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Small audience for natural language interface thesis
Books Small audience for natural language interface thesis A natural language interface for computer-aided design, Tariq Samad, Kluwer Academic Press (1986) 195 pp This book is derived, apparently more or less directly, from the doctoral thesis presented by the author, Tariq Samad, at Carnegie-Mellon University. The subject matter covered is 'state-ofthe-art' or beyond, as it should be for a doctoral thesis, and anyone considering buying or reading this publication needs to be aware of this fact. The book concerns the development of a natural language interface for CAD. The practical work resulted in the development of an interface, called Cleopatra, which provided a natural language driven postprocessing environment for the Spice circuit simulation system. The underlying research work is not specific to Spice and could, in fact, be relevant to a wide spectrum of CAD and other application areas. The book briefly introduces and justifies the concept of a natural language interface and explains the context of the particular research project. This is followed by a
review of natural language processing approaches and an overall description of the approach adopted by the author. Subsequent chapters present very full explanations of the language parsing strategies adopted, using a number of very detailed examples. Finally, there is a chapter on the semantic interpretation of the parsed language, and concluding remarks on the status of the research work and on the future prospects for the subject of natural language interfaces. The reading public for this book will, by definition, be small and specialist in nature. In reality, this book is about parsing strategies with CAD simply representing a convenient (and sensible) domain to which the work might be applied. As is to be expected in a thesis, it is assumed that the reader is appropriately expert in the subject area and there are no simple introductory chapters to take one through into the subject area of natural language systems. The CAD context, in the form of Spice, is limited but would probably need some further explanation if the book were
to be appreciated by a reader not acquainted with circuit simulation. This is particularly true if the detailed example in the appendix is to be fully u nderstood. To a large extent, the difficulties with this book lie not with the author but with the concept of publishing doctoral theses in an unexpurgated form. Much greater impact is achieved if the domain experts are encouraged to publish shorter descriptions of their work. These should include sufficient introductory material to justify and explain the area of research but should allow space for descriptions that are more discursive than is possible in journal papers. As a result, new ideas are more readily available to a wider community. A thesis presented in full, as this one is, is likely to be read by a very limited group (mainly, others working in a very similar area) and as a result an opportunity may have been lost to encourage additional research and development groups to carry the ideas further.
H J Kahn
'Generic primer' Iargely covers computer-aided drafting CAD: drawing, design, data management, E Lee Kennedy, Architectural Press (1986) 176 pp, £21.95 Although the title implies a wider audience, this 'generic primer' - as the author calls it - is specifically pitched at, and well targetted on, architectural practitioners. Its appeal to architects will lie in the excellence of the illustrations and the degree of integration of drawings with text. The book has as many handgenerated as computer-generated illustrations: both are used to great effect. The author declares the view that 'CAD is primarily a drawing tool', and the book reflects this view. The drawing conventions of computer-aided drafting systems are explored with some rigour: the book takes the reader from the basics of computer kit through elemen-
330
tary drawing instructions up to advanced use of drafting systems and on to the rules of good management of a CAD system. The rigour of the book's treatment of drawing is not reflected in its treatment of design or of data management. The technical and economic evaluation of design alternatives is virtually dismissed: Some of you may remember calculating beam deflections with a slide rule and the inherent frustrations involved. No longer. Structural, HVAC, electrical or load tables are ideal applications. There are other inadequacies. The preface to the final section of the book claims that: If you are the kind of person who
likes to know how something works, Part V will satisfy your curiosity. If you read this part closely, it will give you a strong foundation in computers. In fact, Part V comprises three pages on 'computer logic', three pages on 'computer languages' and all of six pages on 'computer programming'. Hardly a 'strong foundation'. In a curious way, the excellence of this book is undermined by the claims made for it - possibly by the publishers. The architectural profession needs a good book on computeraided drafting, and this largely fulfils the need; not surprisingly, it falls a long way short of dealing comprehensively with CAAD.
T WMaver
computer-aided design
review of natural language processing approaches and an overall description of the approach adopted by the author. Subsequent chapters present very full explanations of the language parsing strategies adopted, using a number of very detailed examples. Finally, there is a chapter on the semantic interpretation of the parsed language, and concluding remarks on the status of the research work and on the future prospects for the subject of natural language interfaces. The reading public for this book will, by definition, be small and specialist in nature. In reality, this book is about parsing strategies with CAD simply representing a convenient (and sensible) domain to which the work might be applied. As is to be expected in a thesis, it is assumed that the reader is appropriately expert in the subject area and there are no simple introductory chapters to take one through into the subject area of natural language systems. The CAD context, in the form of Spice, is limited but would probably need some further explanation if the book were
to be appreciated by a reader not acquainted with circuit simulation. This is particularly true if the detailed example in the appendix is to be fully u nderstood. To a large extent, the difficulties with this book lie not with the author but with the concept of publishing doctoral theses in an unexpurgated form. Much greater impact is achieved if the domain experts are encouraged to publish shorter descriptions of their work. These should include sufficient introductory material to justify and explain the area of research but should allow space for descriptions that are more discursive than is possible in journal papers. As a result, new ideas are more readily available to a wider community. A thesis presented in full, as this one is, is likely to be read by a very limited group (mainly, others working in a very similar area) and as a result an opportunity may have been lost to encourage additional research and development groups to carry the ideas further.
H J Kahn
'Generic primer' Iargely covers computer-aided drafting CAD: drawing, design, data management, E Lee Kennedy, Architectural Press (1986) 176 pp, £21.95 Although the title implies a wider audience, this 'generic primer' - as the author calls it - is specifically pitched at, and well targetted on, architectural practitioners. Its appeal to architects will lie in the excellence of the illustrations and the degree of integration of drawings with text. The book has as many handgenerated as computer-generated illustrations: both are used to great effect. The author declares the view that 'CAD is primarily a drawing tool', and the book reflects this view. The drawing conventions of computer-aided drafting systems are explored with some rigour: the book takes the reader from the basics of computer kit through elemen-
330
tary drawing instructions up to advanced use of drafting systems and on to the rules of good management of a CAD system. The rigour of the book's treatment of drawing is not reflected in its treatment of design or of data management. The technical and economic evaluation of design alternatives is virtually dismissed: Some of you may remember calculating beam deflections with a slide rule and the inherent frustrations involved. No longer. Structural, HVAC, electrical or load tables are ideal applications. There are other inadequacies. The preface to the final section of the book claims that: If you are the kind of person who
likes to know how something works, Part V will satisfy your curiosity. If you read this part closely, it will give you a strong foundation in computers. In fact, Part V comprises three pages on 'computer logic', three pages on 'computer languages' and all of six pages on 'computer programming'. Hardly a 'strong foundation'. In a curious way, the excellence of this book is undermined by the claims made for it - possibly by the publishers. The architectural profession needs a good book on computeraided drafting, and this largely fulfils the need; not surprisingly, it falls a long way short of dealing comprehensively with CAAD.
T WMaver
computer-aided design