Structure, Abstraction, and Direct Manipulation in Diagram Editors

Editors for visual languages should be as simple and convenient to use as possible; at the same time, programmers should be able to create such editors without prohibitive effort. We discuss the benefits that can be gained from combining the following aspects in an editor-generator approach:-direct-manipulation editing (as in drawing programs) -structure-based editing (as in common diagram tools) -structural analysis and a common formal modelAs a major practical example, we present an editor for UML class diagrams. We show that direct-manipulation editing capabilities can enhance the usability of such an editor in comparison to standard tools. A further improvement is obtained by including selective abstraction features similar to the well-known "fisheye-viewing" and "semantic zooming" paradigms. We show that the proposed generator architecture provides an excellent base for implementing such features. The resulting technique can be applied to a wide range of different diagram languages; in contrast to other general solutions, it takes into account the abstract structure and specific abstraction features of the individual languages.

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