OpenCyc Project Update

Update on activity related to release 1.0 of OpenCyc.

The OpenCyc Team has missed its estimate of an August 31 delivery. The new estimate appears below as a list of tasks and milestones.

OpenCyc 1.0 will incorporate more capabilities in the first release than originally planned, including:

- Some natural language parsing/generation capabilities

- More support for moving knowledge among KBs.

- An expanded API that will include the ability to define some server-side scripts. A considerable portion of the SubL language will be included.

- More support for collaboration among multiple Cyc KBs.

- The 1.0 release will include an overhaul to Cyc's representation of attributes. This change will not be seen in the beta release, but it will
be in place before the end of the year.

Below is a list of upcoming tasks and milestones, with estimates for the time that each will take and the expected completion date:

Programming:
Tailor KB Browser for OpenCyc -- 5 days -- 9/14
Implement server-side scripting -- 5 days -- 9/20

Deployment:
Improve installation procedure -- 4 days -- 9/20

Installation test -- 5-15 days -- 9/21 start

Release 0.9B on SourceForge** -- 9/28-10/12

** Release 0.9B will not include all of the Release 1.0 features, and some of the contents of OpenCyc 0.9B will be destructively modified to create release 1.0. A known piece that will be destructively modified before Release 1.0 is the representation of attributes.

The following tasks are planned for completion while OpenCyc is in beta. They should take approximately 2-3 months to complete. Deliverables from these tasks will be incorporated into the beta as they become available.

Ontological Engineering:

- Include remaining KB content and QC all content.

- Assign KB content to "subject clumps" for accessibility.

Natural Language:

- Include missing NL assertions (e.g. #$genTemplate assertions for all predicates).

- Add NL function calls to API.

Programming:

API:

- Support callbacks from inference engine during inferencing.

Interface:

- Create GUI for import/export of CycML files.

- Create Open-Directory-based browser screen.

Deployment:

- Create WebStart deployment that supports automatic update of Cyc files.

Collaboration:

- Juxta-based collaboration support.

- Solution for constant name collisions.

- Add support for packaging of KB content.

Demos:

- Some modest open source examples of what can be done with OpenCyc.

Documentation:

- Complete tutorial (online version of "Cyc 101" presentations).

- Release relevant sections of OE Handbook (currently under development for Cycorp internal use).

- Update CycL reference.

The OpenCyc Team plans to complete all of the above tasks before the end of the year. At that point, the version will be updated to Release 1.0.

Please use the OpenCyc Open Discussion Forum on SourceForge to ask for further explanations of any of the above tasks.