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Common AKT technical issues
(1) Sending knowledge bases by e-mail
Always send knowledge base files as zipped files otherwise they can be corrupted by the mail process.
Examples:
- Mailer includes extra new line characters to reduce length of any long KB statement lines.
- Last new line character of the file not transmitted by the mailer.
- Last full stop character of the file not transmitted by the mailer.
These modifications will often mean that the recipient will have difficulties reading the knowledge base
(2) Network issues
Problems have sometimes been thought to occur when loading a knowledge base file across a network rather than from a local hard drive. Always make local copies (and back ups) of KB files.
(3) Using numbers in source details
Use of integers as source locations when setting up a new source can corrupt the knowledge base. Users should use quoted integers eg: '25' to avoid problem.
(4) Importance of using quotes around terms if they want to use non alphanumeric characters
For example, If a user wants to add xiashiba,nanjing as a source location, it should be defined as 'xiashiba,nanjing' to avoid problems. In this example the comma causes a problem but the same applies to other characters. like ( ) ; [ ] etc You can use them all if you use quotes which tells the system that the term is an atom e.g.: ' ( [ fred, joe ], abcdefg )' would be ok if you felt so inclined !
Similarly importance of the meaning of words beginning with capital letters. In certain situations you can use Tim and the system will interpret this as a variable and set Tim to something appropriate. However if you use tim the system will definitely treat that as an atom. This is a characteristic of the underlying Prolog. In situations such as typing in parameters for the tools you have to be aware of this. In other situations, like typing in names for formal terms, AKT5 can deduce what the user is doing and add quotes if necessary.
(5) Diagrams
When you send a knowledge base via e-mail it is a very good idea to check before how many diagrams are currently present in the knowledge base. Diagrams add considerably to the size of the file. It is good practice to be aware of how many diagrams are in your knowledge base and to remove any unnecessary diagrams prior to saving.