Abstract
We have developed a new model of hypertext in pilot studies. The traditional hypertext model resembles a directed graph, representing information fragments and the relationships that tie the fragments together. Our model, based on Petri nets, also represents the hypertext's browsing semantics (i.e., how the information is to be visited). The Petri net model is a generalization of traditional directed graph models. It permits development of browsing and authoring systems that can incorporate the analytical techniques that have been developed for Petri nets and also incorporate the user interface designs that have been developed for hypertext systems. The Petri net base also permits powerful specification of how the hypertext is to be browsed. New abilities include synchronization of simultaneous traversals of separate paths through a hypertext as well as of security/access control considerations into a hypertext (specifying nodes that can be proven accessible only to certain classes of browsers). In addition, different tailored versions can be generated from a single document structure in the Petri net-based model.
This report describes the Petri net-based Trellis model, a prototype hypertext implementation called αTrellis, and an early version of an authoring language for Petri net-based documents called Alphα.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Robert M. Akscyn, Donald L. McCracken, and Elise A. Yoder. KMS: A distributed hypermedia system for managing knowledge in organizations. Communications of the ACM, 31(7):820–835, July 1988.
P. J. Brown. Hypertext: The way forward. In J. C. van Vliet, editor, Document Manipulation and Typography, pages 183–191. Cambridge University Press, April 1988. Proceedings of the International Conference on Electronic Publishing, Document Manipulation, and Typography, Nice (France), April 20–22, 1988.
Vannevar Bush. As we may think. The Atlantic Monthly, 176(1):101–108, July 1945.
Steven Carmody, Walter Gross, Theodor E. Nelson, David Rice, and Andries van Dam. A hypertext editing system for the /360. Technical report, Center for Computer and Information Sciences, Brown University, Providence, R.I., March 1969. Also contained in M. Faiman and J. Nievergelt, editors. Pertinent Concepts in Computer Graphics. University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill., March 1969, pp. 291–330.
S. Christodoulakis, F. Ho, and M. Theodoridou. The multimedia object presentation manager of MINOS: A symmetric approach. In Proceedings of ACM SIGMOD '86, pages 295–310, May 1986. Washington, DC.
S. Christodoulakis, M. Theodoridou, F. Ho, and M. Papa. Multimedia document presentation, information extraction, and document formation in MINOS: A model and a system. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 4(4):345–383, October 1986.
Jeff Conklin. Hypertext: An introduction and survey. Computer, 20(9):17–41, September 1987.
James E. Coolahan and Nicholas Roussopoulos. A timed Petri net methodology for specifying real-time system timing requirements. In Proceedings of the International Workshop on Timed Petri Nets, pages 24–31, July 1985. Torino, Italy.
Norman M. Delisle and Mayer D. Schwartz. Contexts—a partitioning concept for hypertext. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 5(2):168–186, April 1987.
Douglas C. Engelbart and William K. English. A research center for augmenting human intellect. Proceedings, AFIPS Fall Joint Computer Conference, 33:395–410, 1968.
Douglas C. Engelbart, Richard W. Watson, and James C. Norton. The augmented knowledge workshop. ARC Journal Accession Number 14724, Stanford Research Center, Menlo Park, Calif., March 1973. Paper presented at the National Computer Conference, June 1973.
Pankaj K. Garg. Abstraction mechanisms in hypertext. Communications of the ACM, 31(7):862–870, 879, July 1988.
Frank G. Halasz. Reflections on NoteCards: Seven issues for the next generation of hypermedia systems. Communications of the ACM, 31(7):836–852, July 1988.
K. Jensen. Coloured Petri nets and the invariant method. Theoretical Computer Science, 14:317–336, 1981.
Kobi Lifshitz and Ben Shneiderman. Window control strategies for on-line text traversal, July 1987. Working paper.
Gary Marchionini and Ben Shneiderman. Finding facts vs. browsing knowledge in hypertext systems. Computer, 21(1):70–80, January 1988.
Michael K. Molloy. A CAD tool for stochastic Petri nets. In Proceedings of the ACM-IEEE Fall Joint Computer Conference, pages 1082–1091, November 1986.
Wolfgang Reisig. Petri Nets: An Introduction. Springer-Verlag, 1985.
Ben Shneiderman. User interface design for the Hyperties electronic encyclopedia. In Proceedings of Hypertext '87, pages 189–194, November 1987. Published by the Association for Computing Machinery, 1989.
P. David Stotts and Richard Furuta. Adding browsing semantics to the hypertext model. In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Document Processing Systems (December 5–9, 1988, Santa Fe, New Mexico), pages 43–50. ACM, New York, December 1988. An earlier version of this paper is available as University of Maryland Department of Computer Science and Institute for Advanced Computer Studies Technical Report CS-TR-2046 and UMIACS-TR-88-43.
P. D. Stotts, Jr. and T. W. Pratt. Hierarchical modeling of software systems with timed Petri nets. In Proceedings of International Workshop on Timed Petri Nets, pages 32–39, July 1985. Torino, Italy.
Andries van Dam. Hypertext '87 keynote address. Communications of the ACM, 31(7):887–895, July 1988.
W. Wulf, E. Cohen, W. Corwin, A. Jones, R. Levin, C. Pierson, and F. Pollack. HYDRA: The kernel of a multiprocessor operating system. Communications of the ACM, 17(6):337–345, June 1974.
Polle T. Zellweger. Directed paths through collections of multi-media documents. In Hypertext '87, November 1987. Position paper.
Polle T. Zellweger. Active paths through multimedia documents. In J. C. van Vliet, editor, Document Manipulation and Typography, pages 19–34. Cambridge University Press, April 1988. Proceedings of the International Conference on Electronic Publishing, Document Manipulation, and Typography, Nice (France), April 20–22, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Stotts, P.D., Furuta, R. (1991). αTrellis: A system for writing and browsing petri-net-based hypertext. In: Rozenberg, G. (eds) Advances in Petri Nets 1990. ICATPN 1989. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 483. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-53863-1_35
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-53863-1_35
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-53863-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46369-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive