The many different documents produced by a large software project are typically created and maintained by a variety of incompatible software tools, such as programming environments, document processing systems, and specialized editors for non-textual media. The incompatibility of these tools hinders communication within the project by making it difficult to share the documents that record the project's plans, design history, implementations, and experiences. An important factor underlying this incompatibility is the diversity of presentation models that have been adopted. Each system's presentation model is well-suited to the document types and media it supports, but is difficult to adapt to other types and media.
This dissertation describes a new model of presentation that is designed to be applied to a diverse array of documents drawn from many different media. The model is based on four simple services: attribute propagation, box layout, tree elaboration, and interface functions. Together, these services are powerful enough to support the creation of many novel and visually rich document presentations. Furthermore, because the model is based on a new understanding of the fundamental parameters defining media, the four services can be adapted for use with all media in common use.
The utility of this presentation model has been explored through the design and implementation of Proteus, a system for handling presentation specifications that is part of Ensemble, an environment for developing both software and multimedia documents. Proteus interprets specifications that describe how the four presentation services should be applied to individual documents. Proteus has a medium-independent kernel that provides the specification interpreter and runtime support for the four presentation services. The kernel is adapted to different media via the addition of a shell specifying the medium's parameters. Proteus's adaptability significantly eases the task of extending Ensemble to support new media. Proteus is also an important part of Ensemble's support for multiple, synchronized presentations.
In summary, this research develops a new, medium-independent model of presentation and shows that a specification-driven presentation system based on this model can form the basis of a software environment supporting multiple presentations and a variety of media.
Title
Proteus: An Adaptable Presentation System for a Software Development and Multimedia Document Environment
Published
1994-09-01
Full Collection Name
Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences Technical Reports
Other Identifiers
CSD-94-833
Type
Text
Extent
113 p
Archive
The Engineering Library
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