguments. */

/*==================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“mul”,EXACTLY,2) == -1)

{ return(1L); }


/*=========================================================*/

/* Get the first argument using the ArgTypeCheck function. */

/* Return if the correct type has not been passed. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“mul”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,&temp) == 0)

{ return(1L); }


/*===========================================================*/

/* Convert the first argument to a long integer. If it's not */

/* an integer, then it must be a float (so round it to the */

/* nearest integer using the C library ceil function. */

/*===========================================================*/


if (GetType(temp) == INTEGER)

{ firstNumber = DOToLong(temp); }

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{ firstNumber = (long) ceil(DOToDouble(temp) - 0.5); }


/*========================================================*/

/* Get the second argument using the RtnUnknown function. */

/* Note that no type error checking is performed. */

/*========================================================*/

RtnUnknown(2,&temp);


/*=========================================================*/

/* Convert the second argument to a long integer. If it's */

/* not an integer or a float, then it's the wrong type. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (GetType(temp) == INTEGER)

{ secondNumber = DOToLong(temp); }

else if (GetType(temp) == FLOAT)

{ secondNumber = (long) ceil(DOToDouble(temp) - 0.5); }

else

{ return(1L); }


/*=========================================================*/

/* Multiply the two values together and return the result. */

/*=========================================================*/


return (firstNumber * secondNumber);

}


Once compiled and linked with CLIPS, the function mul could be called as shown following.


CLIPS> (mul 3 3)

9

CLIPS> (mul 3.1 3.1)

9

CLIPS> (mul 3.8 3.1)

12

CLIPS> (mul 3.8 4.2)

16

CLIPS>

3.2.4 Passing Multifield Values

Data passed from CLIPS to an external function may be stored in multifield values. To access a multifield value, the user first must call RtnUnknown or ArgTypeCheck to get the pointer. If the argument is of type MULTIFIELD, several macros can be used to access the values of the multifield value.


#include “clips.h” /* or “evaluatn.h” */


int GetDOLength(argument);

int GetpDOLength(&argument);

int GetDOBegin(argument);

int GetpDOBegin(&argument);

int GetDOEnd(argument);

int GetpDOEnd(&argument);

int GetMFType(multifieldPtr,fieldPosition);

void *GetMFValue(multifieldPtr,fieldPosition);

DATA_OBJECT argument;

void *multifieldPtr;

int fieldPosition;


Macros GetDOLength and GetpDOLength can be used to determine the length of a DATA_OBJECT or DATA_OBJECT_PTR respectively. The macros GetDOBegin, GetpDOBegin, GetDOEnd, GetpDOEnd can be used to determine the beginning and ending indices of a DATA_OBJECT or DATA_OBJECT_PTR containing a multifield value. Since multifield values are often extracted from arrays of other data structures (such as facts), these indices are used to indicate the beginning and ending positions within the array. Thus it is very important when traversing a multifield value to use indices that run from the begin index to the end index and not from one to the length of the multifield value. The begin index points to the first element in the multifield value and the end index points to the last element in the multifield value. A multifield value of length one will have the same values for the begin and end indices. A multifield value of length zero will have an end index that is one less than the begin index.


The macros GetMFType and GetMFValue can be used to examine the types and values of fields within a multifield value. The first argument to these macros should be the value retrieved from a DATA_OBJECT or DATA_OBJECT_PTR using the GetValue and GetpValue macros. The second argument is the index of the field within the multifield value. Once again, this argument should fall in the range between the begin index and the end index for the DATA_OBJECT from which the multifield value is stored. Macros ValueToString, ValueToDouble, ValueToLong, and ValueToInteger can be used to convert the retrieved value from GetMFValue to a C object of type char *, double, and long respectively. Do not store the pointer returned by ValueToString as part of a permanent data structure. When CLIPS performs garbage collection on symbols and strings, the pointer reference to the string may be rendered invalid. To store a permanent reference to a string, allocate storage for a copy of the string and then copy the string returned by ValueToString to the copy’s storage area.


The multifield macros should only be used on DATA_OBJECTs that have type MULTIFIELD (e.g. the macro GetDOLength returns erroneous values if the type is not MULTIFIELD).

Examples

The following function returns the length of a multifield value. It returns -1 if an error occurs.


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“mfl”,'l',PTIF MFLength,“MFLength”,“11m”);

*/


long int MFLength()

{

DATA_OBJECT argument;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“mfl”,EXACTLY,1) == -1) return(-1L);


/*====================================================*/

/* Check that the 1st argument is a multifield value. */

/*====================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“mfl”,1,MULTIFIELD,&argument) == 0)

{ return(-1L); }

/*============================================*/

/* Return the length of the multifield value. */

/*============================================*/


return ( (long) GetDOLength(argument));

}


The following function counts the number of characters in the symbols and strings contained within a multifield value.

#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“cmfc”,'l',PTIF CntMFChars,“CntMFChars”,

“11m”);

*/


long int CntMFChars()

{

DATA_OBJECT argument;

void *multifieldPtr;

int end, i;

long count = 0;

char *tempPtr;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“cmfc”,EXACTLY,1) == -1) return(0L);


/*======================================================*/

/* Check that the first argument is a multifield value. */

/*======================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“cmfc”,1,MULTIFIELD,&argument) == 0)

{ return(0L); }


/*=====================================*/

/* Count the characters in each field. */

/*=====================================*/


end = GetDOEnd(argument);

multifieldPtr = GetValue(argument);

for (i = GetDOBegin(argument); i ⇐ end; i++)

{

if ((GetMFType(multifieldPtr,i) == STRING) ||

(GetMFType(multifieldPtr,i) == SYMBOL))

{

tempPtr = ValueToString(GetMFValue(multifieldPtr,i));

count += strlen(tempPtr);

}

}


/*=============================*/

/* Return the character count. */

/*=============================*/


return(count);

}

3.3 Returning Values To CLIPS From External Func­tions

Functions which return doubles, floats, integers, long integers, characters, external addresses, and instance addresses can directly return these values to CLIPS. Other data types including the unknown (or unspecified) data type and multifield data type, must use functions provided by CLIPS to construct return values.

3.3.1 Returning Symbols, Strings, and Instance Names

CLIPS uses symbol tables to store all symbols, string;s, and instance names. Symbol tables increase both performance and memory efficiency during execution. If a user defined function returns a symbol, string, or an instance name (type 's', 'w', or 'o' in DefineFunction), the symbol must be stored in the CLIPS symbol table prior to use. Other types of returns (such as unknown and multifield values) may also contain symbols which must be added to the symbol table. These symbols can be added by calling the function AddSymbol and using the returned pointer value.


#include “clips.h” /* or “symbol.h” */


void *AddSymbol(string);
char *string;

Example

This function reverses the character ordering in a string and returns the reversed string. The null string is returned if an error occurs.


#include <stdlib.h> /* ANSI C library header file */

#include <stddef.h> /* ANSI C library header file */

#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“reverse-str”,'s',PTIF Reverse,“Reverse”,

“11s”);

*/


void *Reverse()

{

DATA_OBJECT temp;

char *lexeme, *tempString;

void *returnValue;

int i, length;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“reverse-str”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{ return(AddSymbol(“”)); }


/*=========================================================*/

/* Get the first argument using the ArgTypeCheck function. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“reverse-str”,1,STRING,&temp) == 0)

{ return(AddSymbol(“”)); }

lexeme = DOToString(temp);


/*========================================================*/

/* Allocate temporary space to store the reversed string. */

/*========================================================*/


length = strlen(lexeme);

tempString = (char *) malloc(length + 1);


/*=====================*/

/* Reverse the string. */

/*=====================*/


for (i = 0; i < length; i++)

{ tempString[length - (i + 1)] = lexeme[i]; }

tempString[length] = '\0';


/*=============================*/

/* Return the reversed string. */

/*=============================*/


returnValue = AddSymbol(tempString);

free(tempString);

return(returnValue);

}

3.3.2 Returning Boolean Values

A user function may return a boolean value in one of two ways. The user may define an integer function and use DefineFunction to declare it as a BOOLEAN type ('b'). The function should then either return the value TRUE or FALSE. Alternatively, the function may be declare to return a SYMBOL type ('w') or UNKNOWN type ('u') and return the symbol FalseSymbol or TrueSymbol.


#include “clips.h” /* or “symbol.h” */


#define FALSE 0

#define TRUE 1


void *FalseSymbol

void *TrueSymbol

Examples

This function returns true if its first argument is a number greater than zero. It uses a boolean return value.


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“positivep1”,'b',positivep1,“positivep1”,

“11n”);

*/


int positivep1()

{

DATA_OBJECT temp;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“positivep1”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{ return(FALSE); }


/*=========================================================*/

/* Get the first argument using the ArgTypeCheck function. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“positivep1”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,&temp) == 0)

{ return(FALSE); }


/*=====================================*/

/* Determine if the value is positive. */

/*=====================================*/


if (GetType(temp) == INTEGER)

{ if (DOToLong(temp) ⇐ 0L) return(FALSE); }

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{ if (DOToDouble(temp) ⇐ 0.0) return(FALSE); }


return(TRUE);

}


This function also returns true if its first argument is a number greater than zero. It uses a symbolic return value.


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction(“positivep2”,'w',PTIF positivep2,“positivep2”,

“11n”);

*/


void *positivep2()

{

DATA_OBJECT temp;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“positivep1”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{ return(FalseSymbol); }


/*=========================================================*/

/* Get the first argument using the ArgTypeCheck function. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“positivep1”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,&temp) == 0)

{ return(FalseSymbol); }


/*=====================================*/

/* Determine if the value is positive. */

/*=====================================*/


if (GetType(temp) == INTEGER)

{ if (DOToLong(temp) ⇐ 0L) return(FalseSymbol); }

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{ if (DOToDouble(temp) ⇐ 0.0) return(FalseSymbol); }


return(TrueSymbol);

}

3.3.3 Returning External Addresses and Instance Addresses

A user function may return an external address or an instance address. The user should use DefineFunction to declare their function as returning an external address type ('a') or an instance address type ('x'). The function should then either return a pointer that has been typecast to (void *). Within CLIPS, the printed representation of an external address is


<Pointer-XXXXXXXX>


where XXXXXXXX is the external address. Note that it is up to the user to make sure that external addresses remain valid within CLIPS. The printed representation of an instance address is


<Instance-XXX>


where XXX is the name of the instance.

Example

This function uses the memory allocation function malloc to dynamically allocated 100 bytes of memory and then returns a pointer to the memory to CLIPS.


#include <stdlib.h>

#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“malloc”,'a',PTIF CLIPSmalloc,“CLIPSmalloc”,

“00”);

*/


void *CLIPSmalloc()

{ return((void *) malloc(100)); }

3.3.4 Returning Unknown Data Types

A user defined function also may return values of an unknown type. The user must declare the function as returning type unknown; i.e., place a 'u' for data type in the call to DefineFunction. The user function will be passed a pointer to a structure of type DATA_OBJECT (DATA_OBJECT_PTR) which should be modified to contain the return value. The user should set both the type and the value of the DATA_OBJECT. Note that the value of a DATA_OBJECT cannot be directly set to a double or long value (the functions AddLong and AddDouble should be used in a manner similar to AddSymbol). The actual return value of the user function is ignored.


#include “clips.h” /* or “evaluatn.h” */

int SetType(argument,type)

int SetpType(&argument,type)

void *SetValue(argument,value)
void *SetpValue(&argument,value)

void *AddLong(longValue);
void *AddDouble(doubleValue);

void *GetValue(argument);
void *GetpValue(&argument);


char *ValueToString(value);
double ValueToDouble(value);
long ValueToLong(value);
int ValueToInteger(value);

long longValue;
double doubleValue;
void *value;
int type;
DATA_OBJECT argument;


Macros SetType and SetpType can be used to set the type of a DATA_OBJECT or DATA_OBJECT_PTR respectively. The type parameter should be one of the following CLIPS defined constants (note that these are not strings): SYMBOL, STRING, INTEGER, FLOAT, EXTERNAL_ADDRESS, INSTANCE_NAME, or INSTANCE_ADDRESS. Macros SetValue (for DATA_OBJECTs) and SetpValue (for DATA_OBJECT_PTRs) can be used to set the value of a DATA_OBJECT. The functions AddSymbol (for symbols, strings and instance names), AddLong (for integers) and AddDouble (for floats) can be used to produce values that can be used with these macros (external addresses and instance addresses can be used directly). Macros GetValue (for DATA_OBJECTs) and GetpValue (for DATA_OBJECT_PTRs) can be used to retrieve the value of a DATA_OBJECT. Note that the value for an external address or an instance address can be retrieved directly using one of these macros. For other data types, the macros ValueToString (for symbols, strings, and instance names), ValueToLong (for integers), ValueToInteger (for integers), and ValueToDouble (for floats) can be used to convert the retrieved value from a DATA_OBJECT to a C object of type char *, double, long, or integer respectively.

Example

This function “cubes” its argument returning either an integer or float depending upon the type of the original argument. It returns the symbol FALSE upon an error.


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“cube”,'u',PTIF cube,“cube”,“11n”);

*/


void cube(

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)

{

void *value;

long longValue;

double doubleValue;


/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“cube”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,SYMBOL);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,FalseSymbol);

return;

}


/*=========================================================*/

/* Get the first argument using the ArgTypeCheck function. */

/*=========================================================*/


if (! ArgTypeCheck(“cube”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,returnValuePtr))

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,SYMBOL);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,FalseSymbol);

return;

}


/*===========================================================*/

/* Cube the argument. Note that the return value DATA_OBJECT */

/* is used to retrieve the function's argument and return */

/* the function's return value. */

/*===========================================================*/


if (GetpType(returnValuePtr) == INTEGER)

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

longValue = ValueToLong(value);

value = AddLong(longValue * longValue * longValue);

}

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

doubleValue = ValueToDouble(value);

value = AddDouble(doubleValue * doubleValue * doubleValue);

}


/*=====================================================*/

/* Set the value of the return DATA_OBJECT. The return */

/* type does not have to be changed since it will be */

/* the same as the 1st argument to the function. */

/*=====================================================*/


SetpValue(returnValuePtr,value);

return;

}

3.3.5 Returning Multifield Values

Multifield values can also be returned from an external function. When defining such an external function, the data type should be set to 'm' in the call to DefineFunction. Note that a multifield value can also be returned from a 'u' function, whereas only a multifield value should be returned from an 'm' function. As with returning unknown data types, the user function will be passed a pointer of type DATA_OBJECT_PTR which can be modified to set up a multifield value. The following macros and functions are useful for this purpose:


void *CreateMultifield(size);

int SetMFType(multifieldPtr,fieldPosition,type);

void *SetMFValue(multifieldPtr,fieldPosition,value);

int SetDOBegin(returnValue,fieldPosition);

int SetpDOBegin(&returnValue,fieldPosition);

int SetDOEnd(returnValue,fieldPosition);

int SetpDOEnd(&returnValue,fieldPosition);

void SetMultifieldErrorValue(&returnValue);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

int size, fieldPosition;

void *multifieldPtr;

void *value;


If a new multifield is to be created from an existing multifield, then the type and value of the existing multifield can be copied and the begin and end indices can be modified to obtain the appropriate subfields of the multifield value. If you wish to create a new multifield value that is not part of an existing multifield value, then use the function CreateMultifield. Given an integer argument, this function will create a multifield value of the specified size with valid indices ranging from one to the given size (zero is a legitimate parameter to create a multifield value with no fields). The macros SetMFType and SetMFValue can be used to set the types and values of the fields of the newly created multifield value. Both macros accept as their first argument the value returned by CreateMultifield. The second argument should be an integer representing the position of the multifield value to be set. The third argument is the same as the arguments used for SetType and SetValue macros.


Do not set the value or type of any field within a multifield value that has been returned to you by CLIPS. Use these macros only on multifield values created using the CreateMultifield function.


The macros SetDOBegin, SetpDOBegin, SetDOEnd, SetpDOEnd can be used to assign values to the begin and end indices of a DATA_OBJECT or DATA_OBJECT_PTR containing a multifield value. These macros are useful for creating “new” multifield values by manipulating the indices of a currently existing multifield value. For example, a function that returns the first field of a multifield value could do so by setting the end index equal to the begin index (if the length of the multifield value was greater than zero).


The function SetMultifieldErrorValue can be used to create a multifield value of length zero (which is useful to return as an error value). Its only parameter is a DATA_OBJECT_PTR which is appropriately modified to create a zero length multifield value.

Examples

The following example creates a multifield value with two fields, a word and a number:


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“sample4”,'m',PTIF sample4,“sample4”,“00”);

*/


void sample4(

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)

{

void *multifieldPtr;


/*===================================*/

/* Check for exactly zero arguments. */

/*===================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“sample4”,EXACTLY,0) == -1)

{

SetMultifieldErrorValue(returnValuePtr);

return;

}


/*========================================*/

/* Create a multi-field value of length 2 */

/*========================================*/


multifieldPtr = CreateMultifield(2);


/*============================================*/

/* The first field in the multi-field value */

/* will be a SYMBOL. Its value will be */

/* “altitude”. */

/*============================================*/


SetMFType(multifieldPtr,1,SYMBOL);

SetMFValue(multifieldPtr,1,AddSymbol(“altitude”));


/*===========================================*/

/* The second field in the multi-field value */

/* will be a FLOAT. Its value will be 900. */

/*===========================================*/


SetMFType(multifieldPtr,2,FLOAT);

SetMFValue(multifieldPtr,2,AddDouble(900.0));


/*======================================================*/

/* Assign the type and value to the return DATA_OBJECT. */

/*======================================================*/


SetpType(returnValuePtr,MULTIFIELD);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,multifieldPtr);


/*=================================================*/

/* The length of our multi-field value will be 2. */

/* Since we will create our own multi-field value */

/* the begin and end indexes to our function will */

/* be 1 and the length of the multi-field value */

/* respectively. If we are examining a multi-field */

/* value, or using an existing multi-field value */

/* to create a new multi-field value, then the */

/* begin and end indexes may not correspond to 1 */

/* and the length of the multi-field value. */

/*=================================================*/


SetpDOBegin(returnValuePtr,1);

SetpDOEnd(returnValuePtr,2);


return;

}


The following example returns all but the first field of a multifield value:


#include “clips.h”


/*

Use DefineFunction2(“rest”,'m',PTIF rest,“rest”,“11m”);

*/


void rest(

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)

{

/*=================================*/

/* Check for exactly one argument. */

/*=================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“rest”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{

SetMultifieldErrorValue(returnValuePtr);

return;

}


/*=========================*/

/* Check for a MULTIFIELD. */

/*=========================*/


if (ArgTypeCheck(“rest”,1,MULTIFIELD,returnValuePtr) == 0)

{

SetMultifieldErrorValue(returnValuePtr);

return;

}


/*===================================================*/

/* Don't bother with a zero length multifield value. */

/*===================================================*/


if (GetpDOBegin(returnValuePtr) > GetpDOEnd(returnValuePtr))

{ return; }


/*===================================*/

/* Increment the begin index by one. */

/*===================================*/


SetpDOBegin(returnValuePtr,GetpDOBegin(returnValuePtr) + 1);

}

3.4 User Defined Function Example

This section lists the steps needed to define and implement a user defined function. The example given is somewhat trivial, but it demonstrates the point. The user function merely triples a number and returns the new value.


1) Copy all of the CLIPS source code file to the user directory.


2) Define the user function in a new file.


#include “clips.h”

double TripleNumber()
{

return(3.0 * RtnDouble(1));

}


The preceding function does the job just fine. The following function, however, accom­plishes the same purpose while providing error handling on arguments and allowing either an integer or double return value.


#include “clips.h”

void TripleNumber(

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)

{

void *value;

long longValue;

double doubleValue;


/*===============================================*/

/* If illegal arguments are passed, return zero. */

/*===============================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“triple”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(0L));

return;

}


if (! ArgTypeCheck(“triple”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,returnValuePtr))

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(0L));

return;

}


/*====================*/

/* Triple the number. */

/*====================*/


if (GetpType(returnValuePtr) == INTEGER)

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

longValue = 3 * ValueToLong(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(longValue));

}

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

doubleValue = 3.0 * ValueToDouble(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddDouble(doubleValue));

}


return;

}


3) Define the constructs which use the new function in a new file (or in an existing constructs file). For example:


(deffacts init data
(data 34)
(data 13.2))


(defrule get data
(data ?num)

(printout t “Tripling ” ?num crlf)
(assert (new-value (triple ?num))))


(defrule get new value
(new value ?num)

(printout t crlf “Now equal to ” ?num crlf))


4) Modify the CLIPS main.c file to include the new UserFunctions definition.


UserFunctions()

{
extern void TripleNumber(DATA_OBJECT_PTR);

DefineFunction2(“triple”,'u',PTIF TripleNumber, “TripleNumber”,

“11n”);
}


5) Compile the CLIPS files along with any files which contain user defined functions.


6) Link all object code files.


7) Execute new CLIPS executable. Load the constructs file and test the new function.

Section 4   Embedding CLIPS

CLIPS was designed to be embedded within other programs. When CLIPS is used as an em­bedded application, the user must provide a main program. Calls to CLIPS are made like any other subroutine. To embed CLIPS, add the following include state­ments to the user's main program file:


#include <stdio.h>
#include “clips.h”


(These statements may have to be tailored so the compiler on the user's system can find the CLIPS include file.) The user’s main program must initialize CLIPS by calling the function InitializeEnvironment at some time prior to loading constructs. UserFunctions also must be defined, regardless of whether CLIPS calls any external functions. Compile and link all of the user's code with all CLIPS files except the object version of main.c. When running CLIPS as an embedded pro­gram, many of the capabilities available in the interactive interface (in addition to others) are available through function calls. The functions are documented in the following sec­tions. Prototypes for these functions can be included by using the clips.h header file.

4.1 Environment Functions

The following function calls control the CLIPS environment:

4.1.1 AddClearFunction

int AddClearFunction(clearItemName,clearFunction,priority);

char *clearItemName;

void (*clearFunction)();

int priority;


void clearFunction();


Purpose: Adds a user defined function to the list of functions which are called when the CLIPS clear command is executed.


Arguments: 1) The name of the new clear item.

2) A pointer to the function which is to be called whenever a clear command is executed.

3) The priority of the clear item which determines the order in which clear items are called (higher priority items are called first). The values -2000 to 2000 are reserved for CLIPS system defined clear items and should not be used for user defined clear items.


Returns: Returns a zero value if the clear item could not be added, otherwise a non-zero value is returned.

4.1.2 AddPeriodicFunction

int AddPeriodicFunction(periodicItemName,periodicFunction,

priority);

char *periodicItemName;

void (*periodicFunction)();

int priority;


void periodicFunction();


Purpose: Adds a user defined function to the list of functions which are called periodically while CLIPS is executing. This ability was primarily included to allow interfaces to process events and update displays during CLIPS execution. Care should be taken not to use any operations in a periodic function which would affect CLIPS data structures constructively or destructively, i.e. CLIPS internals may be examined but not modified during a periodic function.


Arguments: 1) The name of the new periodic item.

2) A pointer to a function which is to be called periodically while CLIPS is executing.

3) The priority of the periodic item which determines the order in which periodic items are called (higher priority items are called first). The values -2000 to 2000 are reserved for CLIPS system defined periodic items and should not be used for user defined periodic items.


Returns: Returns a zero value if the periodic item could not be added, otherwise a non-zero value is returned.

4.1.3 AddResetFunction

int AddResetFunction(resetItemName,resetFunction,priority);

char *resetItemName;

void (*resetFunction)();

int priority;


void resetFunction();


Purpose: Adds a user defined function to the list of functions which are called when the CLIPS reset command is executed.


Arguments: 1) The name of the new reset item.

2) A pointer to the function which is to be called whenever a reset command is executed.

3) The priority of the reset item which determines the order in which reset items are called (higher priority items are called first). The values -2000 to 2000 are reserved for CLIPS system defined reset items and should not be used for user defined reset items.


Returns: Returns a zero value if the reset item could not be added, otherwise a non-zero value is returned.

4.1.4 Bload

int Bload(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a binary image of constructs into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS bload command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred. A positive one is returned upon success.

4.1.5 Bsave

int Bsave(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Saves a binary image of constructs from the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS bsave command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred. A positive one is returned upon success.

4.1.6 Clear

void Clear();


Purpose: Clears the CLIPS environment (the C equivalent of the CLIPS clear command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.1.7 FunctionCall

int FunctionCall(functionName,arguments,&result);

char *functionName,*arguments;

DATA_OBJECT result;


Purpose: Allows CLIPS system functions, deffunctions and generic functions to be called from C.


Arguments: 1) The name of the system function, deffunction or generic function to be called.

2) A string containing any constant arguments separated by blanks (this argument can be NULL).

3) Caller’s buffer for storing the result of the function call. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if an error occurred while evaluating the function, otherwise a one (1).


Example


DATA_OBJECT rtn;

FunctionCall(“+”,“1 2”,&rtn);

4.1.8 GetAutoFloatDividend

int GetAutoFloatDividend();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the auto float dividend behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-auto-float-dividend command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.1.9 GetDynamicConstraintChecking

int GetDynamicConstraintChecking();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the dynamic constraint checking behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get dynamic constraint checking command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.1.10 GetSequenceOperatorRecognition

int GetSequenceOperatorRecognition();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the sequence operator recognition behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-sequence-operator-recognition command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.1.11 GetStaticConstraintChecking

int GetStaticConstraintChecking();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the static constraint checking behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get static constraint checking command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.1.12 InitializeEnvironment

void InitializeEnvironment();


Purpose: Initializes the CLIPS system. Must be called prior to any other CLIPS function call. NOTE: This function should be called only once.


Arguments: None.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.1.13 Load

int Load(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a set of constructs into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS load command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; Zero if the file couldn’t be opened, -1 if the file was opened but an error occurred while loading, and 1 if the file was opened an no errors occurred while loading. If syntactic errors are in the constructs, Load still will attempt to read the en­tire file and error notices will be sent to werror.


Other: The load function is not available for use in run-time programs (since individual constructs can’t be added or deleted). To execute different sets of constructs, the switching feature must be used in a run-time program (see section 5 for more details).

4.1.14 RemoveClearFunction

int RemoveClearFunction(clearItemName);

char *clearItemName;


Purpose: Removes a named function from the list of functions to be called during a clear command.


Arguments: The name associated with the user defined clear function. This is the same name that was used when the clear function was added with the function AddClearFunction.


Returns: Returns the integer value 1 if the named function was found and removed, otherwise 0 is returned.

4.1.15 RemovePeriodicFunction

int RemovePeriodicFunction(periodicItemName);

char *periodicItemName;


Purpose: Removes a named function from the list of functions which are called periodically while CLIPS is executing.


Arguments: The name associated with the user defined periodic function. This is the same name that was used when the periodic function was added with the function AddPeriodicFunction.


Returns: Returns the integer value 1 if the named function was found and removed, otherwise 0 is returned.

4.1.16 RemoveResetFunction

int RemoveResetFunction(resetItemName);

char *resetItemName;



Purpose: Removes a named function from the list of functions to be called during a reset command.


Arguments: The name associated with the user defined reset function. This is the same name that was used when the reset function was added with the function AddResetFunction.


Returns: Returns the integer value 1 if the named function was found and removed, otherwise 0 is returned.

4.1.17 Reset

void Reset();


Purpose: Resets the CLIPS environment (the C equivalent of the CLIPS reset command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.1.18 Save

int Save(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Saves a set of constructs to the specified file (the C equivalent of the CLIPS save command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred while opening the file. If non zero no errors were detected while performing the save.

4.1.19 SetAutoFloatDividend

int SetAutoFloatDividend(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the auto float dividend behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-auto-float-dividend command). When this behavior is enabled (by default) the dividend of the division function is automatically converted to a floating point number.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.1.20 SetDynamicConstraintChecking

int SetDynamicConstraintChecking(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the value of the dynamic constraint checking behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS command set dynamic constraint-checking). When this behavior is disabled (FALSE by default), newly created data objects (such as deftemplate facts and instances) do not have their slot values checked for constraint violations. When this behavior is enabled (TRUE), the slot values are checked for constraint violations. The return value for this function is the old value for the behavior.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.1.21 SetSequenceOperator Recognition

int SetSequenceOperatorRecognition(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the sequence operator recognition behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-sequence-operator-recognition command). When this behavior is disabled (by default) multifield variables found in function calls are treated as a single argument. When this behaviour is enabled, multifield variables are expanded and passed as separate arguments in the function call.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.1.22 SetStaticConstraintChecking

int SetStaticConstraintChecking(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the value of the static constraint checking behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS command set static constraint-checking). When this behavior is disabled (FALSE), constraint violations are not checked when function calls and constructs are parsed. When this behavior is enabled (TRUE by default), constraint violations are checked when function calls and constructs are parsed. The return value for this function is the old value for the behavior.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.1.23 BatchStar

int BatchStar(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Evaluates the series of commands stored in the specified file without replacing standard input (the C equivalent of the CLIPS batch* command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; Zero if the file couldn’t be opened or 1 if the file was opened.


Other: The BatchStar function is not available for use in run-time programs.

4.1.24 Build

int Build(constructString,);

char *constructString;


Purpose: Allows a construct to be defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS build command).


Arguments: 1) A string containing the construct to be added.

Returns: Returns an integer. 1 if the construct was successfully parsed, otherwise 0.


Other: The Build function is not available for use in run-time programs (since individual constructs can’t be added or deleted).

4.1.25 Eval

int Eval(expressionString,&result);

char *expressionString;

DATA_OBJECT result;


Purpose: Allows an expression to be evaluated (the C equivalent of the CLIPS eval command).


Arguments: 1) A string containing the expression to be evaluated.

2) Caller’s buffer for storing the result of the evaluation. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: Returns an integer. 1 if the expression was successfully evaluated, otherwise 0.


Other: The Eval function is not available for use in run-time programs

4.2 Debugging Functions

The following function call controls the CLIPS debugging aids:

4.2.1 DribbleActive

int DribbleActive();


Purpose: Determines if the storing of dribble information is active.


Arguments: None.


Returns: Zero if dribbling is not active, non-zero otherwise.

4.2.2 DribbleOff

int DribbleOff();


Purpose: Turns off the storing of dribble information (the C equivalent of the CLIPS dribble-off command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A zero if an error occurred closing the file; otherwise a one.

4.2.3 DribbleOn

int DribbleOn(fileName);

char *fileName;


Purpose: Allows the dribble function of CLIPS to be turned on (the C equivalent of the CLIPS dribble-on command).


Arguments: The name of the file in which to store dribble information. Only one dribble file may be opened at a time.


Returns: A zero if an error occurred opening the file; otherwise a one.

4.2.4 GetWatchItem

int GetWatchItem(item);

char *item;


Purpose: Returns the current value of a watch item.


Arguments: The item to be activated or deactivated which should be one of the following strings: facts, rules, activations, focus, compilations, statistics, globals, instances, slots, messages, message handlers, generic functions,method, or deffunctions.


Returns: Returns 1 if the watch item is enabled, 0 if the watch item is disabled, and -1 if the watch item does not exist.

4.2.5 Unwatch

int Unwatch(item);

char *item;


Purpose: Allows the tracing facilities of CLIPS to be deactivated (the C equivalent of the CLIPS unwatch command).


Arguments: The item to be deactivated which should be one of the following strings: facts, rules, activations, focus, compilations, statistics, globals, deffunctions, instances, slots, messages, message handlers, generic functions, methods, or all. If all is se­lected, all possible watch items will not be traced.


Returns: A one if the watch item was successfully set; otherwise a zero.

4.2.6 Watch

int Watch(item);

char *item;


Purpose: Allows the tracing facilities of CLIPS to be activated (the C equivalent of the CLIPS watch command).


Arguments: The item to be activated which should be one of the following strings: facts, rules, activations, focus, compilations, statistics, globals, deffunctions, instances, slots, messages, message handlers, generic functions, methods, or all. If all is se­lected, all possible watch items will be traced.


Returns: A one if the watch item was successfully set; otherwise a zero.

4.3 Deftemplate Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating deftemplates.

4.3.1 DeftemplateModule

char *DeftemplateModule(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a deftemplate is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS deftemplate-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the deftemplate is defined.

4.3.2 FindDeftemplate

void *FindDeftemplate(deftemplateName);

char *deftemplateName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named deftemplate.


Arguments: The name of the deftemplate to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named deftemplate if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.3.3 GetDeftemplateList

void GetDeftemplateList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of deftemplates in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-deftemplate-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the deftemplate names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.3.4 GetDeftemplateName

char *GetDeftemplateName(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a deftemplate.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the deftemplate.

4.3.5 GetDeftemplatePPForm

char *GetDeftemplatePPForm(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a deftemplate.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the deftemplate (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.3.6 GetDeftemplateWatch

int GetDeftemplateWatch(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular deftemplate is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the deftemplate is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.3.7 GetNextDeftemplate

void *GetNextDeftemplate(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of deftemplates.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure (or NULL to get the first deftemplate).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first deftemplate in the list of deftemplates if deftemplatePtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the deftemplate immediately following deftemplatePtr in the list of deftemplates. If deftemplatePtr is the last deftemplate in the list of deftemplates, then NULL is returned.

4.3.8 IsDeftemplateDeletable

int IsDeftemplateDeletable(deftemplatePtr);
void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular deftemplate can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deftemplate cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.3.9 ListDeftemplates

void ListDeftemplates(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of deftemplates (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list deftemplates command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the deftemplates to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that deftemplate in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.3.10 SetDeftemplateWatch

void SetDeftemplateWatch(newState,deftemplatePtr);

int newState;

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Sets the facts watch item for a specific deftemplate.


Arguments: The new facts watch state and a generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure.

4.3.11 Undeftemplate

int Undeftemplate(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Removes a deftemplate from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undeftemplate command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure. If the NULL pointer is used, then all deftemplates will be deleted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deftemplate could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.4 Fact Functions

The following function calls manipulate and display information about facts.

4.4.1 Assert

void *Assert(factPtr);

void *factPtr;


Purpose: Adds a fact created using the function CreateFact to the fact-list. If the fact was asserted successfully, Assert will return a pointer to the fact. Otherwise, it will return NULL (i.e., the fact was already in the fact list).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the fact created using CreateFact. The values of the fact should be initialized before calling Assert.


Returns: A generic pointer to a fact structure. If the fact was asserted successfully, Assert will return a generic pointer to the fact. Otherwise, it will return NULL (i.e., the fact was already in the fact list).


WARNING: If the return value from Assert is stored as part of a persistent data structure or in a static data area, then the function IncrementFactCount should be called to insure that the fact cannot be disposed while external references to the fact still exist.

4.4.2 AssertString

void *AssertString(string);

char *string;


Purpose: Asserts a fact into the CLIPS fact list (the C equivalent of the CLIPS assert-string command).


Arguments: One argument; a pointer to a string containing a list of primitive data types (symbols, strings, integers, floats, and/or instance names).


Returns: A generic pointer to a fact structure.


Examples

If the following deftemplate has been processed by CLIPS,


(deftemplate example

(multislot v)

(slot w (default 9))

(slot x)

(slot y)

(multislot z))


then the following fact


(example (x 3) (y red) (z 1.5 b))


can be added to the fact-list using the function shown below.


void AddExampleFact1()

{

AssertString(“(example (x 3) (y red) (z 1.5 b))”);

}


To construct a string based on variable data, use the C library function sprintf as shown following.


void VariableFactAssert(

int number,

char *status)

{

char tempBuffer[50];

sprintf(tempBuffer,“(example (x %d) (y %s))”,number,status);

AssertString(tempBuffer);

}

4.4.3 AssignFactSlotDefaults

int AssignFactSlotDefaults(theFact);

void *theFact;


Purpose: Assigns default values to a fact.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact data structure.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the default values were successfully set, otherwise FALSE.

4.4.4 CreateFact

void *CreateFact(deftemplatePtr);

void *deftemplatePtr;


Purpose: Function CreateFact returns a pointer to a fact structure with factSize fields. Once this fact structure is obtained, the fields of the fact can be given values by using PutFactSlot and AssignFactSlotDefaults. Function AddFact should be called when the fact is ready to be asserted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deftemplate data structure (which indicates the type of fact being created).


Returns: A generic pointer to a fact data structure.


Other: Use the CreateFact function to create a new fact and then the PutFactSlot function to set one or more slot values. The AssignFactSlotDefaults function is then used to assign default values for slots not set with the PutFactSlot function. Finally, the Assert function is called with the new fact.


Since CreateFact requires a generic deftemplate pointer, it is not possible to use it to create ordered facts unless the associated implied deftemplate has already been created. In cases where the implied deftemplate has not been created, the function AssertString can be used to create ordered facts.


This function allows individual fields of a fact to be assigned under programmer control. This is useful, for example, if a fact asserted from an external function needs to contain an external address or an instance address (since the function AssertString does not permit these data types). For most situations in which a fact needs to be asserted, however, the AssertString function should be preferred (it is slighter slower than using the CreateFact and Assert functions, but it is much easier to use and less prone to being used incorrectly).

Examples

If the following deftemplate has been processed by CLIPS,


(deftemplate example

(multislot v)

(slot w (default 9))

(slot x)

(slot y)

(multislot z))


then the following fact


(example (x 3) (y red) (z 1.5 b))


can be added to the fact-list using the function shown below.


void AddExampleFact2()

{

void *newFact;

void *templatePtr;

void *theMultifield;

DATA_OBJECT theValue;


/*==================*/

/* Create the fact. */

/*==================*/

templatePtr = FindDeftemplate(“example”);

newFact = CreateFact(templatePtr);

if (newFact == NULL) return;

/*==============================*/

/* Set the value of the x slot. */

/*==============================*/

theValue.type = INTEGER;

theValue.value = AddLong(3);

PutFactSlot(newFact,“x”,&theValue);

/*==============================*/

/* Set the value of the y slot. */

/*==============================*/

theValue.type = SYMBOL;

theValue.value = AddSymbol(“red”);

PutFactSlot(newFact,“y”,&theValue);

/*==============================*/

/* Set the value of the z slot. */

/*==============================*/

theMultifield = CreateMultifield(2);

SetMFType(theMultifield,1,FLOAT);

SetMFValue(theMultifield,1,AddDouble(1.5));

SetMFType(theMultifield,2,SYMBOL);

SetMFValue(theMultifield,2,AddSymbol(“b”));

SetDOBegin(theValue,1);

SetDOEnd(theValue,2);


theValue.type = MULTIFIELD;

theValue.value = theMultifield;

PutFactSlot(newFact,“z”,&theValue);

/*=================================*/

/* Assign default values since all */

/* slots were not initialized. */

/*=================================*/

AssignFactSlotDefaults(newFact);

/*==================*/

/* Assert the fact. */

/*==================*/

Assert(newFact);

}

4.4.5 DecrementFactCount

void DecrementFactCount(factPtr);
void *factPtr;


Purpose: This function should only be called to reverse the effects of a previous call to IncrementFactCount. As long as an fact's count is greater than zero, the memory allocated to it cannot be released for other use.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact.

Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.4.6 FactIndex

long int FactIndex(factPtr);

void *factPtr;


Purpose: Returns the fact index of a fact (the C equivalent of the CLIPS fact-index command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact data structure.


Returns: A long integer (the fact-index of the fact).

4.4.7 Facts

void Facts(logicalName,theModule,start,end,max);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;

long start, end, max;


Purpose: Prints the list of all facts currently in the fact list (the C equivalent of the CLIPS facts command). Output is sent to the logical name wdisplay.


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the facts to be listed (all facts visible to that module). A NULL pointer indicates that all facts in all modules should be listed.

3) The start index of the facts to be listed. Facts with indices less than this value are not listed. A value of -1 indicates that the argument is unspecified and should not restrict the facts printed.

4) The end index of the facts to be listed. Facts with indices greater than this value are not listed. A value of -1 indicates that the argument is unspecified and should not restrict the facts printed.

5) The maximum number of facts to be listed. Facts in excess of this limit are not listed. A value of -1 indicates that the argument is unspecified and should not restrict the facts printed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.4.8 GetFactDuplication

int GetFactDuplication();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the fact duplication behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-fact-duplication command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.4.9 GetFactListChanged

int GetFactListChanged();

Purpose: Determines if any changes to the fact list have occurred. If this function returns a non-zero integer, it is the user's responsibility to call SetFactListChanged(0) to reset the internal flag. Otherwise, this function will continue to return non-zero even when no changes have occurred. This function is primarily used to determine when to update a display tracking the fact list.


Arguments: None.


Returns: 0 if no changes to the fact list have occurred, non-zero otherwise.

4.4.10 GetFactPPForm

void GetFactPPForm(buffer,bufferLength,factPtr);

char *buffer;

int bufferLength;

void *factPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a fact in the caller's buffer.


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller's character buffer.

2) The maximum number of characters which could be stored in the caller's buffer (not including space for the terminating null character).

3) A generic pointer to a fact data structure.


Returns: No meaningful return value. The fact pretty print form is stored in the caller's buffer.

4.4.11 GetFactSlot

int GetFactSlot(factPtr,slotName,&theValue);

void *factPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT theValue;


Purpose: Retrieves a slot value from a fact.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a fact data structure.

2) The name of the slot to be retrieved (NULL should be used for the implied multifield slot of an implied deftemplate).

3) A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT in which to place the slot’s value. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the slot value was successfully retrieved, otherwise FALSE.

4.4.12 GetNextFact

void *GetNextFact(factPtr);

void *factPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the fact-list.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact data structure (or NULL to get the first fact in the fact-list).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first fact in the fact-list if factPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the fact immediately following factPtr in the fact-list. If factPtr is the last fact in the fact-list, then NULL is returned.


Other: Once this generic pointer to the fact structure is obtained, the fields of the fact can be examined by using the macros GetMFType and GetMFValue. The values of a fact obtained using this function should never be changed. See CreateFact for details on accessing deftemplate facts.


WARNING: Do not call this function with a pointer to a fact that has been retracted. If the return value from GetNextFact is stored as part of a persistent data structure or in a static data area, then the function IncrementFactCount should be called to insure that the fact cannot be disposed while external references to the fact still exist.

4.4.13 IncrementFactCount

void IncrementFactCount(factPtr);
void *factPtr;


Purpose: This function should be called for each external copy of pointer to a fact to let CLIPS know that such an outstanding external reference exists. As long as an fact's count is greater than zero, CLIPS will not release its memory because there may be outstanding pointers to the fact. However, the fact can still be functionally retracted, i.e. the fact will appear to no longer be in the fact-list. The fact address always can be safely examined using the fact access functions as long as the count for the fact is greater than zero. Retracting an already retracted fact will have no effect, however, the function AddFact should not be called twice for the same pointer created using CreateFact. Note that this function only needs to be called if you are storing pointers to facts that may later be referenced by external code after the fact has been retracted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact.

Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.4.14 LoadFacts

int LoadFacts(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a set of facts into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS load-facts command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred while opening the file. If non zero no errors were detected while performing the load.

4.4.15 PutFactSlot

int PutFactSlot(factPtr,slotName,&theValue);

void *factPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT theValue;


Purpose: Sets the slot value of a fact.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a fact data structure.

2) The name of the slot to be set (NULL should be used for the implied multifield slot of an implied deftemplate).

3) A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT that contains the slot’s new value. A multifield or implied multifield slot should only be passed a multifield value. A single field slot should only be passed a single field value. See sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4 for information on setting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the slot value was successfully set, otherwise FALSE.


Warning: Do not use this function to change the slot value of a fact that has already been asserted. This function should only be used on facts created using CreateFact.

4.4.16 Retract

int Retract(factPtr);
void *factPtr;


Purpose: Retracts a fact from the CLIPS fact list (the C equivalent of the CLIPS retract command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a fact structure (usually captured as the return value from a call to AssertString or Assert). If the NULL pointer is used, then all facts will be retracted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if fact already has been retracted, other­wise a one (1).


Other: The caller of RetractFact is responsible for insuring that the fact passed as an argument is still valid. The functions IncrementFactCount and DecrementFactCount can be used to inform CLIPS whether a fact is still in use.

4.4.17 SaveFacts

int SaveFacts(fileName,saveScope,NULL);
char *fileName;

int saveScope;


Purpose: Saves the facts in the fact list to the specified file (the C equivalent of the CLIPS save-facts command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file and an integer constant representing the scope for the facts being saved which should be either LOCAL_SAVE or VISIBLE_SAVE. The third argument is used internally by the CLIPS save facts command and should be set to NULL when called from user code.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred while opening the file. If non zero no errors were detected while performing the save.

4.4.18 SetFactDuplication

int SetFactDuplication(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the fact duplication behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set fact duplication command). When this behavior is disabled (by default), asserting a duplicate of a fact already in the fact list produces no effect. When enabled, the duplicate fact is asserted with a new fact index.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.4.19 SetFactListChanged

void SetFactListChanged(changedFlag);

int changedFlag;

Purpose: Sets the internal boolean flag which indicates when changes to the fact list have occurred. This function is normally used to reset the flag to zero after GetFactListChanged() returns non-zero.


Arguments: An integer indicating whether changes in the fact list have occurred (non-zero) or not (0).


Returns: Nothing useful.

4.4.20 FactExistp

long FactExistp(factPtr);

void *factPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether a fact is still in the fact-list or has been retracted (the C equivalent of the CLIPS fact-existp function).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a fact data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the fact is not in the fact-list, other­wise a one (1).

4.4.21 FactSlotNames

void FactSlotNames(factPtr,&theValue);

DATA_OBJECT slotNames;


Purpose: Retrieves the list of slot names associated with a fact (the C equivalent of the CLIPS fact-slot-names function).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a fact data structure.

2) A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT in which to place a multifield value containing the fact’s slot name symbols. For ordered facts, a multifield value containing the single symbol implied is returned. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: No meaningful value.

4.4.22 GetFactList


void GetFactList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of facts visible to the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-fact-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the deffacts names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.4.23 LoadFactsFromString

int LoadFactsFromString(inputString,maximumPosition);
char *inputString;

int maximumPosition;


Purpose: Loads a set of facts into the CLIPS data base using a string as the input source (in a manner similar to the CLIPS load-facts command).


Arguments: 1) A string containing the fact definitions to be loaded.

2) The maximum number of characters to be read from the string. A value of -1 indicates the entire string.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred while processing the string.

4.5 Deffacts Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating deffacts.

4.5.1 DeffactsModule

char *DeffactsModule(theDeffacts);

void *theDeffacts;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a deffacts is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS deffacts-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the deffacts is defined.

4.5.2 FindDeffacts

void *FindDeffacts(deffactsName);

char *deffactsName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named deffacts.


Arguments: The name of the deffacts to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named deffacts if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.5.3 GetDeffactsList


void GetDeffactsList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of deffacts in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-deffacts-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the deffacts names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.5.4 GetDeffactsName

char *GetDeffactsName(deffactsPtr);

void *deffactsPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a deffacts.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the deffacts.

4.5.5 GetDeffactsPPForm

char *GetDeffactsPPForm(deffactsPtr);

void *deffactsPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a deffacts.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the deffacts (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.5.6 GetNextDeffacts

void *GetNextDeffacts(deffactsPtr);

void *deffactsPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of deffacts.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts data structure (or NULL to get the first deffacts).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first deffacts in the list of deffacts if deffactsPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the deffacts immediately following deffactsPtr in the list of deffacts. If deffactsPtr is the last deffacts in the list of deffacts, then NULL is returned.

4.5.7 IsDeffactsDeletable

int IsDeffactsDeletable(deffactsPtr);
void *deffactsPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular deffacts can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deffacts cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.5.8 ListDeffacts

void ListDeffacts(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of deffacts (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list deffacts command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the deffacts to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that deffacts in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.5.9 Undeffacts

int Undeffacts(deffactsPtr);

void *deffactsPtr;


Purpose: Removes a deffacts construct from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undeffacts command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffacts data structure. If the NULL pointer is used, then all deffacts will be deleted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deffacts could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.6 Defrule Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating defrules.

4.6.1 DefruleHasBreakpoint

int DefruleHasBreakpoint(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defrule has a breakpoint set.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if a breakpoint exists for the rule, otherwise a zero (0).

4.6.2 DefruleModule

char *DefruleModule(theDefrule);

void *theDefrule;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a defrule is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS defrule-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the defrule is defined.

4.6.3 FindDefrule

void *FindDefrule(defruleName);

char *defruleName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named defrule.


Arguments: The name of the defrule to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named defrule if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.6.4 GetDefruleList

void GetDefruleList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of defrules in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-defrule-list function)..


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defrule names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.6.5 GetDefruleName

char *GetDefruleName(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a defrule.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the defrule.

4.6.6 GetDefrulePPForm

char *GetDefrulePPForm(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a defrule.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the defrule (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.6.7 GetDefruleWatchActivations

int GetDefruleWatchActivations(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defrule is being watched for activations.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defrule is being watched for activations, otherwise a zero (0).

4.6.8 GetDefruleWatchFirings

int GetDefruleWatchFirings(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defrule is being watched for rule firings.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defrule is being watched for rule firings, otherwise a zero (0).

4.6.9 GetIncrementalReset

int GetIncrementalReset();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the incremental reset behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-incremental-reset command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

4.6.10 GetNextDefrule

void *GetNextDefrule(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of defrules.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure (or NULL to get the first defrule).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first defrule in the list of defrules if defrulePtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the defrule immediately following defrulePtr in the list of defrules. If defrulePtr is the last defrule in the list of defrules, then NULL is returned.

4.6.11 IsDefruleDeletable

int IsDefruleDeletable(defrulePtr);
void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defrule can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defrule cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.6.12 ListDefrules

void ListDefrules(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of defrules (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defrules command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the defrules to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that defrules in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.6.13 Matches

int Matches(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Prints the partial matches and activations of a defrule (the C equivalent of the CLIPS matches command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the rule was not found, otherwise a one (1).

4.6.14 Refresh

int Refresh(defrulePtr);
void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Refreshes a rule (the C equivalent of the CLIPS refresh command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the rule was not found, otherwise a one (1).

4.6.15 RemoveBreak

int RemoveBreak(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Removes a breakpoint for the specified defrule (the C equivalent of the CLIPS remove-break command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if a breakpoint did not exist for the rule, otherwise a one (1).

4.6.16 SetBreak

void SetBreak(defrulePtr);

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Adds a breakpoint for the specified defrule (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-break command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.6.17 SetDefruleWatchActivations

void SetDefruleWatchActivations(newState,defrulePtr);

int newState;

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Sets the activations watch item for a specific defrule.


Arguments: The new activations watch state and a generic pointer to a defrule data structure.

4.6.18 SetDefruleWatchFirings

void SetDefruleWatchFirings(newState,defrulePtr);

int newState;

void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Sets the rule firing watch item for a specific defrule.


Arguments: The new rule firing watch state and a generic pointer to a defrule data structure.

4.6.19 SetIncrementalReset

int SetIncrementalReset(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the incremental reset behavior. When this behavior is enabled (by default), newly defined rules are update based upon the current state of the fact list. When disabled, newly defined rules are only updated by facts added after the rule is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-incremental-reset command).


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.6.20 ShowBreaks

void ShowBreaks(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of all rule breakpoints (the C equivalent of the CLIPS show-breaks command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module for which the breakpoints are to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that the the breakpoints in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.6.21 Undefrule

int Undefrule(defrulePtr);
void *defrulePtr;


Purpose: Removes a defrule from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefrule command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defrule data structure. If the NULL pointer is used, then all defrules will be deleted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defrule could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.7 Agenda Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating the agenda.

4.7.1 AddRunFunction

int AddRunFunction(runItemName,runFunction,priority);
char *runItemName;

void (*runFunction)();

int priority;


void runFunction();


Purpose: Allows a user-defined function to be called after each rule firing. Such a feature is useful, for example, when bringing data in from some type of external device which does not operate in a synchronous manner. A user may define an external function which will be called by CLIPS after every rule is fired to check for the existence of new data.


Arguments: 1) The name associated with the user defined run function. This name is used by the function RemoveRunFunction.

2) A pointer to the user-defined function which is to be called after every rule firing.

3) The priority of the run item which determines the order in which run items are called (higher priority items are called first). The values -2000 to 2000 are reserved for CLIPS system defined run items and should not be used for user defined run items.


Returns: Returns a zero value if the run item could not be added, otherwise a non-zero value is returned.


Example

This following function checks to see if a key on the keyboard has been hit. If a key has been hit, then the fact (stop-processing) is asserted into the fact-list.


void CheckKB()

{

if (CheckKeyboardStatus() == KB_HIT)

{ AssertString(“stop processing”); }

}


This function can now be added to the list of functions called after every rule firing by making the following function call.


AddRunFunction(“check kb”,checkKB,3000);

4.7.2 Agenda

void Agenda(logicalName,theModule)

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of rules currently on the agenda (the C equivalent of the CLIPS agenda command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the agenda to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that the agendas of all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.7.3 ClearFocusStack

void ClearFocusStack();


Purpose: Removes all modules from the focus stack (the C equivalent of the CLIPS clear-focus-stack command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.7.4 DeleteActivation

int DeleteActivation(activationPtr);
void *activationPtr;


Purpose: Removes an activation from the agenda.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an activation data structure. If the NULL pointer is used, then all activations will be deleted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the activation could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.7.5 Focus

void Focus(defmodulePtr);

void *defmodulePtr;


Purpose: Sets the current focus (the C equivalent of the CLIPS focus command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure.


Returns: No meaningful value.

4.7.6 GetActivationName

char *GetActivationName(activationPtr);

void *activationPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of the defrule from which the activation was generated.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an activation data structure.


Returns: A string containing a defrule name.

4.7.7 GetActivationPPForm

void GetActivationPPForm(buffer,bufferLength,activationPtr);

char *buffer;

int bufferLength;

void *activationPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of an agenda activation in the caller's buffer.


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller's character buffer.

2) The maximum number of characters which could be stored in the caller's buffer (not including space for the terminating null character).

3) A generic pointer to an activation data structure.

4.7.8 GetActivationSalience

int GetActivationSalience(activationPtr);

void *activationPtr;


Purpose: Returns the salience value associated with an activation. This salience value may be different from the the salience value of the defrule which generated the activation (due to dynamic salience).


Arguments: A generic pointer to an activation data structure.


Returns: The integer salience value of an activation.

4.7.9 GetAgendaChanged

int GetAgendaChanged();

Purpose: Determines if any changes to the agenda of rule activations have occurred. If this function returns a non-zero integer, it is the user's responsibility to call SetAgendaChanged(0) to reset the internal flag. Otherwise, this function will continue to return non-zero even when no changes have occurred. This function is primarily used to determine when to update a display tracking rule activations.


Arguments: None.


Returns: 0 if no changes to the agenda have occurred, non-zero otherwise.

4.7.10 GetFocus

void *GetFocus();


Purpose: Returns the module associated with the current focus (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-focus function).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure (or NULL if the focus stack is empty).

4.7.11 GetFocusStack

void GetFocusStack(&returnValue);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;


Purpose: Returns the module names in the focus stack as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-focus-stack function).


Arguments: A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defrule names from the list.

4.7.12 GetNextActivation

void *GetNextActivation(activationPtr);

void *activationPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of activations on the agenda.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an activation data structure (or NULL to get the first activation on the agenda).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first activation on the agenda if activationPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the activation immediately following activationPtr on the agenda. If activationPtr is the last activation on the agenda, then NULL is returned.

4.7.13 GetSalienceEvaluation

int GetSalienceEvaluation();


Purpose: Returns the current salience evaluation behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-salience-evaluation command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer (see SetSalienceEvaluation for the list of defined constants).

4.7.14 GetStrategy

int GetStrategy();


Purpose: Returns the current conflict resolution strategy (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-strategy command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer (see SetStrategy for the list of defined strategy constants).

4.7.15 ListFocusStack

void ListFocusStack(logicalName);

char *logicalName;


Purpose: Prints the current focus stack (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list-focus-stack command).


Arguments: The logical name to which the listing output is sent.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.7.16 PopFocus

void *PopFocus();


Purpose: Removes the current focus from the focus stack and returns the module associated with that focus (the C equivalent of the CLIPS pop-focus function).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure.

4.7.17 RefreshAgenda

void RefreshAgenda(theModule);

void *theModule;


Purpose: Recomputes the salience values for all activations on the agenda and then reorders the agenda (the C equivalent of the CLIPS refresh-agenda command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the module containing the agenda to be refreshed. A NULL pointer indicates that the agendas of all modules should be refreshed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.run

4.7.18 RemoveRunFunction

int RemoveRunFunction(runItemName);

char *runItemName;



Purpose: Removes a named function from the list of functions to be called after every rule firing.


Arguments: The name associated with the user defined run function. This is the same name that was used when the run function was added with the function AddRunFunction.


Returns: Returns the integer value 1 if the named function was found and removed, otherwise 0 is returned.

4.7.19 ReorderAgenda

void ReorderAgenda(theModule);

void *theModule;


Purpose: Reorders the agenda based on the current conflict resolution strategy and current activation saliences.


Arguments: A generic pointer to the module containing the agenda to be reordered. A NULL pointer indicates that the agendas of all modules should be reordered.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.7.20 Run

long int Run(runLimit);
long int runLimit;


Purpose: Allows rules to execute (the C equivalent of the CLIPS run command).


Arguments: An integer which defines how many rules should fire before returning. If runLimit is a negative integer, rules will fire until the agenda is empty.


Returns: Returns an integer value; the number of rules that were fired.

4.7.21 SetActivationSalience

int SetActivationSalience(activationPtr,newSalience);

void *activationPtr;

int newSalience;


Purpose: Sets the salience value of an activation. The salience value of the defrule which generated the activation is unchanged.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to an activation data structure.

2) The new salience value (which is not restricted to the  10000 to +10000 range).


Returns: The old salience value of the activation.


Other: The function ReorderAgenda should be called after salience values have been changed to update the agenda.

4.7.22 SetAgendaChanged

void SetAgendaChanged(changedFlag);

int changedFlag;

Purpose: Sets the internal boolean flag which indicates when changes to the agenda of rule activations have occurred. This function is normally used to reset the flag to zero after GetAgendaChanged() returns non-zero.


Arguments: An integer indicating whether changes in the agenda have occurred (non-zero) or not (0).


Returns: Nothing useful.

4.7.23 SetSalienceEvaluation

int SetSalienceEvaluation(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the salience evaluation behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-salience-evaluation command).


Arguments: The new value for the behavior – one of the following defined integer constants:


WHEN_DEFINED
WHEN_ACTIVATED
EVERY_CYCLE


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.7.24 SetStrategy

int SetStrategy(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the conflict resolution strategy (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-strategy command).


Arguments: The new value for the behavior – one of the following defined integer constants:


DEPTH_STRATEGY
BREADTH_STRATEGY
LEX_STRATEGY
MEA_STRATEGY
COMPLEXITY_STRATEGY
SIMPLICITY_STRATEGY
RANDOM_STRATEGY


Returns: Returns the old value for the strategy.

4.8 Defglobal Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating defglobals.

4.8.1 DefglobalModule

char *DefglobalModule(theDefglobal);

void *theDefglobal;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a defglobal is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS defglobal-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the defglobal is defined.

4.8.2 FindDefglobal

void *FindDefglobal(globalName);

char *globalName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named defglobal.


Arguments: The name of the defglobal to be found (e.g. x for ?*x*).


Returns: A generic pointer to the named defglobal if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.8.3 GetDefglobalList

void GetDefglobalList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of defglobals in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-defglobal-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defglobal names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.8.4 GetDefglobalName

char *GetDefglobalName(defglobalPtr);

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a defglobal.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the defglobal (e.g. x for ?*x*).

4.8.5 GetDefglobalPPForm

char *GetDefglobalPPForm(defglobalPtr);

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a defglobal.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the defglobal (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.8.6 GetDefglobalValue

int GetDefglobalValue(globalName,&vPtr);

char *globalName;

DATA_OBJECT vPtr;


Purpose: Returns the value of a defglobal.


Arguments: 1) The name of the global variable to be retrieved (e.g. y for ?*y*).

2) A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT in which the value is stored (see sections 3.2.3 and 3.3.4 for details on this data structure).


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defglobal was not found, other­wise a one (1). The DATA_OBJECT vPtr is assigned the current value of the defglobal.

4.8.7 GetDefglobalValueForm

void GetDefglobalValueForm(buffer,bufferLength,defglobalPtr);

char *buffer;

int bufferLength;

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Returns a printed representation of a defglobal and its current value in the caller's buffer. For example,


?*x* = 5


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s character buffer.

2) The maximum number of characters which could be stored in the caller's buffer (not including space for the terminating null character).

3) A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.

4.8.8 GetDefglobalWatch

int GetDefglobalWatch(defglobalPtr);

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defglobal is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defglobal is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.8.9 GetGlobalsChanged

int GetGlobalsChanged();

Purpose: Determines if any changes to global variables have occurred. If this function returns a non-zero integer, it is the user's responsibility to call SetGlobalsChanged(0) to reset the internal flag. Otherwise, this function will continue to return non-zero even when no changes have occurred. This function is primarily used to determine when to update a display tracking global variables.


Arguments: None.


Returns: 0 if no changes to global variables have occurred, non-zero otherwise.

4.8.10 GetNextDefglobal

void *GetNextDefglobal(defglobalPtr);

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of defglobals.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure (or NULL to get the first defglobal).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first defglobal in the list of defglobals if defglobalPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the defglobal immediately following defglobalPtr in the list of defglobals. If defglobalPtr is the last defglobal in the list of defglobals, then NULL is returned.

4.8.11 GetResetGlobals

int GetResetGlobals();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the reset global variables behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get reset globals command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if globals are not reset and TRUE (1) if globals are reset.

4.8.12 IsDefglobalDeletable

int IsDefglobalDeletable(defglobalPtr);
void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defglobal can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defglobal cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.8.13 ListDefglobals

void ListDefglobals(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of defglobals (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defglobals command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the defglobals to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that defglobals in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.8.14 SetDefglobalValue

int SetDefglobalValue(globalName,&vPtr);

char *globalName;

DATA_OBJECT vPtr;


Purpose: Sets the value of a defglobal.


Arguments: 1) The name of the global variable to be set (e.g. y for ?*y*).

2) A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT in which the new value is contained (see sections 3.2.3 and 3.3.4 for details on this data structure).


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defglobal was not found, other­wise a one (1).

4.8.15 SetDefglobalWatch

void SetDefglobalWatch(newState,defglobalPtr);

int newState;

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Sets the globals watch item for a specific defglobal.


Arguments: The new globals watch state and a generic pointer to a defglobal data structure.

4.8.16 SetGlobalsChanged

void SetGlobalsChanged(changedFlag);

int changedFlag;

Purpose: Sets the internal boolean flag which indicates when changes to global variables have occurred. This function is normally used to reset the flag to zero after GetGlobalsChanged() returns non-zero.


Arguments: An integer indicating whether changes in global variables have occurred (non-zero) or not (0).


Returns: Nothing useful.

4.8.17 SetResetGlobals

int SetResetGlobals(value);

int value;


Purpose: Sets the reset-globals behavior (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set reset globals command). When this behavior is enabled (by default) global variables are reset to their original values when the reset command is performed.


Arguments: The new value for the behavior: TRUE (1) to enable the behavior and FALSE (0) to disable it.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.

4.8.18 ShowDefglobals

void ShowDefglobals(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of defglobals and their current values (the C equivalent of the CLIPS show defglobals command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the defglobals to be displayed. A NULL pointer indicates that defglobals in all modules should be displayed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.8.19 Undefglobal

int Undefglobal(defglobalPtr);

void *defglobalPtr;


Purpose: Removes a defglobal from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefglobal command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defglobal data structure. If the NULL pointer is used, then all defglobals will be deleted.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the defglobal could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.9 Deffunction Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating deffunctions.

4.9.1 DeffunctionModule

char *DeffunctionModule(theDeffunction);

void *theDeffunction;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a deffunction is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS deffunction-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the deffunction is defined.

4.9.2 FindDeffunction

void *FindDeffunction(deffunctionName);

char *deffunctionName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named deffunction.


Arguments: The name of the deffunction to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named deffunction if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.9.3 GetDeffunctionList

void GetDeffunctionList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of deffunctions in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-deffunction-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the deffunction names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.9.4 GetDeffunctionName

char *GetDeffunctionName(deffunctionPtr);

void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a deffunction.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the deffunction.

4.9.5 GetDeffunctionPPForm

char *GetDeffunctionPPForm(deffunctionPtr);

void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a deffunction.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the deffunction (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.9.6 GetDeffunctionWatch

int GetDeffunctionWatch(deffunctionPtr);

void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular deffunction is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the deffunction is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.9.7 GetNextDeffunction

void *GetNextDeffunction(deffunctionPtr);

void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of deffunctions.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction data structure (or NULL to get the first deffunction).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first deffunction in the list of deffunctions if deffunctionPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the deffunction immediately following deffunctionPtr in the list of deffunctions. If deffunctionPtr is the last deffunction in the list of deffunctions, then NULL is returned.

4.9.8 IsDeffunctionDeletable

int IsDeffunctionDeletable(deffunctionPtr);
void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular deffunction can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a deffunction data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deffunction cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.9.9 ListDeffunctions

void ListDeffunctions(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of deffunction (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list deffunctions command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the deffunctions to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that deffunctions in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.9.10 SetDeffunctionWatch

void SetDeffunctionWatch(newState,deffunctionPtr);

int newState;

void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Sets the deffunctions watch item for a specific deffunction.


Arguments: The new deffunctions watch state and a generic pointer to a deffunction data structure.

4.9.11 Undeffunction

int Undeffunction(deffunctionPtr);
void *deffunctionPtr;


Purpose: Removes a deffunction from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undeffunction command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the deffunction (NULL means to delete all deffunctions).


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the deffunction could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.10 Defgeneric Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating generic functions.

4.10.1 DefgenericModule

char *DefgenericModule(theDefgeneric);

void *theDefgeneric;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a defgeneric is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS defgeneric-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the defgeneric is defined.

4.10.2 FindDefgeneric

void *FindDefgeneric(defgenericName);

char *defgenericName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named generic function.


Arguments: The name of the generic to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named generic function if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.10.3 GetDefgenericList

void GetDefgenericList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of defgenerics in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-defgeneric-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defgeneric names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.10.4 GetDefgenericName

char *GetDefgenericName(defgenericPtr);

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a generic function.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the generic function.

4.10.5 GetDefgenericPPForm

char *GetDefgenericPPForm(defgenericPtr);

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a generic function.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the generic function (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.10.6 GetDefgenericWatch

int GetDefgenericWatch(defgenericPtr);

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defgeneric is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defgeneric is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.10.7 GetNextDefgeneric

void *GetNextDefgeneric(defgenericPtr);

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of generic functions.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure (or NULL to get the first generic function).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first generic function in the list of generic functions if defgenericPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the generic function immediately following defgenericPtr in the list of generic functions. If defgenericPtr is the last generic function in the list of generic functions, then NULL is returned.

4.10.8 IsDefgenericDeletable

int IsDefgenericDeletable(defgenericPtr);
void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular generic function and all its methods can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.


Returns: An integer: zero (0) if the generic function and all its methods cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.10.9 ListDefgenerics

void ListDefgenerics(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of defgenerics (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defgenerics command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the defgenerics to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that defgenerics in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.10.10 SetDefgenericWatch

void SetDefgenericWatch(newState,defgenericPtr);

int newState;

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Sets the defgenerics watch item for a specific defgeneric.


Arguments: The new generic-functions watch state and a generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.

4.10.11 Undefgeneric

int Undefgeneric(defgenericPtr);
void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Removes a generic function and all its methods from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefgeneric command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the generic function (NULL means to delete all generic functions).


Returns: An integer: zero (0) if the generic function and all its methods could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.11 Defmethod Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating generic function methods.

4.11.1 GetDefmethodDescription

void GetDefmethodDescription(buffer,bufferLength,

defgenericPtr,methodIndex);

char *buf;

int bufLength;

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;


Purpose: Stores a synopsis of the method parameter restrictions in the caller's buffer.


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller's buffer.

2) The maximum number of characters which could be stored in the caller's buffer (not including space for the terminating null character).

3) A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.

4) The index of the generic function method.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.11.2 GetDefmethodList

void GetDefmethodList(defgenericPtr,&returnValue);

void *defgenericPtr;

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;


Purpose: Returns the list of currently defined defmethods for the specified defgeneric. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS get defmethod-list command).

Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the defgeneric (NULL for all defgenerics).

2) A pointer to the DATA_OBJECT in which the list of defmethod constructs is to be stored.

Returns: A multifield value containing the list of defmethods constructs for the specified defgeneric. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defmethod names and indices from the list. Note that the name and index for each defmethod are stored as pairs in the return multifield value.

4.11.3 GetDefmethodPPForm

char *GetDefmethodPPForm(defgenericPtr,methodIndex);

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a generic function method.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.

2) The index of the generic function method.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the generic function method (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.11.4 GetDefmethodWatch

int GetDefmethodWatch(defgenericPtr,methodIndex);

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defmethod is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure and the index of the generic function method.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defmethod is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.11.5 GetMethodRestrictions

void GetMethodRestrictions(defgenericPtr,methodIndex,

&returnValue);

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;


Purpose: Returns the restrictions for the specified method. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS get method-restrictions function.

Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the defgeneric (NULL for all defgenerics).

2) The index of the generic function method.

3) A pointer to the DATA_OBJECT in which the method restrictions are stored.

Returns: A multifield value containing the restrictions for the specified method (the description of the get method-restrictions function in the Basic Programming Guide explains the meaning of the fields in the multifield value). The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the method restrictions from the list.

4.11.6 GetNextDefmethod

unsigned GetNextDefmethod(defgenericPtr,methodIndex);

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of methods for a particular generic function.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.

2) The index of a generic function method (0 to get the first method of the generic function).


Returns: The index of the first method in the list of methods for the generic function if methodIndex is 0, otherwise the index of the method immediately following methodIndex in the list of methods for the generic function. If methodIndex is the last method in the list of methods for the generic function, then 0 is returned.

4.11.7 IsDefmethodDeletable

int IsDefmethodDeletable(defgenericPtr,methodIndex);
void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular generic function method can be deleted.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure.

2) The index of the generic function method.


Returns: An integer: zero (0) if the method cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.11.8 ListDefmethods

void ListDefmethods(logicalName,defgenericPtr);

char *logicalName;

void *defgenericPtr;


Purpose: Prints the list of methods for a particular generic function (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defmethods command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name of the output destination to which tosend the method listing

2) A generic pointer to the generic function (NULL to list methods for all generic functions).


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.11.9 SetDefmethodWatch

void SetDefmethodWatch(newState,defgenericPtr,methodIndex);

int newState;

void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex


Purpose: Sets the methods watch item for a specific defmethod.


Arguments: The new methods watch state, a generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure, and the index of the generic function method.

4.11.10 Undefmethod

int Undefmethod(defgenericPtr,methodIndex);
void *defgenericPtr;

unsigned methodIndex;


Purpose: Removes a generic function method from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefmethod command).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defgeneric data structure (NULL to delete all methods for all generic functions).

2) The index of the generic function method (0 to delete all methods of the generic function - must be 0 if defgenericPtr is NULL).


Returns: An integer: zero (0) if the method could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.12 Defclass Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating defclasses.

4.12.1 BrowseClasses

void BrowseClasses(logicalName,defclassPtr);

char *logicalName;

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Prints a “graph” of all classes which inherit from the specified class. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS browse classes command.


Arguments: 1) The logical name of the output destination to which to send the browse display.

2) A generic pointer to the class which is to be browsed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.2 ClassAbstractP

int ClassAbstractP(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Determines if a class is concrete or abstract, i.e. if a class can have direct instances or not. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS class-abstractp command.


Arguments: A generic pointer to the class.


Returns: The integer 1 if the class is abstract, or 0 if the class is concrete.

4.12.3 ClassReactiveP

int ClassReactiveP(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Determines if a class is reactive or non-reactive, i.e. if objects of the class can match object patterns. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS class-reactivep command.


Arguments: A generic pointer to the class.


Returns: The integer 1 if the class is reactive, or 0 if the class is non reactive.

4.12.4 ClassSlots

void ClassSlots(defclassPtr,&result,inheritFlag);

void *defclassPtr;

DATA_OBJECT result;

int inheritFlag;


Purpose: Groups the names of slots of a class into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS class-slots command.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield. See sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.

3) The integer 1 to include inherited slots or 0 to only include explicitly defined slots.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.5 ClassSubclasses

void ClassSubclasses(defclassPtr,&result,inheritFlag);

void *defclassPtr;

DATA_OBJECT result;

int inheritFlag;


Purpose: Groups the names of subclasses of a class into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS class-subclasses command.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield. See sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4 for information on setting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.

3) The integer 1 to include inherited subclasses or 0 to only include direct subclasses.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.6 ClassSuperclasses

void ClassSuperclasses(defclassPtr,&result,inheritFlag);

void *defclassPtr;

DATA_OBJECT result;

int inheritFlag;


Purpose: Groups the names of superclasses of a class into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS class-superclasses command.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.

3) The integer 1 to include inherited superclasses or 0 to only include direct superclasses.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.7 DefclassModule

char *DefclassModule(theDefclass);

void *theDefclass;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a defclass is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS defclass-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the defclass is defined.

4.12.8 DescribeClass

void DescribeClass(logicalName,defclassPtr);

char *logicalName;

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Prints a summary of the specified class including: abstract/concrete behavior, slots and facets (direct and inherited) and recognized message-handlers (direct and inherited). This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS describe class command.


Arguments: 1) The logical name of the output destination to which to send the description.

2) A generic pointer to the class which is to be described.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.9 FindDefclass

void *FindDefclass(defclassName);

char *defclassName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named class.


Arguments: The name of the class to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named class if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.12.10 GetClassDefaultsMode

unsigned short GetClassDefaultsMode();


Purpose: Returns the current class defaults mode (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-class-defaults-mode command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer (see SetClassDefaultsMode for the list of mode constants).

4.12.11 GetDefclassList

void GetDefclassList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of defclasses in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-defclass-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defclass names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.12 GetDefclassName

char *GetDefclassName(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a class.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the class.

4.12.13 GetDefclassPPForm

char *GetDefclassPPForm(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a class.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the class (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.12.14 GetDefclassWatchInstances

int GetDefclassWatchInstances(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defclass is being watched for instance creation and deletions.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defclass is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.12.15 GetDefclassWatchSlots

int GetDefclassWatchSlots(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defclass is being watched for slot changes.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defclass is being watched for slot changes, otherwise a zero (0).

4.12.16 GetNextDefclass

void *GetNextDefclass(defclassPtr);

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of classes.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure (or NULL to get the first class).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first class in the list of classes if defclassPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the class immediately following defclassPtr in the list of classes. If defclassPtr is the last class in the list of classes, then NULL is returned.

4.12.17 IsDefclassDeletable

int IsDefclassDeletable(defclassPtr);
void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular class and all its subclasses can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the class cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.12.18 ListDefclasses

void ListDefclasses(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of defclasses (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defclasses command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the defclasses to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that defclasses in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.19 SetClassDefaultsMode

unsigned short SetClassDefaultsMode(value);

unsigned short value;


Purpose: Sets the current class defaults mode (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-class-defaults-mode command).


Arguments: The new value for the mode – one of the following defined integer constants:


CONVENIENCE_MODE
CONSERVATION_MODE


Returns: Returns the old value for the mode.

4.12.20 SetDefclassWatchInstances

void SetDefclassWatchInstances(newState,defclassPtr);

int newState;

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Sets the instances watch item for a specific defclass.


Arguments: The new instances watch state and a generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

4.12.21 SetDefclassWatchSlots

void SetDefclassWatchSlots(newState,defclassPtr);

int newState;

void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Sets the slots watch item for a specific defclass.


Arguments: The new slots watch state and a generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

4.12.22 SlotAllowedValues

void SlotAllowedValues(defclassPtr,slotName,&result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT result;

Purpose: Groups the allowed-values for a slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot allowed-values function.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the allowed values from the list.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.23 SlotCardinality

void SlotCardinality(defclassPtr,slotName,result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;

Purpose: Groups the cardinality information for a slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot-cardinality function.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.24 SlotDirectAccessP

int SlotDirectAccessP(defclassPtr,slotName);
void *defclassPtr,

char *slotName;


Purpose: Determines if the specified slot is directly accessible.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The name of the slot.

Returns: An integer: 1 if the slot is directly accessible, otherwise 0.

4.12.25 SlotExistP

int SlotExistP(defclassPtr,slotName,inheritFlag);
void *defclassPtr,

char *slotName;

int inheritFlag;


Purpose: Determines if the specified slot exists.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The name of the slot.

Returns: An integer: If inheritFlag is 0 and the slot is directly defined in the specified class, then 1 is returned, otherwise 0 is returned. If inheritFlag is 1 and the slot is defined either in the specified class or an inherited class, then 1 is returned, otherwise 0 is returned.

4.12.26 SlotFacets

void SlotFacets(defclassPtr,slotName,result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;


Purpose: Groups the facet values of a class slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot-facets command. See section 10.8.1.11 in the Basic Programming Guide for more detail.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.27 SlotInitableP

int SlotInitableP(defclassPtr,slotName);
void *defclassPtr,

char *slotName;


Purpose: Determines if the specified slot is initable.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The name of the slot.

Returns: An integer: 1 if the slot is initable, otherwise 0.

4.12.28 SlotPublicP

int SlotPublicP(defclassPtr,slotName);
void *defclassPtr,

char *slotName;


Purpose: Determines if the specified slot is public.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The name of the slot.

Returns: An integer: 1 if the slot is public, otherwise 0.

4.12.29 SlotRange

void SlotRange(defclassPtr,slotName,result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;

Purpose: Groups the numeric range information for a slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot range function.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.30 SlotSources

void SlotSources(defclassPtr,slotName,result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;


Purpose: Groups the names of the class sources of a slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot-sources command. See section 10.8.1.12 in the Basic Programming Guide for more detail.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.31 SlotTypes

void SlotTypes(defclassPtr,slotName,result);

void *defclassPtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;

Purpose: Groups the names of the primitive data types allowed for a slot into a multifield data object. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS slot-types function.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class.

2) Name of the slot.

3) Pointer to the data object in which to store the multifield.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.12.32 SlotWritableP

int SlotWritableP(defclassPtr,slotName);
void *defclassPtr,

char *slotName;


Purpose: Determines if the specified slot is writable.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The name of the slot.

Returns: An integer: 1 if the slot is writable, otherwise 0.

4.12.33 SubclassP

int SubclassP(defclassPtr1,defclassPtr2);

void *defclassPtr1, *defclassPtr2;


Purpose: Determines if a class is a subclass of another class.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer: 1 if the first class is a subclass of the second class.

4.12.34 SuperclassP

int SuperclassP(defclassPtr1,defclassPtr2);

void *defclassPtr1, *defclassPtr2;


Purpose: Determines if a class is a superclass of another class.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer: 1 if the first class is a superclass of the second class.

4.12.35 Undefclass

int Undefclass(defclassPtr);
void *defclassPtr;


Purpose: Removes a class and all its subclasses from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefclass command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the class could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.13 Instance Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating instances.

4.13.1 BinaryLoadInstances

long BinaryLoadInstances(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a set of instances from a binary file into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS bload instances command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the binary file.


Returns: Returns the number of instances restored or -1 if the file could not be accessed.

4.13.2 BinarySaveInstances

long BinarySaveInstances(fileName,saveCode,NULL,TRUE);
char *fileName;

int saveCode;


Purpose: Saves the instances in the system to the specified binary file (the C equivalent of the CLIPS bsave-instances command).


Arguments: 1) A string representing the name of the binary file.

2) An integer flag indicating whether to save local (current module only) or visible instances. Use either the constant LOCAL_SAVE or VISIBLE_SAVE.

3) Should always be NULL.

4) Should always be TRUE.


Returns: Returns the number of instances saved.

4.13.3 CreateRawInstance

void *CreateRawInstance(defclassPtr,instanceName);
void *defclassPtr;

char *instanceName;


Purpose: Creates an empty instance with the specified name of the specified class. No slot overrides or class default initializations are performed for the instance.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class of the new instance.

2) The name of the new instance.

Returns: A generic pointer to the new instance, NULL on errors.


WARNING: This function bypasses message passing.

4.13.4 DecrementInstanceCount

void DecrementInstanceCount(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: This function should only be called to reverse the effects of a previous call to IncrementInstanceCount(). As long as an instance's count is greater than zero, the memory allocated to it cannot be released for other use.


Arguments: A generic pointer to the instance.

Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.13.5 DeleteInstance

int DeleteInstance(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Deletes the specified instance(s).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the instance to be deleted. If the pointer is NULL, all instances in the system are deleted.


Returns: Non-zero if successful, 0 otherwise.


WARNING: This function bypasses message passing.

4.13.6 DirectGetSlot

void DirectGetSlot(instancePtr,slotName,result);
void *instancePtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *result;


Purpose: Stores the value of the specified slot of the specified instance in the caller's buffer (the C equivalent of the CLIPS dynamic get function).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the instance.

2) The name of the slot.

3) The caller's buffer for the slot value. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: No meaningful return value.


WARNING: This function bypasses message passing.

4.13.7 DirectPutSlot

int DirectPutSlot(instancePtr,slotName,newValue);
void *instancePtr;

char *slotName;

DATA_OBJECT *newValue;


Purpose: Stores a value in the specified slot of the specified instance (the C equivalent of the CLIPS dynamic put function).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the instance.

2) The name of the slot.

3) The caller's buffer containing the new value (an error is generated if this value is NULL). See sections 3.3.3 and 3.3.4 for information on setting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: Returns an integer; if zero, an error occurred while setting the slot. If non zero, no errors occurred.


WARNING: This function bypasses message passing.

4.13.8 FindInstance

void *FindInstance(theModule,instanceName,searchImports);

void *theModule;
char *instanceName;

int searchImports;


Purpose: Returns the address of the specified instance.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the module to be searched (NULL to search the current module).

2) The name of the instance (should not include a module specifier).

3) A boolean flag indicating whether imported modules should also be searched: TRUE to search imported modules, otherwise FALSE.

Returns: A generic pointer to the instance, NULL if the instance does not exist.

4.13.9 GetInstanceClass

void *GetInstanceClass(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Determines the class of an instance.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an instance.


Returns: A generic pointer to the class of the instance.

4.13.10 GetInstanceName

char *GetInstanceName(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Determines the name of an instance.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an instance.


Returns: The name of the instance.

4.13.11 GetInstancePPForm

void GetInstancePPForm(buffer,bufferLength,instancePtr);

char *buffer;

int bufferLength;

void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of an instance in the caller's buffer.


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller's character buffer.

2) The maximum number of characters which could be stored in the caller's buffer (not including space for the terminating null character).

3) A generic pointer to an instance.


Returns: No meaningful return value. The instance pretty print form is stored in the caller's buffer.

4.13.12 GetInstancesChanged

int GetInstancesChanged();

Purpose: Determines if any changes to instances of user defined instances have occurred, e.g. instance creations/deletions or slot value changes. If this function returns a non-zero integer, it is the user's responsibility to call SetInstancesChanged(0) to reset the internal flag. Otherwise, this function will continue to return non-zero even when no changes have occurred. This function is primarily used to determine when to update a display tracking instances.


Arguments: None.


Returns: 0 if no changes to instances of user defined classes have occurred, non-zero otherwise.

4.13.13 GetNextInstance

void *GetNextInstance(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of instances.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an instance (or NULL to get the first instance in the list).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first instance in the list of instances if instancePtr is NULL, otherwise a pointer to the instance immediately following instancePtr in the list. If instancePtr is the last instance in the list, then NULL is returned.

4.13.14 GetNextInstanceInClass

void *GetNextInstanceInClass(defclassPtr,instancePtr);
void *defclassPtr,*instancePtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of instances for a particular class.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a class.

2) A generic pointer to an instance (or NULL to get the first instance in the specified class).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first instance in the list of instances for the specified class if instancePtr is NULL, otherwise a pointer to the instance immediately following instancePtr in the list. If instancePtr is the last instance in the class, then NULL is returned.


4.13.15 GetNextInstanceInClassAndSubclasses

void *GetNextInstanceInClassAndSubclasses(defclassPtr,instancePtr,

iterationData);
void **defclassPtr,*instancePtr;

DATA_OBJECT *iterationData;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of instances for a particular class and its subclasses.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a generic pointer to a class.

  1. A generic pointer to an instance (or NULL to get the first instance in the specified class).
  2. A pointer to a DATA_OBJECT in which instance iteration is stored. No initialization of this argument is required and the values stored in this argument are not intended for examination by the calling function.


Returns: A generic pointer to the first instance in the list of instances for the specified class and its subclasses if instancePtr is NULL, otherwise a pointer to the instance immediately following instancePtr in the list or the next instance in a subclass of the class. If instancePtr is the last instance in the class and all its subclasses, then NULL is returned.

As the subclasses of the specified class are iterated through to find instances, the value stored in defclassPtr is updated to indicate the class of the instance returned by this function.

Example


DATA_OBJECT iterate;

void *theInstance;

void *theClass;

theClass = FindDefclass(“USER”);

for (theInstance = GetNextInstanceInClassAndSubclasses(&theClass,

NULL,&iterate);

theInstance != NULL;

theInstance = GetNextInstanceInClassAndSubclasses(&theClass,

theInstance,&iterate))

{

PrintRouter(WDISPLAY,GetInstanceName(theInstance));

PrintRouter(WDISPLAY,“\n”);

}

4.13.16 IncrementInstanceCount

void IncrementInstanceCount(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: This function should be called for each external copy of an instance address to let CLIPS know that such an outstanding external reference exists. As long as an instance's count is greater than zero, CLIPS will not release its memory because there may be outstanding pointers to the instance. However, the instance can still be functionally deleted, i.e. the instance will appear to no longer be in the system. The instance address always can be safely passed to instance access functions as long as the count for the instance is greater than zero. These functions will recognize when an instance has been functionally deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to the instance.

Returns: No meaningful return value.


Example


/*===========*/

/* Incorrect */

/*===========*/


void InstanceReferenceExample()

{

void *myInstancePtr;


myInstancePtr = FindInstance(NULL,“my-instance”,TRUE);


/*===========================================*/

/* Instance my-instance could be potentially */

/* deleted during the run. */

/*===========================================*/


Run(-1L);


/*===========================================*/

/* This next function call could dereference */

/* a dangling pointer and cause a crash. */

/*===========================================*/


DeleteInstance(myInstancePtr);

}


/*=========*/

/* Correct */

/*=========*/


void InstanceReferenceExample()

{

void *myInstancePtr;


myInstancePtr = FindInstance(NULL,“my-instance”,TRUE);


/*=====================================================*/

/* The instance is correctly marked so that a dangling */

/* pointer cannot be created during the run. */

/*=====================================================*/


IncrementInstanceCount(myInstancePtr);

Run(-1L);

DecrementInstanceCount(myInstancePtr);


/*===========================================================*/

/* The instance can now be safely deleted using the pointer. */

/*===========================================================*/


DeleteInstance(myInstancePtr);

}

4.13.17 Instances

void Instances(logicalName,modulePtr,className,subclassFlag);

char *logicalName;

void *defmodulePtr;

char *className;

int subclassFlag;


Purpose: Prints the list of all direct instances of a specified class currently in the system (the C equivalent of the CLIPS instances command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure (NULL indicates to list all instances of all classes in all modules—the third and fourth arguments are ignored).

3) The name of the class for which to list instances (NULL indicates to list all instances of all classes in the specified module—the fourth argument is ignored).

4) A flag indicating whether or not to list recursively direct instances of subclasses of the named class in the specified module. 0 indicates no, and any other value indicates yes.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.13.18 LoadInstances

long LoadInstances(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a set of instances into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS load-instances command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns the number of instances loaded or -1 if the file could not be accessed.

4.13.19 MakeInstance

void *MakeInstance(makeCommand);
char *makeCommand;


Purpose: Creates and initializes an instance of a user defined class (the C equivalent of the CLIPS make instance function).


Arguments: A string containing a make instance command in the format below:


(<instance-name> of <class-name> <slot-override>*)

<slot-override> :== (<slot-name> <constant>*)


Returns: A generic pointer to the new instance, NULL on errors.


Example


MakeInstance(“(henry of boy (age 8))”);

4.13.20 RestoreInstances

long RestoreInstances(fileName);
char *fileName;


Purpose: Loads a set of instances into the CLIPS data base (the C equivalent of the CLIPS restore-instances command).


Arguments: A string representing the name of the file.


Returns: Returns the number of instances restored or -1 if the file could not be accessed.

4.13.21 SaveInstances

long SaveInstances(fileName,saveCode,NULL,TRUE);
char *fileName;

int saveCode;


Purpose: Saves the instances in the system to the specified file (the C equivalent of the CLIPS save-instances command).


Arguments: 1) A string representing the name of the file.

2) An integer flag indicating whether to save local (current module only) or visible instances. Use either the constant LOCAL_SAVE or VISIBLE_SAVE.

3) Should always be NULL.

4) Should always be TRUE.


Returns: Returns the number of instances saved.

4.13.22 Send

void Send(instanceBuffer,msg,msgArgs,result);
DATA_OBJECT *instanceBuffer, *result;

char *msg,*msgArgs;


Purpose: Message-passing from C Sends a message with the specified arguments to the specified object and stores the result in the caller's buffer (the C equivalent of the CLIPS send function).


Arguments: 1) A data value holding the object (instance, symbol, float, etc.) which will receive the message.

2) The message.

3) A string containing any constant arguments separated by blanks (this argument can be NULL).

4) Caller's buffer for storing the result of the message. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.4 for information on getting the value stored in a DATA_OBJECT.


Returns: No meaningful return value.


Example


void SendMessageExample()

{

DATA_OBJECT insdata, rtn;

void *myInstancePtr;


myInstancePtr = MakeInstance(“(my-instance of MY-CLASS”);

SetType(insdata,INSTANCE_ADDRESS);

SetValue(insdata,myInstancePtr);

Send(&insdata,“my-msg”,“1 abc 3”,&rtn);

}

4.13.23 SetInstancesChanged

void SetInstancesChanged(changedFlag);

int changedFlag;

Purpose: Sets the internal boolean flag which indicates when changes to instances of user-defined classes have occurred. This function is normally used to reset the flag to zero after GetInstancesChanged() returns non-zero.


Arguments: An integer indicating whether changes in instances of user defined classes have occurred (non-zero) or not (0).


Returns: Nothing useful.

4.13.24 UnmakeInstance

int UnmakeInstance(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: This function is equivalent to DeleteInstance except that it uses message passing instead of directly deleting the instance(s).


Arguments: A generic pointer to the instance to be deleted. If the pointer is NULL, all instances in the system are deleted.


Returns: Non-zero if successful, 0 otherwise.

4.13.25 ValidInstanceAddress

int ValidInstanceAddress(instancePtr);
void *instancePtr;


Purpose: Determines if an instance referenced by an address still exists. See the description of IncrementInstanceCount.


Arguments: The address of the instance.

Returns: The integer 1 if the instance still exists, 0 otherwise.

4.13.26 LoadInstancesFromString

int LoadInstancesFromString(inputString,maximumPosition);
char *inputString;

int maximumPosition;


Purpose: Loads a set of instances into the CLIPS data base using a string as the input source (in a manner similar to the CLIPS load-instances command).


Arguments: 1) A string containing the instance definitions.

2) The maximum number of characters to be read from the string. A value of -1 indicates the entire string.


Returns: Returns the number of instances loaded or -1 if there were problems using the string as an input source.

4.13.27 RestoreInstancesFromString

int RestoreInstancesFromString(inputString,maximumPosition);
char *inputString;

int maximumPosition;


Purpose: Loads a set of instances into the CLIPS data base using a string as the input source (in a manner similar to the CLIPS restore-instances command).


Arguments: 1) A string containing the instance definitions.

2) The maximum number of characters to be read from the string. A value of -1 indicates the entire string.


Returns: Returns the number of instances loaded or -1 if there were problems using the string as an input source.


