In: Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, Vol. 10, No. 5, pages 481-507. 1999.
Abstract: The construction of interactive software is known to be a difficult task. As far as the non-interactive part of the application is concerned, designers can find support in the field of software engineering, using object-oriented design methods for example. With regard to the user interface per se, a number of interactive tools (interface builders) are available, that allows creating interactively the look and feel of the interface. However, relating an object-oriented design with a proper user-interface design is still a matter of craft and experience, and few techniques permit the seamless integration of the two. The work presented here aims at bridging this gap. The paper proposes a visual language, based on Petri nets, for the design of the dialogue of interactive systems. This language allows specifying both activation and rendering on the one hand, and provides a seamless integration with an object-oriented design on the other.
Keywords: Petri nets, interactive software, software engineering, software interfaces, software specification.