Teallach: a model-based user interface development environment for object databases

Model-based user interface development environments show promise for improving the productivity of user interface developers, and possibly for improving the quality of developed interfaces. While model-based techniques have previously been applied to the area of database interfaces, they have not been specifically targeted at the important area of object database applications. Such applications make use of models that are semantically richer than their relational counterparts in terms of both data structures and application functionality. In general, model-based techniques have not addressed how the information referenced in such applications is manifested within the described models, and is utilised within the generated interface itself. This lack of experience with such systems has led to many model-based projects providing minimal support for certain features that are essential to such data intensive applications, and has prevented object database interface developers in particular from benefiting from model-based techniques. This paper presents the Teallach model-based user interface development environment for object databases, describing the models it supports, the relationships between these models, the tool used to construct interfaces using the models and the generation of Java programs from the declarative models. Distinctive features of Teallach include comprehensive facilities for linking models, a flexible development method, an open architecture, and the generation of running applications based on the models constructed by designers.     

一个基于CORBA的图形用户界面体系结构及实例

随着网络计算技术的发展,软件的结构变为表示／处理／数据库分离的三级模式。表示与处理的分离导致了用户界面与应用计算间的通信成为开发交互式系统图形用户界面的关键。本文为分布式交互图形应用的开发提供了一个基于公用对象需求代理结构ＣＯＲＢＡ的用户界面体系结构,ＣＯＲＢＡ是为分布式对象系统中间件制定的一个互操作标准。在这个结构中,一些被称为代理的面向对象交互式图形构件被设计用来为图形的表示与交互提供有效的解     

A visual shell interface to a database

This paper describes a visual command language for a workstation with a bit-mapped display and a mouse that can be used to create different user interfaces. Primitive interface components can be combined into more complex user interfaces. The user specifies interconnections between these components over which data and commands can be sent by pointing with a mouse. Primitive interface components are described for creating several different database user interfaces. The design and implementation of the software architecture is described, including the primitives for database interfaces and the communication protocols used by the system.     

From user interface design to the support of intelligent and adaptive interfaces: an overhaul of user interface software infrastracture

Research on adaptive interfaces in the past has lacked support from user interface tools which allow interfaces to be easily created and modified. Also, current user interface tools provide no support for user models which can collect task-oriented information about users. Developing an adaptive interface requires a user model and an adaptation strategy. It also, however, requires a user interface which can be adapted. The latter task is often time-consuming, especially in relation to more sophisticated user interfaces.

The paper presents a user interface design environment, UIDE, which has a different software infrastracture. Designers use high-level specifications to create a model of an application and links from the application to various interface components. The model is the heart of all the design and run-time support in UIDE, including automatic dialog sequencing and help generation. UIDE provides automatic support for collecting task-oriented information about users, by the use of its high-level specifications in its application model as a basic construct for a user model. Some examples of adaptive interfaces and adaptive help are presented that use the information that is collectable in UIDE.     

DUET — A database user interface design environment

The DUET database user interface management system aims to help database application programmers to create, modify, and maintain interactive graphical user interfaces for different applications. DUET supports the creation of a complete user interface via direct manipulation techniques. It provides a large set of database widgets which are necessary for database applications. DUET provides facilities to step through the validation of a created user interface. A user interface can be saved as C code which can be integrated into a database backend. In this paper, the features and the architecture of DUET are presented.     

Mapgets: A Tool for Visualizing and Querying Geographic Information

Although geographic applications vary widely, their user interfaces have many requirements in common because of the spatial component of their data. Geographic data are not standard data, and appropriate tools are required (i) for editing (i.e. displaying and modifying) and (ii) for querying them. In this paper, we first study the major aspects of visualizing and querying geographic information within a database management system (DBMS) and their impact on the design of graphical geographic database user interfaces (GDUIs). We then present a map editing and querying model as well as general GDUI architecture. Both rely on the concept of the mapget (map widget), a mediator for manipulating geographic information interactively.     

Towards a new approach to secure database design

The problem of designing and managing a secure database system is considered in this paper. The approach which is proposed is primarily concerned with the security information definition and management in a database environment. A multiphase design methodology is presented reflecting current proposals of database design methodology. In particular four design phases are proposed: requirements analysis of the security system, conceptual, logical and physical design of security information. The content and the solution techniques of each phase are examined. A database management system architecture is also presented which is suitable to control access rights to the database.     

The Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an ODMG Compliant, Parallel Object Database Server

This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a parallel object database server. While a number of research groups and companies now provide object database servers designed to run on uniprocessors, there has been surprisingly little work on the exploitation of parallelism to provide scalable performance in Object Database Management Systems (ODBMS). The work described in this paper takes as its starting-point the Object Database Management Group (ODMG) standard for object databases, thereby allowing the project to focus on research into parallelism, rather than on the ODBMS interfaces. The system is designed to run on a distributed memory parallel machine, and the paper describes the key issues and design decisions including: parallel query optimisation and execution, flow control, support for user-defined operations in queries, object distribution, cache management and navigational client access. The work shows that the significant differences between the object and relational database paradigms lead to significant differences in the designs of parallel servers to support these two paradigms. The paper presents an extensive performance analysis of the prototype systems which shows that good performance can be achieved on a cluster of linux PCs.     

基于模板的冷冲模CAD系统中的数据模型研究

工程数据模型决定了对象的存储方式和访问方式,该文讨论了在Windows平台上开发的基于模板的冷冲模CAD系统的数据模型,将知识、规则等语义信息与面向对象技术相结合,提出了语义对象数据模型。在模板中将设计信息按照对象之间的关系组织起来,加强了对数据的管理,并能表达多种复杂的语义等知识信息,同时介绍了工程数据库系统数据模型的逻辑设计和系统的体系结构。     

协作笔式用户界面开发工具研究

笔式用户界面是一种重要的Post-WIMP(window icon menu pointer)界面,它给用户提供了自然的交互方式.然而,当前的笔式用户界面工具箱大多是面向单用户任务的,不能很好地支持协作应用场景.通过对笔式交互特征和协作环境功能需求的分析,设计并实现了一个工具箱CoPen Toolkit,用于支持协作笔式用户界面的开发.它提供了灵活的架构和可扩展的组件,支持笔迹描述、事件处理和网络协作等功能.基于CoPen Toolkit,构造了多个原型系统,实践表明,它能够很好地支持协作笔式用户界面的开发.     

基于Web的病案信息技术培训系统的设计与实现

阐述一个基于Web的病案信息技术培训系统的功能结构、数据库表设计、Access数据库表存储安全与加密、用户注册管理、ASP应用程序与ODBC数据源连接、ASP环境安全设置等技术.该系统已在广西医科大学附属医院应用,效果良好.     

The Amulet environment: new models for effective user interfacesoftware development

The Amulet user interface development environment makes it easier for programmers to create highly interactive, graphical user interface software for Unix, Windows and the Macintosh. Amulet uses new models for objects, constraints, animation, input, output, commands, and undo. The object system is a prototype instance model in which there is no distinction between classes and instances or between methods and data. The constraint system allows any value of any object to be computed by arbitrary code and supports multiple constraint solvers. Animations can be attached to existing objects with a single line of code. Input from the user is handled by “interactor” objects which support reuse of behavior objects. The output model provides a declarative definition of the graphics and supports automatic refresh. Command objects encapsulate all of the information needed about operations, including support for various ways to undo them. A key feature of the Amulet design is that all graphical objects and behaviors of those objects are explicitly represented at run time, so the system can provide a number of high level built-in functions, including automatic display and editing of objects, and external analysis and control of interfaces. Amulet integrates these capabilities in a flexible and effective manner     

支持用户界面自动生成的界面模型

为实现软件用户界面的工程设计,论文提出了一种支持用户界面自动生成的界面模型FMP。它利用功能模型(F)和对象模型(M)捕捉与界面相关的功能和数据信息,用交互模型(M)表达这些信息和控制关系。然后依据交互模型的描述,利用表示模型(P)建立内部对象和外部显示元素的对应关系,规划界面布局,从而指导实现用户界面的自动生成。     

面向协同产品商务的敏捷设计支持系统的研究

叙述了协同产品商务(CPC)出现的背景，对CPC定义作了进一步解释，阐明CPC所具有的三个特点及其内涵．将CPC引入产品协同设计，提出产品敏捷设计的概念．构造了面向CPC的产品敏捷设计支持系统，说明了该系统的功能及体系结构，以递纸机构设计为例验证了系统应用．     

