Glossary

Glossary

This Glossary a.k.a. vocabulary provides an alphabetical list of all Rainbird functions. A more detailed explanation can be found when using the link to the full article.

addDays [article]: Rainbird uses the addDays() function to add or subtract a number of days to or from a date entered at runtime or a date that exists as an instance within the knowledge map the function is being used in.

addMonth [article]: Rainbird uses the addMonths() expression to add or subtract a number of months to or from a date entered at runtime or a date that exists as an instance within the knowledge map the function is being used in.

addYears expression [article]: Rainbird uses the addYears() expression to add or subtract a number of years to or from a date entered at runtime or a date that exists as an instance within the knowledge map the function is being used in.

addWeeks [article]: Rainbird uses the addWeeks() expression to add or subtract a number of weeks to or from a date entered at runtime or a date that exists as an instance within the knowledge map the function is being used in.

AllowCF [article]: This relationship attribute can be used to prevent end users from expressing their certainty about particular facts created at runtime.

AllowUnknown [article]: This relationship attribute can be used to allow end users to select ‘skip’ when asked to provide a response or confirm certain facts, or if data can not be provided through external data sources.

Alt Text [article]: By default, Rainbird will populate the fact cards using the relationship and subject names as they are stored in the knowledge map. The information presented in the evidence tree can be changed, to improve the readability and accessibility of the evidence tree, by ‘debugging expressions’ and using ‘traversing’ alt text.

Application: Rainbird-powered tools are used by either people or applications. At Rainbird, an application refers to another computer system using Rainbird as an automated decision making engine without human interaction.

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is the intelligence of a machine that could successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. A machine that is “as smart as humans across the board”.

Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI): Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) is the intelligence of an AI tool that performs one specific, narrow task.

Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI): Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) is the intelligence of an AI that would be “much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom and social skills”.

Askable [article]: This relationship attribute can be used to prevent a question from being asked/control the type of questions that can be asked selected under ‘Question configuration’ in the Studio.

Authors: At Rainbird, authors are the experts who model their knowledge in the Rainbird Studio.

Automated decision-making platform: A rules-based software platform encoded with subject matter expertise to automate complex decisions or recommendations in the same way that a human does.

Behaviour [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, you can specify whether the behaviour of a condition within a rule is either mandatory or optional. In order for the rule to be work, all mandatory conditions must be met.

Boolean operator [article]: In the Rainbird Authoring Platform, the boolean operators ‘and’ / ‘or’ can be used to link expressions together.

canAdd [article]: This relationship attribute can be used to prevent a user from adding a response/control whether subject or object instances can be added to.

Certainty Factor (CF) [article]: A certainty factor is the level of certainty expressed by authors about facts and rules when modelling their knowledge in the Rainbird Studio. A certainty factor can also be expressed by end-users about certain facts and data when consulting with the Rainbird Agent at run-time. The certainty factor affects the overall certainty of the resulting judgement produced by Rainbird.

Comparative expressions [article]: Comparative expressions are used when creating conditions for rules, using functions that compare 2 variables or constants.

Concept [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, concepts are things that exist in our world. Examples include ‘restaurant’, ‘cuisine’, ‘food’ and ‘location’. The first step when creating a knowledge map is to identify relevant concepts.

Concept instance [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, concept instances are specific examples of concepts. For example, ‘city centre’ is an instance of the concept ‘location’. Concept instances can be seen as the data that sit within a Rainbird model. In a Rainbird knowledge map concept instances aren’t actually visible on the surface but they are easily accessible.

Condition [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, conditions are applied to relationships in order to create rules. By encoding conditions, we can describe the circumstances under which a relationship is true. Mandatory conditions must be met in order for a rule to be considered a fact.

countRelationshipInstances [article]: This expression is used to count concept instances/facts either within the map or entered when querying the map. The countRelationship expression can be used with string, number and date instances.

Database: A database refers to a set of structured data that is stored in a computer. Rainbird can make connections to external, real-time databases, removing the need to store data within the knowledge map itself.

