Welcome to kqml
majordomo@cs.umbc.edu
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 1994 11:50:17 -0500
Message-id: <199404021650.AA02366@algol.cs.umbc.edu>
To: kqml-archive@HPP.Stanford.EDU
From: majordomo@cs.umbc.edu
Subject: Welcome to kqml
Reply-To: majordomo@cs.umbc.edu
--
Welcome to the kqml mailing list!
If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list, send the
following command in email to "majordomo@algol.cs.umbc.edu":
unsubscribe kqml kqml-archive@ksl.stanford.edu
Here's the general information for the list you've subscribed to, in
case you don't already have it:
The mailing list KQML@CS.UMBC.EDU is for general discussions involving
the conceptual design and use of KQML. Anyone can subscribe and
unsubscribe to this list by sending email to the automatic mailing
list manager (majordomo@cs.umbc.edu). Here is very brief description
of KQML:
KQML or the Knowledge Query and Manipulation Language is a language
and protocol for exchanging information and knowledge. It is part of
a larger effort, the ARPA Knowledge Sharing Effort which is aimed at
developing techniques and methodology for building large-scale
knowledge bases which are sharable and reusable. KQML is both a
message format and a message-handling protocol to support run-time
knowledge sharing among agents. KQML can be used as a language for an
application program to interact with an intelligent system or for two
or more intelligent systems to share knowledge in support of
cooperative problem solving.
KQML focuses on an extensible set of performatives, which defines the
permissible operations that agents may attempt on each other's
knowledge and goal stores. The performatives comprise a substrate on
which to develop higher-level models of inter-agent interaction such
as contract nets and negotiation. In addition, KQML provides a basic
architecture for knowledge sharing through a special class of agent
called communication facilitators which coordinate the interactions of
other agents The ideas which underlie the evolving design of KQML are
currently being explored through experimental prototype systems which
are being used to support several testbeds in such areas as concurrent
engineering, intelligent design and intelligent planning and
scheduling.
There is a related mailing list, KQML_DEVELOPERS@CS.UMBC.EDU, for
discussing the detailed design of KQML and implementations of
interfaces, APIs and related software. In order to keep the traffic
focused on this topic, membership on the list is limited to people
actively engaged in the development of KQML software. Request to
subscribe to the list will require the approval of this list owner
(currently Tim Finin, finin@cs.umbc.edu).
_________________________________________________________________________
All routine administrative requests (including subscriptions and
unsubscriptions) concerning the KQML mailing list are handled by an
automated server. Here are a few details on how to interact with the
server. To find out more about the automated server and the commands
it understands, send the following command to MAJORDOMO@CS.UMBC.EDU:
help
If you want to reach the (human) list manager, send email to
KQML-APPROVAL@CS.UMBC.EDU which will forward the mail to the current
manager (Tim Finin at present).
SUBSCRIBING. To subscribe to KQML, send the following in the body (not
the subject line) of an email message to MAJORDOMO@CS.UMBC.EDU:
subscribe KQML
This will subscribe the account from which you send the message to the
KQML list. If you wish to subscribe another address instead (such as
a local redistribution list), you can use a command of the form:
subscribe KQML other-address@your_site.your_net
UNSUBSCRIBING. To unsubscribe from KQML, send the following in the
body (not the subject line) of a message to MAJORDOMO@CS.UMBC.EDU:
unsubscribe KQML
This will unsubscribe the account from which you send the message. If
you are subscribed with some other address, you'll have to send a
command of the following form instead:
unsubscribe KQML other-address@your_site.your_net
If you don't know what address you are subscribed with, you can send
the following command to see who else is on the list:
who KQML
If you want to search non-private lists at this server, you can do
that by sending a command like "which string". This will return a
list of all entries on all lists that contain "string".
ARCHIVES. All mail sent to KQML is archived and can be retrieved via
ftp or by email. The most recent archive file is named
"archive.current" and older ones will be named "archive.<date>" where
<date> gives the last date of archiving. The files can be ftp'ed from
ftp.cs.umbc.edu in /pub/kqml/. You can get an index of retrievable
files in this directory by sending majordomo@cs.umbc.edu the command
"index kqml" and actually retrieve a file by issuing majordomo the
command "get kqml <filename>"