CRISNER: A Practically Efficient Reasoner for Qualitative Preferences

TL;DR

CRISNER is a tool that efficiently and accurately reasons about qualitative preferences using model checking, supporting various preference languages and providing proof of correctness for its answers.

Contribution

It introduces a model checking-based approach for exact reasoning in preference languages like CP-nets and TCP-nets, with proof generation and extensible architecture.

Findings

Provides exact, correct query answering for dominance and consistency.

Generates proofs to verify answer correctness.

Supports XML inputs/outputs for integration.

Abstract

We present CRISNER (Conditional & Relative Importance Statement Network PrEference Reasoner), a tool that provides practically efficient as well as exact reasoning about qualitative preferences in popular ceteris paribus preference languages such as CP-nets, TCP-nets, CP-theories, etc. The tool uses a model checking engine to translate preference specifications and queries into appropriate Kripke models and verifiable properties over them respectively. The distinguishing features of the tool are: (1) exact and provably correct query answering for testing dominance, consistency with respect to a preference specification, and testing equivalence and subsumption of two sets of preferences; (2) automatic generation of proofs evidencing the correctness of answer produced by CRISNER to any of the above queries; (3) XML inputs and outputs that make it portable and pluggable into other applications. We also describe the extensible architecture of CRISNER, which can be extended to new reference formalisms based on ceteris paribus semantics that may be developed in the future.