Each behavior is implemented by a collection of codelets. These goals vary in urgency as email messages arrive and as the time for the seminar announcement to be sent approaches. This variation in goal urgency, other than on and off, is an enhancement to the behavior net architecture. We are experimenting with goals being influenced by emotions, as mentioned above. Goals provide activation to behaviors that fulfill them.
Behaviors are typically mid-level actions, many depending on several codelets for their execution.
Our behaviors must support variables. VMattie's behaviors implement the usual preconditions, action, add list and delete list allowing variables in the contents of any of these. Picture an underlying digraph composed of templates of behaviors and their links. Instantiated behaviors lie above their templates. Real links are instantiated above their templates if the values of their corresponding variables match.