4.14 Defmessage-handler Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating defmessage handlers.

4.14.1 FindDefmessageHandler

unsigned FindDefmessageHandler(defclassPtr,

handlerName,handlerType);

void *defclassPtr,

char *handlerName,*handlerType;


Purpose: Returns an index to the specified message handler within the list of handlers for a particular class.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class to which the handler is attached.

2) The name of the handler.

3) The type of the handler: around, before, primary or after.


Returns: An index to the specified handler if it exists, otherwise 0.

4.14.2 GetDefmessageHandlerList

void GetDefmessageHandlerList(defclassPtr,&returnValue,

includeInheritedp);

void *defclassPtr;

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

int includeInheritedp


Purpose: Returns the list of currently defined defmessage handlers for the specified class. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS get defmessage handler-list command).

Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to the class (NULL for all classes).

2) A pointer to the DATA_OBJECT in which the list of defmessage-handler constructs is to be stored.

3) An integer flag indicating whether to list inherited handlers (TRUE to list them or FALSE to not list them).

Returns: No meaningful value. The second argument to this function is set to a multifield value containing the list of defmessage-handler constructs for the specified class. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defmessage-handler class, name, and type from the list. Note that the class, name, and type for each defmessage-handler are stored as triplets in the return multifield value.

4.14.3 GetDefmessageHandlerName

char *GetDefmessageHandlerName(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Returns the name of a message handler.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The index of a message handler.


Returns: A string containing the name of the message handler.

4.14.4 GetDefmessageHandlerPPForm

char *GetDefmessageHandlerPPForm(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a message handler.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The index of a message handler.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the message handler (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.14.5 GetDefmessageHandlerType

char *GetDefmessageHandlerType(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Returns the type (around, before, primary or after) of a message handler.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The index of a message handler.


Returns: A string containing the type of the message handler.

4.14.6 GetDefmessageHandlerWatch

int GetDefmessageHandlerWatch(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular defmessage-handler is being watched.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defclass data structure and the index of the message-handler.


Returns: An integer; one (1) if the defmessage-handler is being watched, otherwise a zero (0).

4.14.7 GetNextDefmessageHandler

unsigned GetNextDefmessageHandler(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of message handlers.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) An index to a particular message handler for the class (or 0 to get the first message handler).


Returns: An index to the first handler in the list of handlers if handlerIndex is 0, otherwise an index to the handler immediately following handlerIndex in the list of handlers for the class. If handlerIndex is the last handler in the list of handlers for the class, then 0 is returned.

4.14.8 IsDefmessageHandlerDeletable

int IsDefmessageHandlerDeletable(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);
void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular message handler can be deleted.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure.

2) The index of a message handler.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the message handler cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.14.9 ListDefmessageHandlers

void ListDefmessageHandlers(logicalName,defclassPtr,

includeInheritedp);

char *logicalName;

void *defclassPtr;

int includeInheritedp


Purpose: Prints the list of message handlers for the specified class. This function is the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defmessage handlers command).

Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the class (NULL for all classes).

3) An integer flag indicating whether to list inherited handlers (TRUE to list them or FALSE to not list them).

Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.14.10 PreviewSend

void PreviewSend(logicalName,defclassPtr,messageName);

char *logicalName;

void *defclassPtr;

char *messageName;


Purpose: Prints a list of all applicable message handlers for a message sent to an instance of a particular class (the C equivalent of the CLIPS preview send command). Output is sent to the logical name wdisplay.

Arguments: 1) The logical name to which output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the class.

3) The message name.

Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.14.11 SetDefmessageHandlerWatch

void SetDefmessageHandlerWatch(newState,defclassPtr,

handlerIndex);

int newState;

void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex


Purpose: Sets the message-handlers watch item for a specific defmessage-handler.


Arguments: The new message-handlers watch state, a generic pointer to a defclass data structure, and the index of the message handler.

4.14.12 UndefmessageHandler

int UndefmessageHandler(defclassPtr,handlerIndex);
void *defclassPtr;

unsigned handlerIndex;


Purpose: Removes a message handler from CLIPS (similar but not equivalent to the CLIPS undefmessage handler command - see WildDeleteHandler).


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to a defclass data structure (NULL to delete all message handlers in all classes).

2) The index of the message handler (0 to delete all message handlers in the class - must be 0 if defclassPtr is NULL).


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the message handler could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.15 Definstances Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating definstances.

4.15.1 DefinstancesModule

char *DefinstancesModule(theDefinstances);

void *theDefinstances;


Purpose: Returns the module in which a definstances is defined (the C equivalent of the CLIPS definstances-module command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances.


Returns: A string containing the name of the module in which the definstances is defined.

4.15.2 FindDefinstances

void *FindDefinstances(definstancesName);

char *definstancesName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named definstances.


Arguments: The name of the definstances to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named definstances if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.15.3 GetDefinstancesList

void GetDefinstancesList(&returnValue,theModule);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Returns the list of definstances in the specified module as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-definstances-list function).


Arguments: 1) A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the definstances names from the list.

2) A generic pointer to the module from which the list will be extracted. A NULL pointer indicates that the list is to be extracted from al l modules.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.15.4 GetDefinstancesName

char *GetDefinstancesName(definstancesPtr);

void *definstancesPtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a definstances.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the definstances.

4.15.5 GetDefinstancesPPForm

char *GetDefinstancesPPForm(definstancesPtr);

void *definstancesPtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a definstances.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the definstances (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.15.6 GetNextDefinstances

void *GetNextDefinstances(definstancesPtr);

void *definstancesPtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of definstances.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances data structure (or NULL to get the first definstances).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first definstances in the list of definstances if definstancesPtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the definstances immediately following definstancesPtr in the list of definstances. If definstancesPtr is the last definstances in the list of definstances, then NULL is returned.

4.15.7 IsDefinstancesDeletable

int IsDefinstancesDeletable(definstancesPtr);
void *definstancesPtr;


Purpose: Indicates whether or not a particular class definstances can be deleted.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the definstances cannot be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.15.8 ListDefinstances

void ListDefinstances(logicalName,theModule);

char *logicalName;

void *theModule;


Purpose: Prints the list of definstances (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list definstances command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.

2) A generic pointer to the module containing the definstances to be listed. A NULL pointer indicates that definstances in all modules should be listed.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.15.9 Undefinstances

int Undefinstances(definstancesPtr);
void *definstancesPtr;


Purpose: Removes a definstances from CLIPS (the C equivalent of the CLIPS undefinstances command).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a definstances data structure.


Returns: An integer; zero (0) if the definstances could not be deleted, otherwise a one (1).

4.16 Defmodule Functions

The following function calls are used for manipulating defmodules.

4.16.1 FindDefmodule

void *FindDefmodule(defmoduleName);

char *defmoduleName;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to a named defmodule.


Arguments: The name of the defmodule to be found.


Returns: A generic pointer to the named defmodule if it exists, otherwise NULL.

4.16.2 GetCurrentModule

void *GetCurrentModule();


Purpose: Returns the current module (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-current-module function).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A generic pointer to the generic defmodule data structure that is the current module.

4.16.3 GetDefmoduleList

void GetDefmoduleList(&returnValue);

DATA_OBJECT returnValue;


Purpose: Returns the list of defmodules as a multifield value in the returnValue DATA_OBJECT (the C equivalent of the CLIPS get-defmodule-list function).


Arguments: A pointer to the caller’s DATA_OBJECT in which the return value will be stored. The multifield functions described in section 3.2.4 can be used to retrieve the defmodule names from the list.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.16.4 GetDefmoduleName

char *GetDefmoduleName(defmodulePtr);

void *defmodulePtr;


Purpose: Returns the name of a defmodule.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure.


Returns: A string containing the name of the defmodule.

4.16.5 GetDefmodulePPForm

char *GetDefmodulePPForm(defmodulePtr);

void *defmodulePtr;


Purpose: Returns the pretty print representation of a defmodule.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure.


Returns: A string containing the pretty print representation of the defmodule (or the NULL pointer if no pretty print representation exists).

4.16.6 GetNextDefmodule

void *GetNextDefmodule(defmodulePtr);

void *defmodulePtr;


Purpose: Provides access to the list of defmodules.


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure (or NULL to get the first defmodule).


Returns: A generic pointer to the first defmodule in the list of defmodules if defmodulePtr is NULL, otherwise a generic pointer to the defmodule immediately following defmodulePtr in the list of defmodules. If defmodulePtr is the last defmodule in the list of defmodules, then NULL is returned.

4.16.7 ListDefmodules

void ListDefmodules(logicalName);

char *logicalName;


Purpose: Prints the list of defmodules (the C equivalent of the CLIPS list defmodules command).


Arguments: 1) The logical name to which the listing output is sent.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

4.16.8 SetCurrentModule

void *SetCurrentModule(defmodulePtr);

void *defmodulePtr;


Purpose: Sets the current module to the specified module (the C equivalent of the CLIPS set-current-module function).


Arguments: A generic pointer to a defmodule data structure.


Returns: A generic pointer to the previous current defmodule data structure.

4.17 Embedded Application Examples

4.17.1 User Defined Functions

This section lists the steps needed to define and use an embedded CLIPS application. The example given is the same system used in section 3.4, now set up to run as an embedded application.


1) Copy all of the CLIPS source code file to the user directory.


2) Define the user function (TripleNumber), a new main routine, and UserFunctions in a new file. These could go in separate files if desired. For this example, they will all be in­cluded in a single file.


#include “clips.h”

main()
{
InitializeEnvironment();
Load(“constructs.clp”);
Reset();
Run( 1L)
}



void TripleNumber(

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)
{
void *value;
long longValue;
double doubleValue;

/*===============================================*/

/* If illegal arguments are passed, return zero. */

/*===============================================*/


if (ArgCountCheck(“triple”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(0L));

return;

}


if (! ArgTypeCheck(“triple”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,returnValuePtr))

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(0L));

return;

}


/*====================*/

/* Triple the number. */

/*====================*/


if (GetpType(returnValuePtr) == INTEGER)

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

longValue = 3 * ValueToLong(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddLong(longValue));

}

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

doubleValue = 3.0 * ValueToDouble(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,AddDouble(doubleValue));

}


return;
}


UserFunctions()

{
extern void TripleNumber();

DefineFunction2(“triple”,'u',PTIF TripleNumber, “TripleNumber”,

“11n”);
}


3) Define constructs which use the new function in a file called constructs.clp (or any file; just be sure the call to Load loads all necessary constructs prior to execution).


(deffacts init data
(data 34)
(data 13.2))


(defrule get data
(data ?num)

(printout t “Tripling ” ?num crlf)
(assert (new-value (triple ?num))))


(defrule get new value
(new value ?num)

(printout t crlf “Now equal to ” ?num crlf))


4) Compile all CLIPS files, except main.c, along with all user files.


5) Link all object code files.


6) Execute new CLIPS executable.

4.17.2 Manipulating Objects and Calling CLIPS Functions

This section lists the steps needed to define and use an embedded CLIPS application. The example illustrates how to call deffunctions and generic functions as well as manipulate objects from C.


1) Copy all of the CLIPS source code file to the user directory.


2) Define a new main routine in a new file.


#include <stdio.h>
#include “clips.h”

main()
{

void *c1,*c2,*c3;

DATA_OBJECT insdata,result;

char numbuf[20];


InitializeEnvironment();


/*=======================================================*/

/* Load the classes, message handlers, generic functions */

/* and generic functions necessary for handling complex */

/* numbers. */

/*=======================================================*/


Load(“complex.clp”);


/*=========================================================*/

/* Create two complex numbers. Message-passing is used to */

/* create the first instance c1, but c2 is created and has */

/* its slots set directly. */

/*=========================================================*/


c1 = MakeInstance(“(c1 of COMPLEX (real 1) (imag 10))”);

c2 = CreateRawInstance(FindDefclass(“COMPLEX”),“c2”);


result.type = INTEGER;

result.value = AddLong(3L);

DirectPutSlot(c2,“real”,&result);


result.type = INTEGER;

result.value = AddLong(-7L);

DirectPutSlot(c2,“imag”,&result);


/*===========================================================*/

/* Call the function '+' which has been overloaded to handle */

/* complex numbers. The result of the complex addition is */

/* stored in a new instance of the COMPLEX class. */

/*===========================================================*/


FunctionCall(“+”,“[c1] [c2]”,&result);

c3 = FindInstance(NULL,DOToString(result),TRUE);


/*=======================================================*/

/* Print out a summary of the complex addition using the */

/* “print” and “magnitude” messages to get information */

/* about the three complex numbers. */

/*=======================================================*/


PrintRouter(“stdout”,“The addition of\n\n”);


SetType(insdata,INSTANCE_ADDRESS);

SetValue(insdata,c1);

Send(&insdata,“print”,NULL,&result);


PrintRouter(“stdout”,“\nand\n\n”);


SetType(insdata,INSTANCE_ADDRESS);

SetValue(insdata,c2);

Send(&insdata,“print”,NULL,&result);


PrintRouter(“stdout”,“\nis\n\n”);


SetType(insdata,INSTANCE_ADDRESS);

SetValue(insdata,c3);

Send(&insdata,“print”,NULL,&result);


PrintRouter(“stdout”,“\nand the resulting magnitude is\n\n”);


SetType(insdata,INSTANCE_ADDRESS);

SetValue(insdata,c3);

Send(&insdata,“magnitude”,NULL,&result);

sprintf(numbuf,“%lf\n”,DOToDouble(result));

PrintRouter(“stdout”,numbuf);
}


UserFunctions()

{}


3) Define constructs which use the new function in a file called complex.clp (or any file; just be sure the call to Load loads all necessary constructs prior to execution).


(defclass COMPLEX (is-a USER)

(role concrete)

(slot real (create-accessor read-write))

(slot imag (create-accessor read-write)))


(defmethod + ((?a COMPLEX) (?b COMPLEX))

(make-instance of COMPLEX

(real (+ (send ?a get-real) (send ?b get-real)))

(imag (+ (send ?a get-imag) (send ?b get-imag)))))


(defmessage-handler COMPLEX magnitude ()

(sqrt (+ (** ?self:real 2) (** ?self:imag 2))))


4) Compile all CLIPS files, except main.c, along with all user files.


5) Link all object code files.


6) Execute new CLIPS executable.

Section 5   Creating a CLIPS Run time Program

5.1 Compiling the Constructs

This section describes the procedure for creating a CLIPS run time module. A run time program compiles all of the constructs (defrule, deffacts, deftemplate, etc.) into a single executable and reduces the size of the executable image. A run-time program will not run any faster than a program loaded using the load or bload commands. The constructs-to-c command used to generate a run-time program creates files containing the C data structures that would dynamically be allocated if the load; or bload command was used. With the exception of some initialization routines, the constructs-to-c command does not generate any executable code. The primary benefits of creating a run-time program are: applications can be delivered as a single executable file; loading constructs as part of an executable is faster than loading them from an text or binary file; the CLIPS portion of the run-time program is smaller because the code needed to parse constructs can be discarded; and less memory is required to represent your program’s constructs since memory for them is statically rather than dynamically allocated.


Creating a run time module can be achieved with the following steps:


1) Start CLIPS and load in all of the constructs that will constitute a run time module. Call the constructs to c command using the following syntax:


(constructs to c <file name> <id> [<max-elements>])


where <file name> is a string or a symbol, <id> is an integer, and the optional argument <max-elements> is also an integer. For example, if the construct file loaded was named “expert.clp”, the conversion command might be


(constructs to c exp 1)


This command would store the converted constructs in several output files (“exp1_1.c”, “exp1_2.c”, … , “exp7_1.c”) and use a module id of 1 for this collection of constructs. The use of the module id will be discussed in greater detail later. Once the con­version is complete, exit CLIPS. For large systems, this output may be very large (> 200K). It is possible to limit the size of the generated files by using the <max elements> argument. This argument indicates the maximum number of structures which may be placed in a single array stored in a file. Where possible, if this number is exceeded new files will be created to store additional information. This feature is useful for compilers that may place a limitation on the size of a file that may be compiled.


Note that the .c extension is added by CLIPS. When giving the file name prefix, users should consider the maximum number of characters their system allows in a file name. For example, under MS DOS, only eight characters are allowed in the file name. For very large systems, it is possible for CLIPS to add up to 5 characters to the file name prefix. Therefore, for system which allow only 8 character file names, the prefix should be no more than 3 characters.


Constraint information associated with constructs is not saved to the C files generated by the constructs-to-c command unless dynamic constraint checking is enabled (using the set-dynamic-constraint-checking command).


The constructs to c command is not available in the standard CLIPS distribution executable. Users wishing to create a run-time program must recompile CLIPS to include this capability (see section 2.2 for information on tailoring CLIPS and the CONSTRUCT_COMPILER setup flag).


2) Set the RUN_TIME setup flag in the setup.h header file to 1 and compile all of the c files just generated.


3) Modify the main.c module for embedded operation. Unless the user has other specific uses, the argc and argv arguments to the main function should be elimi­nated. The function InitializeEnvironment should not be called. Also do not call the CommandLoop or RerouteStdin functions which are normally called from the main function of a command line version of CLIPS. Do not define any functions in the UserFunctions function. The function UserFunctions is not called during initialization. All of the function definitions have already been compiled in the 'C' constructs code. In order for your run-time program to be loaded, a function must be called to initialize the constructs module. This function is defined in the 'C' constructs code, and its name is dependent upon the id used when translating the constructs to 'C' code. The name of the function is InitCImage_<id> where <id> is the integer used as the construct module <id>. In the example above, the function name would be InitCImage_1. The return value of this function is a pointer to an environment (see section 9) which was created and initialized to contain your run-time program. This initialization steps probably would be followed by any user initialization, then by a reset and run. Finally, when you are finished with a run-time module, you can call DestroyEnvironment to remove it. An example main.c file would be


#include <stdio.h>
#include “clips.h”

main()
{

void *theEnv;


theEnv = InitCImage_1();


• /* Any user Initialization */

EnvReset(theEnv);

EnvRun(theEnv,-1);


• /* Any other code */

DestroyEnvironment(theEnv);
}


UserFunctions()
{

/* UserFunctions is not called for a run-time version. */

}


4) Recompile all of the CLIPS source code (the RUN_TIME flag should still be 1). This causes several modifications in the CLIPS code. The run time CLIPS module does not have the capability to load new constructs. Do NOT change any other compiler flags! Because of the time involved in recompiling CLIPS, it may be appropriate to recompile the run time version of CLIPS into a separate library from the full ver­sion of CLIPS.


5) Link all regular CLIPS modules together with any user defined function modules and the 'C' construct modules. Make sure that any user-defined functions have global scope. Do not place the construct modules within a library for the purposes of linking (the regular CLIPS modules, however, can be placed in a library). Some linkers (most notably the VAX VMS linker) will not correctly resolve references to global data that is stored in a module consisting only of global data.


6) The run time module which includes user constructs is now ready to run.


Note that individual constructs may not be added or removed in a run time environment. Because of this, the load function is not available for use in run-time programs. The clear command will also not remove any constructs (although it will clear facts and instances). Use calls to the InitCImage­_… functions to clear the environment and replace it with a new set of constructs. In addition, the eval and build functions do not work in a run time environment.


Since new constructs can’t be added, a run-time program can’t dynamically load a deffacts or definstances construct. To dynamically load facts and/or instances in a run-time program, the CLIPS load-facts and load-instances functions or the C LoadFacts and LoadInstances functions should be used in place of deffacts and definstances constructs.


Important Note

In prior versions of CLIPS, it was possible to switch between different images by calling the InitCImage function of the desired run-time program while execution was halted. This mechanism is no longer available. Each call to separate InitCImage functions creates a unique environment into which the run-time program is loaded. You can thus switch between various runtime programs by using the environment API to specify which environment is the target of a command. Also note that only the first call to a given InitCImage function will create an environment containing the specified run-time program. Subsequent calls have no effect and a value of NULL is returned by the function. Once the DestroyEnvironment function has been called to remove an environment created by an InitCImage call, there is no way to reload the run time program.


Section 6   Combining CLIPS with Languages Other Than C

CLIPS is developed in C and is most easily combined with user functions written in C. However, other languages can be used for user defined functions, and CLIPS even may be embedded within a program written in another language. Users wishing to embed CLIPS with Ada should consider using CLIPS/Ada (see the CLIPS/Ada Advanced Programming Guide).

6.1 Introduction

This section will describe how to combine CLIPS with Ada or FORTRAN routines. Specific code examples will be used to illustrate the con­cepts. The code used in these examples is valid for VAX VMS systems which have the DEC C compiler, the DEC FORTRAN compiler, and the DEC Ada compiler.


Three basic capabilities are needed for complete language mixing.


• A program in another language may be used as the main program.


• The C access functions to CLIPS can be called from the other language and have parameters passed to them.


• Functions written in the other language can be called by CLIPS and have parameters passed to them.


The integration of CLIPS (and C) with other languages requires an understanding of how each language passes parameters between routines. In general, interface functions will be needed to pass parameters from C to another language and from another language to C. The basic concepts of mixed language parameter passing are the same regardless of the language or machine. However, since every machine and op­erating system passes parameters differently, specific details (and code) may differ from machine to machine. To improve usability and to minimize the amount of recoding needed for each ma­chine, interface packages can be developed which allow user routines to call the standard CLIPS embedded command functions. The details of passing information from external routines to CLIPS generally are handled inside of the interface package. To pass parameters from CLIPS to an external routine, users will have to write inter­face functions. Example interface packages for VMS FORTRAN and VMS Ada to selected CLIPS functions are listed in appendix A. Section 6.9 will discuss how to construct an interface package for other machines/compilers.

6.2 Ada and FORTRAN Interface Package Function List

The Ada and FORTRAN interface packages in appendix A provide many of the embedded CLIPS commands discussed in section 4 of this manual. Each function in the interface package prepends an x to the beginning of the corresponding C function name. A list of the C functions and their FORTRAN or Ada corollaries which are provided in the interface packages listed in the appendices appears below.


| C Function | Ada/FORTRAN Function |

InitializeEnvironment xInitializeEnvironment
Reset xReset
Load xLoad
Run xRun
Facts xFacts
Watch xWatch
Unwatch xUnwatch
AssertString xAssertString
Retract xRetract
PrintRouter xPrintRouter
FindDefrule xFindDefrule
Undefrule xUndefrule


The arguments to these functions are the same as described in section 4, however, the corresponding data type in either Ada or FORTRAN should be passed as a parameter. For example, when using Ada, the function xLoad should be passed an Ada string, not a C string (the function xLoad will perform the conversion). FORTRAN function names defined above do not follow ANSI 77 name standards. The VMS FORTRAN implementation described in this section allows long function names.

6.3 Embedded CLIPS   Using an External Main Program

Any program may be used as the main program for embedded CLIPS application;s. The main program works essentially the same as in C.

