Starting out from a concrete application - configuring passenger cabins for the aircraft AIRBUS A340 - we discuss the use of a conceptual hierarchy, a constraint system and flexible control in configuration expert systems. In the course of this description we show that these mechanisms allow an adequate representation of the domain knowledge and modular structuring of expert systems Besides, they have advantages over rule-based architectures.
The presented expert system XKL was developed using the expert system kernel PLAKON. XKL proves the useful application of the expert system technology for the configuration of a cabin layout. It shows that PLAKON's formalisms are adequate for representing the domain knowledge and for solving such a task.