Conference and Workshop Papers on Agents

From Requirement Specification to Prototype Execution: a Combination of a Multiview Use-Case Driven Method and Agent-Oriented Techniques

E. Astesiano, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and G. Reggio

Accepted for publication at SEKE 2003

In this paper we discuss how to combine a multiview use-case driven method for the requirement specification of a system with an agent-oriented method for developing a working prototype. The rationale behind this combination is to cover the complete software development cycle, while the two methods it originates from only cover a part of it. The prototype execution allows to obtain useful feedbacks on the coherence of the UML artifacts produced during the requirement specification phase.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/SEKE03.ps.gz

@unpublished{SEKE03,
author={E. Astesiano and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and G. Reggio},
title={{From Requirement Specification to Prototype Execution: a Combination of a Multiview Use-Case Driven Method and Agent-Oriented Techniques}},
note = {To appear in: {\em Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE)}, San Francisco Bay, USA},
year={2003}}

Customizing AOSE Methodologies by Reusing AOSE Features

T. Juan, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and L. Sterling

Accepted for publication at the Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems International Conference (AAMAS 2003)

Future large-scale software development projects will require engineering support for a diverse range of software quality attributes, such as privacy and openness. It is not feasible to create one monolithic methodology to support all possible quality attributes. Instead, we expect AOSE methodologies to be created and reused in a modular way. A modular approach enables developers to build custom project-specific methodologies from AOSE features in the same way applications are built from reusable off-the-shelf components. In this paper, we provide a conceptual framework for creating and reusing modular methodologies. This conceptual framework is based on the concept of an AOSE feature, which performs one or more development activities, such as analysis, and addresses one or more quality attributes, such as privacy. An AOSE feature encapsulates software engineering techniques, models, supporting CASE tools and development knowledge such as design patterns. We illustrate the applicability of our approach by modularizing four existing methodologies, Prometheus, ROADMAP, CaseLP and the conventional OO approach, into AOSE features.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AAMASC03.pdf.gz

@unpublished{AAMASC03,
author={T. Juan and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and L. Sterling},
title={{Customizing AOSE Methodologies by Reusing AOSE Features}},
note = {To appear in: {\em Proceedings of the Second International Conference on AAMAS}, Melbourne, Australia},
year={2003}}

Coo-BDI: Extending the BDI Model with Cooperativity

D. Ancona and V. Mascardi

Accepted for publication at the Declarative Agent Languages and Technologies Workshop (DALT 2003)

We extend the BDI architecture with the notion of cooperativity. Agents can cooperate by exchanging and sharing plans in a quite flexible way. As a main result Coo-BDI promotes adaptivity and sharing of resources; as a by product, it provides a better support for dealing with the situation when agents do not possess their own procedural knowledge for processing a given event.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/DALT03.ps.gz

@unpublished{DALT03,
author={D. Ancona and V. Mascardi},
title={{Coo-BDI: Extending the BDI Model with Cooperativity}},
note = {To appear in: {\em Proceedings of the First Declarative Agent Languages and Technologies Workshop (DALT)}, Melbourne, Australia},
year={2003}}

Logic-Based Languages to Model and Program Intelligent Agents

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and L. Sterling

In Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode 2002: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming, Madrid, Spain. J. J. Moreno-Navarro and J. M. Carballo, editors, pages 105-122, 2002

Research on tools for modeling and specifying intelligent agents, namely computer systems situated in some environment and capable of flexible autonomous actions, is very lively. Due to the complexity of intelligent agents, the way they are modeled, specified and verified should greatly benefit by the adoption of formal methods. Logic-based languages can be a useful tool for engineering the development of a multi-agent system (MAS). This paper discusses six logic-based languages which have been used to model and specify agents, namely ConGolog, Agent-0, the IMPACT agent programming language, DyLog, Cuncurrent Metatem and Ehhf. To show their main features and to practically exemplify how they can be used, a common running example is provided. Besides this, a set of desirable features that languages should exhibit to prove useful in engineering a MAS have been identified. A comparison of the six languages with respect to the support given to these features is provided, as well as final considerations on the usefulness of logic-based languages for "agent oriented software engineering".

