{"title":"VisPro: a visual language generation toolset","authors":"Da-Qian Zhang, Kang Zhang","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706163","url":null,"abstract":"The implementation of visual programming languages (VPLs) and their supporting environments is time-consuming and tedious. To ease the implementation, researchers have developed some high-level tools, which can greatly reduce the effort of developing VPLs. None of them, however, can be easily used to create a complete visual language in a seamless way like the lex/yacc tools for textual language constructions. This paper presents VisPro, a toolset for developing diagrammatic VPLs in a way that is similar to lex/yacc. VisPro consists of a set of visual programming tools. It divides the process of a VPL construction into two steps: lexicon definition and grammar specification. The lexicon definition defines visual objects and a visual editor, and the language grammar is specified with graph rewriting rules (associated with actions written in Java). The compiler for the VPL is automatically created according to the grammar specification. A target VPL is a visual programming environment which contains the compiler and the visual editor.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"1982 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125447049","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 concurrent visual language based on Petri nets","authors":"Michelle M. Usher, D. Jackson","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706139","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a concurrent visual programming language based on Petri nets. Most concurrent visual programming languages address concurrency by extending a non-concurrent paradigm and representation with additional control and synchronisation mechanisms and notation. It is argued in this paper that clearer and more concise concurrent program representations are possible if the concurrency is inherent in the paradigm. The language described demonstrates that Petri nets provide such a paradigm.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121707086","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":"Situation-dependent browser to explore the information space","authors":"M. Hirakawa, K. Hewagamage, T. Ichikawa","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706153","url":null,"abstract":"The conventional desktop metaphor is ill equipped to assist modern users who are already flooded with information. Meanwhile mobile computing is becoming a common activity of many modern users who are engaged in time critical tasks. We propose a new framework called Situated Information Filing and Filtering (SIFF) for information management based on a user's situation which consists of sensitive surroundings such as the location and time and the user activities for modeling the user's personal information space. In SIFF, the user is not requested to keep in mind explicit information like a file name and its position in the directory structure. The system itself gathers the data about situations and uses them when filing and filtering the information. Situation dependent Browser, presented in the paper, is an intelligent application that has been developed within SIFF to explore the user's information space. It provides the user with the effective visual interaction on the basis of the past situations that he/she is interested in.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123979564","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":"Similarity inheritance: a new model of inheritance for spreadsheet VPLs","authors":"Rebecca Walpole Djang, M. Burnett","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706156","url":null,"abstract":"Although spreadsheets can be argued to be the most widely used visual programming languages (VPLs) today, most are very limited compared to other VPLs, supporting only a few built-in types and offering only primitive support for code reuse. The inheritance mechanisms of object oriented programming might seem to offer help for the latter problem, but incorporating these mechanisms in a traditional way would introduce concepts foreign to spreadsheets, such as message passing. We present similarity inheritance, a new approach to inheritance that is suitable for seamless integration into the spreadsheet paradigm. We first explain the model independently of any implementation, and then present a prototype implementation in the research spreadsheet VPL Forms/3. We show that bringing inheritance functionality to the spreadsheet paradigm can be done using the widely understood idea of copy/paste. Further, we show why the approach requires the presence of a live, visual environment.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"106 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129448576","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":"Programming Web-based applications within a data-flow VL","authors":"Roberto Idini, M. Mosconi, M. Porta","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706143","url":null,"abstract":"This paper shows how a general purpose data flow visual programming environment can be effectively used to find, collect and manipulate information available on the web. The discussion highlights the elementary functions that are needed to implement such applications, as well as the language control structures that can make program development easier. Starting from the analysis of a simple application, some advice is given about the potential of this approach. We also explain how we intend to make a suitable portion of the programming environment available through a common web browser.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121070041","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 iconic environment for the definition of visual DBMSs","authors":"M. Sebillo, G. Tortora, G. Vitiello","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706136","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706136","url":null,"abstract":"We describe a general iconic environment where the definition of a visual database management system is allowed, which not only involves the specification of a visual query language but also the specification of a visual data definition language. The resulting visual DBMS can be tailored to the data model which best suits the users' needs for a given application domain.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116099872","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":"Designing new programming constructs in a data flow VL","authors":"E. Ghittori, M. Mosconi, M. Porta","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706142","url":null,"abstract":"A powerful and useful Data-Flow Visual Programming Language (DFVPL) must provide the necessary programming constructs to deal with complex problems. The main purpose of this paper is to give a contribution to the debate on DFVPL constructs, by presenting the solutions we devised for the VIPERS language.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115090360","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 language system for developing and presenting Internet-based education","authors":"J. Campbell, D. Mahling","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706135","url":null,"abstract":"The paper describes a visual language for organizing educational materials to be published on the World Wide Web using the Collaborative Multimedia Instructional Toolkit (CoMMIT). The developer uses the visual language to create a precedence graph that defines the organizational structure of the materials. This graph specifies materials that must be viewed as prerequisites for viewing other materials. This provides significantly more flexibility than existing path based educational authoring systems or hypertext link based HTML editors. Additional icons representing questions and advice supplement the precedence graph to provide educational support.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114823823","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":"Hank: a friendly cognitive modelling language for psychology students","authors":"P. Mulholland, S. Watt","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706165","url":null,"abstract":"Cognitive modelling involves building computational models of psychological theories in order to learn more about them, and is a major research area allied to psychology and artificial intelligence. The main problem is that few psychology students have previous programming experience. The course lecturer can avoid the problem by presenting the area only in general terms. This leaves the programming side, which is central to the methodology, a closed book. Alternatively, students can be introduced to one of the existing cognitive modelling languages, though this can easily be overwhelming, hindering rather than helping their understanding. Our solution was to design and build a programming language for the intended population. The result is Hank, a visual cognitive modelling language for the non-programmer. The design of Hank drew on research areas including end-user programming and software visualization to find an appropriate design. A number of empirical studies are planned.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"101 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134136516","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":"GENGED: a generic graphical editor for visual languages based on algebraic graph grammars","authors":"R. Bardohl","doi":"10.1109/VL.1998.706133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1998.706133","url":null,"abstract":"GENGED is a generic graphical editor supporting the graphical definition of visual languages. Given an alphabet and rules of a specific visual language, GENGED generates a syntax-directed graphical editor for this language. GENGED, as well as each visual language defined using GENGED, is based on algebraic graph grammars. A sentence is given by a graphical structure consisting of a logical (abstract syntax) and a visual level (concrete syntax). Both levels are connected by layout operations. Visual language rules are defined by graph grammar rules. The underlying logical structure, however is hidden from the user but it is essential for a formal presentation and manipulation of graphical structures on both levels. The manipulations are performed by a graph transformation machine working on the logical level, whereas a graphical constraint solver manages the layout the user works with.","PeriodicalId":185794,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages (Cat. No.98TB100254)","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134049091","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}