Accession Number:

ADA399513

Title:

Environment for Reflective Agents (ERA)

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. Jul 1998-Sep 2001

Corporate Author:

CRYSTALIZ INC CONCORD MA

Personal Author(s):

• Virdhagriswaran, Sankar

Report Date:

2002-01-01

Pagination or Media Count:

49.0

Abstract:

Environment for Reflective Agents ERA is an asynchronous, distributed computing environment that supports the interactive design and development of distributed network applications. Using ERAs VERA editor, casual programmers can dynamically configure the workflow between autonomous agents, specifying which agents talk to which, and how. ERA also permits networks that are recursively constructed from existing agents and networks, in a bottom-up manner. ERA allows both direct and scripted control of intrinsically distributed, heterogeneous organizations. The activities of multiple agents are coordinated by using scripts to direct the transfer of information between them. ERA expects most substantive processing to be done by conventional agents, either people, application programs, or conventional scripts. The tools provided by ERA focus mainly on the question of who talks to whom and how. The report begins with the concepts, philosophy, and goals of ERA, then presents the initial Scheme-based ERA prototype and ERA server, which is capable of interpreting the scripting languages ERASE and DERAIL. Finally, the Java-Based ERA server is presented, together with a description of how the user can compare hierarchical, distributed agent networks interactively using the visual editor.

Descriptors:

• *COMPUTER PROGRAMS
• *INFORMATION TRANSFER
• *COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN
• *NETWORKS
• *ASYNCHRONOUS COMPUTERS
• ENVIRONMENTS
• ORGANIZATIONS
• DISTRIBUTED DATA PROCESSING
• DISTRIBUTION
• INTERACTIONS
• PROCESSING
• REFLECTION
• SELF OPERATION
• HETEROGENEITY
• RECORDS
• PROGRAMMERS

Subject Categories:

• Computer Programming and Software

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE