---
title: "Explaining Prolog Based Expert Systems Using a Layered Meta-Interpreter"
authors:
  - "Leon Sterling"
  - "L. Ümit Yalçinalp"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1989/11"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1989/0011.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Eleventh International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1989
pages: "66-70"
track: "Tools"
keywords:
---

# Explaining Prolog Based Expert Systems Using a Layered Meta-Interpreter

Leon Sterling, L. Ümit Yalçinalp

*Proceedings of the Eleventh International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*, pages 66-70.

## Abstract

This paper presents an improved method of explaining Prolog-based expert systems. The key idea is to make explicit failures during the computation. This allows the integrated explanation in a single interpreter of both successful and failed computations. It also allows rules containing cuts to be effectively explained. Furthermore, the explanation system is interactive, and allows full explanation of both successful and failed partial computations. We discuss in some detail a two-layer meta-interpreter which is at the heart of the system .