Istota funkcji odległości w wyznaczaniu consensusu w systemach wspomagania decyzji

The purpose of the article is to present the essence of distance functions, which calculating is a key phase of consensus determining process in the situation of knowledge conflicts appearing in decision support systems. In the first part of the article, distance function and its general definition are characterized. Next, the definitions of distance functions with regard to the sample attributes of a structure of decision, such as the real numbers, the dates, incomplete ordered partitions and incomplete strict partial orders, are presented.