DEViL3D – A Generator Framework for Three-Dimensional Visual Languages ∗

Abstract—Visual languages are beneficial particularly for domain-specific applications, since they support graphical metaphors of the domain. The development of graphical editors for such languages can be simplified by using generator frameworks. Up to now the majority of visual languages are two-dimensional, but there are domains which are much better described by three-dimensional language constructs. The use of three-dimensional representations is well known in the area of (scientific) visualizations, games, or movies. Our approach is to use 3D graphics for visual languages that make use of 3D relationships, and to develop a generator framework to simplify the implementation of 3D languages. Our system DEViL3D accomplishes this task and encapsulates special knowledge necessary to implement 3D editors for such languages. The language designer does not need to know about implementation of 3D graphics and interaction with them, because our framework supports this for each language implementation automatically. This paper introduces previous approaches in the area of 3D languages, describes the specification process to get a 3D language implementation using our generator framework, and especially illustrates the 3D specific features of these implementations automatically derived without further effort. Index Terms—automated generation, visual languages, visual programming, three-dimensional representations. interconnected planar diagrams. Glinert shows how 2.5D representations can be extended to 3D and proposes projects in the area of visual languages that use the third dimension and therefore differ from classical visual language approaches. A good example for a three-dimensional visual language is the description of molecular models. These models consist of atoms that are visualized as balls, and bonds between them that are represented by sticks. The arrangement of the atoms in the 3D space is the result of the electron cloud repulsion. Hence, the molecular language can be regarded as a representative of the class of application-specific languages that describe inherent three-dimensional graphical models. I