Normal forms of rule-based knowledge systems

摘要

The terms knowledge system, data, information and knowledge are clearly defined, and the essentially functional nature of data, information and knowledge is explored in the paper. It is shown that normal forms are at least as relevant to knowledge systems as they are to information systems. Also it is argued that for a knowledge system to be effectively maintainable, normal forms for data and information, in addition to the classical normal forms, are required. Extensive new normal forms for knowledge are proposed, and the compatibility of these normal forms is discussed.