J. S. Gero. The first relationship between agents and objects is at the belief level. A frame, as an object, exhibits the static aspects but differs in other ways. This led to the design of a very specific interaction protocol and the enforcement of consistency in Co 4 . Inheritance on the basis of attributes is also often employed to build up new compound data structures that can be used to represent beliefs.
Passive domain objects that appear in an agent s belief database are similar to frames.
Those individuals must then re enter the relevant information in the format required by their tools. Due to this inefficiency, designers end up making decisions on the basis of inconsistent or out of date information. This will result in dramatic changes in the handling of information and the process of design. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Toward a knowledge medium for collaborative product development .