Data Retention Policy [article]: The built-in Data Retention Policy feature in Rainbird allows you to limit the amount of time that any information entered and saved into a knowledge map will be stored by Rainbird. Any session data will be removed after the set time period. There are two Data Retention Policies that can be set within Rainbird.

Data source [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, a datasource is a source of data which an author points Rainbird towards during a query session. This data could be provided by a third party or could be located in a company’s internal systems. Rainbird can retrieve data to use at run-time as concept instances and facts. Datasources are useful when the required logic or information is available from an existing web service and accessible through an API.

Date expressions: In Rainbird, concepts can be ‘date’ concepts – formatted as YYYY-MM-DD.  Date concepts should be used when a date will be either the input or output of a map. Rainbird can use date expressions to transform and calculate dates, they can be combined with other date, transformative and comparative expressions to ‘retrieve’, ‘add’,  ‘subtract’ or ‘compare’ time.

dayOfWeek [article]: Rainbird uses the dayOfWeek() expression to determine the weekday of a date entered at runtime or that exists in the map, as a number (e.g. dayOfWeek(0000-12-24) would return a 7, for Sunday).

dayOfMonth [article]: Rainbird uses the dayOfMonth expression to extract the day number within the month from a date instance which is either created at runtime or that exists as an instance in the map. For example, if the date instance was 2000-12-24, Rainbird would extract the number 24.

dayOfYear [article]: Rainbird uses the dayOfYear expression to calculate how many days a date instance, either created by the end-user at runtime or that exists in the map, is from the beginning of the year. For example, if the input date is 2021-02-04, the dayOfYear function would return the number 35.

daysBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the daysBetween expression to calculate how many days there are between date instances.  Rainbird will return the result of the expression as a number.

Decision-making: At Rainbird, we believe experts make decisions by gathering data, applying their knowledge to that data, forming a judgement with which they will hold a certain level of confidence, and providing a rationale for that judgement.

Decision tree [article]: A tree diagram used to represent the various stages of a decision-making process, typically with each node representing a decision or question and each branch representing a possible consequence or answer resulting from the previous node. Decision trees are severely limited in scope, and are only capable of answering the question for which they were designed.

Dynamic data: Dynamic data refers to real-time data which changes frequently, such as the stock market, the weather or credit data. Rainbird can reference any number of external dynamic data sources.

End users: End users consult with Rainbird via another interface that calls on Rainbird. This interface is referred to as a Rainbird Agent.

Evidence Tree [article]: Rainbird records and can articulate through an Evidence Tree how every individual recommendation was made, including where it sourced the data. This is a visual way to see the judgement broken down into its individual parts. Users are able to identify which rules in Rainbird have influenced the final outcome and their impact on the certainty level of the judgement returned.

Expert system: A piece of software that uses databases of expert knowledge to offer advice or make decisions in such areas as medical diagnosis.

Expert: A person who is very knowledgeable about or skilful in a particular area. Experts are often responsible for making decisions or judgements. At Rainbird, we call experts who model their own knowledge in the Rainbird Studio knowledge authors.

Export [article]: The exported .rbird file can be shared with other users, stored in a company’s database or file exchange, and imported when creating a new knowledge map. 

Expression [article]: In the Rainbird Authoring Platform, expressions can be used in conditions where specific logic and/or arithmetic is required. Comparative expressions compare instance(s) against something else. Transformative expressions transform the instance(s) in some way and create a new value.

External data: At Rainbird, external data refers to data which is stored outside of the Rainbird Studio, for example in an external database.

Facts [article]: In Rainbird, facts, also referred to as relationship instances, are things that Rainbird knows to be true, although Rainbird does not have to be 100% sure it is true in order to refer to something as a fact. We may only be 80% sure that something is true – we would still class this as a fact, so long as no conditions are attached. If conditions are attached to a fact, it becomes a rule. Rainbird is capable of inferring facts and creating new ones.

firstForm question [article]: First form questions are when Rainbird has a candidate subject and object side for a condition, and it needs the user to confirm it’s correct. These are always yes/no questions.

Graphical view: In the Rainbird Authoring Platform, the graphical view refers to the visual representation of a knowledge map. Knowledge authors can choose to create their knowledge map in the graphical view (the map) or in RBLang.

