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Petri-net-based hypertext: document structure with browsing semantics

Editor: Robert B. Allen Authors:

P. David Stotts,

Richard FurutaAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), Volume 7, Issue 1

Pages 3 - 29

https://doi.org/10.1145/64789.64791

Published: 03 January 1989 Publication History

Abstract

We present a formal definition of the Trellis model of hypertext and describe an authoring and browsing prototype called αTrellis that is based on the model. The Trellis model not only represents the relationships that tie individual pieces of information together into a document (i.e., the adjacencies), but specifies the browsing semantics to be associated with the hypertext as well (i.e., the manner in which the information is to be visited and presented). The model is based on Petri nets, and is a generalization of existing directed graph-based forms of hypertext. The Petri net basis permits more powerful specification of what is to be displayed when a hypertext is browsed and permits application of previously developed Petri net analysis techniques to verify properties of the hypertext. A number of useful hypertext constructs, easily described in the Trellis model, are presented. These include the synchronization of simultaneous traversals of separate paths through a hypertext, the incorporation of access controls into a hypertext (i.e., specifying nodes that can be proven to be accessible only to certain classes of browsers), and construction of multiple specialized (tailored) versions from a single hypertext.

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Cited By

Bernstein M(2024)A Novel Architecture for Classical HypertextProceedings of the 35th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media10.1145/3648188.3675147(302-308)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3648188.3675147
Bernstein MRubart JAtzenbeck C(2021)StoryspaceProceedings of the 4th Workshop on Human Factors in Hypertext10.1145/3468143.3483929(17-18)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3468143.3483929
Offutt JThummala S(2019)Testing concurrent user behavior of synchronous web applications with Petri netsSoftware and Systems Modeling (SoSyM)10.1007/s10270-018-0655-818:2(913-936)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10270-018-0655-8
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Index Terms

Petri-net-based hypertext: document structure with browsing semantics

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Reviews

Reviewer: Jay David Bolter

A hypertext is often represented by a directed graph, in which the nodes stand for units of text or graphics and the links stand for branch points between these units. The authors here present an alternative representation: a formal model of hypertext based on Petri nets. They illustrate their model with a prototype system called Trellis, implemented on a Sun workstation. The Petri-net representation has formal advantages over the traditional directed graph. In particular, the specification and control of browsing is built into the representation. The authors show how their model can clarify various forms of multiple and concurrent browsing, in which the user may visit two or more nodes at the same time or even follow two paths simultaneously. The model also provides a formal mechanism for access control and a method for deciding reachability—whether a user can ever reach a certain node from a given starting condition. In general, the authors make a convincing case for their Petri-net model. Their clear and readable paper is an important contribution to the formal theory of hypertext. For those with a practical interest in hypertext, the paper provides a number of suggestions for building sophisticated browsers.

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Information Systems

ACM Transactions on Information Systems Volume 7, Issue 1

Jan. 1989

98 pages

ISSN:1046-8188

EISSN:1558-2868

DOI:10.1145/64789

Editor:
Robert B. Allen

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 1989 ACM.

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 03 January 1989

Published in TOIS Volume 7, Issue 1

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Cited By

Bernstein M(2024)A Novel Architecture for Classical HypertextProceedings of the 35th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media10.1145/3648188.3675147(302-308)Online publication date: 10-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3648188.3675147
Bernstein MRubart JAtzenbeck C(2021)StoryspaceProceedings of the 4th Workshop on Human Factors in Hypertext10.1145/3468143.3483929(17-18)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3468143.3483929
Offutt JThummala S(2019)Testing concurrent user behavior of synchronous web applications with Petri netsSoftware and Systems Modeling (SoSyM)10.1007/s10270-018-0655-818:2(913-936)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10270-018-0655-8
Bernstein MLee DSastry NWeber I(2018)As We May HearProceedings of the 29th on Hypertext and Social Media10.1145/3209542.3210575(242-245)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3209542.3210575
Masiero Pde Oliveira MGermano FPierri G(2018)Authoring and Searching in Dynamically Growing Hypertext DatabasesHypermedia10.1080/09558543.1994.120312326:2(124-148)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/09558543.1994.12031232
Arents HBogaerts W(2018)Towards an Architecture for Third-Order Hypermedia SystemsHypermedia10.1080/09558543.1991.120311953:2(133-152)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2018
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Gallagher LFuruta RStotts P(2018)Increasing the Power of Hypertext Search with Relational QueriesHypermedia10.1080/09558543.1990.120311712:1(1-14)Online publication date: 29-Oct-2018
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Orlando AZaine IPimentel MDe Souza DTeixeira CCamilleri KBonnici A(2017)Interactive Documents based on Discrete TrialsProceedings of the 2017 ACM Symposium on Document Engineering10.1145/3103010.3121048(77-80)Online publication date: 31-Aug-2017
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Bernstein MBlustein JHerder ERubart JAshman H(2016)Storyspace 3Proceedings of the 27th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media10.1145/2914586.2914624(201-206)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2016
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2914586.2914624
Zhang YWang WWu NQian C(2016)IoT-Enabled Real-Time Production Performance Analysis and Exception Diagnosis ModelIEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering10.1109/TASE.2015.249780013:3(1318-1332)Online publication date: Jul-2016
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