Premium
GCI—A tool for developing interactive cad user interfaces
Author(s) -
Gudes Ehud,
Bracha Gilad
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380171103
Subject(s) - computer science , unix , interface (matter) , human–computer interaction , flexibility (engineering) , user interface , syntax , cad , programming language , software engineering , software , engineering drawing , operating system , artificial intelligence , bubble , maximum bubble pressure method , engineering , statistics , mathematics
GCI is a Unix‐based tool for developing interactive CAD programs. By separating command/ menu definitions from the progam, GCI makes it easier to change and extend the user interface. The language provided by GCI is used to define the syntax of commands, menus, messages, and help text. Generally, GCI supports a static hierarchical structure of commands and menus. However, through a program interface, an application program has the freedom to change environments, commands and menus. This flexibility of run‐time control of the user interface is essential for developing highly responsive interfaces in a CAD environment. This paper presents the main concepts and definition language of GCI. It then discusses architectural and implementation issues, and finally presents a typical application's view of using the tool.