A Framework for Defining Domain-Specific Visual Languages
Robert Esser, Jörn W. Janneck · 2001
For many problem domains domain-specific languages (DSLs) offer users more appropriate notations and abstractions in which to model systems when compared with general purpose programming languages. These benefits can often be amplified if a visual notation is used instead of textual notations. In many problem domains visual notations are preferred by practitioners as they often are the most intuitive representation of a problem. However, the lack of supporting infrastructure for constructing, implementing, and maintaining visual languages in general and domain-specific visual languages (DSVLs) in particular has been an impediment to gaining wider acceptance. This paper describes techniques used in the Moses tool-suite for defining the syntax and semantics of DSVLs, which are very general, yet are built on a few very simple concepts and are therefore easy to apply.