Grouping [article]: Allows authors to group questions on the same page when asked in a query or agent.

hoursBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the hoursBetween expression to calculate how many hours there are between time instances. Rainbird will return a number as a result – the amount of hours between the two time instances

Import [article]: An .rbird file is an export of a knowledge map that can be imported into a new or existing knowledge map.

Indirect vs. direct interaction: End users can interact with Rainbird-powered tools directly or indirectly. An example of a direct interaction is a person consulting with Rainbird on their desktop or mobile device through an Agent or a custom UI. An indirect interaction is when an employee consults with Rainbird to support the consumer over the phone.

Interaction History  [article]: Providing more comprehensive information about queries that are run against the map than the map’s invocation statistics which only records the volume of queries that have started or finished. When viewing a map’s interaction history, you will be able to see a record of the query interaction.

Invocation Statistics [article]: Invocation statistics are always captured and cannot be disabled by a knowledge author. The stats are presented in a bar graph and grouped by date and type.  The types of stats are: queries that have started, queries that have finished and those that have finished with results. A query can start and then be cancelled or incur an error and subsequently not make it to the end; alternatively, a query may finish but not return an answer.

isAfterDate [article]: Rainbird uses the isAfterDate expression to calculate if a date is after another date. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as Yes/No.

isBeforeDate [article]: Rainbird uses the isBeforeDate expression to calculate if a date is before another date. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as Yes/No.

isSameDate [article]: Rainbird uses the isSameDate expression to calculate if a date is the same date then another date. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as Yes/No.

isSubset [article]: This expression is used to compare two sets of concept instances and verify that the first is a subset of the second. This can be used to determine if a set of requirements have been met for particular outcomes.

Iterative: An iterative process is one which involves repetition. The knowledge mapping process is iterative. Rainbird Authors build, test and, if required, amend their knowledge map at each stage before proceeding to the next step and repeating the process over again.

Judgement: The ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions. At Rainbird, we believe judgements are made by experts who typically gather data and apply their knowledge to that data. They can often provide a rationale for their judgement. Like experts, Rainbird too can provide judgements with a rationale.

Knowledge: At Rainbird, we define knowledge as “the combined collection of concepts, relationships, and rules relating to a particular subject which a person has acquired through their experiences”.

Knowledge map: This is the name we give to the graphical representation of an experts’ knowledge which is built in the Rainbird Authoring Platform. Experts (we call them authors) create, test and publish knowledge maps via a Rainbird Agent which an end user can consult with in order to get a judgement from Rainbird. Knowledge maps are made up of concepts, concept instances, relationships and relationship instances. Rules are then added to knowledge maps to make them smarter and capable of solving problems.

Machine Learning: The capacity of a computer to learn from experience, i.e. to modify its processing on the basis of newly acquired information. Computers/AI using machine Learning cannot provide a rationale for each result it returns.

Markdown [article] Markdown is used to present images, formatted text (bold, italic, underlined etc.), GIFs and hyperlinks amongst other rich text with concept instances Rainbird returns as results. It is an enhanced form of ‘Meta Data’.

Match Infer Ask (MIA): MIA is an abbreviation of Match Infer Ask and refers to the order in which Rainbird will test each condition in a rule. Rainbird will first attempt to match a condition with facts it already knows or can gain access to. It will then attempt to satisfy the condition by running any relevant rules. If all else fails, Rainbird will ask the end user a question.

Mathematical functions  [article]: This transformative expressions that change or transform numbers/number instances, and are used in rules. Mathematical functions can be combined in expressions, and the values generated by the functions can also be used in further expressions.

Meta data: A set of data that describes and gives information about other data. Any string-type concept instance can have Meta Data associated with it. Meta Data is useful for adding additional text to a concept instance which can then be presented to end-users once a query is run in the agent. Rich text or images can be added with ‘Markdown’ text.

Mind-map: A diagram in which information is represented visually, usually with a central idea placed in the middle and associated ideas arranged around it. The early stages of knowledge mapping can feel a little like mind mapping, although mind-maps are a lot less organised and cannot solve problems.

