cmd_preferences

preferences

Examine details about the preferences that support the specified identifier and attribute.

Synopsis

preferences [options] [identifier [attribute]]

Default Aliases

• pref
• pr

Options

Option	Description
-0, -n, --none	Print just the preferences themselves
-1, -N, --names	Print the preferences and the names of the productions that generated them
-2, -t, --timetags	Print the information for the --names option above plus the timetags of the wmes matched by the LHS of the indicated productions
-3, -w, --wmes	Print the information for the --timetags option above plus the entire WME matched on the LHS.
-o, --object	Print the support for all the WMEs that comprise the object (the specified identifier).
identifier	Must be an existing Soar object identifier.
attribute	Must be an existing attribute of the specified identifier.

Description

The preferences command prints all the preferences for the given object identifier and attribute. If identifier and attribute are not specified, they default to the current state and the current operator. The Soar syntax attribute carat (^) is optional when specifying the attribute. The optional arguments indicates the level of detail to print about each preference.

This command is useful for examining which candidate operators have been proposed and what relationships, if any, exist among them. If a preference has O-support, the string, :O will also be printed.

When only the identifier is specified on the commandline, if the identifier is a state, Soar uses the default attribute ^operator. If the identifier is not a state, Soar prints the support information for all WMEs whose value is the identifier.

When an identifier and the --object flag are specified, Soar prints the preferences / WME support for all WMEs comprising the specified identifier.

For the time being, [_numeric_indifferent_mode numeric-indifferent] preferences are listed under the heading binary indifferents:.

By default, using the --wmes option with a WME on the top state will only print the timetags. To change this, the kernel can be recompiled with DO_TOP_LEVEL_REF_CTS, but this has other consequences (see comments in kernel.h).

Examples

This example prints the preferences on (S1 ^operator) and the production names which created the preferences:

soar> preferences S1 operator --names
Preferences for S1 ^operator:
acceptables:
 O2 (fill) +
   From waterjug*propose*fill
 O3 (fill) +
   From waterjug*propose*fill

unary indifferents:
 O2 (fill) =
   From waterjug*propose*fill
 O3 (fill) =
   From waterjug*propose*fill

If the current state is S1, then the above syntax is equivalent to:

preferences -n

This example shows the support for the WMEs with the ^jug attribute:

soar> preferences s1 jug

Preferences for S1 ^jug:

acceptables:
  (S1 ^jug I4)  :O
  (S1 ^jug J1)  :O

This example shows the support for the WMEs with value J1, and the productions that generated them:

soar> pref J1 -1

 Support for (31: O3 ^jug J1)
   (O3 ^jug J1)
     From water-jug*propose*fill

 Support for (11: S1 ^jug J1)
   (S1 ^jug J1)  :O
     From water-jug*apply*initialize-water-jug-look-ahead

This example shows the support for all WMEs that make up the object S1:

soar> pref -o s1

Support for S1 ^problem-space:
  (S1 ^problem-space P1)
Support for S1 ^name:
  (S1 ^name water-jug)  :O
Support for S1 ^jug:
  (S1 ^jug I4)  :O
  (S1 ^jug J1)  :O
Support for S1 ^desired:
  (S1 ^desired D1)  :O
Support for S1 ^superstate-set:
  (S1 ^superstate-set nil)
Preferences for S1 ^operator:
acceptables:
  O2 (fill) +
  O3 (fill) +
Arch-created wmes for S1 :
(2: S1 ^superstate nil)
(1: S1 ^type state)
Input (IO) wmes for S1 :
(3: S1 ^io I1)