Example Ada Main Program

with CLIPS; use CLIPS;


with TEXT_IO; use TEXT_IO;


procedure MAIN is


File_Name : string (1..50);

File_Open_Status : integer;

Rules_Fired : integer;


begin


xInitializeEnvironment;


File_Name (1..7) := “mab.clp”;

– Load rules

File_Open_Status := xLoad (File_Name);


if File_Open_Status = 1 then

xReset;

Rules_Fired := xRun (-1);

PUT (integer'IMAGE (Rules_Fired));

PUT_LINE (“ Rules Fired”);

else

PUT_LINE (“Unable to open rules file”);

end if;


end MAIN;

Example FORTRAN Main Program

PROGRAM MAIN

C

INTEGER xLoad, FILE_OPEN_STATUS

CHARACTER *8 FILE_NAME

INTEGER xRun, RULES_FIRED

C

CALL xInitializeEnvironment

C

FILE_NAME = 'mab.clp'

FILE_OPEN_STATUS = xLoad (FILE_NAME)


IF (FILE_OPEN_STATUS .EQ. 1) THEN

CALL xReset

RULES_FIRED = xRun (-1)

WRITE (6,100) RULES_FIRED

ELSE

WRITE (6,101)

END IF


100 FORMAT (I8,' RULES FIRED')

101 FORMAT (' UNABLE TO OPEN RULES FILE')

STOP

END


SUBROUTINE UserFunctions

RETURN

END

6.4 Asserting Facts into CLIPS

An external function may assert a fact into CLIPS by calling xAssertString. External functions also may retract a fact previously asserted from outside of CLIPS. Note that the parameter passed to xRetract must have been received from a call to xAssertString. Any other value will cause unpredictable results.

Ada Example

Fact_Pointer : integer;
Not_Previously_Retracted : boolean;

Fact_Pointer := xAssertString (“dummy hello”);
Not_Previously_Retracted := xRetract (Fact_Pointer);

FORTRAN Example

CHARACTER *20 FACT_STRING

INTEGER xAssertString, FACT_POINTER
INTEGER xRetract, NOT_PREVIOUSLY_RETRACTED

FACT_STRING = 'dummy hello'
FACT_POINTER = xAssertString (FACT_STRING)
NOT_PREVIOUSLY_RETRACTED = xRetract (FACT_POINTER)

6.5 Calling a Subroutine from CLIPS

Like any other user defined functions, subroutines written in other languages may be called from CLIPS. Depending on the language, the return value from the function call may or may not be useful. For example, most FORTRAN imple­mentations allow a return value from a function but not from a subroutine. In these in­stances, the subroutine may be called for side effect only. As with defined functions written in C, the user must create an entry in UserFunctions for the subroutine (see section 3.1;). An extern defi­nition also must appear in the same file as the UserFunctions function, defining the type of data that the function will return. If the function does not return a value (Ada procedures or FORTRAN subroutines), it should be defined as returning a void value. See section 3.1 for the allowed return values for user defined functions.

Ada Example

1:procedure DISPLAY is
2:   Standard Ada definitions and declarations
3:begin
4:  
5:   Any kind of normal Ada code may be used
6:  



7:  
8:end DISPLAY;

FORTRAN Example

subroutine display
C
C Any kind of normal FORTRAN code may be used
C



C
return
end

UserFunctions entry for either example

extern void display();

UserFunctions()
{
DefineFunction(“display”,'v',PTIF display,“display”);



/* Any other user-defined functions. */



}

6.6 Passing Arguments from CLIPS to an External Function

Arguments may be passed from CLIPS to an external function. CLIPS does not actually pass arguments to the function; instead arguments must be pulled from internal CLIPS buffers by using the functions described in section 3. Although the argument access functions could be called directly from Ada or FORTRAN, it probably is easier to write an interface function in C. CLIPS will call the C routine, which gathers the arguments and passes them in the proper manner to the external sub­program.


In this situation, the user must ensure argument compatibility. In particular, string vari­ables must be converted from C arrays to FORTRAN or Ada string descriptors. The actual code used in the interface routine for argument conversion will depend on the language. Examples are given below for Ada and FORTRAN. Each example assumes the subroutine is called as follows:


(dummy 3.7 “An example string”)

VMS Ada Example

Note the procedure definition in line 2 of the Ada routine. The numerical value is defined as an IN OUT type and the string as an IN. Also note the compiler PRAGMA on line 4 5. PRAGMA is DEC Ada specific, and a similar statement will be needed for other compil­ers. Following the Ada routine is an example of a C interface function that calls the Ada sub­routine. The C routine must convert a C string into an Ada string descriptor using the MakeStringDsc (see section 6.7 for more on string conversion) function as shown in line 16 of the C routine. Note that the C function passes the address of the numerical parameters to the Ada subprogram (line 16) and a pointer to a descrip­tor for the string parameter. Note also that the UserFunctions definition (lines 21 24) calls the dummy C routine, not the Ada pro­gram.


package DUMMY_PKG is
procedure DUMMY (Value : in out float ;
Name : in string);

(The following two lines are DEC Ada specific)

pragma EXPORT_PROCEDURE (DUMMY
PARAMETER_TYPES ⇒ (float,string));

end DUMMY_PKG;

   Ada interface to CLIPS internal functions, see Appendix A
with CLIPS_INTERNALS; use CLIPS_INTERNALS;


PACKAGE Dummy_PKG IS

package body DUMMY_PKG is

procedure DUMMY (Value : in out float ;
Name : in string) is

begin
   Value and Name may be used as normal Ada variables.

– Name should not be modified by this procedure since

– it has a direct pointer to a CLIPS C string.

end DUMMY;

end DUMMY_PKG;

C interface routine

#include <stdio.h>
#include “clips.h”


(The following two lines are VAX VMS specific)

#include <descrip.h>
struct dsc$descriptor_s *MakeStringDsc();

c_dummy()
{
double value;
char *name;
extern int dummy();

value = RtnDouble(1);
name = RtnLexeme(2);

dummy(&value, MakeStringDsc(name));

return(0);
}

UserFunctions()
{
DefineFunction(“dummy”, 'i', c_dummy, “c_dummy”);
}

VMS FORTRAN Example

The VMS FORTRAN routine looks very similar to the Ada routine and, in fact, uses the same C interface function listed for VMS Ada.


subroutine dummy(value, name)
C
REAL value
CHARACTER *80 name
C
C value and name may now be used as normal FORTRAN variables
C



C
return
end


Note that the previous two examples performed the string conversion in C, not in the language (Ada or FORTRAN) to which the string was being passed. On some machines, it may be easier to convert the string in the language (Ada or FORTRAN) to which the string is being passed rather than in the language (C) from which the string is being passed.

6.7 String Conversion

Much of the information that needs to be passed between CLIPS and another lan­guage typically is stored as strings. The storage of string variables can differ radically between languages. Both Ada and FOR­TRAN use a special (machine dependent) string descriptor for string data types, whereas C uses simple arrays. Because of this difference, special functions must be de­fined to convert FORTRAN or Ada strings to C strings and back. The implementation of these functions will be different for every lan­guage and computer. Typically, two functions are needed: one to convert an Ada or a FORTRAN string to a C string, and one to convert a C string to an Ada or a FORTRAN string descriptor. When converting C strings that have been provided by CLIPS to strings suitable for other languages, do not modify the original C string. The following table shows the string conversion routines provided in the interface packages in appendix A.


| Environment | Function to Convert TO a C string | Function to Convert FROM a C string |

VMS Ada ADA_TO_C_STRING MakeStringDsc
VMS FORTRAN CONVERT_TO_C_STRING MakeStringDsc


The interface package does all of the converting from Ada or FORTRAN strings to C strings. Users will have to convert from C when defining functions that are passed parameters from CLIPS. Appendix A.3 has a listing for a function that will convert C strings to Ada or FORTRAN character strings under VAX VMS.

6.8 Compiling and Linking

After all routines are defined, they must be compiled and linked to execute. The man­ner of compilation will depend on the machine on which the user is working. Two examples are given below: one for VMS Ada and one for VMS FORTRAN.

6.8.1 VMS Ada Version

1) Copy all of the CLIPS include files and Ada interface package to the user directory.


$copy [{CLIPS master directory}]*.h [{user directory}]

$copy [{CLIPS master directory}]*.ada [{user directory}]


2) Create an object file from the file holding the UserFunctions definition.


$cc usrfuncs.c


3) Set up the Ada library and compile the Ada routine(s).


$acs create library [{user directory}.adalib]

$acs set library [{user directory}.adalib]

$ada {Ada files, including the interface packages}


4) Export the Ada object code from the DEC ACS library.


$acs export/main {Ada files, including the interface package}


5) Define the link libraries and link all of the files together. Note that, prior to linking, each user must define the standard link libraries with the define lnk$library command. This usually is done once in the login.com file during login. This definition may be different for each VMS system.


$link/executable={exec name} {Ada files}, usrfuncs, [{CLIPS master di­rectory}] clipslib/library


This will create an embedded version of CLIPS using an Ada routine as the main pro­gram. To create a program that uses the CLIPS interface but calls Ada subprograms, modify step 4 to read


$acs export {user's Ada packages}


5) Copy the CLIPS main.c file from the CLIPS master directory and remove the UserFunctions definition from the CLIPS main.c routine. Then recompile


$cc main


6) Link with the following command:


$link/executable={exec name} {Ada files}, main, usrfuncs , [{CLIPS master directory}] clipslib/library

6.8.2 VMS FORTRAN Version

1) Copy all of the CLIPS include files to the user directory.


$copy [{CLIPS master directory}]*.h [{user directory}]


2) Create an object file from the file holding the UserFunctions definition.


$cc usrfuncs.c


3) Compile the FORTRAN routine(s).


$fortran {FORTRAN files}


4) Link all of the files together.


$link/executable={exec name} {FORTRAN files}, usrfuncs, [{CLIPS master directory}] clipslib/library, clipsforlib/library


Note that one of the FORTRAN programs must be a main program.

6.8.3 CLIPS Library

All of the previous examples assume a CLIPS library has been created on the user's ma­chine. A CLIPS library can be made with any standard object code library pro­gram and should include all of the CLIPS object code files except the main.c file. A library also may be made for the interface packages.

6.9 Building an Interface Package

To develop an interface package for CLIPS and FORTRAN, Ada, or any other lan­guage, the primary need is the string conversion routines. Once these have been developed, the rest of the interface package should look very similar to the examples shown in appendices A.1 to A.3. The majority of the conversion work should be done in the interface package. Note that if a CLIPS function takes no arguments then it is not necessary to write an interface function for it. For example, the function ListFacts takes no arguments and has no return value and can therefore be called directly (however, some languages, such as Ada, will require the function to be declared). The Ada listing in appendix A.1 use pragmas to map the C ListFacts function to the Ada xListFacts function (for consistency with the other functions which are proceeded by an x). The FORTRAN listings in appendix A include interface routines to function which do not require them as well. The functions listed in appendix A also directly mimic the equivalent C functions. That is, functions which return the integer 0 or 1 in C have the exact same value returned by their Ada and FORTRAN counterparts (rather than a boolean or logical value). It would normally be more useful to directly map these integers values into their boolean counterparts (TRUE or FALSE) in the other language.

Section 7   I/O Router System

The I/O router system provided in CLIPS is quite flexible and will allow a wide va­riety of interfaces to be developed and easily attached to CLIPS. The system is rela­tively easy to use and is explained fully in sections 7.1 through 7.4. The CLIPS I/O functions for using the router system are described in sections 7.5 and 7.6, and finally, in ap­pendix B, some examples are included which show how I/O routing could be used for simple interfaces.

7.1 Introduction

The problem that originally inspired the idea of I/O routing will be considered as an introduction to I/O routing. Because CLIPS was designed with portability as a major goal, it was not possible to build a sophisticated user interface that would support many of the features found in the interfaces of commercial expert system building tools. A prototype was built of a semi portable interface for CLIPS using the CURSES screen manage­ment package. Many problems were encountered during this effort in­volving both portability concerns and CLIPS internal features. For example, every statement in the source code which used the C print function, printf, for printing to the terminal had to be replaced by the CURSES function, wprintw, which would print to a window on the terminal. In addition to changing function call names, different types of I/O had to be di­rected to different windows. The tracing information was to be sent to one window, the command prompt was to appear in another window, and output from printout statements was to be sent to yet another window.


This prototype effort pointed out two major needs: First, the need for generic I/O func­tions that would remain the same regardless of whether I/O was directed to a standard terminal interface or to a more complex interface (such as windows); and second, the need to be able to specify different sources and destinations for I/O. I/O routing was designed in CLIPS to handle these needs. The concept of I/O routing will be further explained in the following sections.

7.2 Logical Names

One of the key concepts of I/O routing is the use of logical names. An analogy will be useful in explaining this concept. Consider the Acme company which has two com­puters: computers X and Y. The Acme company stores three data sets on these two computers: a personnel data set, an accounting data set, and a documenta­tion data set. One of the employees, Joe, wishes to update the payroll in­formation in the accounting data set. If the payroll information was located in directory A on computer Y, Joe's command would be


update Y:[A]payroll


If the data were moved to directory B on computer X, Joe’s command would have to be changed to


update X:[B]payroll


To update the payroll file, Joe must know its location. If the file is moved, Joe must be informed of its new location to be able to update it. From Joe’s point of view, he does not care where the file is located physically. He simply wants to be able to specify that he wants the information from the accounting data set. He would rather use a com­mand like


update accounting:payroll


By using logical names, the information about where the ac­counting files are located physically can be hidden from Joe while still allowing him to access them. The loca­tions of the files are equated with logical names as shown here.


accounting = X:[A]

documentation = X:[C]

personnel = Y:[B]


Now, if the files are moved, Joe does not have to be informed of their relocation so long as the logical names are updated. This is the power of using logical names. Joe does not have to be aware of the physical location of the files to access them; he only needs to be aware that accounting is the logical name for the location of the account­ing data files. Logical names allow reference to an object without having to un­derstand the details of the implementation of the reference.


In CLIPS, logical names are used to send I/O requests without having to know which device and/or function is handling the request. Consider the message that is printed in CLIPS when rule tracing is turned on and a rule has just fired. A typical message would be


FIRE 1 example rule: f 0


The routine that requests this message be printed should not have to know where the message is being sent. Different routines are required to print this message to a stan­dard terminal, a window interface, or a printer. The tracing routine should be able to send this message to a logical name (for example, trace-out) and should not have to know if the device to which the message is being sent is a terminal or a printer. The logical name trace-out allows tracing information to be sent simply to “the place where tracing information is displayed.” In short, logical names allow I/O requests to be sent to specific locations without having to specify the details of how the I/O request is to be handled.


Many functions in CLIPS make use of logical names. Both the printout and format functions require a logical name as their first argument. The read func­tion can take a logical name as an optional argument. The open function causes the association of a logical name with a file, and the closefunction removes this as­sociation.


Several logical names are predefined by CLIPS and are used extensively throughout the system code. These are


Name Description

stdin The default for all user inputs. The read and readline functions read from stdin if t is specified as the logical name.


stdout The default for all user outputs. The format and printout functions send output to stdout if t is specified as the logical name.


wprompt The CLIPS prompt is sent to this logical name.


wdialog All informational messages are sent to this logical name.


wdisplay Requests to display CLIPS information, such as facts or rules, are sent to this logical name.


werror All error messages are sent to this logical name.


wwarning All warning messages are sent to this logical name.


wtrace All watch information is sent to this logical name (with the exception of compilations which is sent to wdialog).

7.3 Routers

The use of logical names has solved two problems. Logical names make it easy to create generic I/O functions, and they allow the specification of different sources and destinations for I/O. The use of logical names allows CLIPS to ignore the specifics of an I/O request. However, such requests must still be specified at some level. I/O routers are provided to handle the specific details of a request.


A router consists of three components. The first component is a function which can determine whether the router can handle an I/O request for a given logical name. The router which recognizes I/O requests that are to be sent to the serial port may not recognize the same logical names as that which recognizes I/O re­quests that are to be sent to the terminal. On the other hand, two routers may recog­nize the same logical names. A router that keeps a log of a CLIPS session (a drib­ble file) may recog­nize the same logical names as that which handles I/O re­quests for the terminal.


The second component of a router is its priority. When CLIPS receives an I/O request, it begins to question each router to discover whether it can handle an I/O re­quest. Routers with high priorities are questioned before routers with low priorities. Priorities are very important when dealing with one or more routers that can each process the same I/O request. This is particularly true when a router is going to redefine the stan­dard user interface. The router associated with the standard interface will handle the same I/O requests as the new router; but, if the new router is given a higher priority, the standard router will never receive any I/O requests. The new router will “intercept” all of the I/O requests. Priorities will be discussed in more detail in the next section.


The third component of a router consists of the functions which actually handle an I/O request. These include functions for printing strings, getting a character from an input buffer, returning a character to an input buffer, and a function to clean up (e.g., close files, remove windows) when CLIPS is exited.

7.4 Router Priorities

Each I/O router has a priority. Priority determines which routers are queried first when determining the router that will handle an I/O request. Routers with high priorities are queried before routers with low priorities. Priorities are assigned as integer values (the higher the integer, the higher the priority). Priorities are important because more than one router can handle an I/O request for a single logical name, and they enable the user to define a custom interface for CLIPS. For example, the user could build a custom router which han­dles all logical names normally handled by the default router associated with the standard interface. The user adds the custom router with a priority higher than the priority of the router for the standard interface. The custom router will then intercept all I/O requests intended for the standard interface and spe­cially process those re­quests to the custom interface.


Once the router system sends an I/O request out to a router, it considers the request satisfied. If a router is going to share an I/O request (i.e., process it) then allow other routers to process the request also, that router must deactivate itself and call PrintRouter again. These types of routers should use a priority of either 30 or 40. An example is given in appendix B.2.


Priority Router Description

50 Any router that uses “unique” logical names and does not want to share I/O with catch-all routers.


40 Any router that wants to grab standard I/O and is willing to share it with other routers. A dribble file is a good example of this type of router. The dribble file router needs to grab all output that normally would go to the terminal so it can be placed in the dribble file, but this same output also needs to be sent to the router which displays output on the terminal.


30 Any router that uses “unique” logical names and is willing to share I/O with catch all routers.


20 Any router that wants to grab standard logical names and is not willing to share them with other routers.


10 This priority is used by a router which redefines the default user inter­face I/O router. Only one router should use this priority.


0 This priority is used by the default router for handling stan­dard and file logical names. Other routers should not use this priority.

7.5 Internal I/O Functions

The following functions are called internally by CLIPS. These functions search the list of active routers and determine which router should handle an I/O request. Some routers may wish to deactivate themselves and call one of these functions to allow the next router to process an I/O request. Prototypes for these functions can be included by using the clips.h header file or the router.h header file.

7.5.1 ExitRouter

void ExitRouter(exitCode);

int exitCode;


Purpose: The function ExitRouter calls the exit function associated with each active router before exiting CLIPS.


Arguments: The exitCode argument corresponds to the value that normally would be sent to the system exitfunction. Consult a C system manual for more de­tails on the meaning of this argument.


Returns: No meaningful return value.


Info: The function ExitRouter calls the system function exit with the argument num after calling all exit functions associated with I/O routers.

7.5.2 GetcRouter

int GetcRouter(logicalName);

char *logicalName;


Purpose: The function GetcRouter queries all active routers until it finds a router that recognizes the logical name associated with this I/O re­quest to get a character. It then calls the get character function asso­ciated with that router.


Arguments: The logical name associated with the get char­acter I/O request.


Returns: An integer; the ASCII code of the character.


Info: This function should be used by any user defined function in place of getc to ensure that character input from the function can be received from a custom interface. On machines which default to unbuffered I/O, user code should be prepared to handle special characters like the backspace.

7.5.3 PrintRouter

int PrintRouter(logicalName,str);

char *logicalName, *str;


Purpose: The function PrintRouter queries all active routers until it finds a router that recognizes the logical name associated with this I/O re­quest to print a string. It then calls the print function as­sociated with that router.


Arguments: 1) The logical name associated with the location at which the string is to be printed.

2) The string that is to be printed.


Returns: Returns a non zero value if the logical name is recognized, otherwise it returns zero.


Info: This function should be used by any user defined function in place of printf to ensure that output from the function can be sent to a custom interface.

7.5.4 UngetcRouter

int UngetcRouter(ch,logicalName);

int ch;

char *logicalName;


Purpose: The function UngetcRouter queries all active routers until it finds a router that recognizes the logical name associated with this I/O re­quest. It then calls the ungetc function asso­ciated with that router.


Arguments: 1) The ASCII code of the character to be returned.

2) The logical name associated with the ungetc character I/O request.


Returns: Returns ch if successful, otherwise -1.


Info: This function should be used by any user defined function in place of UngetcRouter to ensure that character input from the func­tion can be re­ceived from a custom interface. As with GetcRouter, user code should be prepared to handle special characters like the backspace on machines with unbuffered I/O.

7.6 Router Handling Functions

The following functions are used for creating, deleting, and handling I/O routers. They are intended for use within user defined functions. Prototypes for these functions can be included by using the clips.h header file or the router.h header file.

7.6.1 ActivateRouter


int ActivateRouter(routerName);

char *routerName;


Purpose: The function ActivateRouter activates an existing I/O router. This router will be queried to see if it can handle an I/O re­quest. Newly created routers do not have to be activated.


Arguments: The name of the I/O router to be activated.


Returns: Returns a non zero value if the logical name is recognized, otherwise it returns zero.

7.6.2 AddRouter


int AddRouter(routerName,priority,queryFunction,printFunction,
getcFunction,ungetcFunction,exitFunction);

char *routerName;
int priority;
int (*queryFunction)(), (*printFunction)();
int (*getcFunction)(), (*ungetcFunction)(), (*exitFunction)();

int queryFunction(logicalName);
int printFunction(logicalName,str);
int getcFunction(logicalName);
int ungetcFunction(ch,logicalName);
int exitFunction(exitCode);

char *logicalName, *str, ch;
int exitCode;


Purpose: The function AddRouter adds a new I/O router to the list of I/O routers.


Arguments: 1) The name of the I/O router. This name is used to reference the router by the other I/O router handling functions.

2) The priority of the I/O router. I/O routers are queried in descending order of priorities.

3) A pointer to the query function asso­ciated with this router. This query function should accept a single argument, a logical name, and return either TRUE (1) or FALSE (0) depending upon whether the router recognizes the logical name.

4) A pointer to the print function asso­ciated with this router. This print function should accept two arguments: a logical name and a character string. The re­turn value of the print function is not meaningful.

5) A pointer to the get character function associated with this router. The get character function should accept a single ar­gument, a logical name. The return value of the get character function should be an integer which represents the character or end of file (EOF) read from the source represented by logical name.

6) A pointer to the ungetc character func­tion asso­ciated with this router. The ungetc character func­tion accepts two ar­guments: a logical name and a character. The return value of the unget character function should be an integer which represents the character which was passed to it as an argument if the ungetc is successful or end of file (EOF) is the ungetc is not successful.

7) A pointer to the exit function asso­ciated with this router. The exit function should accept a single argument: the exit code represented by num.


Returns: Returns a zero value if the router could not be added, otherwise a non-zero value is returned.


Info: I/O routers are active upon being created. See the examples in ap­pendix B for further information on how to use this function.

7.6.3 DeactivateRouter

int DeactivateRouter(routerName);

char *routerName;


Purpose: The function DeactivateRouter deactivates an existing I/O router. This router will not be queried to see if it can handle an I/O request. The syntax of the DeactivateRouter function is as follows.


Arguments: The name of the I/O router to be deactivated.


Returns: Returns a non zero value if the logical name is recognized, otherwise it returns zero.

7.6.4 DeleteRouter

int DeleteRouter(routerName);

char *routerName;


Purpose: The function DeleteRouter removes an existing I/O router from the list of I/O routers.


