language: en

Within the Letter of the Law: open-textured planning

Kathryn E. Sanders
Department of Computer Science University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
sanders@cs.umd.edu

Abstract Most case-based reasoning systems have used a single "best" or "most similar" case as the basis for a solution. For many problems, however, there is no single exact solution. Rather, there is a range of acceptable answers. We use cases not only as a basis for a solution, but also to indicate the boundaries within which a solution can be found. We solve problems by choosing some point within those boundaries. In this paper, I discuss this use of cases with illustrations from chiron, a system I have implemented in the domain of personal income tax planning.

1 Introduction