14. A software shell as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one knowledge source module includes: a rule-based knowledge source module having a forward-chaining belief propagation scheme including rules in if-then-else form with associated levels of belief; and a case-based knowledge source module having a data comparison scheme including predefined patterns and conditions, whereupon execution of the case-based knowledge source, the conditions are inferred to be true if a certain level of closeness is found between received data and the patterns.
14. A software shell as claimed in claim 1 wherein the at least one knowledge source module includes: a rule-based knowledge source module having a forward-chaining belief propagation scheme including rules in if-then-else form with associated levels of belief; and a case-based knowledge source module having a data comparison scheme including predefined patterns and conditions, whereupon execution of the case-based knowledge source, the conditions are inferred to be true if a certain level of closeness is found between received data and the patterns. 15. A software shell as claimed in claim 14 further including: a blackboard structure description file including object names and attribute/value pairs for each object; a rule-based description file including rules forming the rule-based knowledge source and a description of execution preconditions for the rule-based knowledge source; and a case-based description file including cases forming the case-based knowledge source and a description of execution preconditions for the case-based knowledge source; wherein the blackboard structure description file, rule-based description file, case-based description file, and input data file are user created.