Arguments: The name of the I/O router to be deleted.


Returns: Returns a non zero value if the logical name is recognized, otherwise it returns zero.

Section 8   Memory Management

Efficient use of memory is a very important aspect of an expert system tool. Expert sys­tems are highly memory intensive and require comparatively large amounts of mem­ory. To optimize both storage and processing speed, CLIPS does much of its own memory management. Section 8.1 describes the basic memory management scheme used in CLIPS. Section 8.2 describes some functions that may be used to monitor/ control memory usage.

8.1 How CLIPS Uses Memory

The CLIPS internal data structures used to represent constructs and other data entities require the allocation of dynamic memory to create and execute. Memory can also be released as these data structures are no longer needed and are re­moved. All requests, either to allocate memory or to free memory, are routed through the CLIPS memory management functions. These functions request memory from the op­erating system and store previously used memory for reuse. By providing its own memory management, CLIPS is able to reduce the number of malloc calls to the operating system. This is very important since malloc calls are handled differ­ently on each ma­chine, and some implementations of malloc are very inefficient.


When new memory is needed by any CLIPS function, CLIPS first checks its own data buffers for a pointer to a free structure of the type requested. If one is found, the stored pointer is returned. Otherwise, a call is made to malloc for the proper amount of data and a new pointer is returned.


When a data structure is no longer needed, CLIPS saves the pointer to that memory against the next request for a structure of that type. Memory actually is re­leased to the operating system only under limited circumstances. If a malloc call in a CLIPS func­tion returns NULL,all free memory internally stored by CLIPS is released to the oper­ating system and the malloc call is tried again. This usually happens during rule execution, and the message


*** DEALLOCATING MEMORY ***

*** MEMORY DEALLOCATED ***


will be printed out to the wdialog stream. Users also may force memory to be re­leased to the operating system (see section 8.2).


CLIPS uses the generic C function malloc to request memory. Some machines pro­vide lower level memory allocation/deallocation functions that are considerably faster than malloc. Generic CLIPS memory allocation and deallocation functions are stored in the memalloc.c file and are called genalloc andgenfree. The call to malloc and free in these functions could be replaced to improve performance on a specific machine.


Some machines have very inefficient memory manage­ment services. When running on the such machines, CLIPS can be made to request very large chunks of memory and internally allocate smaller chunks of memory from the larger chunks. This technique bypasses numerous calls to malloc thus improving performance. This behavior can be enabled by setting the BLOCK_MEMORY compiler option in the setup.h header file to 1 (see section 2.2). In general, this option should not be enabled unless memory allocation routines are very slow since the CLIPS block memory routines tend to trade increased overhead for memory requests for faster speed.


Extensive effort has gone into making CLIPS garbage free. Theoretically, if an application can fit into the available memory on a machine, CLIPS should be able to run it forever. Of course, user defined functions that use dynamic memory may affect this.

8.2 Standard Memory Functions

CLIPS currently provides a few functions that can be used to monitor and control memory usage. Prototypes for these functions can be included by using the clips.h header file or the memalloc.h header file.

8.2.1 GetConserveMemory;

int GetConserveMemory();


Purpose: Returns the current value of the conserve memory behavior.


Arguments: None.


Returns: An integer; FALSE (0) if the behavior is disabled and TRUE (1) if the behavior is enabled.

8.2.2 MemRequests

long int MemRequests();


Purpose: The function MemRequests will return the number of times CLIPS has requested memory from the operating system (the C equivalent of the CLIPS mem-requests command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A long integer representing the number of requests CLIPS has made.


Other: When used in conjunction with MemoryUsed, the user can estimate the number of bytes CLIPS requests per call to malloc.

8.2.3 MemUsed

long int MemUsed();


Purpose: The function MemUsed will return the number of bytes CLIPS has currently in use or has held for later use (the C equivalent of the CLIPS mem-used command).


Arguments: None.


Returns: A long integer representing the number of bytes requested.


Other: The number of bytes used does not include any overhead for memory management or data creation. It does include all free memory being held by CLIPS for later use; there­fore, it is not a completely accurate measure of the amount of mem­ory actually used to store or process information. It is used primarily as a minimum indication.

8.2.4 ReleaseMem

long int ReleaseMem(howMuch, printMessage);
long int howMuch;

int printMessage;


Purpose: The function ReleaseMem will cause all free memory, or a specified amount, being held by CLIPS to be returned to the operating system (the C equivalent of the CLIPS release-mem command).


Arguments: 1) The number of bytes to be released. If this argument is  1, all memory will be released; otherwise, the specified number of bytes will be released.

2) A non-zero value causes a memory deallocation message to be printed when this function is called.


Returns: A long integer representing the actual amount of memory freed to the operating system.


Other: This function can be useful if a user defined function re­quires memo­ry but cannot get any from a malloc call. However, it should be used care­fully. Excessive calls to ReleaseMemory will cause CLIPS to call malloc more often, which can reduce the performance of CLIPS.

8.2.5 SetConserveMemory

int SetConserveMemory(value);

int value;


Purpose: The function SetConserveMemory allows a user to turn on or off the saving of pretty print information. Normally, this information is saved. If constructs are never going to be pretty printed or saved, a significant amount of memory can be saved by not keeping the pretty print representation.


Arguments: A boolean value: FALSE (0) to keep pretty print information for newly loaded constructs and TRUE (1) to not keep this information for newly loaded constructs.


Returns: Returns the old value for the behavior.


Other: This function can save considerable memory space. It should be turned on before loading any constructs. It can be turned on or off as many times as desired. Constructs loaded while this is turned off can be displayed only by reloading the construct, even if the option is turned on subsequently.

8.2.6 SetOutOfMemoryFunction

int (*SetOutOfMemoryFunction(outOfMemoryFunction))();

int (*outOfMemoryFunction)();


int outOfMemoryFunction(size);

int size;


Purpose: Allows the user to specify a function to be called when CLIPS cannot satisfy a memory request.


Arguments: A pointer to the function to be called when CLIPS cannot satisfy a memory request. This function is passed the size of the memory request which could not be satisfied. It should return a non-zero value if CLIPS should not attempt to allocate the memory again (and exit because of lack of available memory) or a zero value if CLIPS should attempt to allocate memory again.


Returns: Returns a pointer to the previously called out of memory function.


Other: Because the out of memory function can be called repeatedly for a single memory request, any user-defined out of memory function should return zero only if it has released memory.

Section 9   Environments

CLIPS provides the ability to create multiple environments into which programs can be loaded. Each environment maintains its own set of data structures and can be run independently of the other environments.

9.1 Creating, selecting, and destroying environments

If you have no need for multiple CLIPS programs loaded concurrently, there is no need to use any of the environment functions described in this section. The call to InitializeEnvironment automatically creates an environment for you and any subsequent calls to CLIPS functions will be applied to that environment. Environments can also be created using the CreateEnvironment function. The return value of the CreateEnvironment function is an anonymous (void *) pointer to an environmentData data structure. Environments created using the CreateEnvironment function are automatically initialized, so there is no need to call the InitializeEnvironment function.


Once multiple environments have been created, it is necessary to specify to which environment CLIPS function calls should be applied. This can be done in one of two ways. First, each of the CLIPS embedded function calls has a companion function call of the same name prefaced with “Env.” These companion function call accept an additional first argument: a generic pointer to an environment data structure. The CLIPS embedded function call is applied to this argument. CLIPS also supports the notion of a current environment. CLIPS embedded function calls that do not specify an environment are applied to the current environment. Environments newly created by the CreateEnvironment function call automatically become the current environment. The current environment can also be set by using the SetCurrentEnvironment function call. Environments also have an integer index associated with them that can be retrieved using the GetEnvironmentIndex function. The current environment can also be set by passing this index to the SetCurrentEnvironmentByIndex function.


Once you are done with an environment, it can be deleted with the DestroyEnvironment function call. This will deallocate all memory associated with that environment.


If you have added your own user-defined functions or extensions to CLIPS and you want these to work properly with multiple environments, you need to make them environment aware. Principally this involves using the environment companion functions in place of the standard embedded function calls. In addition, any functions or extensions which use global data should allocate this data for each environment by using the AllocateEnvironmentData function.


Shown following are two example main programs which make use of environments. The first example uses the environment companion embedded function calls and the second example uses the standard embedded function calls.

Environments Using Environment Embedded Calls


void main()

{

void *theEnv1, *theEnv2;

theEnv1 = CreateEnvironment();

theEnv2 = CreateEnvironment();

EnvLoad(theEnv1,“program1.clp”);

EnvLoad(theEnv2,“program2.clp”);

EnvReset(theEnv1);

EnvReset(theEnv2);

EnvRun(theEnv1,-1);

EnvRun(theEnv2,-1);


DestroyEnvironment(theEnv1);

DestroyEnvironment(theEnv2);

}

Environments Using Standard Embedded Calls


void main()

{

void *theEnv1, *theEnv2;

theEnv1 = CreateEnvironment();

theEnv2 = CreateEnvironment();

SetCurrentEnvironment(theEnv1);

Load(“program1.clp”);

Reset();

Run(-1);


SetCurrentEnvironment(theEnv2);

Load(“program2.clp”);

Reset();

Run(-1);

DestroyEnvironment(theEnv1);

DestroyEnvironment(theEnv2);

}

9.2 Environment Companion Functions

With a few exceptions, all of the CLIPS embedded function calls described in sections 3 through 8 have a companion function of the same name preceded with “Env”. The first argument to these companion functions is a generic pointer to an environment data structure and the remaining arguments are the same as the standard embedded function. For example, the standard embedded function call for Run is defined as follows:


long int Run(runLimit);


long int runLimit;


The environment companion function for Run is defined as follows:


long int EnvRun(theEnv,runLimit);


void *theEnv;
long int runLimit;


The pointers to functions passed in to the companion functions for the AddClearFunction, AddResetFunction, AddPeriodicFunction, AddRunFunction, and AddRouter should have as an additional first argument a generic pointer to an environment. For example, the standard embedded function call for AddClearFunction is defined as follows:

int AddClearFunction(clearItemName,clearFunction,priority);

char *clearItemName;

void (*clearFunction)();

int priority;


void clearFunction();


The environment companion function for AddClearFunction is defined as follows:


int EnvAddClearFunction(theEnv,clearItemName,envClearFunction,priority);


void *theEnv;

char *clearItemName;

void (*clearFunction)();

int priority;


void envClearFunction(theEnv);


void *theEnv;


The InitializeEnvironment function does not have a companion function since this function is unnecessary when you explicitly create environments using the CreateEnvironment function. The following embedded functions all have environment companion functions, but it is not necessary to use the companion functions in order to be environment aware:


* GetType DOToString GetDOLength ValueToString GetpType DOPToString GetpDOLength ValueToDouble SetType DOToDouble GetDOBegin ValueToLong SetpType DOPToDouble GetpDOBegin ValueToInteger GetValue DOToFloat GetDOEnd
GetpValue DOPToFloat GetpDOEnd
SetValue DOToLong SetDOBegin
SetpValue DOPToLong SetpDOBegin
GetMFType DOToInteger SetDOEnd
GetMFValue DOPToInteger SetpDOEnd
SetMFType DOToPointer

SetMFValue DOPToPointer


If the ENVIRONMENT_API_ONLY compiler directive is enabled, then the standard embedded functions require their first argument to be a generic pointer to an environment. For example, the function Run would be defined as follows:


long int Run(theEnv,runLimit);


void *theEnv;
long int runLimit;


This change only applies to the functions that are required in order to be environment aware. For example, the GetType function would not require an additional argument if this compiler directive were enabled. In addition, even with this compiler directive enabled, the “Env” companion functions are still available. Use of this compiler directive is a good way to verify that any code you have written is environment aware. It is also useful if, for whatever reason, you prefer that the CLIPS embedded function calls do not all begin with the “Env” prefix. By default, the ENVIRONMENT_API_ONLY compiler directive is disabled.

9.3 Standard Environment Functions

The following functions are used to create and manipulate environments. Prototypes for these functions can be included by using the clips.h header file or the envrnmnt.h header file.

9.3.1 AddEnvironmentCleanupFunction;

int AddEnvironmentCleanupFunction(theEnv,theName,theFunction,priority);

struct environmentData *theEnv;

char *theName;

void (*)(void *theFunction);

int priority;


Purpose: Adds a cleanup function that is called when an environment is destroyed.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to an environment data structure.

2) The name associated with the environment cleanup function.

3) A pointer to the environment cleanup function which is to be called when the environment is deleted. When called, the function is passed a generic pointer to the environment being destroyed.

4) The priority of the environment cleanup function which determines the order in which cleanup functions are called (higher priority items are called first). The values -2000 to 2000 are reserved for CLIPS system defined run items and should not be used for user defined run items.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the cleanup function was successfully added, otherwise FALSE.


Other: Environment cleanup functions created using this function are called after all the cleanup functions associated with environment data created using AllocateEnvironmentData have been called.

9.3.2 AllocateEnvironmentData

int AllocateEnvironmentData(theEnv,position,size,cleanupFunction);

void *theEnv;

unsigned int position;

unsigned long size;

void (*)(void *cleanupFunction);


Purpose: Allocates environment specific data of the specified size.


Arguments: 1) A generic pointer to an environment data structure.

2) The integer position index used to reference the data.

3) The amount of environment data that needs to be allocated.

4) A pointer to a cleanup function that is called when the environment is destroyed. When called, the function is passed a generic pointer to the environment being destroyed. CLIPS automatically handles the allocation and deallocation of the base environment data created by this function (the amount of data specified by the size argument). You do not need to supply a cleanup function for this purpose and can supply NULL as this argument. If your base environment data contains pointers to memory that you allocate, then you need to either supply a cleanup function as this argument or add a cleanup function using AddEnvironmentCleanupFunction.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the environment data was successfully allocated, otherwise FALSE.


Other: Environment cleanup functions specified using this function are called in ascending order of the position indices. If the deallocation of your environment data has order dependencies, you can either assign the position indices appropriately to achieve the proper order or you can use the AddEnvironmentCleanupFunction function to more explicitly specify the order in which your environment data must be deallocated.

9.3.3 CreateEnvironment;

void *CreateEnvironment();


Purpose: Creates an environment and initializes it.


Arguments: None.


Returns: A generic pointer to an environment data structure. NULL is returned in the event of an error.

9.3.4 DestroyEnvironment;

int DestroyEnvironment(theEnv);

void *theEnv;


Purpose: Destroys the specified environment deallocating all memory associated with it.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an environment data structure.


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the environment was successfully destroyed, otherwise FALSE.


Other: You should not call this function to destroy an an environment that is currently executing.

9.3.5 GetCurrentEnvironment;

void *GetCurrentEnvironment();


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to the current environment.


Arguments: None.


Returns: A generic pointer to the current environment. NULL is returned if there is no current environment.

9.3.6 GetEnvironmentData;

void *GetEnvironmentData(position);

unsigned int position;


Purpose: Returns a generic pointer to the environment data associated with the specified position index.


Arguments: An unsigned integer; the position index of the desired environment data..


Returns: A generic pointer; the environment data associated with the specified position index.

9.3.7 GetEnvironmentIndex;

unsigned long GetEnvironmentIndex(theEnv);

void *theEnv;


Purpose: Returns the unique integer index asssociated with the specified environment.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an environment data structure.


Returns: An integer; the index associated with the specified environment.

9.3.8 SetCurrentEnvironment;

void SetCurrentEnvironment(theEnv);

void *theEnv;


Purpose: Sets the current environment to the specified environment.


Arguments: A generic pointer to an environment data structure.


Returns: No meaningful return value.

9.3.9 SetCurrentEnvironmentByIndex;

int SetCurrentEnvironmentByIndex(envIndex);

unsigned long envIndex;


Purpose: Sets the current environment to the environment associated with the specified environment index.


Arguments: An unsigned long integer; the environment index of the environment to become the current environment..


Returns: Boolean value. TRUE if the environment with the specified index existed and was set as the current environment, otherwise FALSE.

9.4 Environment Aware User-Defined Functions

In order to support all environment features fully, any user-defined functions that you create must be environment aware. To be environment aware, user-defined function must satisfy the following conditions:


1) The user-defined function must be registered using either EnvDefineFunction or EnvDefineFunction2. Use of these functions inform CLIPS that your user-defined function is environment aware and accepts a generic pointer to an environment as its first argument.

2) You should register your functions from within EnvUserFunctions instead of UserFunctions. EnvUserFunctions is located in main.c and its single argument is a generic pointer to an environment. This pointer should be passed into your calls to either EnvDefineFunction or EnvDefineFunction2. The macro identifier PTIEF can be placed in front of a function name to cast it as a pointer to a function which accepts a generic pointer (the environment) as its single argument and returns an integer. This macro is analogous to the PTIF macro with the addition of the generic pointer to theenvironment.

3) Your user-defined function should accept an additional argument as its first argument: a generic pointer to an environment.

4) Your user-defined function should use the environment companion functions where required to be environment aware.

5) If your user-defined functions (or other extensions) make use of global data that could differ for each environment, you should allocate this data with the AllocateEnvironmentData function (see section 9.5).

Example

The following example shows the necessary modifications to the code from section 3.4 in order for the user-defined function to be environment aware.


void EnvUserFunctions(

void *theEnv)

{

EnvDefineFunction2(theEnv,“triple”,'u',PTIEF TripleNumber, “TripleNumber”,

“11n”);

}


void TripleNumber(

void *theEnv,

DATA_OBJECT_PTR returnValuePtr)

{

void *value;

long longValue;

double doubleValue;


/*===============================================*/

/* If illegal arguments are passed, return zero. */

/*===============================================*/


if (EnvArgCountCheck(theEnv,“triple”,EXACTLY,1) == -1)

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,EnvAddLong(theEnv,0L));

return;

}


if (! EnvArgTypeCheck(theEnv,“triple”,1,INTEGER_OR_FLOAT,returnValuePtr))

{

SetpType(returnValuePtr,INTEGER);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,EnvAddLong(theEnv,0L));

return;

}


/*====================*/

/* Triple the number. */

/*====================*/


if (GetpType(returnValuePtr) == INTEGER)

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

longValue = 3 * ValueToLong(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,EnvAddLong(theEnv,longValue));

}

else /* the type must be FLOAT */

{

value = GetpValue(returnValuePtr);

doubleValue = 3.0 * ValueToDouble(value);

SetpValue(returnValuePtr,EnvAddDouble(theEnv,doubleValue));

}


return;

}

9.5 Allocating Environment Data

If your user-defined functions (or other extensions) make use of global data that could differ for each environment, you should allocate this data with the AllocateEnvironmentData function. A call to this function has four arguments. The first is a generic pointer to the environment to which the data is being added.


The second argument is the integer position index. This is the value that you will pass in to the GetEnvironmentData function to retrieve the allocated environment data. This position index must be unique and if you attempt to use an index that has already been allocated, then the call to AllocateEnvironmentData will fail returning FALSE. To avoid collisions with environment positions predefined by CLIPS, use the macro constant USER_ENVIRONMENT_DATA as the base index for any position indices you define. This constant will always be greater than the largest predefined position index used by CLIPS. The maximum number of environment position indices is specified by the macro constant MAXIMUM_ENVIRONMENT_POSITIONS found in the envrnmnt.h header file. A call to AllocateEnvironmentData will fail if the position index is greater than or equal this value. If this happens, you can simply increase the value of this macro constant to provide more environment positions.


The third argument is an integer indicating the size of the environment data that needs to be allocated. Typically you’ll define a struct containing the various values you want stored in the environment data and use the sizeof operator to pass in the size of the struct to the function. When an environment is created directly using CreateEnvironment or indirectly using InitializeEnvironment, CLIPS automatically allocates memory of the size specified, initializes the memory to contain all zeroes, and stores the memory in the environment position associated with position index. When the environment is destroyed using DestroyEnvironment, CLIPS automatically deallocates the memory originally allocated for each environment data position. If the environment data contains pointers to memory that you allocate, it is your responsibility to deallocate this memory. You can do this by either specifying a cleanup function as the fourth argument in your AllocateEnvironmentData call or by adding a cleanup function using the AddEnvironmentCleanupFunction function.


The fourth argument is a pointer to a cleanup function. If this argument is not NULL, then the cleanup function associated with this environment position is called whenever an environment is deallocated using the DestroyEnvironment function. The cleanup functions are called in ascending order of the position indices.


As an example of allocating environment data, we’ll look at a get-index function that returns an integer index starting with one and increasing by one each time it is called. For example:


CLIPS> (get-index)

1

CLIPS> (get-index)

2

CLIPS> (get-index)

3

CLIPS>


Each environment will need global data to store the current value of the index. The C source code that implements the environment data first needs to specify the position index and specify a data structure for storing the data:


#define INDEX_DATA USER_ENVIRONMENT_DATA + 0


struct indexData

{

long index;

};

#define IndexData(theEnv) \

((struct indexData *) GetEnvironmentData(theEnv,INDEX_DATA))


First, the position index GET_INDEX_DATA is defined as USER_ENVIRONMENT_DATA with an offset of zero. If you were to define additional environment data, the offset would be increased each time by one to get to the next available position. Next, the indexData struct is defined. This struct contains a single member, index, which will use to store the next value returned by the get-index function. Finally, the IndexData macro is defined which merely provides a convenient mechanism for access to the environment data.


The next step in the C source code is to add the initialization code to the EnvUserFunctions function:


void EnvUserFunctions(

void *theEnv)

{

if (! AllocateEnvironmentData(theEnv,INDEX_DATA,

sizeof(struct indexData),NULL))

{

printf(“Error allocating environment data for INDEX_DATA\n”);

exit(EXIT_FAILURE);

}


IndexData(theEnv)→index = 1;


EnvDefineFunction2(theEnv,“get-index”,'l',PTIEF GetIndex, “GetIndex”,

“00”);

}


First, the call to AllocateEnvironmentData is made. If this fails, then an error message is printed and a call to exit is made to terminate the program. Otherwise, the index member of the environment data is initialized to one. If a starting value of zero was desired, it would not be necessary to perform any initialization since the value of index is automatically initialized to zero when the environment data is initialized. Finally, EnvDefineFunction2 is called to register the get-index function.


The last piece of the C source code is the GetIndex C function which implements the get-index function:


long GetIndex(

void *theEnv)

{

if (EnvArgCountCheck(theEnv,“get-index”,EXACTLY,0) == -1)

{ return(0); }

return(IndexData(theEnv)→index++);

}


This function is fairly straightforward. A generic pointer to the current environment is passed to the function since it was registered using EnvDefineFunction2. First a check for the correct number of arguments is made and then a call to the IndexData macro is made to retrieve the index member of struct which is the return value. Use of the ++ operator increments the current value of the index member before the function returns.

9.6 Environment Globals

The only global variables in the C source code for CLIPS are used to keep track of the current environment and the environment indices. If it is desired to remove these global variables, the ALLOW_ENVIRONMENT_GLOBALS compiler directive can be disabled. If disabled, you can no longer use the following functions: GetCurrentEnvironment, GetEnvironmentIndex, SetCurrentEnvironment, and SetCurrentEnvironmentByIndex. In addition, if disabled the ENVIRONMENT_API_ONLY compiler directive is enabled and the EMACS_EDITOR compiler directive is disabled.