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AGP02.ps.gz

@inproceedings{AGP02,
author={M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and L. Sterling},
title={{Logic-Based Languages to Model and Program Intelligent Agents}},
booktitle= {Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode 2002: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming},
editor= {J. J. Moreno-Navarro and J. M. Carballo},
address = {Madrid, Spain},
year = {2002},
pages = {105--122}}

Specifica, Implementazione ed Esecuzione di un Prototipo di Sistema Multi-Agente in D-CaseLP

R. Albertoni, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and S. Miglia

In Proceedings of WOA 2002, Milano, Italy. F. De Paoli, S. Manzoni and A. Poggi, editors. Pitagora editrice 2002.

Una tecnologia giovane come quella ad agenti viene tipicamente impiegata in contesti con un alto contenuto innovativo dove l'informazione di cui gli agenti necessitano per svolgere i propri compiti e` distribuita tra i vari componenti del sistema e richiede la attuazione di sofisticati protocolli di coordinazione e cooperazione per essere condivisa. Per sviluppare sistemi con queste caratteristiche, i cui requisiti possono essere all'inizio instabili o poco chiari, strumenti e metodologie che supportino la prototipazione rapida si rivelano estremamente utili.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/WOA02.ps.gz

@inproceedings{WOA02,
author={R. Albertoni and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and S. Miglia},
title={{Specifica, Implementazione ed Esecuzione di un Prototipo di Sistema Multi-Agente in D-CaseLP}},
booktitle= {Proceedings of WOA 2002. Dagli Oggetti Agli Agenti},
editor= {F. {De Paoli} and S. Manzoni and A. Poggi},
address = {Milano, Italy},
year = {2002}}

A Multi-Agent Approach to Vehicle Monitoring in Motorway

E. Appiani, M. Martelli and V. Mascardi

Presented in the Poster session of the 2nd European Workshop on Advanced Video-based Surveillance Systems, AVBS 2001, London, UK.

This paper describes CaseLP, a prototyping environment for Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), and its adoption for the development of a distributed industrial application. CaseLP employs architecture definition, communication, logic and procedural languages to model a MAS from the top-level architecture down to procedural behavior of each agent's instance. The executable specification which is obtained can be employed as a rapid prototype which helps in taking quick decisions on the best possible implementation solutions. Such capabilities have been applied to a distributed application of Elsag company, in order to assess the best policies for data communication and database allocation before the concrete implementation. The application consists in remote traffic control and surveillance over service areas on an Italian motorway, employing automatic detection and car plate reading at monitored gates. CaseLP allowed to predict data communication performance statistics under different policies of database allocation.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AVBS01.ps.gz

@unpublished{AVBS01,
author={E. Appiani and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi},
title={{A Multi-Agent Approach to Vehicle Monitoring in Motorway}},
note={Technical Report DISI TR-00-13. Presented at the poster session at the Second European Workshop on Advanced Video-based Surveillance Systems, AVBS 2001, London, UK}}

Specification of Heterogeneous Agent Architectures

S. Marini, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In Intelligent Agents VII: Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages. Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop, ATAL 2000. Boston, MA, USA. C. Castelfranchi and Y. Lesperance, editors. Springer-Verlag 2001, pages 275-289, LNAI 1986

Agent-based software applications need to incorporate agents having heterogeneous architectures in order for each agent to optimally perform its task. HEMASL is a simple meta-language used to specify intelligent agents and multi-agent systems when different and heterogeneous agent architectures must be used. HEMASL specifications are based on an agent model that abstracts several existing agent architectures. The paper describes some of the features of the language, presents examples of its use and outlines its operational semantics. We argue that adding HEMASL to CaseLP, a specification and prototyping environment for MAS, can enhance its flexibility and usability.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/ATAL00.ps.gz

@inproceedings{ATAL00,
author={S. Marini and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title={{Specification of Heterogeneous Agent Architectures}},
booktitle={Intelligent Agents VII. Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages -- Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop ATAL 2000},
address = {Boston, MA, USA},
month = {July},
year = {2000},
editor={C. Castelfranchi and Y. Lesp\'{e}rance},
publisher={Springer-Verlag, Berlin},
note ={Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence 1986},
pages = {275--289}}

