I think Michael Knapik wrote:
[Charset iso-8859-1 unsupported, filtering to ASCII...]
> Hello!
> 
> I am reading on page 76 in the book Jess In Action on working memory.  About facts.  
> If one needs to assert a "fact" to add it to memory, what are the bound values of 
> variables?
> 

They're the values of variables.

> Like (bind ?x 3)  WRT working memory and facts?  I.e., what is ?x
and its value 3?  Are they not in working memory?

No, they're not. Besides giving the definition of working memory as
the place where facts are stored (page 75), at the beginning of
section 6.2, on page 81 it says   

"Jess's working memory is stored in a complex data structure with
multiple indices, so that searching the working memory is a very fast
operation. The working memory is therefore something like a relational
database, and the individual facts are like rows in a database
table... This implies that facts, like table rows, must have a
specific structure so that they can be indexed..."


>  When I command Jess (facts) after the aforementioned binding, Jess says there are 0 
> facts in working memory. Yet I can use the ?x as a "fact"  - a value in "memory" in 
> other expressions etc. 
> 

Starting on line 6 of page 76, I quote:

"It is important to realize that we're using the word fact in a
specific, technical sense, and the meaning differs slightly from the
colloquial English usage."

And then it goes on to elaborate the definition of a fact.

So in any case, "fact" and "working memory" are specific technical
terms, and you're asking me whether it appears that variables appear
to be stored in the computer's RAM, and therefore represent something
like the colloquial definition of a fact. Yes, sure. That's why I went
out of my way to specifically state that facts are *not* quite what
the colloquial definition of the word might lead you to expect, and
that working memory is not at all the same as RAM.



---------------------------------------------------------
Ernest Friedman-Hill  
Science and Engineering PSEs        Phone: (925) 294-2154
Sandia National Labs                FAX:   (925) 294-2234
PO Box 969, MS 9012                 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Livermore, CA 94550         http://herzberg.ca.sandia.gov

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