FOCUS is an ESPRIT-2 project whose goal is to develop generic tools and techniques for constructing and maintaining KBFEs for open user systems (e.g. libraries, reusable software components) and closed user systems (e.g. free-standing software, packages) for industrial and scientific applications. The participating partners are drawn from both industrial and academic institutions, providing a wide crosssection of software researchers, producers and users, and, although there are substantial research objectives, the project has taken a pragmatic approach, with the commercialisation of products developed playing a prominent role.

The paper describes part of the work undertaken during the twenty-fourth month of the ESPRIT II project, which began in December 1988 and ran for four years. The aims of the FOCUS project are stated, and a core element of the emerging FOCUS design strategy is described, namely a separable architecture for knowledge-based front ends, concentrating on the front-end harness, the problem solver and the back-end manager components. Some KBFEs developed using this architecture, and the tools created within the project that operate in the domain of forecasting, are also described.