Fipa-Acl format for communicative acts is specifically for designing agents communications that includes syntax and semantics specifications (for the dissertation, the semantics of Fipa-Acl CA specifications was extended incorporating the notion of 'history'). Below is the format of Fipa-Acl CA syntax:
(act
: sender i
: receiver j
: content C)
The act is a set of communicative acts such as inform, inform-ref, request, request whenever, and so on.
I show an example of how the semantics are defined according to Fipa-Acl communicative acts specification library:
Query-ref
In summary: The action of asking another agent for information (e.g., time, availability) referred to by a referential expression.
Message Content: A descriptor (a referential expression).
Description: query-ref is the act of asking another agent to inform the requester of the object identified by a descriptor. The sending agent is requesting the receiver to perform an inform act, containing the object that corresponds to the descriptor.
The agent performing the query-ref act:
• does not know which object or set of objects corresponds to the descriptor, and,
• believes that the other agent can inform the querying agent the object or set of objects that correspond to the descriptor.