Proceedings of the Hypertext Standardization Workshop January 16-18, 1990 National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST Special Publication 500-178 A111Q3 3fiTSbfl . v^uiripuc^r Systems Proceedings of the Hypertext Technology Standardization Workshop U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE January 16-18, 1990 National Institute of Standards and National Institute of Standards Technology and Technology Nisr Judi Moline NIST * Dan Benigni PUBLICATIONS Jean Baronas NATIONAL INSTrrUTE OF STANDARDS & TECHNOLOGY Reseso'di Mormatkm Center Gakhersburg, MD 20899 DATE DUE . _ r Demco, Inc. 38-.293 NIST Special Publication 500-178 Proceedings of the Hypertext Standardization Workshop January 16-18, 1990 National Institute of Standards and Technology Judi Moline, Dan Benigni, and Jean Baronas, Editors Hypertext Competence Project National Computer Systems Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899 March 1990 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Robert A. Mosbacher, Secretary NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY John W. Lyons, Director Reports on Computer Systems Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NiST) (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) has a unique responsibility for computer systems technology within the Federal government. NIST's National Computer Systems Laboratory (NCSL) develops standards and guidelines, provides technical assistance, and conducts research for computers and related telecommunications systems to achieve more effective utilization of Federal information technology resources. NCSL's responsibilities include development of technical, management, physical, and administrative standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive unclassified information processed in Federal computers. NCSL assists agencies in developing security plans and in improving computer security awareness train- ing. This Special Publication 500 series reports NCSL research and guidelines to Federal agencies as well as to organizations in industry, government, and academia. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 500-178 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 500-178, 259 pages (Mar. 1990) CODEN: NSPUE2 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1990 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 PREFACE This report constitutes the proceedings of a three day workshop on Hypertext Standardization held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on January 16 - 18, 1990. The workshop was the first in what we hope becomes a series of standardization efforts. The workshop was sponsored by the Hypertext Competence Project of the National Computer Systems Laboratory of NIST. The workshop included plenary sessions and three disscussion groups. Because the participants in the workshop drew on their personal experiences, they sometimes cited specific vendors and commercial products. The inclusion or omission of a particular company or product does not imply either endorsement or criticism by NIST. We of the Hypertext Competence Project gratefully acknowledge the assistance of all those who made the workshop a success. Further, I want to thank Dave Stotts for designing the cover graphic. Judi Moline January 29, 1990 PROGRAM COMMITTEE Len Gallagher, Chairman Jean Baronas Dan Benigni Richard Fumta Judi Moline David Stotts - iii - CONTENTS ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION 3 REPORTS OF DISCUSSION GROUPS 5 1. HYPERTEXT MODELS DISCUSSION GROUP 7 1.1 Reference and Data Model Group: Work Plan Status 9 1.2 Reference and Data Model Group: Comparison of Three Models 15 1.3 Reference and Data Model Group: Responses to 17 2. DATA INTERCHANGE DISCUSSION GROUP 19 2.1 Summar>' of the Hypertext Interchange Group 21 2.2 Note on Representing Anchors 23 3. USER REQUIREMENTS DISCUSSION GROUP 27 3.1 Report from the User Requirements Working Group 29 PAPERS 37 1. Bomstein, J. & Riley, V. - Hypertext Interchange Format 39 2. Brown, P.J. — Standards for Hypertext Source Files: the Experience of UNIX Guide 49 3. Cole, F. & Brown, H. Standards: What Can Hypertext Learn from Paper Documents? 59 4. Crane, Gregory -- Standards for a H3/permedia Database: Diachronic vs. Synclironic Concerns 71 5. Furuta,R. & Stotts,P.D. -The Trellis Hypertext Reference Model .... 83 6. Halasz, F. & Schwartz M. - The Dexter Hypertext Reference Model 95 7. Hardt-Komzacki, S. et al. - Standardization of Hypermedia: What's the Point? 