Fifth Annual Tcl/Tk Workshop, 1997 ## Agent Development Support for Tcl R. Scott Cost, Ian Soboroff, Jeegar Lakhani, Tim Finin, Ethan Miller and Charles Nicholas Computer Science and Electrical Engineering University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland ### Abstract In the past few years, the explosive growth of the Internet has allowed the construction of "virtual" systems containing hundreds or thousands of individual, relatively inexpensive computers. The agent paradigm is well-suited for this environment because it is based on distributed autonomous computation. Although the definition of a software agent varies widely, some common features are present in most definitions of agents. Agents should be autonomous, operating independently of their creator(s). Agents should have the ability to move freely about the Internet. Agents should be able to adapt readily to new information and changes in their environment. Finally, agents should be able to communicate at a high level, in order to facilitate coordination and cooperation among groups of agents. These aspects of agency provide a dynamic framework for the design of distributed systems. We present TKQML, the integration of an agent communication language, KQML (Knowledge Query Manipulation Language) into Tcl/Tk. View the full text of this paper in HTML form, PDF (76355 Bytes) form, and POSTSCRIPT (115079 Bytes) form. To Become a USENIX Member, please see our Membership Information.

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