Intelligent support for activity management (ISAM): an architectureto support distributed supervisory control

Distributed supervisory control is the monitoring and control of complex, dynamic, highly automated systems by a team of human operators. As such, it is an example of a cooperative work environment. The goal of this paper is to analyze the nature of cooperative work in distributed supervisory control environments and describe implications for computer support. In particular, we argue that flexible support for activity management is a key requirement for computer support for distributed supervisory control, and we propose the intelligent support for activity management (ISAM) architecture as one infrastructure for doing so. The design and implementation of ISAM draws from previous work on intelligent operator's associate systems and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems. A graphical user interface to ISAM and an evaluation study of this system in the context of team supervisory control are also described     

A multi-formalism approach for model-based dynamic distribution of user interfaces of critical interactive systems

Evolution in the context of use requires evolutions in the user interfaces even when they are currently used by operators. User Centered Development promotes reactive answers to this kind of evolutions either by software evolutions through iterative development approaches or at runtime by providing additional information to the operators such as contextual help for instance. This paper proposes a model-based approach to support proactive management of context of use evolutions. By proactive management we mean mechanisms in place to plan and implement evolutions and adaptations of the entire user interface (including behaviour) in a generic way. The approach proposed handles both concentration and distribution of user interfaces requiring both fusion of information into a single UI or fission of information into several ones. This generic model-based approach is exemplified on a safety critical system from space domain. It presents how the new user interfaces can be generated at runtime to provide a new user interface gathering in a single place all the information required to perform the task. These user interfaces have to be generated at runtime as new procedures (i.e. sequences of operations to be executed in a semi-autonomous way) can be defined by operators at any time in order to react to adverse events and to keep the space system in operation. Such contextual, activity-related user interfaces complement the original user interfaces designed for operating the command and control system. The resulting user interface thus corresponds to a distribution of user interfaces in a focus+context way improving usability by increasing both efficiency and effectiveness.     

A Product Data Management architecture for integrating hardware and software development

This paper proposes an architecture of Product Data Management (PDM) for integrating Software Configuration Management (SCM). The proposed architecture extends its data model to support version items for SCM. Its applications support both PDM and SCM functionalities, as well as integrate hardware parts and software items in product configurations and engineering change management. The architecture is implemented by using a commercial Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system. The implementation enables hardware engineers and software programmers to share the same user environment, on a consistent database during the collaborative product development.     

Optimal Design of Object-Oriented Databases in Automatic Information-Control Systems. I. Analysis of Problem Domains

Design of object-oriented databases for automatic information control systems is studied. A formal method of analysis and design of optimal structures for object-oriented databases is developed on the basis of sequential interconnected formalizations of user problem domains, clustering of user information and functional requirements, design and analysis of object models for user requirements and object canonical structure of databases and design of optimal logical structures for object-oriented databases. Methods of analysis of problem domains of database users and construction of effective object canonical database structures in the form of classes, objects, and their relations and satisfying principles of abstraction, encapsulation, modularity, and hierarchy are described.     

Open Signaling for ATM Networks: A Vexed Question of Performance

Based on a clear separation between switching hardware and control software, the concept of open signaling creates an open programmable networking environment in which network entities can be realized as high level software objects with well-defined interfaces. This underlying architecture facilitates the creation of multiple mechanisms of network control, supporting applications for connection management. The feasibility of a connection management framework however depends mainly on the performance of CORBA because of binding overheads associated with remote invocations. It has been proposed that an implementation with reasonable performance may require certain criteria to be integrated into the design, including caching of network states, aggregation of access to the switch server object, and parallel processing of a single call request. This paper considers the effectiveness of these design criteria and the associated performance issues of a connection management system for ATM networks.     

基于图形软件EGS的用户界面的设计

EGS是运行于多种工作站环境的图形软件,它同时包括用于用户界面设计的基本的窗口工具。本文在介绍EGS的设计背景和功能特点的基础上,根据用户界面的基本模型和设计原则,结合集成化电子CAD系统(EDCADS)和工程数据库管理系统(EDBMS/2)等系统的用户界面的设计和实现,提出了满足实用性和可移植性的图形软件和用户界面的设计方法。