A menu interface development environment based on lean cuisine : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University

Abstract

The integrated user interface development environment based on the Lean Cuisine graphical notation [Apperley & Spence, 89) is a combination of software tools used to support user interface development from initial design, rapid prototyping through to direct implementation. This thesis describes the development of three software tools used in the integrated user interface development environment. The Lean Cuisine graphical editor (Elc) provides an interactive design environment for graphical specifications of menu-based interfaces and shows that the Lean Cuisine notation described in (Apperley & Spence, 89] has been implemented in a practical computer environment as an interactive interface design tool. The user interface simulator (Slc) is a very effective and reliable interface simulating and testing tool which supports quick and convenient user interface simulation Using Slc, a menu interface can be quickly simulated in its design environment, where a menu-based interface can be partially or wholly simulated and invalid menu structures can be dynamically modified, or in its application environment, where evaluators are given a real feel of how this menu-based user interface works. The user interface generator (Glc) is used to generate basic interface source code files for a user interface from its Lean Cuisine graphical specification file, and a working model of a user interface can be easily and quickly implemented without programming. The integrated user interface development environment based on the Lean Cuisine graphical notation (Apperley & Spence, 89] successfully integrates a graphical notation, the visual programming technique, with an existing programming toolkit and offers advantages over other User Interface Programming Toolkits, language-based UIMSs and current Visual Programming Tools. It supports three main phases (design, prototyping and implementation) of the graphical user interface development lifecycle. This approach has not been found in previous user interface development tools and user interface management systems.