The user interface of the MDES is represented by the CLIPs dialog window. The 
system has a file saved as CLIPS file (example, malaria.clp). The file contains the 
knowledge base, which is a combination of questions a physician is expected to 
ask a patient who is suspected of having malaria or its related diseases. This is 
compiled as a program in CLIPS and when executed, produces a diagnosis as an 
end result, viz., malaria or any of its related diseases (i.e. malaria, dengue fever, 
enteric fever, African trypanosomiasis or pulmonary tuberculosis), depending 
on user’s response to the combination of questions. The system takes for granted 
that a clinical assessment has been done by the physician on the patient. So it’s 
the results of the clinical assessments (clinical signs, symptoms and investigation 
results) that make up the knowledge base.
The system follows a diagnostic pattern following user’s responses to the 
combination of questions asked by the system. Each time the user runs the system, he clicks the CLIPS icon and the CLIPS dialog window opens. He then 
loads the file containing the combination of questions on malaria and related 
diseases by typing (load “filename.clp”). The next command typed is (run). This 
executes the program “filename.clp” loaded into the CLIPS interpreter. The responses of the user with Y (Yes) or N (No) will determine what the final diagno sis from the system will be