Constraint-based retrieval of engineering design cases

The case-based retrieval is frequently reported as a valuable tool for engineering design. We discuss similarity based retrieval in the engineering design domain when the context is given as a set of constraints. This approach comprises the lowest level with which we support case-based retrieval from our Integrated Knowledge-Base. The characterization of the retrieval process yields a robust compliance measure and a similarity measure for the cases in a given context. The problematic concept of context is taken up front by making it an explicit part of the query.