A domain-independent production-rula system for consultation programs. William van Melte Heuristic Programming Project Department of Computer Sc;ence Stanford University Stanford, California 94305

EMYCIN is a programming system for writing knowledge-based consultation programs with a production-rule representation of knowledge. Several major components of the system, Including an explanation program and knowledge acquisition routines, are described. EMYCIN has been used to build consultation systems in several areas of medicine, as well as an engineering domain. These experiences lead to some general conclusions regarding the potential applicability of EMYCIN to new domains. Keywords: knowledge-based systems, production rules, knowledge representation, automated consultant.