A Deductive Database Language Supporting Modules

The applicability of programming languages for knowledge based systems to real life application problems is largely determined by their support of modularity, abstraction, and reusability of modules. While the deductive database approach to knowledge representation has its merits in the declarativity of the underlying logic languages and the integration of deduction and efficient database access, it currently does not offer structuring instruments and abstraction facilities. In this paper we propose a way to incorporate modules and data abstraction into a deductive database language, essentially without deviating from pure logic, i.e. the majority of our concepts are supported by the underlying logic language itself.