KQML and FLBC: Contrasting Agent Communication Languages
Scott A. Moore
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2000, pp. 109.
Abstract: Communication languages for agents are designed to minimize message size and function more as data-passing protocols. Flexibility and transparency have not been emphasized. The author analyzes the formal semantics of KQML as an exemplar of agent communication languages. For each KQML performative he specifies an FLBC message with more or less equivalent effects. The purpose is to compare a standard agent-based language (KQML) with one that more directly represents the meaning of the message. The results indicate that the latter type of language makes message composition more powerful, message decomposition feasible, and defines many more useful messages without adding message types or increasing vocabulary size.
Key Words and Phrases: Agents, agent communication, business messaging communication languages, formal language for business communication.