User Interaction in Language-Based Editing Systems

摘要

Language-based editing systems allow users to create, browse, and modify structured documents (programs in particular) in terms of the formal languages in which they are written. Many such systems have been built, but despite steady refinement of the supporting technology few programmers use them today. In this dissertation it is argued that realizing the potential of these systems demands a user-centered approach to their design and construction. Pan, a fully-implemented experimental language-based editing and browsing system, demonstrates the viability of the approach. Careful consideration of the intended user population, drawing on evidence from psychological studies of programmers, from current software engineering practice, and from experience with earlier systems, motivates Pan's design. Important aspects of that design include functional requirements, metaphors that capture the feel of the system from the perspective of users, and an architectural framework for implementation. Unlike many earlier systems, Pan's design hides the complexity of language-based technology behind a set of simple and appropriate conceptual models -- models of the system and of the documents being viewed. Responding to the true bottleneck in software production, Pan's services are designed to help users understand software rather than save keystrokes writing it. Furthermore, Pan's design framework provides services that degrade gracefully in the presence of malformed documents, incomplete documents, and inconsistent information. This research has yielded new insight into the design problem at all levels: the suitability of current language-based technology for interactive, user-centered applications; appropriate kernel mechanisms for building coherent user services; new conceptual models of editing that blend textual and structural operations without undue complexity; and the crucial role of local, site-specific design in the delivery of language-based editing services.