DOTS is a metatool that supports the abstract-architecture view. DOTS allows its users to edit interactively an abstract-architecture specification of the target knowledge-acquisition tool. From this specification, DOTS produces an operational knowledge-acquisition tool that experts can use to develop knowledge bases. We shall discuss briefly the specification of knowledge-acquisition tools in DOTS. The details of the DOTS implementation in described in [4].
Figure 1. The model of the target knowledge-acquisition tools. The expert interacts with knowledge editors. Update rules map the contents of the knowledge editors to an internal representation-the knowledge modules. A knowledge-base generator driven by transformation rules transforms the knowledge modules to a target knowledge base. DOTS allows developers to edit the knowledge-acquisition-tool specification according to this abstract-architecture view.