Heuristic resolution for multiple inheritance in object-oriented expert system building tools

The inheritance dilemma (the problem of determining inheritance precedence) occurs when multiple superclasses have slots with identical names but different values. Multiple inheritance becomes a controversial feature in object-oriented paradigm because of inheritance dilemma. A consistent approach to this problem is necessary. Conventional approaches, such as static and dynamic approaches, were introduced. Static approaches cannot reflect the states of expert systems during inference, i.e., they lack adaptiveness. Dynamic approaches determine inheritance precedence according to inference results, but they rely heavily on functions in expert system building tools (ESBTs). Heuristic resolution is proposed as an alternative. Heuristic functions can simulate static and dynamic approaches, and can be implemented in object-oriented ESBTs. It is demonstrated that heuristic resolution is a dynamic, domain-independent, and general approach for the inheritance dilemma. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1997.