This paper discusses some preliminary results of the author's on-going research into the representation of product function information for integrated knowledge-based environments. Behavior is defined as what a product does, and function is defined as how the behavior is achieved. Predicative descriptions (of either function or behavior) are described in terms of verb-object pairs (VOPs). A VOP may represent either a function or a behavior, depending on the context in which the VOP appears. A discussion of the implementation of this representation in the author's DKSL knowledge-based system is also given.
Filippo A. Salustri