The GRClass visual programming system

Abstract

The GRClass system, which combines graphics, relations, and classes to provide a visual interface for programming graph data structures within an object-oriented framework, is discussed. This is done by extending the object-oriented model with interobject relations. These relations are then used to directly implement the conceptual model of the graph data structures. Within the GRClass framework, data structures are objects that maintain relation tables. These relations and the objects participating in the relations constitute the form of the data structure. A graphical notation is used to specify the possible relations and to manipulate the relation graph. GRClass is implemented within the Andrew Toolkit programming environment.<>