CS 356 - JESS Rete Network Visualization

Update 1/14/08: Fixed the link to graph_view_opt.clp

JESS provides the view command to see the structure of the Rete network. The view command only works on an X-Windows session as it uses Java graphing commands. It produces a color coded graph with the following color scheme:

Red - 1 input node that does pattern parsing
Green - 2 input node that joins patterns
Blue - 2 input node specifically for the test join
Yellow - 2 input node specifically for the not join
Orange - a special input adapter needed for each network
Cyan - the rule node

The way in which rules are coded greatly affects the resulting Rete network. In the following image, (a) was created by graph_view.clp which contains test antecedents to test values while (b) was created by graph_view_opt.clp which tests values as part of the pattern matching. By eliminating the test nodes in (b), a much more compact network is created.

Rete example graphs