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The purpose of the proposed thesis is to:1. Define expert systems and discuss various implementation techniques for the components of expert systems. This includes discussion on knowledge representation, inference methods, methods for dealing with uncertainty, and methods of explanation. Specifically, the focus will be on the implementation of rule-based expert systems;2. Apply selected expert system techniques to a case study. The case study will be a rule-based expert system in Prolog to recognize and identify musical chords from tonal harmony. The system will have a general knowledge base containing fundamental rules about chord construction. It will also contain some knowledge that will allow it to deduce non-trivial chords. Furthermore, it will contain procedures to deal with uncertainty and explanation;3. Explain general concepts about music theory and tonal chord classification to put the case study in context; and4. Discuss the limitations of expert systems based on the results of the case study and the current literature. / Department of Computer Science

Back in May of 1990, Windows was brought into the arena of viable operating environment due to the significant improvements Windows 3.0 made over its predecessor, Windows 2.11. Windows 3.1, another significant upgrade, was released in May, 1992. As the popularity of Windows has soared, the number of applications developed specifically for Windows has also sky-rocketed. This has translated into a huge demand for Windows programmers.Writing Windows code, however, is never an easy task. In fact, Windows has the reputation of being easy for users but hard for programmers. The difficulties in learning to program in Windows plus the increasing number of beginning Windows programmers lead to an urgent need to provide a solution to the problem: How to ease the learning curve of Windows programming?This is thus the theme of the thesis: building a comprehensive on-line Windows programming tutorial that helps ease the daunting learning curve. Through the use of interesting illustrations, example programs with on-line explanations, this tutorial makes Windows programming easier and more fun to learn. / Department of Computer Science

This research explores the complexities of database security, encompassing both the computer hardware and software. Also important is its nature as a people oriented issue. A risk analysis of a database system's security can be examined by creating a simulation model. Though, in order for it to be truly meaningful and accurate, all aspects of design, performance and procedure must be thoroughly and carefully scrutinized.Computer or data security is a major problem in today's world of data processing. This thesis outlines the security problem' and presents trends and issues. It also addresses current trends in computer security environments, database risk analysis, and simulations.Risk analysis is a technique used to quantitatively assess the relative value of protective measures. It is useful when appropriately applied and is in some cases required by regulatory agencies.The goal of security environments is to outline the framework which is valuable in assessing security issues and in establishing partitions in the overall environment within which this and other approaches to security can be examined.A simulation prototype is given which demonstrates the concepts of risk analysis for a database system. / Department of Computer Science

An expert system has been constructed for the purpose of assisting in the design and analysis of direct gain passive solar environments. This system has been constructed for the use of senior undergraduate architecture students in a computer-based design studio. The primary use of the system is in the role of an educational tool which generates design recommendations from user input and predicts some physical characteristics of the environment.The system is applicable to passive solar environments with vertical, south-facing glazing. The system incorporates three models. The first model represents an attached sunspace with no thermal mass storage. The second model represents a direct gain living space. The third model represents a direct gain living space integrated with thermal mass storage. The third model allows the use of floors, ceilings, and walls as mass for thermal storage. Four representative mass materials (concrete, adobe, common brick, and dense concrete masonry) have been included for comparison purposes. Four representative sub-climates are also incorporated into the system: cold / arid, hot / arid, hot / humid, and cool / humid. For educational purposes, the system makes separate calculations for identical structures based on models for inhabited and uninhabited cases.The system incorporates scientific and mathematical relationships as well as rulesof thumb which have demonstrated their applicability to passive solar design. The system performs calculations based on work by Balcomb, et al. [5, 9], and Duffle and Beckman [1], to estimate environmental temperature swings, total solar energy input, and thermal absorption by mass storage elements. The system also utilizes models based upon work by Mazria [4] to recommend glazing areas. Recommended glazing areas are calculated from user input variables such as structure type, site latitude, and floor area.The system's ease of use allows it to be adapted for various classroom goals, and its generalized nature permits the instructor to adapt it easily into different areas of architectural design curricula. The system is written for use with the CLIPS expert system shell. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

The purpose of this research study was to test the validity of three diet analysis programs — Food Processor, Diet Analysis Plus 7.0 Online, and NutritionData.com — by comparing results of each program to the nutrient data from an independent food science lab for menu items served at Pizza King, Inc. restaurants.NutritionData.com had a slightly higher positive correlation, as well as more nutrient values within 10% of the chemical analyses, than ESHAs Food Processor. However, due to several ancillary factors (e.g., limited data base, inability to save laboratory-obtained data into a permanent database, and the minimal cost for the program for a company the size of Pizza King), this researcher has recommended ESHA Food Processor to Pizza King for the current and future analyses of their menu items. Diet Analysis Plus 7.0 Online could not be tested because the program did not generate analyzable results. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Database and database technology are having a major impact on the growing use of computers. The rising popularity of database systems for the management of data has resulted in an increasing number of systems. As the number grows, the difficulty in choosing the system which will best meet the requirements of a particular application also increases. Knowing how to choose the correct one for a given application is important.The purpose of this thesis is to compare two very commonly used Database Management Systems (ORACLE and RDB) at Ball State University by describing and listing the advantages of each of them as well as their weaknesses, giving a comprehensive study of their performances, user friendliness, limits, and to aid users and managers in obtaining a deeper knowledge of these two systems. / Department of Computer Science

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a software system simulating Turing machines using a Microsoft Windows' Interface.Developed in the 1930's by Alan Turing and Emil Post, Turing machines are defined as "abstract computers" . These machines seem able to solve all problems a modern computer can solve, however complex the problems may be. A Turing machine is a basic computational model for algorithms.The software provides a practical tool to students with a relative notion of Turing machines. The software contains introduction and general information on Turing machines that gives the beginner enough background to use the program. The user can create, modify or run Turing machines saved onto MS-DOS files. Some examples of Turing machines are preloaded. These examples give more help to the beginner.An on-line help facility is provided in order to direct and inform the learning student at each level of the software.The Microsoft Windows' Interface makes the software easy and friendly to use. The software has the modularity which will ease any future enhancement. / Department of Computer Science

The goal of this study was to obtain photometry of three poorly studied close binary star systems. These observations were obtained at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona and the Ball State University Observatory. In both cases charged coupled device detectors were used. Light variations were detected in all three stars. For one of the binaries the temperatures of the component stars were found by fitting multi-color light curves with black body models. In addition, the temperature difference between the two hemispheres of the secondary star was found. This difference is believed to be the product of heating by the stellar companion. / Department of Physics and Astronomy

In recent years extensive research has been done on visibility graphs. In this thesis, we study some of the visibility graph algorithms, and implement these algorithms in the graph editor - GraphPerfect - which is a part of a project headed by Dr. Jay S. Bagga of the Department of computer science at Ball State University. One of the goals of this project is to design and build a software tool to learn and work with graphs and graph algorithms.In this thesis, some properties of visibility graphs are studied in detail and implementation of some graph algorithms is given. / Department of Computer Science