{"title":"Ambiguity in visual language theory and its role in diagram parsing","authors":"R. Futrelle","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795889","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795889","url":null,"abstract":"To take advantage of the ever-increasing volume of diagrams in electronic form, it is crucial that we have methods for parsing diagrams. Once a structured, content-based description is built for a diagram, it can be indexed for search, retrieval, and use. Whenever broad coverage grammars are built to parse a wide range of objects, whether natural language or diagrams, the grammars will overgenerate, giving multiple parses. This is the ambiguity problem. This paper discusses the types of ambiguities that can arise in diagram parsing, as well as techniques to avoid or resolve them. One class of ambiguity is attachment, e.g., the determination of what graphic object is labeled by a text item. Two classes of ambiguities are unique to diagrams: segmentation and occlusion. Examples of segmentation ambiguities include the use of a portion of a single line as an entity itself. Occlusion ambiguities can be difficult to analyze if occlusion is deliberately used to create a novel object from its components. The paper uses our context-based constraint grammars to describe the origin and resolution of ambiguities. It assumes that diagrams are available as vector graphics, not bitmaps.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126793348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A language for geometric reasoning in mobile robots","authors":"Joseph J. Pfeiffer","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795888","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795888","url":null,"abstract":"Isaac is a rule-based language for mobile robots currently under development at NMSU. A successor to Altaira, it replaces Altaira's state-based rules and tile-based navigation with a more general geometric reasoning mechanism. The language uses the FuzzyCLIPS expert system shell as a reasoning backend.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126105113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An animated demonstration authoring system for Java applets","authors":"Motoki Miura, J. Tanaka","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795899","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795899","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, many companies often provide some trial versions of their systems to the web users. The main purpose for this is to present the usability of their systems. There are two advantages in presenting the system as an applet. One is reducing user's trouble, because an applet can be downloaded automatically and the user does not have to install the system. The other is reducing the version-up cost. Developers can provide the latest bug-fixed system any time. In order to make more effective the presentation of their applet-based systems on the web, developers should have prepared some instructions with their applets. Is the effort of describing the instruction fully rewarded? To the developers' regret, the web-users do not always read the instructions that come with the system. There are some users who operate the system without reading the instructions. In such case, these users may not understand the system features fully, or may even misunderstand the system. We propose an animated demonstration instead of these instruction. The animated demonstration for an applet means showing a demonstration of the applet's behavior. The demonstration is performed with a pseudo mouse cursor as if someone is operating. It is helpful for people who want to know how to operate applets.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"17 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129306472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paolo Bottoni, Shi-Kuo Chang, M. Costabile, S. Levialdi, P. Mussio
{"title":"Dimensions of visual interaction design","authors":"Paolo Bottoni, Shi-Kuo Chang, M. Costabile, S. Levialdi, P. Mussio","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795874","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795874","url":null,"abstract":"We refine our design methodology for visual interactive systems based on the visual sentence theory. We explore the dimensions of time and space in visual interaction and discuss the importance of the notions of scaffold and frame of reference. Usable visual systems are realised by designing an augmented version of the user task visual language and a scaffold visual language supporting user navigation and action execution. However, the frame effect, i.e. user's perception of persistent characteristic structures in different images, must be explicitly considered, to avoid user disorientation. Some examples of positive and negative use of the frame of reference are included and some design guidelines are derived.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116603387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seamless visual object-oriented behavior modeling for distributed software systems","authors":"H. Giese, J. Graf, G. Wirtz","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795887","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795887","url":null,"abstract":"To ease the development of distributed systems, the visual notions for the structural aspects of object-oriented analysis and design should be combined with techniques for handling concurrency and distribution. A novel approach and language for the visual design of distributed software systems is introduced and illustrated by means of an example. The language of OCoNs (Object Coordination Nets) is integrated into the structuring mechanisms of the UML (Unified Modeling Language) standard for object-oriented analysis and design. Such an object-oriented notation is crucial for handling complex software systems and can be extended with the graphical expressive power of Petri nets to also describe concurrency and coordination. The same visual language is used to specify the interfaces and contracts of software components, the resource handling within a component as well as the control flow of services.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"121 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132055067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An NCE context-sensitive graph grammar for visual design languages","authors":"Y. Adachi, Suguru Kobayashi, K. Tsuchida, T. Yaku","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795908","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795908","url":null,"abstract":"An NCE context-sensitive graph grammar, that is, a context-sensitive graph grammar with neighborhood controlled embedding has been developed. It is an expansion of the well-known NCE (context-free) graph grammar. Because it has a quite general embedding mechanism, it can be used to formalize the graph-syntax rules of visual objects with much flexibility. The composition of its production copies is discussed. It is theoretically and practically significant for defining graph-rewriting rules that can be (re)used to embed sub-graphs of particular structures, such as the feedback structure of control systems and the frequently-used sub-diagrams of program diagrams. The confluence property of NCE context-sensitive graph grammars is also studied. This property maintains that the result of a derivation does not depend on the order in which the production copies were applied. This is very important for guaranteeing the validity of the application of composite production copies and for developing efficient parsing algorithms. This formalization of subgraph reuse on, the basis of composite production copies is widely applicable to visual design languages based on graph grammars.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130168316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"VPLs and novice program comprehension: how do different languages compare?","authors":"J. Good","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795912","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795912","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reports on an experiment which compared small control and data flow visual programming languages (VPLs). The study used a combination of the match-mismatch conjecture and the information types approach in order to investigate the effect of language style on comprehension. Results showed that the control flow VPL is associated with faster task performance, regardless of the match between language and task. However, accuracy scores showed some evidence of a match-mismatch effect. These results were supported by program summary data, which showed that the data flow VPL was associated with abstract, functional accounts of the program, while the control flow language led to low-level, procedural descriptions. This suggests that specific properties of VPLs lead to differences in program comprehension.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130329400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Virtual worlds as metaphors for Web sites exploration: are they effective?","authors":"A. Celentano","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795903","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795903","url":null,"abstract":"The article discusses the effectiveness of desktop virtual reality as a metaphor for navigating through information in structured Web sites. The work is based on a model for information classification and an architecture for generating VR interfaces from XML and DTD documents describing the Web site structure.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"2001 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128297084","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Scaling up a \"What you see is what you test\" methodology to spreadsheet grids","authors":"M. Burnett, Andrei Sheretov, G. Rothermel","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795872","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795872","url":null,"abstract":"Although there has been considerable research into ways to design visual programming environments to improve the processes of creating new programs and of understanding existing ones, little attention has been given to helping users of these environments test their programs. This feature would be particularly important for systems aimed at end users, since testing is the primary device they use to determine whether their programs are correct. To help address this need, we introduce two visual approaches to testing large grids in spreadsheet systems. This work scales up a visual testing methodology we previously developed for individual cells. The approaches are tightly integrated into Forms/3, a visual spreadsheet language, and communication with the user happens solely through the use of checkbox devices and coloring mechanisms. The intent of this work is to bring to end users at least some of the benefits of formalized notions of testing, without requiring knowledge of testing beyond a naive level.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"82 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122676257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A visual interaction mechanism for increasing awareness on the WWW","authors":"O. Liechti, T. Ichikawa","doi":"10.1109/VL.1999.795897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1999.795897","url":null,"abstract":"Arguing for the need to increase awareness on the WWW we describe a system that makes activity on a Web site perceptible in the physical world. Reviewing the benefits and limitations of a first prototype that used an audio-only interface, we explain why and how we have improved it by adding a visual interaction mechanism.","PeriodicalId":113128,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1999 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1999-09-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133815613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}