Re: [Gnumed-devel] Interactions and stuff: proposed rules database.

[Horst Herb]

Ian Haywood wrote:

> The problem with these features is that the drug db would become
> unreasonably complex.

Not neccessarily; not if we implement a generic type of expert system engine

> Furthermore, there are other rules we would add to GNUMed, such as reminders 
> for Pap
> smears, etc, requiring their own SQL structures. It would be nice if these 
> clinical
> knowledge items were subject to the same peer-review we will have for the drug 
> database.
>
> Proposal:
>
> A 'rules database':
>
> A table of two text fields: a doctor's warning/suggestion
> (a free (localised) string), and a boolean expression 
> identifying the circumstances of the warning. I propose
> a COBOL-ish mini-language to specify this.

I think you are on the right track with a rules database.
However, I can't see the need for an extra language: Python comes closer 
to natutral language and can be embedded after all. Requires no extra 
parsing and can make use of high level constructs such as dictionaries 
etc. Python's "apply", "zip" and other poerful features to process lists 
and dictionaries make it quite "easy" (well, as "easy as such a daunting 
task ever can be) to implement expert systems.

Horst