enprocedures

enProcedures is a formal concept in procedural knowledge representation used to encode sequences of actions in English-language contexts. It serves as a lightweight framework to capture steps, decision points, inputs, outputs, and constraints, enabling both humans and machines to share and execute procedural instructions without requiring a fixed programming language.

A typical enProcedures entry includes an identifier, a title, a description, and a list of steps. Each step may define the action to perform, required inputs and outputs, preconditions, and branching conditions. Many designs support loops, exception handling, and annotations for glossary terms or external references.

Applications span automation workflows, authoring of user guides, training simulations, and conversational agents that provide procedural guidance in natural language. The format aims to be human-readable while offering enough structure for machine interpretation, allowing integration with workflow engines, documentation systems, and ontology-based knowledge bases.

As a relatively informal standard, enProcedures lacks universal formal semantics and varies across implementations. Critics point to issues of natural-language ambiguity and limited interoperability with formal methods such as BPMN or OWL. Proponents pursue clearer semantics, tooling for validation, and automated translation into executable workflows.