Minimum-rule-certainty [article]: By default, Rainbird will only use or consider a fact that has been inferred by a rule, if it is at least 20% certain about the inferred fact. However, authors can override this by specifying a minimum rule certainty on a rule. The value can be increased and decreased between 1 and 100.

minutesBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the minutesBetween expression to calculate how many minutes there are between time instances, returning a number as a result – the amount of minutes between the two time instances

monthOfYear [article]: Rainbird uses the monthOfYear expression to extract the month of the year from a date instance, either created by the end-user at runtime or that exists as an instance in the map. For example, if the input date is 2000-12-24, the monthOfYear function would extract the month value, 12.

monthsBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the monthsBetween expression to calculate how many months there are between date instances. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as a number.

Mutually exclusive [article]: If two things are mutually exclusive they are separate and very different from each other, so it is impossible for them to exist or happen together. In the Rainbird Studio, mutually exclusive behaviour can be added to string concepts to define two concepts as mutually exclusive. If ‘no’ is answered to a question where a mutually-exclusive concept is the object, Rainbird will infer that the opposite is the answer.

Now expression [article]: Rainbird is able to generate the date and time the query is run at as a value(e.g. if it’s the 2nd of February 2021 12PM, Rainbird would generate 2021-02-02 12:00:00) and use the value in expressions.

Nuanced: A subtle or slight degree of difference. Rainbird can make nuanced decisions. The more factors Rainbird takes into account in making a decision, the more nuanced the decision will be.

Object [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, all relationships end with an object.

Plural [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, relationships can be plural or singular. For example, a restaurant may serve more than one type of cuisine, so the ‘serves’ relationship would be plural. Making a relationship plural allows Rainbird to create and consider multiple relationship instances with the same subject

Publishing a map [article]: sets a selected version of the map live. The published version will be used for the Agent link.

Query [article]: In the Rainbird Authoring Platform, a query can be set up in Rainbird by an author to test the rules they have built and the knowledge they have modelled. A query is a question you want Rainbird to answer using your knowledge map and any associated data. Knowledge maps are created to solve queries. When a query is run, Rainbird will navigate the knowledge in the map in order to try and find the best answer to the query.

Rainbird [article]: The name of our rules-based automated decision-making platform that can handle ambiguity and uncertainty and make judgements in the absence of data.

Rainbird Agent [article]: A medium or connection through which end users can query an experts’ knowledge map. Examples of Rainbird agents include simple messaging chat interfaces, voice recognition tools or integrations with third party systems.

Rainbird Studio: This is the part of the Rainbird Platform which an author uses to model their knowledge by building knowledge maps. End users do not interact with or have access to the Rainbird Studio.

Rainbird-powered tool: A Rainbird-powered tool is an application which is driven by Rainbird’s automated decision-making engine.

Rationale: A set of reasons or a logical explanation behind an experts’ judgement or decision. Like humans, Rainbird can also provide a rationale for the decisions it makes.

RBLang: RBLang, or ‘Rainbird Language’, is a simple XML based language, unique to Rainbird, which represents a knowledge map. Knowledge authors can choose to create their knowledge map by constructing RBLang in the RBLang editor, or more visually in the graphical view (the map).

Relationship [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, relationships describe how two concepts are related. They are directional and can be singular or plural. Having identified relevant concepts, the second step when building a knowledge map is usually to link these concepts together using relationships.

Relationship Instance [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, relationship instances describe how two concept instances are related. They are also referred to as facts and can be extended into rules by adding conditions to them. In order to produce a judgement, Rainbird will test each condition in a rule to see if it matches a known relationship instance.

Rename a map: Changing the name and description of a knowledge map.

Restore a map [article]: Once a map is versioned an author can Restore a knowledge map to a previously saved version

Rule: At Rainbird, we refer to the logic we hold in our head as ‘rules’, and we see rules as facts that have conditions attached to them. They are built in the Rainbird Studio to enable Rainbird to create new facts. Rules make our knowledge maps smarter and capable of solving problems.

