{"title":"Metacognitive theories of visual programming: what do we think we are doing?","authors":"A. Blackwell","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545293","url":null,"abstract":"The research involved a qualitative and quantitative study of statements made by computer scientists about the ways in which they think that visual programming assists the thought processes of the programmer. This type of metacognitive knowledge has been shown in psychological experiments to have significant effects on performance in cognitive tasks. It is particularly important in the design of programming environments, where HCI factors of the environment constrain the programmer's design behaviour according to the beliefs of the environment designer. The metacognitive knowledge expressed in the visual programming literature is categorised in the paper into a range of micro-theories, the frequency of statements found in each category are compared, and the theoretical assumptions are evaluated in terms of relevant research in cognitive psychology.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115661873","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}
C. Geiger, R. Hunstock, G. Lehrenfeld, Wolfgang Müller, J. Quintanilla, C. Tahedl, A. Weber
{"title":"Visual modeling and 3D-representation with a complete visual programming language-a case study in manufacturing","authors":"C. Geiger, R. Hunstock, G. Lehrenfeld, Wolfgang Müller, J. Quintanilla, C. Tahedl, A. Weber","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545302","url":null,"abstract":"The main goal of the article is to evaluate the suitability of visual programming languages, i.e., Pictorial Janus (K. Kahn and V. Saraswat, 1990), for the modeling of complex systems and their control strategies. These systems can be seen as networks of communicating objects. Objects select strategies for suitable actions based on incoming messages. Our field of investigation is in computer integrated manufacturing considering the example of a car manufacturing cell. This color sorting assembly buffer (CSAB) schedules jobs in queues. The jobs represent car bodies scheduled in feeder lines for the enameling. Feeder lines collect raw bodies to blocks. Blocks are bodies which are to be enameled by the same color. This organization decreases the cost of expensive change-over-times when changing colors at the enamelling. Blocks of bodies are dislocated from the queue and enameled successively. Contradictory system goals, such as minimizing color changes and preserving the sequence of incoming jobs, have to be regarded by appropriate control strategies. Due to the complexity of this (NP complete) problem and to real time requirements for online control there are no optimal strategies on hand. Consequently, suitable heuristics have to be developed. Often they are designed applying a trial-and-error method. A modeling framework has to support the rapid prototyping of these systems as well as an expressive end user oriented representation. Both are essential requirements since end users need other visualization techniques than experienced designers due to their different knowledge and interests.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"87 21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131197151","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":"Obtaining visual continuations with Visualcode","authors":"S. Tung","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545268","url":null,"abstract":"This paper briefly describes Visualcode and its use in the design of the RainbowScheme program visualization system. RainbowScheme represents Scheme continuations using a combination of text, colors, icons and tree-structured environments. \"Visual continuations\" greatly facilitate the understanding of the run-time behaviors of Scheme programs.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"254 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115756741","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":"Design benchmarks for VPL static representations","authors":"Sherry Yang, Elyon Dekoven, Moshé M. Zloof","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545296","url":null,"abstract":"A weakness of many interactive visual programming languages (VPLs) is their static representations. Lack of an adequate static representation places a heavy cognitive burden on a VPL's programmers, because they must remember potentially long dynamic sequences of screen displays in order to understand a previously-written program. Building upon the cognitive dimensions developed for programming languages by cognitive psychologists Green and others, the authors have developed a set of concrete benchmarks for VPL designers to use when designing new static representations. These benchmarks provide design-time information that can be used to improve a VPL's static representation.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115822263","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":"On graph based interaction for semantic query languages","authors":"G. Santucci","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545271","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545271","url":null,"abstract":"In the last years, several proposals have been presented concerning graphical query languages working on diagrammatic representations of semantic data models. Such proposals are mainly based on two different user interaction modalities, i.e., to allow the user to specify either a path or a view on the database schema. In this paper we analyze these two strategies, showing that they are characterised by complementary advantages and disadvantages; then we present a new graphical query language combining the advantages of both the approaches.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120877688","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":"Enhancing iconic program reusability with object sharing","authors":"Y. Koike, Yasuyuki Maeda, Y. Koseki","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545300","url":null,"abstract":"The paper describes how to improve the reusability of iconic program modules. In iconic programming systems, the most important features for reuse are the customization of a module and combination of multiple modules without changing their definitions. In order to realize these features, we propose an object sharing technique, which allows components of multiple modules to represent the same object instance. Since a component in a module can be related to an object in another module, by adding a new function to an object in the latter module, the former module can be customized without changing its own definition. In addition, by relating a component to multiple objects in different modules, different functions defined in each module, can be combined easily. Finally, we show that the proposed technique realizes a useful software development style using templates, which will contribute to the improvement of the productivity.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"336 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123520405","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":"VisiTile-a visual language development toolkit","authors":"David E. Lewicki, G. Fisher","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545277","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents an overview of VisiTile-a toolkit for developing domain-oriented visual languages. The class of visual languages that can be constructed with VisiTile is briefly described, followed by examples of such languages. An overview of the VisiTile architecture is presented, including discussion of the major components and features of the toolkit. The VisiTile toolkit facilitates the specification and implementation of a hybrid class of visual languages that combine data-flow with grammar-based layout. A two-dimensional layout grammar is used to specify legal constructions of data-flow processors. The language specification is used as the basis for syntax-directed editing and interpretation of visual programs.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127402301","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":"Teaching binary tree algorithms through visual programming","authors":"Amir Michail","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545265","url":null,"abstract":"Shows how visual programming can be used to teach the subject of binary tree algorithms. In our approach, the student implements a binary tree algorithm by manipulating abstract tree fragments (not necessarily just single nodes) in a visual way. This paper contributes to visual programming research by combining elements of animation, programming and proof to produce an educational visual programming tool. In addition, we describe our experiences with Opsis, a system we built to demonstrate the ideas in this paper (Opsis is a Java applet and can be accessed at http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/amir/Opsis.html). Finally, we make the claim that visual programming is an ideal way to teach data structure algorithms.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125903406","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":"Towards a hierarchy of visual languages","authors":"K. Marriott, Bernd Meyer","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545288","url":null,"abstract":"Formalisms for visual language specification have been investigated for more than two decades. However, there has been little attempt to develop a systematic and comprehensive hierarchy of visual languages based on formal properties. Given the importance of the Chomsky hierarchy in the theory of textual languages and the difficulty of comparing the different visual language formalisms, it is clear that there is a need for such a hierarchy. We develop a hierarchy for VLs and investigate the expressiveness and the cost of parsing for classes defined therein. Although the hierarchy is based on the constraint multiset grammar formalism, we sketch how other visual language specification formalisms can be mapped into constraint multiset grammars. One consequence of our work is that a large class of \"naturally occurring\" visual languages are inherently context-sensitive, so that the core of such a hierarchy has to be built around different forms of context-sensitivity.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130672657","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":"Visualizing program execution","authors":"B. Jayaraman, Charlotte M. Baltus","doi":"10.1109/VL.1996.545264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/VL.1996.545264","url":null,"abstract":"The motivation for this work stems from the lack of good visual tools for describing the execution of procedure-level constructs such as procedures, functions, coroutines, iterators, methods and processes. Our proposed solution to this problem is an extension of an old technique called the contour diagram, which was originally used to give semantics for Algol-like languages. Our extensions allow the contour diagram to be used for more modern languages, such as object-oriented languages, logic languages, etc. In this paper, we explain this extended notation, and its use in visualizing the execution of procedural, object-oriented and logic programs. The significance of this extension is that it can serve as a basis for program visualization tools.","PeriodicalId":340993,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages","volume":"251 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1996-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131944909","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}