LANGUAGES FOR DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS: AN OVERVIEW

Abstract

In this paper we survey some issues relating to the language interfaces provided by DSS. We do this from the point-of-view of the designer of generalized software for building DSS. We first describe a fairly general architecture for such software. This is followed by a brief examination of the language interface components. We list the functions that must be provided through the language facilities of a DSS together with a number of implementation issues such as User-friendliness, degree of procedurality and interpretation versus compilation. This provides a useful framework for the comparative evaluation of DSS packages. Finally we discuss some possible directions for future development including specialized formal languages and the potential of English-like 'semi-natural' languages.