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The following new features appeared in Intellix Designer 4.0:
Improved Type Semantics
New input and result factor types
Several new types have been added for both input and result factors. Now
factors can be of one of the following types: symbolic, numeric, boolean,
date-time or text. A boolean factor is a symbolic factor with the values:
yes or no. Date-time factors take values which specify a date and/or time.
A text factor is a kind of general-purpose factor that can take any valid
textual representation of a value. SOUL documents still only support symbolic
(and boolean) result factors and cannot use textual input factors (see "Redefinition
of factor flags" for a description of used / not used factors).
Global factors
It is now possible to declare factors as global, which means that the
same factor can be used in several documents. This has basically two consequences:
1) when input is assigned to the first occurrence of the factor, the input
is propagated to all other instances of that particular global factor;
2 ) text, description and other properties of the global factor only need
to be maintained in one place (though it is possible to "overwrite"
a global property in a local instance of the global factor).
Interval definitions on numeric factors
The numeric factor type has been enhanced with interval definitions.
This means that it is possible to define intervals on a numeric factor
at design time, and use these intervals when defining the business logic
in the example set. At run time, the user of the domain will still provide
input for the interval-defined factor in the form of a number.
Redefinition of factor flags
The "flags" on a factor have been generalised. In particular
it is now possible to add factors that do not participate in the document
logic.
Generalized factor linking
The linking possibilities have also been improved by allowing factor-links
at several levels and with an option to link to folders.
Extensions to custom properties
Custom properties have now been extended / renamed so that the possible
types of a custom property now are: Text, Yes or No, Date-Time, Number
and Binary. Binary custom properties can only be used through add-ins.
In Designer 4.0 it is also possible to cut and paste custom properties.
Add-ins
Import/Export dialog
The Designer 3.0 SR import/export dialog has been rewritten as an
add-in and has been extended to cope with multi-selected examples and
the new factor types.
Find/Replace dialog
A find/replace dialog has been introduced. It is now possible to search
and replace text in properties and custom properties.
Domain report
The domain report has been rewritten as an add-in that generates customisable
XML-based reports.
Clash report, Document analysis and Optimization
These three SOUL tools have been collected in an add-in.
Document Test-bench
The Designer 3.0 SR- test-bench has been rewritten as a Designer test-bench
add-in dedicated to testing single documents. This is the default test-bench.
Web Test-bench
A web-based test-bench has been introduced for testing the flow of factors
over multiple documents. The Web test-bench requires Microsoft IIS or
Personal Web Server but not installation of the Knowledge Server. The
web test-bench can be customized to match the target web-framework of
the knowledge domain.
General features
General extensions and new features in the Intellix Designer 4.0 application
are:
Windows 2000 Compatibility
Intellix Designer 4.0 now runs on the Microsoft Windows 2000 platform.
Option for enabling and disabling of warnings
The Designer application issues warnings in a number of situations; for
instance when the user names an element in an unconventional way, activates
an example with conflicts, or tries to activate an example with a Don't
Care Result. These warnings may be annoying for experienced users and
the Designer now contains a tab in the options dialog for enabling and
disabling. Warnings can also be disabled via a "Don't show this again"
check box.
Improved link usability
The usage of factor links and result links has been improved in a number
of ways: a link window showing all links leading to and from a given element
in the tree-view, warnings when the user tries to create inconsistent
link structures, and a rearrangement of the LinkTo menu.
Active Knowledge Acquisition
Active Knowledge Acquisition has been extended to support the new factor
types.
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