Automating hypertext for decision support

A decision support system (DSS) shell is being constructed that can support applications in a variety of fields, e.g., engineering, manufacturing, finance. The shell provides a hypertext-style interface for 'navigating' among DSS application models, data, and reports. The traditional notion of hypertext had to be enhanced. Hypertext normally requires manually, pre-defined links. A DSS shell, however, requires that hypertext connections to be built 'on the fly'. The role of hypertext is discussed in augmenting DSS applications and the decision making process. Also discussed is how hypertext nodes, links, and link markers tailored to an arbitrary DSS application were automatically generated

PROVIDING INFORMATION SYSTEMS WITH FULL HYPERMEDIA FUNCTIONALITY

The goal of this research is to provide hypermedia functionality to all information systems. In this paper I present the architecture of a system-level hypermedia engine, designed both to manage fill hypermedia functionality for an information system and to bind interface-oriented âfront-end" systems with separate computation-oriented "back-end "systems. The engine dynamically superimposes a hypermedia representation over a back-end application's knowledge components and processes. I then describe a set of minimal requirements for integrating the hypermedia engine. The more sophisticated and cooperative the information system, the higher the level of hypermedia support the engine will provide.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

ON INTEGRATING HYPERMEDIA INTO DECISION SUPPORT AND OTHER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The goal of this research is to provide hypermedia functionality to all information systems that interact with people. Hypermedia is a concept involving access to information, embodying the notions of context-sensitive navigation, annotation and tailored presentation. We present the architecture of a system-level hypermedia engine, designed both to manage full hypermedia functionality for an information system and to bind interface-oriented front-end systems with separate computation-oriented back-end systems. The engine dynamically superimposes a hypermedia representation over a back-end application's knowledge components and processes. The hypermedia engine generates this representation using bridge laws, which capture the internal structure of client systems. Users access the application through its hypermedia representation. We also describe a set of minimal requirements for integrating our hypermedia engine with an information system. We believe these guidelines apply to all integration efforts, not just our own. Information systems will require some supplementary routines for the engine to manage hypermedia functionality for them. The more sophisticated and cooperative the information system, the higher the level of hypermedia support the engine will provide.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

On integrating hypermedia into decision support and other information systems

The goal of this research is to provide hypermedia functionality to all information systems that interact with people. Hypermedia is a concept involving access to information, embodying the notions of context-sensitive navigation, annotation and tailored presentation. This paper presents the architecture of a system-level hypermedia engine, designed both to manage full hypermedia functionality for an information system and to bind interface-oriented front-end systems with separate computation-oriented back-end systems. The engine dynamically superimposes a hypermedia representation over a back-end application's knowledge components and processes. The hypermedia engine generates this representation using bridge laws, which capture the internal structure of client systems. Users access the application through its hypermedia representation. The paper also describes a set of minimal requirements for integrating the hypermedia engine with an information system. These guidelines apply to all integration efforts, not just that described here. Information systems will require some supplementary routines for the engine to manage hypermedia functionality for them. The more sophisticated and cooperative the information system, the higher the level of hypermedia support the engine will provide.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Deeper Learning by Putting Students in Charge of the Problem Lifecycle

Participatory Learning actively engages students in every stage of the problem lifecycle (including crafting problems for peers, providing solutions, peer grading, and disputes involving self-assessment). This brief motivates and describes the emerging Participatory Learning approach. The discussion then focuses on several issues concerning motivating students, guiding them in conducting the various problem lifecycle tasks, and evaluating participation and learning

BRIDGE LAWS IN HYPERTEXT: A LOGIC MODELING APPROACH

Increasingly, computerized systems tend to delegate certain portions of their functionality to other systems. This is routinely done by systems that use Data Base Management Systems (DBMS) to manage their data. The DBMS is in charge of all data related operations. A similar phenomena is emerging in the area of graphical user-interfaces. As more of these delegation phenomena occur, the establishment of flexible communication channels for the different applications becomes increasingly important. We propose to achieve this communication by establishing a set of relationships between the applications. These relationships will be specified by bridge laws, i.e. laws that establish bridges between different domains. We concentrate on a particular example: coupling arbitrary applications to a hypertext user interface. In terms of the discussion above, one of the systems in consideration is fixed. We study the elements that are needed in order to establish effective bridge laws. We do this by defining a general framework and providing two examples. The first example deals with a Data Base Management System, and the second one with a model management system. The examples show that in order to achieve effective interaction between a system and a hypertext interface, some meta-knowledge is required. We extrapolate from our experiments to conclude the type of general properties of bridge laws that are necessary to achieve this high level type of process communication.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

VALUATION LINKS: FORMALLY EXTENDING THE COMPUTATIONAL POWER OF HYPERTEXT

We view hypertext as an inherently dynamic concept to incorporate in the interface of dynamic information systems. What challenges does hypertext face in a constantly changing environment? In this paper, we discuss the benefits and the problems we face in our research into hypertext-oriented decision support systems. Then we focus on a new hypertext construct beneficial to this domain: valuation links. Valuation links support the dynamic spreading of computation via a well defined link traversal operation. We present two classes of such links: static and dynamic, and specify an algorithm for their traversal. We also show how these constructs can be used in sophisticated DSS environments.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

TEXT EDITING AND BEYOND: A STUDY IN LOGIC MODELING

This paper presents a logic modeling exercise in which we develop test and implement a logic model for a test editor and use it to test existing test editing software. We begin by presenting a first order Horn logic axiomatization of a text editor by providing domain equations for the primitive operations insert, delete and character retrieval. We show that this logic model captures the essential aspects of the text editing task and how more complex features are built using these primitives. We discuss possible implementations and conclude that any operational semantics - the set of algorithms that perform the task - must be strongly related to the logic model we present. In other words, each operational semantics constitutes a model of the logic theory Next, we illustrate the usefulness of the model by implementing a basic text editing system and testing the correctness of an existing text editor. We conclude by describing how we are integrating these modeling techniques into a larger and more complex knowledge-based system.Information Systems Working Papers Serie