9.2. HELP FILESBoth the FLOPS IDE a

9.2. HELP FILES
Both the FLOPS IDE and FLOPS itself provide a variety of help files. These include a FLOPS overview, language manual, a fuzzy math review, a review of the syntax of FLOPS rules, a description of the sample FLOPS programs provided, a short manual on building fuzzy expert systems, a glossary, some help on getting started, a section on on-line real-time work, and how to obtain technical support. A list of the help files in FLOPS and TFLOPS is given in Table 9.3.
Programmers used to procedural languages face some real problems in adjusting to a data-driven, parallel fuzzy language, and extensive help files are essential to help overcome these problems.
9.3. PROGRAM EDITING
All text editors provide the ability to save or abandon text entered. A program editor is different from a general-purpose text editor in that programs are written in a specific formal language with a specific syntax. It is very desirable to color-code
TABLE 9.3 FLOPS Help Files
FLOPS overview
Manual of FLOPS language
Fuzzy math review
Rule syntax review
Description of sample FLOPS programs
Manual on Building Fuzzy Expert Systems
Glossary
Help on getting started
On-line real-time work
Technical support
9.3 PROGRAM EDITING 153
The text according to the specific language syntax; this helps the programmer master the syntax and correct errors. Every language will have certain reserved words. These should be separately color-coded for easy identification and error avoidance, to help avoid using a reserved word when a nonreserved word should be used, or incorrectly typing in a desired reserved word. Other desirable features include separate color-coding for character strings and numbers, and perhaps more advanced color-coding depending on the specific language syntax. If rules may be assigned names by default, an automatic rule-relabeling feature is quite desirable. For production systems, it is quite desirable to be able to check program syntax prior to a program run.
In TFLOPS, the FLOPS IDE, reserved words are colored blue; strings are colored red; symbols enclosed in angle brackets (variables and FLOPS reserved data symbols) are colored green. Comments are shown in gray rather than black. Rule names may be specified by the programmer or automatically provided by the IDE. Toolbar buttons are provided to check program syntax and to relabel rules that have been automatically labeled. Of course, the usual array of edit function such as search and replace is provided.
In addition to the source code editor, TFLOPS provides an editor FLEDIT for FLOPS blackboard data files. The FLOPS IDE differs substantially from those designed to create fuzzy control programs. Being oriented toward extremely general-purpose use, the FLOPS.
IDE resembles those for such languages as Cþþ, also designed for generalpurpose use.