9.7 Other Considerations

The mechanism for loading run-time program has changed with the introduction of environments. See section 5 for more details.


Appendix A   Language Integration Listings

This appendix includes listings for various language interface packages described in section 6. The portability of these routines varies. Most of the code listed in the interface packages defined in sections A.1 and A.2 should be fairly portable. How­ever, the string conversion routine in section A.3 is not as portable. For example, the Ada function Convert_to_C_String is probably portable to any Ada machine, yet the C function MakeStringDsc listed here is very specific to the DEC VMS. These functions should be typed in exactly as shown below.

A.1 Ada Interface Package for CLIPS

The following listings are an Ada package specification and body for some of the CLIPS functions used in embedded CLIPS systems. The code is specific to the DEC Ada com­piler because of the PRAGMA IMPORT_PROCEDURE. Other Ada compilers may pro­vide a similar capability, and this package specification could be modified.

CLIPS Package Specification


package CLIPS is


-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Initializes the CLIPS environment upon program startup.


procedure xInitializeEnvironment;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Resets the CLIPS environment.


procedure xReset;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Loads a set of constructs into the CLIPS database. If there are syntactic

– error in the constructs, xLoad will still attempt to read the

– entire file, and error notices will be sent to werror.

– Returns: an integer, zero if an error occurs.


function xLoad (File_Name : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Allows Run_Limit rules to fire (execute).

– -1 allows rules to fire until the agenda is empty.

– Returns: Number of rules that were fired.


function xRun (Run_Limit : in integer := -1) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Lists the facts in the fact-list.


procedure xFacts (Logical_Name : in string;

Module_Ptr : in integer;

First : in integer;

Last : in integer;

Max : in integer);

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Turns the watch facilities of CLIPS on.


function xWatch (Watch_Item : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Turns the watch facilities of CLIPS off.


function xUnwatch (Watch_Item : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Asserts a fact into the CLIPS fact-list. The function version

– returns the Fact_Pointer required by xRetractFact.


function xAssertString (Pattern : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Causes a fact asserted by the ASSERT_FACT function to be retracted.

– Returns: false if fact has already been retracted, else true.

– Input of any value not returned by ASSERT_FACT will

– cause CLIPS to abort.


function xRetract (Fact_Pointer : in integer) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Queries all active routers until it finds a router that

– recognizes the logical name associated with this I/O request

– to print a string. It then calls the print function associated

– with that router.


function xPrintRouter (Log_Name : in string ;

Str : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

– Removes a rule from CLIPS.

– Returns: false if rule not found, else true.


function xUndefrule (Rule_Name : in string) return integer;

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------


private


pragma INTERFACE (C, xInitializeEnvironment);

pragma IMPORT_PROCEDURE (INTERNAL ⇒ xInitializeEnvironment,

EXTERNAL ⇒ InitializeEnvironment);


pragma INTERFACE (C, xReset);

pragma IMPORT_PROCEDURE (INTERNAL ⇒ xReset,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Reset);


function cLoad (File_Name : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cLoad);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cLoad,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Load,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


pragma INTERFACE (C, xRun);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ xRun,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Run,

MECHANISM ⇒ VALUE);


procedure cFacts(Logical_Name : in string;

Module_Ptr : in integer;

First : in integer;

Last : in integer;

Max : in integer);

pragma INTERFACE (C, cFacts);

pragma IMPORT_PROCEDURE (INTERNAL ⇒ cFacts,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Facts,

MECHANISM ⇒ (REFERENCE, VALUE,

VALUE, VALUE, VALUE));


function cWatch (Item : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cWatch);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cWatch,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Watch,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


function cUnwatch (Item : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cUnwatch);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cUnwatch,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Unwatch,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


function cAssertString (Pattern : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cAssertString);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cAssertString,

EXTERNAL ⇒ AssertString,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


function cRetract (Fact_Pointer : in integer) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cRetract);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cRetract,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Retract,

MECHANISM ⇒ VALUE);


function cPrintRouter (Log_Name : in string ;

Str : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cPrintRouter);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cPrintRouter,

EXTERNAL ⇒ PrintRouter,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


function cUndefrule (Rule_Name : in string) return integer;

pragma INTERFACE (C, cUndefrule);

pragma IMPORT_FUNCTION (INTERNAL ⇒ cUndefrule,

EXTERNAL ⇒ Undefrule,

MECHANISM ⇒ REFERENCE);


end CLIPS;


CLIPS Package Body


package body CLIPS is


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function ADA_TO_C_STRING (Input_String : in string)

return string is


Out_String : string (1..Input_String'LAST+1);


begin

for I in Input_String'RANGE loop

if (Input_String (I) in ' ' .. '~' or

Input_String (I) = ASCII.Cr or

Input_String (I) = ASCII.Lf ) then

Out_String (I) := Input_String (I);

else

Out_String (I) := ASCII.Nul;

end if;

end loop;

Out_String (Out_String'LAST) := ASCII.Nul;

return Out_String;

end ADA_TO_C_STRING;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xLoad (File_Name : in string) return integer is


begin

return cLoad (ADA_TO_C_STRING (File_Name));

end xLoad;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


procedure xFacts (Logical_Name : in string;

Module_Ptr : in integer;

First : in integer;

Last : in integer;

Max : in integer) is


begin

cFacts (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Logical_Name),Module_Ptr,First,Last,Max);


end xFacts;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xWatch (Watch_Item : in string) return integer is


begin

return cWatch (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Watch_Item));


end xWatch;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xUnwatch (Watch_Item : in string) return integer is


begin

return cUnwatch (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Watch_Item));


end xUnwatch;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xAssertString (Pattern : in string) return integer is


begin

return cAssertString (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Pattern));

end xAssertString;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xRetract (Fact_Pointer : in integer) return integer is


begin

return cRetract (Fact_Pointer);

end xRetract;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xPrintRouter (Log_Name : in string ;

Str : in string ) return integer is


begin

return cPrintRouter (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Log_Name),

ADA_TO_C_STRING (Str));

end xPrintRouter;


-----------------------------------------------------------------


function xUndefrule (Rule_Name : in string) return integer is


begin

return cUndefrule (ADA_TO_C_STRING (Rule_Name));

end xUndefrule;


end CLIPS;

A.2 FORTRAN Interface Package for VAX VMS

The following pages are listings of the FORTRAN interface functions for the VAX VMS plus the internal functions used to convert FORTRAN character strings to C character strings and vice versa. Many of these func­tions may work with minor modifications on other machines; note, however, the use of the VMS argument passing modifier, %VAL, in some functions.


C

C————————————————————–

C

SUBROUTINE xInitializeEnvironment


CALL InitializeEnvironment

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

SUBROUTINE xReset


CALL Reset

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xLoad (FILE_NAME)


CHARACTER * (*) FILE_NAME

CHARACTER *80 C_FILE_NAME

INTEGER C_FILE_NAME_POINTER, Load

EQUIVALENCE (C_FILE_NAME, C_FILE_NAME_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (FILE_NAME, C_FILE_NAME)

xLoad = Load (C_FILE_NAME_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xRun (RUN_LIMIT)


INTEGER RUN_LIMIT, Run


xRun = Run (%VAL (RUN_LIMIT))

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

SUBROUTINE xFacts (LOGICAL_NAME, MODULE, BEGIN, END, MAX)


CHARACTER * (*) LOGICAL_NAME

INTEGER MODULE, BEGIN, END, MAX

CHARACTER *80 C_LOGICAL_NAME

INTEGER C_LOGICAL_NAME_POINTER

EQUIVALENCE (C_LOGICAL_NAME, C_LOGICAL_NAME_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (LOGICAL_NAME, C_LOGICAL_NAME)

CALL Facts(C_LOGICAL_NAME_POINTER,%VAL (MODULE),

* %VAL (BEGIN),%VAL (END),%VAL (MAX))

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xWatch (WATCH_ITEM)


CHARACTER * (*) WATCH_ITEM

CHARACTER *80 C_WATCH_ITEM

INTEGER C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER, Watch

EQUIVALENCE (C_WATCH_ITEM, C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (WATCH_ITEM, C_WATCH_ITEM)

xWatch = Watch (C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xUnwatch (WATCH_ITEM)


CHARACTER * (*) WATCH_ITEM

CHARACTER *80 C_WATCH_ITEM

INTEGER C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER, Unwatch

EQUIVALENCE (C_WATCH_ITEM, C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (WATCH_ITEM, C_WATCH_ITEM)

xUnwatch = Unwatch (C_WATCH_ITEM_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xAssertString (PATTERN)

C

CHARACTER * (*) PATTERN

CHARACTER *80 C_PATTERN

INTEGER C_PATTERN_POINTER, AssertString

EQUIVALENCE (C_PATTERN, C_PATTERN_POINTER)

C

CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (PATTERN, C_PATTERN)

xAssertString = AssertString (C_PATTERN_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xRetract (FACT_ADDRESS)


INTEGER FACT_ADDRESS, Retract


xRetract = Retract (%VAL (FACT_ADDRESS))

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xPrintRouter (LOG_NAME, PRINT_LINE)


CHARACTER * (*) LOG_NAME

CHARACTER * (*) PRINT_LINE

CHARACTER *80 C_LOG_NAME

CHARACTER *80 C_PRINT_LINE

INTEGER C_PRINT_LINE_POINTER, C_LOG_NAME_POINTER

EQUIVALENCE (C_PRINT_LINE, C_PRINT_LINE_POINTER),

* (C_LOG_NAME , C_LOG_NAME_POINTER )


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (PRINT_LINE, C_PRINT_LINE)

CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (LOG_NAME, C_LOG_NAME)

xPrintRouter = PrintRouter (C_LOG_NAME_POINTER,

* C_PRINT_LINE_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xFindDefrule (RULE_NAME)


CHARACTER * (*) RULE_NAME

CHARACTER *80 C_RULE_NAME

INTEGER C_RULE_NAME_POINTER, Undefrule

EQUIVALENCE (C_RULE_NAME, C_RULE_NAME_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (RULE_NAME, C_RULE_NAME)

xFindDefrule = FindDefrule (C_RULE_NAME_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION xUndefrule (RULE_NAME)


CHARACTER * (*) RULE_NAME

CHARACTER *80 C_RULE_NAME

INTEGER C_RULE_NAME_POINTER, Undefrule

EQUIVALENCE (C_RULE_NAME, C_RULE_NAME_POINTER)


CALL CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (RULE_NAME, C_RULE_NAME)

xUndefrule = Undefrule (C_RULE_NAME_POINTER)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

SUBROUTINE CONVERT_TO_C_STRING (F_STRING, C_STRING)

CHARACTER * (*) F_STRING, C_STRING


K = LENGTH (F_STRING)

DO 100 I = 1,K

C_STRING (I:I) = F_STRING (I:I)

100 CONTINUE

K = K + 1

C_STRING (K:K) = CHAR (0)

RETURN

END

C

C————————————————————–

C

INTEGER FUNCTION LENGTH (STRING)

C

CHARACTER * (*) STRING

C

K = LEN (STRING)

DO 100 I=K,1,-1

IF(STRING(I:I) .NE. ' ') GO TO 150

C

100 CONTINUE

150 CONTINUE

LENGTH = I

RETURN

END

A.3 Function to Convert C Strings for VMS Ada or FORTRAN

This function converts a C string to an Ada string. The MakeStringDsc function normally is stored in the same file together with the UserFunctions definition and any C interface subroutines. The function is not portable and is specific to the VAX VMS envi­ronment. The definition of Ada string descriptors is implementation dependent, and ac­cess to those definitions from C also is implementation dependent. However, a very similar function could be written for any environment that supports Ada and C.

C Function: MakeStringDsc

(Note:This function definition is VAX VMS specific)


#include <ssdef.h>
#include <descrip.h>

struct dsc$descriptor_s *MakeStringDsc(c_str)
char *c_str;
{
struct dsc$descriptor_s *desc;

desc = (struct dsc$descriptor_s *) malloc
(sizeof (struct dsc$descriptor_s));

/* Define String Descriptor */

desc→dsc$w_length = strlen(c_str);
desc→dsc$a_pointer = c_str;
desc→dsc$b_class = DSC$K_CLASS_S;
desc→dsc$b_dtype = DSC$K_DTYPE_T;

return(desc);
}

Appendix B   I/O Router Examples

The following examples demonstrate the use of the I/O router system. These exam­ples show the necessary C code for implementing the basic capabilities described.

B.1 Dribble System

Write the necessary functions that will divert all tracing information to the trace file named “trace.txt”.


/*

First of all, we need a file pointer to the dribble file which will contain the tracing information.

*/


#include <stdio.h>

#include “clips.h”


static FILE *TraceFP = NULL;


/*

We want to recognize any output that is sent to the logical name “wtrace” because all tracing information is sent to this logical name. The recognizer function for our router is defined below.

*/


int FindTrace(

char *logicalName)

{

if (strcmp(logicalName,“wtrace”) == 0) return(TRUE);


return(FALSE);

}


/*

We now need to define a function which will print the tracing in­formation to our trace file. The print function for our router is defined below.

*/


int PrintTrace(
char *logicalName,

char *str)
{

fprintf(TraceFP,“%s”,str);

}


/*

When we exit CLIPS the trace file needs to be closed. The exit function for our router is defined below.

*/


int ExitTrace(
int exitCode) /* unused */
{

fclose(TraceFP);

}


/*

There is no need to define a get character or ungetc character function since this router does not handle input.


A function to turn the trace mode on needs to be defined. This function will check if the trace file has already been opened. If the file is already open, then nothing will happen. Otherwise, the trace file will be opened and the trace router will be creat­ed. This new router will intercept tracing information intended for the user interface and send it to the trace file. The trace on function is defined below.

*/


int TraceOn()
{
if (TraceFP == NULL)

{
TraceFP = fopen(“trace.txt”,“w”);

if (TraceFP == NULL) return(FALSE);

}

else

{ return(FALSE); }


AddRouter(“trace”, /* Router name */

20, /* Priority */

FindTrace, /* Query function */

PrintTrace, /* Print function */

NULL, /* Getc function */

NULL, /* Ungetc function */

ExitTrace); /* Exit function */


return(TRUE);

}


/*

A function to turn the trace mode off needs to be defined. This function will check if the trace file is already closed. If the file is already closed, then nothing will happen. Otherwise, the trace router will be deleted and the trace file will be closed. The trace off function is defined below.

*/


int TraceOff()

{

if (TraceFP != NULL)

{

DeleteRouter(“trace”);


if (fclose(TraceFP) == 0)

{

TraceFP = NULL;

return(TRUE);

}

}


TraceFP = NULL;

return(FALSE);

}


/*

Now add the definitions for these functions to the UserFunctions func­tion in file “main.c”.

*/


extern int TraceOn(), TraceOff();


DefineFunction(“tron”,'b',TraceOn, “TraceOn”);

DefineFunction(“troff”,'b',TraceOff, “TraceOff”);


/*

Compile and link the appropriate files. The trace functions should now be accessible within CLIPS as external functions. For Example

CLIPS>(tron)

CLIPS>(troff)

*/

B.2 Better Dribble System

Modify example 1 so the tracing information is sent to the terminal as well as to the trace dribble file.


/*

This example requires a modification of the PrintTrace function. After the trace string is printed to the file, the trace router must be deactivated. The trace string can then be sent through the PrintRouter function so that the next router in line can handle the output. After this is done, then the trace router can be reactivated.

*/


int PrintTrace(

char *logicalName,

char *str)

{

fprintf(TraceFP,“%s”,str);

DeactivateRouter(“trace”);

PrintRouter(logicalName,str);

ActivateRouter(“trace”);

}


/*

The TraceOn function must also be modified. The priority of the router should be 40 instead of 20 since the router passes the output along to other routers.

*/


int TraceOn()

{

if (TraceFP == NULL)

{

TraceFP = fopen(“trace.txt”,“w”);

if (TraceFP == NULL) return(FALSE);

}

else

{ return(FALSE); }


AddRouter(“trace”, /* Router name */

40, /* Priority */

FindTrace, /* Query function */

PrintTrace, /* Print function */

NULL, /* Getc function */

NULL, /* Ungetc function */

ExitTrace); /* Exit function */


return(TRUE);

}

B.3 Batch System

Write the necessary functions that will allow batch input from the file “batch.txt” to the CLIPS top level interface.


/*

First of all, we need a file pointer to the batch file which will contain the batch command information.

*/


#include <stdio.h>

#include “clips.h”


static FILE *BatchFP = NULL;


/*

We want to recognize any input requested from the logical name “stdin” because all user input is received from this logical name. The recognizer function for our router is defined below.

*/


int FindMybatch(

char *logicalName)

{

if (strcmp(logicalName,“stdin”) == 0) return(TRUE);

return(FALSE);

}


/*

We now need to define a function which will get and unget charac­ters from our batch file. The get and ungetc character functions for our router are defined below.

*/


static char BatchBuffer[80];

static int BatchLocation = 0;


int GetcMybatch(

char *logicalName)

{

int rv;


rv = getc(BatchFP);


if (rv == EOF)

{

DeleteRouter(“mybatch”);

fclose(BatchFP);

return(GetcRouter(logicalName));

}


BatchBuffer[BatchLocation] = (char) rv;

BatchLocation++;

BatchBuffer[BatchLocation] = EOS;


if ((rv == '\n') || (rv == '\r'))

{

PrintRouter(“wprompt”,BatchBuffer);

BatchLocation = 0;

}


return(rv);

}


int UngetcMybatch(

int ch,

char *logicalName) /* unused */

{

if (BatchLocation > 0) BatchLocation–;

BatchBuffer[BatchLocation] = EOS;

return(ungetc(ch,BatchFP));

}


/*

When we exit CLIPS the batch file needs to be closed. The exit function for our router is defined below.

*/


int ExitMybatch(

int exitCode) /* unused */

{

fclose(BatchFP);

}


/*

There is no need to define a print function since this router does not handle output except for echoing the command line.

Now we define a function that turns the batch mode on.

*/


int MybatchOn()

{

BatchFP = fopen(“batch.txt”,“r”);


if (BatchFP == NULL) return(FALSE);


AddRouter(“mybatch”, /* Router name */

20, /* Priority */

FindMybatch, /* Query function */

NULL, /* Print function */

GetcMybatch, /* Getc function */

UngetcMybatch, /* Ungetc function */

ExitMybatch); /* Exit function */


return(TRUE);

}


/*

Now add the definition for this function to the UserFunctions function in file “main.c”.

*/


extern int MybatchOn();


DefineFunction(“mybatch”,'b',MybatchOn, “MybatchOn”);


/*

Compile and link the appropriate files. The batch function should now be accessible within CLIPS as external function. For Example

CLIPS> (mybatch)

*/

B.4 Simple Window System

Write the necessary functions using CURSES (a screen management function available in UNIX) that will allow a top/bottom split screen interface. Output sent to the logical name top will be printed in the upper win­dow. All other screen I/O should go to the lower window. (NOTE: Use of CURSES may require linking with special libraries.)


/*

First of all, we need some pointers to the windows and a flag to indicate that the windows have been initialized.

*/


#include <stdio.h>

#include <curses>

#include “clips.h”


WINDOW *LowerWindow, *UpperWindow;

int WindowInitialized = FALSE;


/*

We want to intercept any I/O requests that the standard interface would handle. In addition, we also need to handle requests for the logical name top. The recognizer function for our router is defined below.

*/


int FindScreen(

char *logicalName)

{

if ((strcmp(logicalName,“stdout”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“stdin”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“wprompt”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“wdisplay”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“wdialog”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“werror”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“wwarning”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“wtrace”) == 0) ||

(strcmp(logicalName,“top”) == 0) )

{ return(TRUE); }


return(FALSE);

}


/*

We now need to define a function which will print strings to the two windows. The print function for our router is defined below.

*/


int PrintScreen(

char *logicalName,

char *str)

{

if (strcmp(logicalName,“top”) == 0)

{

wprintw(UpperWindow,“%s”,str);

wrefresh(UpperWindow);

}

else

{

wprintw(LowerWindow,“%s”,str);

wrefresh(LowerWindow);

}

}


/*

We now need to define a function which will get and unget characters from the lower window. CURSES uses unbuffered input so we will simulate buffered input for CLIPS. The get and ungetc char­acter functions for our router are defined below.

*/


static int UseSave = FALSE;

static int SaveChar;

static int SendReturn = TRUE;


static char StrBuff[80] = {'\0'};

static int CharLocation = 0;


int GetcScreen(

char *logicalName)

{

int rv;


if (UseSave == TRUE)

{

UseSave = FALSE;

return(SaveChar);

}


if (StrBuff[CharLocation] == '\0')

{

if (SendReturn == FALSE)

{

SendReturn = TRUE;

return('\n');

}


wgetstr(LowerWindow,StrBuff[80] );

CharLocation = 0;

}

rv = StrBuff[CharLocation];

if (rv == '\0') return('\n');

CharLocation++;

SendReturn = FALSE;

return(rv);

}


int UngetcScreen(

char ch,

char *logicalName)

{

UseSave = TRUE;

SaveChar = ch;

return(ch);

}


/*

When we exit CLIPS CURSES needs to be deactivated. The exit function for our router is defined below.

*/


int ExitScreen(

int num) /* unused */

{

endwin();

}


/*

Now define a function that turns the screen mode on.

*/


int ScreenOn()

{

int halfLines, i;


/* Has initialization already occurred? */


if (WindowInitialized == TRUE) return(FALSE);

else WindowInitialized = TRUE;


/* Reroute I/O and initialize CURSES. */


initscr();

echo();


AddRouter(“screen”, /* Router name */

10, /* Priority */

FindScreen, /* Query function */

PrintScreen, /* Print function */

GetcScreen, /* Getc function */

UngetcScreen, /* Ungetc function */

ExitScreen); /* Exit function */


/* Create the two windows. */


halfLines = LINES / 2;

UpperWindow = newwin(halfLines,COLS,0,0);

LowerWindow = newwin(halfLines - 1,COLS,halfLines + 1,0);


/* Both windows should be scrollable. */


scrollok(UpperWindow,TRUE);

scrollok(LowerWindow,TRUE);


/* Separate the two windows with a line. */


for (i = 0 ; i < COLS ; i++)

{ mvaddch(halfLines,i,'-'); }

refresh();


wclear(UpperWindow);

wclear(LowerWindow);

wmove(LowerWindow, 0,0);


return(TRUE);

}


/*

Now define a function that turns the screen mode off.

*/


int ScreenOff()

{

/* Is CURSES already deactivated? */


if (WindowInitialized == FALSE) return(FALSE);


WindowInitialized = FALSE;


/* Remove I/O rerouting and deactivate CURSES. */


DeleteRouter(“screen”);

endwin();


return(TRUE);

}


/*

Now add the definitions for these functions to the UserFunctions func­tion in file “main.c”.

*/


extern int ScreenOn(), ScreenOff();


DefineFunction(“screen-on”,'b',ScreenOn, “ScreenOn”);

DefineFunction(“screen-off”,'b',ScreenOff, “ScreenOff”);


/*

Compile and link the appropriate files. The screen functions should now be accessible within CLIPS as external functions. For Example

CLIPS> (screen-on)

CLIPS> (screen-off)

*/

 
 
clips/apg.txt · Last modified: 2010/01/05 01:02 by admin
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