135 8. Lange, Danny B. - A Formal Model of Hypertext 145 9. Marshall, Catherine C. - A Multi-Tiered Approach to Hypertext Integration: Negotiating Standards for a Heterogeneous Application Environment 167 10. Newcomb, Steven R. - Explanatory Cover Material for Section 7.2 of X3V1.8M/SD-7 179 - V- - 1 1 . Oren, Tim Toward Open Hypertext: Requirements for Distributed Hypermedia Standards 189 12. Parunak, H. Van Dyke - Toward a Reference Model for Hypermedia 197 13. Riley, Victor A. - An Interchange Format for Hypertext Systems: the Intennedia Model 213 14. Thompson, Craig W. - Strawman Reference Model for Hypermedia Systems 223 APPENDICES 247 1. Kahn, Paul -Hypermedia Bibliography, 1989 249 2. Participants 265 - vi ABSTRACT This report constitutes the proceedings of a three day workshop on Hypertext Standardization held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on January 16 - 18, 1990. Efforts towards standardization of hypertext have already been initiated in various interested organizations. In recognition of these existing efforts, NIST sponsored the Hypertext Standardization Workshop organized by the Hypertext Competence Project of the National Computer Systems Laboratory. The major purpose of the Hypertext Standardization Workshop was to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of existing and proposed approaches to hypertext standardization. The stated workshop goals were to consider hypertext system definitions, to identify viable approaches for pursuing standards, to seek commonality among alternatives whenever possible, and to make progress towards a coordinated plan for standards development, i.e. a hypertext reference model. The workshop announcement solicitated contributed papers on any aspect of hypertext standardization, including assertions that standardization is premature or inadvisable. Approximately 30 contributions were received and distributed to the 65 workshop participants on the first day. The workshop included plenary sessions and three discussion groups. This proceedings includes the papers selected for presentation in plenary sessions, reports of the discussion groups, and supplementary materials. Major conclusions of the workshop were that the discussion groups should continue their technical efforts, and that NIST should sponsor at least one more workshop to provide a forum for public discussion of progress. Key words: hypermedia; hypertext; standards. -1- INTRODUCTION Over the past several years we have seen a significant increase in the availability of document and information management systems that call themselves Hypertext or Hypermedia implementations. These systems have received a degree of acceptance from the user community and are being integrated into an increasing number of application development projects. There is every reason to believe that this trend will continue to grow and influence the marketplace in the foreseeable future. Although, at present, Hypertext/Hypennedia systems have no agreed formal definition, there is agreement on some of the underlying concepts that characterize them. Recently, a number of authors have stated requirements for hypertext standards and some have offered definitions and initial specifications for consideration. In several cases, specialized standardization efforts have already been initiated through interested organizations. In recognition of this emerging activity, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sponsored the Hypertext Standardization Workshop. One consideration of the workshop was to determine if the evolution of Hypertext and Hypermedia technologies has reached the point where it makes sense to consider formal standardization. The major purpose of the Hypertext Standardization Workshop was to provide a forum for presentation and discussion of existing and proposed approaches to hypertext standardization. We solicitated contributed papers on any aspect of hypertext standardization, including assertions that standardization is premature or inadvisable. We received approximately 30 contributions totaling more than 400 pages, which were distributed to all workshop participants on the first day. The stated workshop goals were to consider hypertext system definitions, to identify viable approaches for pursuing standards, to seek commonality among alternatives whenever possible, and to make progress towards a coordinated plan for standards development, i.e., a hypertext reference model. Of the contributed papers, those of particularly high quality and general interest were accepted for publication and featured during a plenary session on the opening day of the workshop. Each author was given approximately 25 minutes to present a particular point of view. These individual papers are presented alphabetically in this proceedings. The remainder of the first day and all of the second day consisted of discussion groups set up in response to issues raised in the contributed papers. Three discussion groups met in parallel on the topics of Hypertext Models, Hypertext Data Interchange, and Hypertext User Requirements. Each group chose one or more "Presentors" to convey group opinions to the

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