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A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2007.

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Other Authors: Kourie, Derrick G.
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Kourie, Derrick G.
author_browse Kourie, Derrick G.
author_facet Kourie, Derrick G.
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2007.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:15.015Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/27080 A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts Kourie, Derrick G. iv@lantic.net Vosloo, Iwan User interfaces Web applications Statecharts Web frameworks UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2007. The Internet today has a phenomenal reach---right into the homes of a vast audience worldwide. Some organisations (and individuals) see this medium as a good opportunity for extending the reach of their computer systems. One popular approach used for such endeavours is to run an application on a server, using web technology for displaying its user interface (UI) remotely. Developing such a web-based UI can be quite tedious---it is a concurrent, distributed program which has to run in a hostile environment. Furthermore, the platform on which it is implemented (the web) was not originally intended for such usage. A web framework is a collection of software components which provides its users with support for developing and executing web-based UIs. In part, web frameworks can be seen as being analogous to interpreters: given a specification of a UI using a specification technique dictated by the framework, server components of the framework can present the UI using web technology. Topics related to web frameworks are scarce in the academic literature, but abound in industry and open discussion forums. Similarly, the designers of web frameworks seldom found their work on existing theory in the literature. This study is an attempt to bridge this gap. It is focused on two aspects of web frameworks: the specification technique a framework mandates, and how such a specification can subsequently be used to present a UI via web technology. As part of this study, a survey was conducted of 80 open source web frameworks. Based on the survey, a partial overview of the domain of web frameworks is given, covering what is seen as being typically required of a web framework and covering specification techniques that are used by existing frameworks. Two taxonomies are proposed of the strategies web frameworks use for specifying two aspects of web UIs. Using the web as platform implies adherence to certain (intended) architectural constraints. Web framework designers often strain against these constraints. However, another point of view is to recognise that the success of the web platform is made possible precisely because of its intended architecture. (And the success of the web is surely the principal motivation for using it for remote UIs in the first place.) With the bias of this viewpoint, a specification technique is proposed for web-based UIs. This technique is based on the well-known formalism of statecharts, with semantics explicitly defined in terms of the intended architectural components and constraints of the web. The design of a web framework for presenting a UI so specified is also proposed (based on the theoretical background given, as well as two prototype implementations which have been developed). Computer Science unrestricted 2013-09-07T10:23:35Z 2006-06-26 2013-09-07T10:23:35Z 2005-02-08 2007-06-26 2006-02-07 Dissertation Vosloo, I 2005, A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts, MSc dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27080 > http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27080 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02072006-114551/ © 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle User interfaces
Web applications
Statecharts
Web frameworks
UCTD
A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title_full A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title_fullStr A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title_full_unstemmed A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title_short A web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
title_sort web application user interface specification language based on statecharts
topic User interfaces
Web applications
Statecharts
Web frameworks
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27080
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02072006-114551/