University of Central Florida STARS Retrospective Theses and Dissertations 1988 Generating Multiple User Interfaces for Multiple Application Domains Mahesh Hassomal Dodani University of Central Florida Part of the Computer Sciences Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/rtd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Dodani, Mahesh Hassomal, "Generating Multiple User Interfaces for Multiple Application Domains" (1988). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 4275. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/rtd/4275 GENERATING MULTIPLE USER INTERFACES FOR MULTIPLE APPLICATION DOMAINS by Mahesh Hassomal Dodani A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida December 1988 Major Professor: David A. Workman ABSTRACT This Ph.D. dissertation presents a classification scheme for User Interface Development Environments (UIDEs) based on the multiplicity of user interfaces and application domains that can be supported. The SISD, SIMD and MISD [S= Single, I= user lnterface(s), M= Multiple, D= appllcatlon Domaln(s)] generator classes encompass most of the UIDEs described in the literature. A major goal of this research is to allow any user to develop a personalized interface for any interactive application, that is, the development of an MIMD UIDE. Fundamental to the development of such a UIDE is the complete separation of the user interface component from the application component. This separation necessitates devising less tightly coupled models of the application and user interface than have been reported to date. The main features of the MIMD UIDE model are as follows. [1] Interactive applications are modeled as editors providing a set of functions that manipulate 2-dimensional graphical objects. [2] Interactive data structures are introduced for maintaining and manipulating both the internal and external representation(s) of application information as a single unit. These external representations form the basis for presenting internal information to the user. [3] Since interaction with the user must be the sole responsibility of the user interface com­ ponent, function interaction is modeled as follows. Application functions are modeled as a set of services. Each service processes a (set of) parameter(s) independently. For each service in the application, a corresponding service Interface object is defined in the user interface component. The service interface object interacts with the user to specify the required (set of) parameter(s), calls the associated service within the application, and displays the result of the service to the user. Ii Using the above model, the user interface component is modeled to allow personalized specifications at all levels; including the internal entities of the interactive system, the charac­ teristics of the display of information, and the interaction tasks, techniques and devices used for parameter specification. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................ ......................... 1 1.1 Graphical Interactive Software Systems .............. ............. ... ................ 5 1.1.1 Formal Interactive System Models .................... ...... .... ........... ...... 1O 1.1.2 Practical Interactive System Models ..... .... .................................... 30 1.2 Developing Graphical User Interfaces ................................................. 34 1.2.1 The SISD Framework ........ ........... ...... ......... .... ........... .................. 40 1.2.2 The SIMD Framework ................................................................... 42 1.2.3 The MISD Framework ................................................................... 44 1.2.4 The MIMD Framework .................................................................. 46 1.3 The Aim of this Research ...... ........................ ...... ............ ....... .............. 48 1.4 Organization of the Dissertation ............... ......... .... ..... .......................... 49 2 USER INTEFACE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS ......................... 50 2.1 SISD Framework: Language-Based Development Environments ....... 51 2.1.1 User Interface Specification (Dialogue) Models ........................... 55 2.1.1.1 Grammar-Based Models ........................................................ 56 2.1.1.2 Finite-State Models ........... ..................... ........ ................... ..... 66 2.1.1.3 Event Models ......................................................................... 74 2.1.1 .4 Discussion on Dialogue Models . .. .... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 2.1.2 User Interface Management Systems ....... ........... ........ .......... ...... 80 2.1.2.1 The SYNGRAPH System ...................................................... 81 2.1.2.2 The Abstract Interaction Handler ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 83 2.1.2.3 The University of Alberta UIMS ............................................. 91 2.2 SIMD Framework: User Interface Construction Kits .. .. .. .... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. 93 2.2.1 The MacApp Framework .......... .... .. .... .... .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 97 2.2.2 Smalltalk's Model-View-Controller Framework ............................. 101 2.2.3 The FLAIR System ........................................................................ 104 2.2.4 The MIKE System .......................................... ............................... 105 2.3 MISD Framework: End-User Customizable Interfaces ........................ 113 2.3.1 The GIGL System ......................................................................... 113 Iv 3 MODELING THE MIMD USER INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT EN- VIRONMENT ............ ... ... .. .. ... .. .. .... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. 117 3.1 A Model For Interactive Applications .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. 118 3.1.1 Modeling Interactive Data Structures ............................................ 120 3.1 .1.1 The Internal Representation ...... .... .......... ..... .... ............. ..... .. 122 3.1 .1 .2 The External Representation ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ..... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. 126 3.1 .1 .3 A Comprehensive Model .. .. .. ... .. ... .... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. 131 3.1.1.4 Example of Interactive Data Structures ................................. 133 3.1.2 Modeling Application Functions .................................................... 139 3.2 A Model For Customizable User Interfaces ....... ......... ............... .......... 140 3.2.1 Presenting Information to the User ............................................... 141 3.2.2 Function Invocation and Parameter Specification ........................ 144 3.2.3 The Overall User Interface Model .... ... ........ ....... .... .... ............ ..... 149 4 THE DESIGN OF THE MIMD USER INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................... 155 4.1 The User Interface Generation Process .... ......... .... .......... ......... .......... 155 4.1.1 Application Information For The Specification Mechanism .. .. ..... 157 4.2 The Object-Oriented Paradigm ................................ ............................ 160 4.3 Presenting Information To The User ..... ........ ... ...... ... ....... ................... 162 4.3.1 Interactive Data Structure Objects ........... ............. .. ..................... 162 4.3.1 .1 Data Objects .... .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. ... .. .. ... .. .. 162 4.3.1 .1 .1 Internal Data .. .. ... ... .. .. .. ....... ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .......... .. ... 163 4.3.1 .1 .2 External Data .. .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .......... .. .. .. 165 4.3.1.1.3 Interactive Data ....................... .... ...... ...... ............ ........... 167 4.3.1.2 Structure Objects ...................... .................. .. ......................... 168 4.3.1.2.1 Internal Structures ... ...................... .. .. ... ....................... 168 4.3.1.2.2 Interactive Structures ............. ...... ... .... .............. ........... 175 4.3.1.3 Supporting Multiple External Representations ............ ........ .. 178 4.3.1.4 Using Interactive Data Structure Objects .............................. 181 4.3.2 Display Objects .... .. .. ..... .. ... ..... .. ... ... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. .. .. .. 183 4.3.2.1 Display Buffer Objects .............................. ... .. .... ................ ... 184 4.3.2.2 Display Device Objects .. .. .. .... .. ... ... .... .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ........... ... .. .. 184 4.3.2.3 View Objects . ... .... ... .. .. ........ .......................... ... .. .. .. .. .. 190 4.4 Function Invocation and Parameter Specification ................................ 193 4.4.1 Input Device Objects ..... ....... ..... .. ..... ... ... .. .. .. .. ... .............. .... .. .. 194 4.4.2 Action Table Objects .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .... ... .... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. 195 V 4.4.3 Input Technique Objects ..... ..... .......................... ..................