Specifications

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Overview: We wanted to see how a
completed knowledge base looked, so
we opened up the Printer knowledge
base. We saw that all the knowledge
bases in the system are kept within their
own directories with their associated
files. The main file, the .aob file, con-
tains all the data that constitutes the
knowledge base. The data within this
file is presented by supporting and
enhancing files.
Next, we took a look at a couple of
key Knowledge Builder screens. The
Knowledge Builder window shows all
the actions (such as opening and index-
ing) that are taken on a particular
knowledge base (Figure 28). The
Options screen allows users to view
and modify some of the Knowledge
Builder parameters. From here, users
can select favorite editors and applica-
tions to be associated with different
actions (Figure 29).
Templates: Knowledge Builder comes
with ready-to-use templates that are
available to every knowledge base. These
templates range from the startup tem-
plate, which is used for the initial screen,
to the congrats template, which congratu-
lates the user when a problem is solved.
Templates are modified HTML files.
In most cases, they need to be filled in
and adjusted (by Web Advisor) before
they are sent to the requesting Web
browser. This is done through replace-
ment fields and operators. The replace-
ment fields are place holders that need to
be substituted with system parameters,
initialization file variables, or knowl-
edge base fields before the page is ready
for a browser. The operators (such as the
IF operator) are used to influence the
segments they contain. They could be
conditional or command operators. As
such, the template is a simplistic macro
which yields the final HTML file when
Web Advisor processes it.
Editing Templates: You can modify
or augment templates to suit your pref-
erences. To start, you can open the Edit
Template screen (Figure 30), which
allows you to select a template from the
sets of templates on the system. Then,
you can edit the template using a regu-
lar text editor.
You can also use the Edit Template
screen to assign certain template sets to
a particular knowledge base. For exam-
ple, for a given knowledge base, you
can designate a default template, which
means this template will open by
default when Web Advisor opens the
appropriate knowledge base.
Packaging: The Packaging option
allows you to create a packing list of
the knowledge base. This list contains
all objects that are referenced by the
knowledge base. The packing list can
be used to ship the knowledge base to
another PC that runs Web Advisor. It
can also be used to analyze the knowl-
edge base in terms of objects refer-
enced and ascertain that all objects are
accounted for.
Indexing: The Index option indexes
the knowledge base for natural lan-
guage search. You must index all
knowledge bases before you use them.
Creating A Knowledge Base: To cre-
ate an effective knowledge base, you
can rely on Expert Reasoning,
ServiceSoft’s knowledge development
methodology. It replicates the trou-
bleshooting processes used by experi-
enced support personnel.
The Expert Reasoning philosophy
comprises three steps: identify the
problem, determine the cause, and sug-
gest or implement a likely solution.
Each of these steps is well described in
the Authoring manual, which is a must
C T I LABS
FFiigguurree 2288..
Knowledge
Builder: Screen showing
indexing progress.
FFiigguurree 2299..
Knowledge
Builder: Options screen.