ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a novel method for displaying and examining the execution space of a rule interpreter. It presents the Transparent Rule Interpreter (TRI) a system that provides a graphical explanation of rule execution. The chapter discusses the motivation for TRI, that is the problems found when programming with rules, previous attempts at solving the problems and our approach. It provides a brief tour of the system using an example and reviews the principles behind TRI and its extendability. The chapter describes TRI, a system that provides a graphical explanation of both forward and backward chaining. The forward chaining part uses a Rete network, and the backward chaining part has a Prolog like inference mechanism. The key insight underlying TRI has been the emphasis on temporal dependencies during forward chaining, providing in essence a musical score metaphor for the coarse-grained view.
