UPML: A Framework for knowledge system reuse

Problem-solving methods provide reusable architectures and components for implementing the reasoning part of knowledge-based systems. The Unified Problem-solving Method Development Language, UPML, has been developed to describe and implement such architectures and components and to facilitate their semiautomatic reuse and adaptation. In a nutshell, UPML is a framework for developing knowledge-intensive reasoning systems based on libraries of generic problem-solving components. The paper describes the components, architectural constraints, development guidelines, and tools provided by UPML. Our focus is hereby on the meta ontology that has been developed to formalize the architectural structure and elements of UPML.