HEMASL: A Flexible Language to Specify Heterogeneous Agents

S. Marini, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In Proceedings of WOA 2000, Dagli Oggetti agli Agenti. Parma, Italy. A. Corradi, A. Omicini and A. Poggi, editors. Pitagora editrice 2000, pages 76-81

In the realization of agent-based applications the developer generally needs to use heterogeneous agent architectures, so that each application component can optimally perform its task. Languages that easily model the heterogeneity of agents' architectures are very useful in the early stages of the application development. This paper presents HEMASL, a simple meta-language used to specify heterogeneous agent architectures, and sketches how HEMASL should be implemented in an object-oriented commercial programming language as Java. Moreover, the paper briefly discusses the benefits of adding HEMASL to CaseLP, a LP-based specification and prototyping environment for multi-agent systems, in order to enhance its flexibility and usability.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/WOA00.ps.gz

@inproceedings{WOA00,
author={S. Marini and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title={{HEMASL: A Flexible Language to Specify Heterogeneous Agents}},
booktitle= {Proceedings of WOA 2000. Dagli Oggetti Agli Agenti},
address = {Parma, Italy},
editor= {A. Corradi and A. Omicini and A. Poggi},
publisher={Pitagora editrice, Bologna},
year={2000},
pages = {76--81}}

Mixin-based modules for logic programming

D. Ancona and V. Mascardi

In Proceedings of AGP 2000, La Habana, Cuba. 2000.

In this paper we show how it is possible to define a rather rich language of mixin modules suitable for combining together large logic programs without changing the underlying logic. The type and reduction rules for the language are presented in a somehow informal way, whereas more emphasis is given to the usefulness of the constructs from the programming point of view and to the comparison with other proposals for modular logic programming found in the literature.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AGP00.ps.gz

@inproceedings{AGP00,
author={D. Ancona and V. Mascardi},
title={{Mixin-Based Modules for Logic Programming}},
booktitle={Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode 2000: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming},
address={La Habana, Cuba},
year={2000}}

Prototyping Freight Trains Traffic Management Using Multi-Agent Systems

A. Cuppari, P. L. Guida, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Information, Intelligence and Systems, Washington, DC. IEEE Computer Society, 1999.

Applications dealing with railway traffic management have been usually modeled adopting classical technologies such as Operations Research and Constraint Programming. These technologies are suitable to model static situations where the information is complete, but they lack to cope with the dynamics and uncertainty of freight trains traffic management. The paper presents a new approach to the problem based on the Multi-Agent System technology. CaseLP, a logic programming based environment for MAS prototyping, has been adopted to face a real case-study: the management of freight trains traffic along the railway line between the Italian stations of Milano and La Spezia. The research, conducted within the framework of the EuROPE-TRIS Project, has successfully demonstrated the advantages of the MAS approach to this field of application.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/IICIIS99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{IICIIS99,
author = {A. Cuppari and P. L. Guida and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{Prototyping Freight Trains Traffic Management Using Multi-Agent Systems}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Information, Intelligence and Systems},
year = {1999},
month = {November},
address = {Washington, DC},
publisher = {IEEE}}

An Agent-Based Prototype for Freight Trains Traffic Management

A. Cuppari, P. L. Guida, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In P. G. Larsen, editor, Proc. of FMERail Workshop 5 (a satellite workshop of FM'99), Toulouse, France. Springer-Verlag 1999.

The increasing amount of train traffic highlights the necessity of automated tools for decision support, mainly when the availability of tracks is known on a day-by-day basis and no long-term schedules can be made. The paper describes the use of CaseLP, a logic programming based environment for developing multi-agent system prototypes, to face the management of freight trains traffic between the Italian stations of Milano and La Spezia. This real case-study, developed within the framework of the EuROPE-TRIS Project, has been chosen for evaluating the benefits of prototyping and testing a decision support system following an agent-based approach. The choice of a logic programming paradigm as the basis for the prototyping environment is motivated and compared with other existing solutions.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/FMRAIL99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{FMRAIL99,
author = {A. Cuppari and P. L. Guida and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{An Agent-Based Prototype for Freight Trains Traffic Management}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of FMERail Workshop 5},
editor = {P. G. Larsen},
year = {1999},
month = {September},
address = {Toulouse, France},
publisher = {Springer-Verlag},
note = {A satellite workshop of FM'99.}}

A Logic Programming Framework for Component-Based Software Prototyping

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Component-based Software Development in Computational Logic (COCL'99) (a satellite workshop of PLI 99), Paris, France. A. Brogi and P. Hill, editors. 1999.

The paper presents CaseLP, a logic-based prototyping environment for specifying and verifying complex distributed applications. CaseLP provides a set of languages for modeling intelligent and interacting components (agents) at different levels of abstraction. It also furnishes tools for integrating legacy software into a prototype. The possibility of integrating, into the same executable prototype, agents which are only specified as well as already developed components can prove extremely useful in the engineering process of complex applications. In fact, the reusability of existing components can be verified before the application has been implemented and the developer can be more confident on the correctness of the new components specification, if it has been executed and tested by means of an interaction with the existing components. Besides the aspects of integration and reuse, CaseLP also faces another fundamental issue of nowadays applications, namely distribution. The components which constitute the prototype are logically distributed. The features of the network (latency and reliability of the communication channels between agents) can be set by the prototype developer, thus allowing a realistic simulation of a physically distributed application.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/COCL99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{COCL99,
author = {M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{A Logic Programming Framework for Component-Based Software Prototyping}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Component-based Software Development in Computational Logic (COCL'99)},
year = {1999},
month = {September},
editor = {A. Brogi and P. Hill},
address = {Paris, France}}

Designing Ontologies for Agents

F. Zini and L. Sterling

In Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode'99: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming, L'Aquila, Italy. M. C. Meo and M. Vilares-Ferro, editors. pages 29-42. 1999.

This paper discusses an approach to adding explicit ontologies in multi-agent systems based on logic programming. Ontologies are content theories about knowledge domains, developed to clarify knowledge structure and enhancing knowledge reuse and standardization. Ontologies allow explicit organization of knowledge in agent-based applications, and unambiguous description of characteristics and properties of agents. We consider in detail the use of explicit ontologies in CaseLP, a declarative logical framework for prototyping agent-based applications. Our running example comes from the domain of sport results, to which CaseLP has been applied. Concepts such as sport, competition, competitors are included in the ontology, as well as relationships that relate these concepts. We introduce an agent level ontology to formalize attributes and functionalities of CaseLP agents, for example their kind, architecture and services, either at the domain level or at the agent level. Domain and agent level ontologies are exploited in CaseLP to perform semantic checks of agent architectural descriptions, to check agent behavioural rules used by an agent to provide its services, and as a knowledge repository to be exploited during agent execution.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/ZiniF/Papers/agp99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{AGP99a,
author = {F. Zini and L. Sterling},
title = {{Designing Ontologies for Agents}},
booktitle = {Proc. of Appia-Gulp-Prode 1999: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming},
year = {1999},
month = {September},
editor = {M. C. Meo and M. Vilares-Ferro},
address = {L'Aquila, Italy},
pages = {29--42}}

Specification and Simulation of Multi-Agent Systems in CaseLP

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini

In Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode'99: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming, L'Aquila, Italy. M. C. Meo and M. Vilares-Ferro, editors. pages 13-28. 1999.

Nowadays software applications are characterized by a great complexity. It arises from the need of reusing existing components and properly integrating them. The distribution of the involved entities and their heterogeneity makes it very useful the adoption of the agent-oriented technology. The paper presents the state-of-the-art of CaseLP, an experimental logic-based prototyping environment for multi-agent systems. CaseLP provides a prototyping method and a set of tools and languages which support the prototype realization. At the system specification level, an architectural description language can be adopted to describe the prototype in terms of agents classes, instances, their provided and required services and their communication links. At the agent specification level, a rule-based, not executable language can be used to easily define reactive and proactive agents. An executable, linear logic language can define more sophisticated agents and the system in which they operate. At the implementation level, new primitives are defined to extend the target prolog-like language. Finally, simulation tools are integrated within CaseLP to visualize the prototype execution and to collect statistics on it.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AGP99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{AGP99b,
author = {M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{Specification and Simulation of Multi-Agent Systems in CaseLP}},
booktitle = {Proc. of Appia-Gulp-Prode 1999: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming},
year = {1999},
month = {September},
editor = {M. C. Meo and M. Vilares-Ferro},
address = {L'Aquila, Italy},
pages = {13--28}}

Combining Logical Agents with Rapid Prototyping for Engineering Distributed Applications

P. Dart, E. Kazmierczak, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi, L. Sterling, V.S. Subrahmanian and F. Zini.

