Prolog and Tivoli
clive spenser
Is it a success?
How can we find out more?
Is anyone able to talk about this in public?
Clive Spenser
LPA (& PA Expo99)
An Introduction to Tivoli's TME 10
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7.6.2 Rule Programming
Situations may arise which the Rule Builder cannot adequately handle.
Rule programming outside the Rule Builder can
prove to be a challenging proposition, but it offers greater
flexibility. Competency with the Prolog programming
language and an understanding of BAROC definitions is required.
Some of the concepts that were applicable to the Rule Builder also apply
to writing rules by hand. Before they write
rules, programmers must:
Identify the problem and the event classes
Understand the definition of the event, including class names and
the slot names and slot values that are relevant
to the problem
Identify which events are related or correlated and in which
context they are related
Identify the actions required to resolve the problem
Identify when the actions will be triggered
In order to create or add customized rules, the rules programmer can
export an existing rule base into a set of files, edit
these files, and re-create the rule base. Recreating the rule base
involves compiling and testing it and finally loading it in
order to make it the active rule base. Instead of modifying an existing
rule base, the modified files can be compiled into a
new rule base, thus leaving the original base unchanged.
The advantage of writing your own rules becomes apparent with the
discovery of the extensive capability of
manipulating and processing events in the event cache.
Rule programming is beyond the scope of this chapter. Refer to the
Tivoli/Enterprise Console Rule Builder's Guide
Version 2.6 for more details.
Dominique de Waleffe
clive> Can we confirm that Prolog is/was a (important) part of Tivoli?
While at BIM I worked partly on that project around 1993 (more
precisely on the rule editor/builder core).
Indeed Prolog is/was (I don't know the exact status of Tivoli) part
of the Tivoli stuff (the Enterprise Console). The Prolog used was
Prolog by BIM and it was used to define a rule language able to
describe network events and reactions to those events. If I remember
well, one could directly resort to Prolog predicates when needed. I
have long forgotten the details.
clive> Is it a success?
Don't know. I'd be interested to know.
clive> How can we find out more?
We wrote a paper on the rule editor for PAP 94 or 95. But there was
not a whole lot of details on the big picture.
clive> Is anyone able to talk about this in public?
I dont think I disclosed any secret here :-)
D.
--
Dominique de Waleffe Email: ddw @ acm.org, ddw @ myself.com, ddw @ miscrit.be
Mission Critical WWW: http://www.miscrit.be/~ddw
PGP key fingerprint: F9 CC 23 74 44 62 7C F3 8C 12 DF 71 BB 60 54 98
clive spenser
Dominique,
Many thnx - I do have a copy of the PAP95 paper. Bart has suggested that
I contact someone at IT Masters (hence my cc to them).
It strikes may that it may be one of the 'top' commercial Proog
applications at this time - and a good candidate for inviting to PAP99.
Clive Spenser
LPA & PA Expo Team
Bart Demoen
> Documentation on the embedded BIM Prolog itself
> however, is not generally available unless you are a Tivoli customer, and
> you need to talk to your Tivoli account manager for details.
Depending on what you want to know, there might be no need to
pay US$30,000 or talk to a Tivoli account manager. Just ask me.
Bart Demoen
Alain callebaut
> ... Tivoli embedded the BIM Prolog product, which is currently owned and
> marketed by IT Masters:
>
> http://www.itmasters.com
>
> In my latest conversation with IT Masters however, they indicated that
> actual information about the embedded version can only be obtained from
> IBM/Tivoli. The manuals for BIM Prolog cost US$30,000 (that is, you must
> purchase the product to read the manuals); you read that number right, it is
> the cost of a fairly nice car.
Indeed, IT Masters owns and markets the former ProLog by BIM, now named
MasterProLog.
But no, you did not read that number right.
The price for a start pack, which includes two (full development)
licenses and all documentation, is 8,400 USD.
As we explained to you, we cannot (legally and by contract) answer
ProLog related questions from Tivoli customers. We can (and do) answer
questions from our customers. But therefore you first have to become
one of course...
Alain Callebaut
IT Masters
clive spenser
>
> clive spenser wrote:
>
> > Can we confirm that Prolog is/was a (important) part of Tivoli?
>
> However, clients do not generally directly work with Prolog. Tivoli created
> a "rule language" and implemented it in Prolog, and the rule language is
> what most clients work with (actually, many clients actually work with a GUI
> that generates rules in the rule language). You can pretty much freely mix
> Prolog with the rule language, which is handy for anyone wanting to imbue
> their rules with nifty stuff driven by an inference-engine (Chrysler has
> done this, though I don't know the extent to which they take advantage of
> it). Tivoli embedded the BIM Prolog product, which is currently owned and
> marketed by IT Masters:
>
> http://www.itmasters.com
>
> In my latest conversation with IT Masters however, they indicated that
> actual information about the embedded version can only be obtained from
> IBM/Tivoli. The manuals for BIM Prolog cost US$30,000 (that is, you must
> purchase the product to read the manuals); you read that number right, it is
> the cost of a fairly nice car.
>
>
> What do you define as success? :-) Seriously though, the T/EC is a *very*
> popular product with clients, so IMHO it is a great success. A license for
> T/EC is US$65,000, and they sell like hotcakes.
>
> > How can we find out more?
>
> oblique in a few areas. Documentation on the embedded BIM Prolog itself
> however, is not generally available unless you are a Tivoli customer, and
> you need to talk to your Tivoli account manager for details.
>
>
> well known; many clients still work mostly with the GUI of Tivoli, and
> coding in the rule language, much less the Prolog that backs it, is still
> considered a little esoteric at some sites (this is changing though, thank
> goodness). I consult on Tivoli, and that is the only reason I know this
> trivia. Feel free to email me for further details.
>
> ---
> Anthony
> tyen -> at -> netcom -> dot -> com
Anthony,
Many thnx for your mail; I have already had a reply from Philippe
Moitroux, President and CEO IT Masters, and have recommended that
IT Masters be invited as keynote speakers for next year's PAP99
(PACLP99) conference.
Your decsription reminds me of the ProcessWise application from TeamWare
(used to be ICL), where they adopted Prolog + flex to provide a rule
language to support the construction of business rules within their BPR
package;
and a few serious users as a result got as far as the underlying Prolog.
It could well be that T/EC is the most widely deployed Prolog
application currently in existance! (as well as one of the most
expensive!).
It just goes to show that you can make money out of Prolog.
Clive Spenser
LPA