Abstract A Hamiltonian formulation of classes of distributed-parameter systems is presented, which incorporates the energy flow through the boundary of the spatial domain of the system, and which allows to represent the system as a boundary control Hamiltonian system. The system is Hamiltonian with respect to an infinite-dimensional Dirac structure associated with the exterior derivative and based on Stokes' theorem. The theory is applied to the telegraph equations for an ideal transmission line, Maxwell's equations on a bounded domain with non-zero Poynting vector at its boundary, and a vibrating string with traction forces at its ends. Furthermore the framework is extended to cover Euler's equations for an ideal fluid on a domain with permeable boundary. Finally, some properties of the Stokes-Dirac structure are investigated, including the analysis of conservation laws
