(A) tool for constructing hypertext systems

Abstract

Hypertext systems involve management of nodes interconnected by links, and visual presentation of these objects. In many application areas hypertext systems are found to be useful, and it is necessary to specialize the system to fit the requirements of a specific area. We propose a tool for constructing specialized hypertext systems from the generic one. To automate the design process of hypertext systems, the control mechanism over the system should be specified. In our system, the target system control is represented by a set of state transition diagrams for individual hypertext objects. Since visual presentation and storage representation of hypertext objects are treated as states in state transition diagram, the application designer is relieved from the detailed internal implementations of hypertext applications. We present a specification language for describing the global control of the target hypertext system, and a prototype implementation based on this specification method is described.