Distributed Object Oriented Logic Programming as a tool for Enterprise Modelling

In this paper we propose a distributed object oriented logic programming language, called DK Parlog ++ , that we have developed at Imperial College, as a powerful tool for enterprise modelling and for prototyping an enterprise integration framework. We have used the language to develop a model of our own department and to prototype a generic enterprise integration framework based on role theory. We adopt an agent based approach, the agents being essentially distributed active objects containing both procedural methods and public knowledge, the knowledge being expressed as Prolog facts and rules. Each agent is an instance of some agent class. The agents interact with each other by sending messages to request services, and by remote queries to access each others public knowledge. The agents can either be used as a coordination layer for an enterprise integration prototype or to provide an active model of the activities of the enterprise. Each agent inherits all the methods and knowledg..