Run-time: At Rainbird, run-time refers to the point at which a knowledge map is being queried.

Salience View [article]: The rationale behind a result that Rainbird has produced can be viewed by clicking the ‘i’ symbol next to the result. Clicking the ‘i’ symbol will take you to the evidence tree, which provides a visual representation of the rationale behind a result.

Scope: At Rainbird, scopes link information between query sessions by retaining facts against a particular identifier. This allows Rainbird to provide a judgement in subsequent sessions by asking fewer questions since facts that were previously obtained can be recalled.

secondFormObject question [article]: A second form object question is used when Rainbird knows the subject of a particular relationship but requires the object.

secondFormSubject question [article]: A second form subject question is used when Rainbird knows the object of a particular relationship but requires the subject.

secondsBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the secondsBetween expression to calculate how many seconds there are between time instances. When using the secondsBetween expression, Rainbird will return a number as a result – the amount of seconds between the two time instances

Snippets: In the Rainbird Studio snippets form the skeleton of the RBLang for a particular element, for example, a rule, which can then be filled in with the relevant information

Solution: Sometimes, Rainbird is used in combination with a number of other technologies to form a broader software solution.

String: In the Rainbird Studio, a string refers to a concept you can define instances of. In addition to string concepts, knowledge authors can create date, number and truth concepts.

String concatenation [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, string concatenation allows authors to link strings together so that Rainbird can produce a judgement made up of more than one value.

Subject [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, all relationships start with a subject.

Subject matter: At Rainbird, we use the term subject matter to refer to the domain of the Rainbird knowledge map including all documented business logic, and the expertise that a subject matter expert (SME) holds in their head about that subject.

Subject Matter Expert (SME): A Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a person who is an expert in their field. At Rainbird, SMEs provide the subject matter that is to be encoded in the Rainbird Studio.

sumObjects [article]: This expression is used to count the total amount of number concept instances/facts either within the map or entered by the user when querying the map.

Test data: At Rainbird, test data usually comprises of concept instances that are contained in a knowledge map prior to being removed and replaced by a connection to an external data source. It is good practice to insert a small amount of data into the knowledge map when building so you can test the encoded business logic before adding the complexity of an external data source.

Today expression [article]: Rainbird is able to generate today’s date at midnight as a value (e.g. if it’s the 2nd of February 2021, Rainbird would generate 2021-02-02 00:00:00) and use the value in expressions.

Top-down [article]: This optional rule attribute prescribes how a rules’ conditions are processed (top-to-bottom ordering). If not specified, Rainbird will decide which conditions to evaluate and in which order.

Top-down-strict [article]: This optional rule attribute prescribes how a rules’ conditions are processed (top-to-bottom ordering). Top-down-strict does not allow mandatory conditions that can’t be immediately met to be skipped. If not specified, Rainbird will decide which conditions to evaluate and in which order.

Variables: In computing, a variable refers to a data item that may take on more than one value during the runtime of a program. When creating rules in the Rainbird Authoring Platform, the subjects and objects specified in conditions do not need to refer to specific concepts or concept instances. Instead, they can be ‘variables’ for Rainbird to fill in. Think of variables as placeholders. %S and %O are specially reserved variables for the Subject and Object of a relationship.

Versioning a map [article]: Versioning a knowledge map will save the knowledge map at a particular point in time, and assign it a version number. Prior to creating the first version, Authors are considered to be working on the ‘Draft’ knowledge map.

Weight [article]: In the Rainbird Studio, weight is used to describe which conditions in a rule are more relevant or important.

Workflow: An easy to use visual workflow automation system with various connectors allowing to combine Rainbird with other systems and data sources.

weeksBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the weeksBetween expression to calculate how many weeks there are between date instances. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as a number.

yearsBetween [article]: Rainbird uses the yearsBetween expression to calculate how many years there are between date instances. Rainbird will return the result of the expression as a number.

year expression [article]: Rainbird uses the year expression to extract the year from a date instance, either created by the end-user at runtime  or that exists as an instance in the map. For example, if the input date is 1984-12-09, the year function would extract the year value, 1984.