From multimedia stream models to GUI generation

This paper is centered on the description of a model that generalizes multimedia data flows handling including complete behavior and interaction mechanisms, hence allowing full integration of GUIs generation -- GUI components are upgraded to interactive media items -- into the same unified model. It aims to reinforce portability, reusability, and quick development of multimedia applications. A picture of previous and of current state-of-art in multimedia application development clearly shows the need for standard abstractions in this field. Current work in this direction leads to a discussion on generic application structure (objects, semantics, etc.) and on different approaches to reach platform independence and efficient object sharing (formal representation languages, interpreted programming languages, distributed environments, etc.). At this point, we present a basic model based on several stream-based models and implementations on multimedia data flows, and built on the basis of the source-stream-sink paradigm. It follows with a detailed explanation of the unified (common to all media) abstract basic stream from which all monomedia flows (including GUI elements) are derived: stream setting- up (source-sink adaptation, and negotiation), flow control procedure, stream sensibility, behavior pattern, etc. The model presentation ends up with the introduction of the multimedia stream that performs synchronization and inter- stream communication tasks, and channels all sensibility, from/towards its managed streams, and allows for the design of an application generator. Then it deeps into the definition of the abstract class hierarchy that guides the model implementation. Finally, several implementation issues are addressed and some practical achievements are described.