EDITABLE GRAPHICAL
HISTORIES:
THE VIDEO David
Kurlander
Ste~’en Feiner Department
of Computer
Columbia New York,
previously
are an important
component
of good
[3]. They allow users to review sequences of
executed commands,
face to an undo facility. ther a simple
and can provide
Furthermore,
redo mechanism,
macro-by-demonstration
capability. histories
of command
face presents a number
they can support eiProviding
NY
10027
graphical
that we have devel-
metaphor, overcomes many of
these. Here we describe editable graphical videotape
ditional strip,
histories,
we demonstrate
and in
our test-bed
implementation in the graphical editing mode of Chimera, a multi-modal editor.
that avoids
showing,
DESCRIPTION is the }’irrual
plications lines
executed
Graphical today,
user interfaces
but it is difficult
may be graphical forgotten mand
to represent whose Often
mouse
histories
interfaces
altogether,
in a list. popular
command
histories
command accelerators
often
abandon
and instead
were
be difficult
beat
would
an extremely
tion
of panels.
in which
to presenting
present
Working
commands sentation
multiple
Our
primitive
necessary in more
allows
into lower-level
detail reinto
that parses
higher-level how
the
would
actions
a grammar
into
panel
then
be a prolifera-
related
level adjusts
mechanism
composed
multiple
contains
If it becomes a history
panel,
the dialogue
on an inter-panel
commands
granularity
user-settable
since
and there would
we rely
system
panels.
A
actions.
much
coalescing
to view
the operations
detail,
an interactive
higher-level
panels
to be de-
ones.
If each panel were a complete
mechanism panel.
are
are used.
miniature
of the application
Instead of using either a screen miniature or we rely on an intra-panel content selection to choose
the important
We also render
phasizes
their
roles
objects
objects
to depict
in a graphical
style
in each that em-
in the explanation.
com-
snapshots
of
this
reexe-
forwards of the com-
representation
a line editor—only
is
a narrow
at once, and the user must keep a mental
and a virtual
themselves. to facilitate
side effects
with
with
of the rest. Temporal
of commands,
level,
Instead,
single
names textual
can be scrolled
as the visual
a document
slice can be viewed model
low
its own
to read,
to coalesce
are critical
is temporal
history
the application in time,
are observed.
akin to editing
the important
EXAMPLE
One such approach
mands
panels,
to be allocated
moval mechanism,
An example
and backwards
of pictorial
of tra-
of a comic
of an application.
If each event
operations. fixed icon,
the application.
cution,
on the metaphor
window, then the small size would obscure the effects of the
to these commands
screen positions
and keyboard
graphical
for graphical
the command
another
their
textual
ap-
increasingly
since the arguments
objects
when
where
one after
are becoming
interpretation.
As a result,
for text-based
scroll model,
are displayed
in the same fashion,
to their
representation
and temporal
of the disadvantages
We rely
history
elaboration history
the spatial
representation
many
in a series
in the history
is performed.
popular
merge
a history
representations.
composing The most
histories
to produce
user interfaces
events
user inter-
Editable
histories [1, 2], a history representation
graphical
paradigms,
a visual rep-
in a graphical
of difficulties.
oped based on a comic-strip
an inter-
or a more sophisticated
resentation
the accompanying
University
Editable
INTRODUCTION Command histories user interfaces
Science
reexecution scroll
Neither understanding.
often
depicts represents
structures
the effects only
the history
the pre-
history
of an editor
are shown
ated in vertical
pairs,
ter
operations.
important
scene and several
in Figure
1. The history
showing
the application Using
us to avoid
history
that are not used in the interface.
appeared
depicts before
The effects (the vidual
panel
the arguments
of the operation
epilogue).
on symbols
the important Related
pairs.
before
for
are shown
its
and afpairs
expressing
The top panel
of the commands operation
operations
from
are gener-
before-and-after
allows
prologue)
relying
panels panels
the (the
as they
was performed. in the bottom
are coalesced
into
panel indi-
(a) REAR
Figure
FILTERS
1. Editor
scene (a), and four frames from its graphi-
cal history (b),
(b)
7
STRAINER PUMP
In the first panel pair of Figure lb, we set the fill color of the
user interface
circle
to be white.
nent of Chimera’s
typed
into the Text Input
and the selected prologue.
The arguments
circle
els as well.
circle
includes
However,
scene,
appears
the location
mechanism
sized by lightening
of Chimera’s
of the editor
The modified
der to disambiguate history
widget
of the operation,
panel,
are shown
in the epilogue.
nearby
these contextual their
control
of the graphical
other
the color
objects
in the
point
In or-
undone
objects,
objects
the mouse,
the
in the pan-
in time
ry is automatically
so that other
that is lathe com-
is extended
to
which
applications
will
quences
resents
REFERENCES
Drag
operations.
same panel, jects
These
immediately pair,
multiple
two
to this
the text
caret
movements
panels
if further
operations
translations
Move-Caret
cursor),
appear
of a single
translation.
and two
In
the
in the
operation is added
can be broken detail
are equivalent up into
with to any
user interaction,
an
and the histo-
the new
command
se-
mechanism
out
Oct.
and
to a single
one.
lower-level
is needed.
both
as a means
representation
system,
of it as well.
1988).
127–134.
Environments:
se-
a macro,
of the macro
Histories.
Languages. Reprinted
Applications
(Pittsin Visual
and
ed. IEEE Press, Los Alamitos,
and
itself.
Graphical
on Visual
In
facility
of selecting into
S. Editable
Workshop
10–12,
E. P. Glinert,
management
a macro-by-demonstration
D. and Feiner,
Programming
into
the history
to be encapsulated
1988 IEEE
set of ob-
location,
additional
Proc.
last panel
are also coalesced at the caret
1. Kurlander,
burgh,
is added to the scene. Two caret movements
since
These
Drag
to a single
prior
panels
together—a
the software
since multiple
is equivalent
pair, a text label this
coalesced
positions
scene back
can take advantage
use histories
of operations
as part of the visual
operations
of moving
we are building
include the triangle, and the selections are copied. The third panel pair represents the copy being dragged to a new position in the Valve #2 box, visible in Figure 1a, This pair rep(which
to show
compo-
a panel
can be redone,
and into our user interface
addition,
three
subsequent
updated
a critical
quence.
object selection, and a more significant operation beled above the panels to further disambiguate
operation
After
form
By selecting
the editor
of operations
We are in the process
the selection
histories
interface.
are reempha-
colors.
pair,
depicted.
sequence
The first two panel pairs each depict two operations: both an
In the second
These
undo
the user can revert
of Chimera
mand.
issues.
Issues,
CA, 1990.
416423. 2. Kurlander,
D. and Feiner,
S. A Visual
Language
for
Browsing, Undoing, and Redoing Graphical Interface and Visual ProgramCommands. In Visual Languages ming,
Shi-Kuo
Chang,
ed. Plenum
Press,
New
York,
1990. 257–275.
CONCLUSION Editable
graphical
part of the Chimera
3. Lee, A. A Taxonomy histories editor,
are currently which
implemented
we use to experiment
as with
Graphics 113-122.
Interface
of Uses of Interaction ’90.
(Halifax,
May
History. 14-18,
Proc. 1990).
