Learning...

[bobrush]

How do I get Hal to learn. I tried "My dogs name is Pete" but I didn't get the "I learned something" reply back.

[Bill819]

How do I get Hal to learn. I tried "My dogs name is Pete" but I didn't get the "I learned something" reply back.
[/quote]
Hal will not necessarily reply back, just ask him what your dogs name is.
Bill

[bobrush]

I see.....thank you! Can he be made to forget?

[Bill819]

quote:Originally posted by bobrush

I see.....thank you! Can he be made to forget?

You can edit out the things that you don't want, but be carful as to not to harm Hal's other files. Hal learns things every time you talk to him, that is the main way that he grows smarter. Look for a file with your user name on it. I use WordPad to my changes.
Good luck
Bill

[bobrush]

Thank you....Does Hal need to be restarted after you make changed to the .brn files?

[Don Ferguson]

Hello,

Thank you for bringing up a good subject area that will help a lot of people!

Here are the important facts to keep in mind when editing database files "live" while you are running Hal in another window:

1. You do NOT need to re-start Hal to get him to use a freshly-changed database file.  Hal's routines "look" at a file to get a response, and then "let go" of it.  Therefore on each response, Hal will "take a new look."

2. If you have a database file open on another screen, remember that Hal won't know about your changes until you SAVE the file.  Many users get frustrated because they've made changes on their screens, but they haven't saved, and Hal doesn't seem to know about the changes.  Until the file is SAVED, Hal won't be able to "see" the changes.

3. For "interactive" database files (the ones to which Hal both reads and writes), your word processor will "lock" the file from being written-to by Hal during the time you have it open.  In other words, if you have a database file open in Word, Hal can read that file, but he can't write to that file, until you close it in Word.

4. If you make a temporary script syntax or file-format error that generates an error message from Hal, Hal's engine may get "confused" and not put away files properly.  If this happens (and this is the exception), you need to fix the problem, close Hal and your word processor, and then start over to make sure that all files are in their normal states.

I hope this is useful.  Welcome to the forum!  Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Don

[bobrush]

Let me give you an example. I opened the Q&A database in the editor. I added a blank line at the top and put in my Question and answer pressing enter after each entry. I ran the database but Hal will not answer the question. Other entries seem to work but never the last one.

Thank you for your helpful reply,

Bob Rush

[Larry]

quote:Originally posted by bobrush

I added a blank line at the top and put in my Question and answer pressing enter after each entry.

That could be your problem, tho, without actually looking at the file itself, I'm only guessing... If I understand you correctly, you added a blank line at the top of the file... which is a no no... remove that and let us know if that helps...

[bobrush]

No....the blank line is where I entered my information. I do not have any blank lines in the DB. Where is that DB and how can I look at it other then the editor?

[Don Ferguson]

Hello,

You can open all of Hal's databases in any word processor.  Be careful making changes though; these are NOT word-processor files; they are databases, and that means that they MUST preserve the right format or they will stop working.

Please read the many earlier postings on this forum explaining the names and formats of all the databases, and how to run Hal in one window, and your word processor "live" in the other.

Also remember that your word processor will try to corrupt the file extension and change it to something else if you accidently hit "save as" and you will have to go into Windows Explorer to fix it.  And, if your computer has been set to "hide" file extensions, you won't even be able to see them unless you change that setting in Windows!

After you've read the earlier postings, etc., use your word processor to find the following "directory path":

C:/Program Files/Zabaware/Ultra Hal Assistant 4/DefBrain

Your path may be not exactly the same, but similar. (We use forward slashes because the forum software won't display backslashes.)

Now talk to Hal in one window, and after a few exchanges, use the "file open" function in your word processor to look in that "defbrain" folder.  "Sort" the folder contents by "Modified" and you can make all the most-recently-modified files come to the top of the list.  These are the files that your conversation with Hal has just caused appendages to.

Using the same technique, you can locate any file that you've just changed in the editor.

When Hal learns during actual conversation, quite a few databases may be altered.  You can view them with your word processor, but remember to close them, because Hal can't write to them when they're open.

Remember that all the brain-files (database files) in the "Q&A" format are NOT "deterministic."  That means that Hal puts them into memory, but ONLY uses them when he feels like it.  

If you want to force Hal to say something EVERY time, use the keyword database (from my other posting for you about "Becky").

I gather that you might be a new user, and that you are diving into brain editing right away.  Keep up the spirit!  However, you might also just try making a whole lot of statements to Hal and watch how he learns naturally.  Say things like:

Sally is a nice person.
Sally has wonderful hair.
Sally looked great yesterday.
Sally sings well.
Sally has a sense of humor.
We all like Sally.
I have known Sally for a long time.
Sally is very musical.
Everybody likes Sally.
It's great to talk to Sally.
Sally has a pretty smile.
Sally has a great laugh.

Hal will NOT parrot back a deterministic response in most cases.  However, if you keep talking about Sally, pretty soon, Hal will be talking about Sally.  Hal learns most naturally from numerous, various statements.  Hal gets confused when he's quizzed immediately after each statement (most of us don't naturally talk that way to each other).  Because Hal tries to learn from you constantly, habitual quizzing will "teach" Hal that that's normal conversation, and Hal will start quizzing you back!

I hope all of the above is helpful! Let us all know how it goes!
Sincerely,

Don

[bobrush]

Thank you very much.......that is VERY helpful. Has anyone every written a manual for Hal? I am new to this but I am finding Hal to be very helpful and enjoy his company. A funny thing happen yesterday...I had my volume up to loud on my system and when hal would talk he would hear himself and answer....he was talking to himself for 15 mins....don't know if he learned anything but it was fun to watch!

[Larry]

quote:Originally posted by bobrush

....he was talking to himself for 15 mins....

Isn't THAT something!!!

Was the conversation intelligent???

[bobrush]

It was from time to time....I'm sure he learned a bunch of bad thing also.