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A framework for modeling and implementing visual notations with applications to software engineering
Costagliola G., Deufemia V., Polese G. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology13 (4):431-487,2004.Type:Article
Date Reviewed: Mar 3 2005

Most software development methodologies use diagrams, and users and software engineers look at those diagrams to communicate aspects of the proposed system. Building diagrams with just a general-purpose graphical editor is hard, and having an editor that supports the syntax and semantics of the design notation would be very useful. While few people will ever design a new diagramming notation, the process of being able to generate an editor that understands the syntax and semantics of a new diagram is interesting. This paper describes the work the authors have done to achieve this goal.

The paper first describes a formalism for describing visual notations, and a framework for specifying visual notations using extended positional grammars (XPG). This description is long, complex, and not easily understandable by someone unfamiliar with the area and the authors’ previous work. Additional examples would have been helpful. Fortunately, there is a good set of references to previous work, by the authors and others.

The tool VLDesk is described last. This tool can automatically generate an editor for a design notation, based on a formal specification of the design notation. Screen shots are shown, and the process is described well. The tool is available for download. Unfortunately, help is not available for installation.

Reviewer:  David A. Gustafson Review #: CR130911 (0509-1022)
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