## AQE: A Query Engine This is an implementation of a knowledge base, hacked together in Python 3 (it won't work in Python 2 for reasons of modules) for now to quickly iterate on ideas. There are a few key points: + A `KnowledgeBase` contains facts. + A fact is a tuple: (relationship, subject, object). For example, `('is', 'sky', 'blue')`. + A `KnowledgeBase` has three core methods: ask, retract, and tell. + The `ask` method queries the `KnowledgeBase` to ascertain whether a fact is true. Either the subject or the object may be `None`, in which case all satisifiable facts are returned. + The `retract` method tells the `KnowledgeBase` that the fact is no longer true. If it's rainy, we might retract our fact about the sky being blue. + The `tell` method tells the `KnowledgeBase` that the fact is now true. For example, if it's rainy (and we've retracted the previous 'sky is blue' fact), we might tell the `KnowledgeBase` that `('is', 'sky', 'grey')`. + A `KnowledgeBase` can also perform substitutions. + An action contains positive and negative preconditions, retractions, and updates. The positive condition list contains facts that must be true for a knowledge base, and the negative condition list contains facts that must be false. If these preconditions hold, the retractions are applied, followed by the updates. + See `test_actions.py` for an example. ### Limitations + Singleton facts aren't supported; that is, there is no way to make a `KnowledgeBase` assert that there is only one relationship → subject mapping. For example, the `KnowledgeBase` will admit that `('is', 'shrödingers cat', 'alive')` and `('is', 'schrödingers cat', 'dead') are both true simultaneously. ### TODO + Rewrite in C++?