Attribute grammars in constraint‐based graphics systems
Lee Barford, Brad Vander Zanden · Software Practice and Experience · 1989
Abstract A constraint‐based graphics system provides a flexible, intuitive framework for describing relationships among graphical objects in applications such as document preparation, fount design and solid modelling. This paper describes two constraint‐based graphics systems, micro‐COSM and the IDEAL Synthesizer, and their implementation in terms of attribute grammars. Our experiences with attribute grammars suggest that they provide a powerful framework for representing constraints and extracting important semantic information such as the equations to be solved by the constraint solver. We discuss the advantages of using attribute grammars in constraint‐based graphics and from our experiences make several observations about the way attribute grammars should be used.