In Proc. of 9th International Conference of Software Technology and Engineering (STEP'99), Pittsburgh, PA. IEEE Computer Society. 1999.

The realization of new distributed and heterogeneous software applications is a challenge that software engineers have to face. Logic Programming and Multi-Agent Systems can play a very effective role in the rapid prototyping of new software products. The paper proposes a general approach to the prototyping of complex and distributed applications modelled as Multi--Agent Systems and outlines the autonomous research experiences of different research groups from which the proposal originates. All the experiences have Logic Programming as the common foundation and deal with different aspects of the problem: integration of heterogeneous data and reasoning systems, animation of formal specifications and development of agent based software. The final goal is joining the diverse experiences into a unique open framework.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/STEP99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{STEP99,
author = {P. Dart and E. Kazmierczak and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and L. Sterling and V.S. Subrahmanian and F. Zini},
title = {{Combining Logical Agents with Rapid Prototyping for Engineering Distributed Applications}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Nineth International Conference of Software Technology and Engineering (STEP'99)},
year = {1999},
month = {September},
address = {Pittsburgh, PA},
publisher = {IEEE}}

Agent-Oriented and Constraint Technologies for Distributed transaction Management

V. Mascardi and E. Merelli

In Proceedings of the Third International ICSC Symposia on Intelligent Industrial Automation (IIA`99) and Soft Computing (SOCO`99), Genova, Italy. R. Parenti and F. Masulli, editors. Pages 222-228. 1999.

Multi-agent systems provide an ideal level of abstraction for facing complex applications where heterogeneous entities need to interact with each other and with legacy software. In Distributed Database Management Systems (DDBMSs) different databases need to be accessed and a continuous interaction between the database managers is required for completing a transaction. For these reasons, the application is suitable for being modeled using multi-agent system technology. The paper shows how to build a prototype of DDBMS using the tool CaseLP for the specification of the application's components, and adopting Constraint Logic Programming techniques for concurrency control and deadlock avoidance.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/IIA99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{IIA99,
author = {V. Mascardi and E. Merelli},
title = {{ Agent-Oriented and Constraint Technologies for Distributed transaction Management}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the Third International ICSC Symposia on Intelligent Industrial Automation (IIA`99) and Soft Computing (SOCO`99)},
year = {1999},
month = {June},
editor = {R. Parenti and F. Masulli},
address = {Genova, Italy},
pages = {222--228}}

Multi-Agent Systems Development as a Software Engineering Enterprise

M. Bozzano, G. Delzanno, M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini.

In Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages (PADL'99), San Antonio, Texas. G. Gupta, editor. pages 46-60. Springer-Verlag 1999. LNCS 1551.

Multi-Agent Systems provide an ideal level of abstraction for modelling complex applications where distributed and heterogeneous entities need to cooperate to achieve a common goal, or to concur for the control of shared resources. This paper proposes a declarative framework for developing multi-agent systems. A formal approach based on Logic Programming is proposed for the specification, implementation and testing of software prototypes. Specification of the PRS agent architecture is given as an example of application of our framework.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/PADL99.ps.gz

@inproceedings{PADL99,
author = {M. Bozzano and G. Delzanno and M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{Multi-Agent Systems Development as a Software Engineering Enterprise}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of First International Workshop on Practical Aspects of Declarative Languages (PADL'99)},
year = {1999},
month = {January},
editor = {G. Gupta},
address = {San Antonio, Texas},
publisher = {Springer-Verlag},
note = {LNCS 1551},
pages = {46--60}}

Towards Multi-Agent Software Prototyping

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini.

In Proc. of The Third International Conference and Exhibition on The Practical Application of Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agent Technology (PAAM'98), London, UK. H. S. Nwana and D. T. Ndumu editors. The Practical Application Company Ltd. Pages 331-354. 1998.

Integration and reusing of different kinds of information and software tools is a pressing necessity that more and more complex applications have to cope with. This fact and the distributed nature of many applications made it very appealing to use multi-agent technology. However, agent-based software still lacks well founded development methodologies, thus rapid prototyping and executable specifications could be very important for the realization of these applications. We present CaseLP, a specification framework for agent-based complex applications founded on Logic Programming. Many of the desirable features of an ideal system have already been implemented in CaseLP which, as a first prototype, has already been proven very useful in the case of some real applications. The paper outlines the general features of the system, describes some aspects of the implementation and presents two case studies that is, real-world applications that have been specified using CaseLP.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/PAAM98.ps.gz

@inproceedings{PAAM98, author = {M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{Towards Multi-Agent Software Prototyping}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of The Third International Conference and Exhibition on The Practical Application of Intelligent Agents and Multi-Agent Technology (PAAM'98)},
year = {1998},
month = {March},
editor = {H. S. Nwana and D. T. Ndumu},
address = {London, UK},
pages = {331--354}}

CaseLP: a Complex Application Specification Environment based on Logic Programming

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini.

In Proc. of the Post Conference Workshop on Logic Programming and Multi-Agents (a satellite workshop of ICLP'97), Leuven, Belgium. pages 35-50. 1997

More and more complex applications need to cope with the integration of different kinds of information, the reuse of existing software, the integration of well established tools and systems (such as databases). This and the distributed nature of many applications made it very appealing to use multi-agent technology. Rapid prototyping and executable specifications could be very important for the development of these applications and Logic Programming can prove itself extremely appropriate for this task. The paper presents CaseLP, a specification environment for Multi-Agent Systems based on Logic Programming. Many of the desirable properties and features of an ideal system have already been implemented in CaseLP, which, as a first prototype, has already been proven very useful in the case of some real applications. The paper outlines the general features of the system, describes some aspects of the implementation and presents two applications that have been specified with CaseLP.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/ICLP97.ps.gz

@inproceedings{ICLP97,
author = {M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{CaseLP: a Complex Application Specification Environment Based on Logic Programming}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of ICLP'97 Post Conference Workshop on Logic Programming and Multi--Agents},
year = {1997},
month = {July},
address = {Leuven, Belgium},
pages = {35--50}}

Applying Logic Programming to the Specification of Complex Applications

M. Martelli, V. Mascardi and F. Zini.

In Proc. of Appia-Gulp-Prode'97: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming, Grado, Italy. M. Falaschi, M. Navarro and A. Policriti editors. pages 491-499. 1997.

In this paper we show how multi-theory meta-logic programming techniques can be applied to the realization of multi-agent systems which solve real-world complex problems, in which the integration of heterogeneous software environments could be necessary. We have defined a language named ACLPL (i.e., Agent Constraint Logic Programming Language) implemented in the constraint logic programming language Eclipse and extending standard (constraint) logic programming. ACLPL provides an environment in which the global knowledge is partitioned into theories (i.e., agents) and also primitives for communication among agents, updating of an agent's knowledge base and simulation of the execution of a multi-agent system. Our final aim is to realize a specification tool for multi-agents systems using logic programming techniques as well as software engineering ones. At the moment, the approach we use to obtain an executable specification is simple: we identify the set of agents the application needs and give a high-level informal description of the interactions among agents, then we implement each agent by means of a different logical theory, translating the static specification (given by a transition function describing the behaviour of the agent) into ACLPL. Finally we execute the obtained system, to test the implementation choices. As a demonstration of our approach we present a planner for goods transportation: four kinds of agents, Client, Agency, Distributor and Transporter interact to plan the delivery of goods from a place to another.

The compressed postscript version of this paper is available through anonymous ftp at ftp.disi.unige.it, in /pub/person/MascardiV/Papers/AGP97.ps.gz

@inproceedings{AGP97,
author = {M. Martelli and V. Mascardi and F. Zini},
title = {{Applying Logic Programming to the Specification of Complex Applications}},
booktitle = {Proceedings of Appia-Gulp-Prode 1997: Joint Conference on Declarative Programming},
year = {1997},
month = {June},
editor = {M. Falaschi and M. Navarro and A. Policriti},
address = {Grado, Italy},
pages = {491--499}}