mamrak@harmonica.cis.ohio-state.edu (Sandy Mamrak) (07/20/89)
The MANuscript Development ENvironment (MANDEN) research group in the
Computer & Information Science Department at OSU announces the
availability of the following set of technical reports on software
environments for scholarly writing. In order to obtain the reports,
please send your request, by postal mail to
Ms. Virginia Strawser
Department of Computer and Information Science
2036 Neil Avenue Mall
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH 43210
Please indicate the name and number of the report(s) you want, and
include $2 for each report requested, to cover postage and handling.
1. An Overview of the MANDEN Project: A Computerized System to Support
Scholarly Writing, by S.A. Mamrak, OSU-CISRC-6/89-TR23.
2. A Cognitively-Based Drawing Environment, by L.W. Hales and S.A.
Mamrak, OSU-CISRC-6/89-TR24.
3. A Support Environment for Describing Structured-Document
Specifications, by C.S. O'Connell and S.A. Mamrak, OSU-CISRC-6/89-TR25.
4. A Cognitive Model for Tabular Editing, by J. Cameron,
OSU-CISRC-6/89-TR26.
5. A Composition Environment to Support Scholarly Writing, by C.
Schanck and S.A. Mamrak, OSU-CISRC-6/89-TR27.
ABSTRACTS
An Overview of the MANDEN Project: A Computerized System to Support
Scholarly Writing
Existing computer systems to support scholarly writing are inadequate
to meet the needs of authors. This report presents a new model of
scholarly writing, merging elements from several models of a scholar
as a composing author. The new model identifies the activities that
encompass the authoring task, arranged into three stages. The middle
stage, composition, is bracketed by stages that support activities
peripheral to the primary writing endeavor of forming a coherent
sequence out of a set of ideas, notes, figures, and so on. A computer
system that implements this model would eliminate inadequacies of
existing support systems. The MANuscript Development ENvironment, or
MANDEN, project is building a prototype software architecture to
instantiate this model. This paper describes the motivation for and
details of the writing model and identifies components of the model
that are currently under development. Companion reports describe these
components in more detail.
A Cognitively-Based Drawing Environment
Many scholarly manuscripts use graphical objects, such as drawings and
pictures, to enhance a discussion, illustrate equipment, or otherwise
facilitate the reader's understanding. In the current landscape of
computer systems to support the creation and manipulation of graphical
objects, two problem areas arise. The first problem area arises from
the fact that the support systems frequently are not attuned to the
cognitive processes that users employ to create and manipulate
graphical objects. The second problem area surrounds support systems
that frequently are not fully integrated with the textual and other
environments that are needed to produce the final version of a
scholarly manuscript. In this report we discuss the design of a
graphical support environment that specifically addresses these two
problems and attempts to overcome them. The focus of this paper is on
a cognitive model for manipulation of graphical objects of type
drawing.
A Support Environment for Describing Structured-Document
Specifications
Many system generators have been developed to produce software
systems. The generated systems, e.g., syntax-directed editors,
create, manipulate or analyze structured objects. Each of the
generators require a specification describing the class of structured
objects under consideration. The specification consists of two parts:
a context-free grammar and auxiliary information. The context-free
grammar describes the hierarchy of the structured object. The
auxiliary information describes the manipulations to perform on the
structure and content of an instance of the object class. The task of
describing a specification is inherently complex for the typical
specifier. In particular, defining a {\em structured-document}
specification presents considerable difficulties to the specifier. In
this paper, we identify the complexities of defining a specification,
and describe ideal features of a support environment that would aid in
controlling and managing these complexities. Other system generators
are evaluated according to the identified features. Finally, the
design of a prototype environment driven by this discussion is
presented.
A Cognitive Model for Tabular Editing
Although tables occur frequently in, and are an integral part of, many
documents, current computer systems do not adequately support the
table author. This report presents the essential characteristics of
tables, and proposes a model for a system, that captures fundamental
cognitive activities involved in authoring tables. Existing table
systems are compared to the author's model, and a prototype system
containing unique functionality is explained.
A Composition Environment to Support Scholarly Authoring
Scholarly authoring can be divided into three stages. Precomposition
consists of creating and manipulating various objects, e.g., text and
tables, that will be used to form the manuscript. Composition is the
stage in which these objects are placed into the manuscript structure,
by sequencing through referencing and integration. Postcomposition
involves transforming the manuscript into a form suitable for a
particular medium. This paper focuses on the composition stage, first
surveying current systems and noting their deficiencies. Following
this, requirements for an ideal composition environment are developed.
Finally, a sample scenario for a prototype implementation is examined.
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Sandra A. Mamrak Department of Computer and Information Science
The Ohio State University
mamrak@cis.ohio-state.edu 2036 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH USA 43210-1277