Agent Classes for Managing Dialogue Control Specification Complexity: A Declarative Language Framework
Anthony Savidis, Constantine Stephanidis · International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction · 1997
Fourth generation User Interface development languages (interface 4GLs, also called interface specification languages) aim at managing the increasing demands for implementing interactive software systems. Specific open issues in this context, which the present work addresses, concern: (a) concurrent control of interface software components; (b) centralized or decentralized dialogue control schemes; (c) re-usability of interface components; and (d) re-usability of dialogue control patterns. We have developed an interface development 4GL called G-DISPEC, supporting the notion of software agents for dialogue control; in this context, the latter is differentiated from the concept of intelligent or autonomous agents for user support. The key aspects of the G-DISPEC language are: (i) agent classes; (in) agent class control hierarchies; (iii) agent class instantiation / destruction preconditions; and (iv) agent-class parameterization.