A Method of Context-sensitive Help Generation Using a Task Project

The article presents a new method to automatic generation of help in software. Help generation is realized in the framework of the tool for development and automatic generation of user interfaces based on ontologies. The principal features of the approach are: support for context-sensitive help, automatic generation of help using a task project and an expandable system of help generation.

Software Testing and Documenting Automation

This article describes some approaches to problem of testing and documenting automation in information systems with graphical user interface. Combination of data mining methods and theory of finite state machines is used for testing automation. Automated creation of software documentation is based on using metadata in documented system. Metadata is built on graph model. Described approaches improve performance and quality of testing and documenting processes.

webComputing Service Framework

Presented is webComputing – a general framework of mathematically oriented services including remote access to hardware and software resources for mathematical computations, and web interface to dynamic interactive computations and visualization in a diversity of contexts: mathematical research and engineering, computer-aided mathematical/technical education and distance learning. webComputing builds on the innovative webMathematica technology connecting technical computing system Mathematica to a web server and providing tools for building dynamic and interactive web-interface to Mathematica-based functionality. Discussed are the conception and some of the major components of webComputing service: Scientific Visualization, Domain- Specific Computations, Interactive Education, and Authoring of Interactive Pages.

Case-Based Reasoning Tools from Shells to Object-Oriented Frameworks

A Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) tool is software that can be used to develop several applications that require cased-based reasoning methodology. CBR shells are kind of application generators with graphical user interface. They can be used by non-programmer users but the extension or integration of new components in these tools is not possible. In this paper we analyzed three CBR object-oriented framework development environments CBR*Tools, CAT-CBR, and JColibri. These frameworks work as open software development environment and facilitate the reuse of their design as well as implementations.

Using Problems to Introduce some Tools and Technologies for Implementation of Graphics and Animation in C#

This paper is devoted to the learning of event programming by using Visual C# in specialized training in Informatics in high schools. Some basic tools and technologies for the implementation of graphics and animation in C# are discussed. Two example problems are proposed.

VisibleZ: A Mainframe Architecture Emulator for Computing Education

This paper describes a PC-based mainframe computer emulator called VisibleZ and its use in teaching mainframe Computer Organization and Assembly Programming classes. VisibleZ models IBM’s z/Architecture and allows direct interpretation of mainframe assembly language object code in a graphical user interface environment that was developed in Java. The VisibleZ emulator acts as an interactive visualization tool to simulate enterprise computer architecture. The provided architectural components include main storage, CPU, registers, Program Status Word (PSW), and I/O Channels. Particular attention is given to providing visual clues to the user by color-coding screen components, machine instruction execution, and animation of the machine architecture components. Students interact with VisibleZ by executing machine instructions in a step-by-step mode, simultaneously observing the contents of memory, registers, and changes in the PSW during the fetch-decode-execute machine instruction cycle. The object-oriented design and implementation of VisibleZ allows students to develop their own instruction semantics by coding Java for existing specific z/Architecture machine instructions or design and implement new machine instructions. The use of VisibleZ in lectures, labs, and assignments is described in the paper and supported by a website that hosts an extensive collection of related materials. VisibleZ has been proven a useful tool in mainframe Assembly Language Programming and Computer Organization classes. Using VisibleZ, students develop a better understanding of mainframe concepts, components, and how the mainframe computer works. ACM Computing Classification System (1998): C.0, K.3.2.

Dialog Based on Graphical Static Scenes Managed by an Ontology

A new method to implementation of dialog based on graphical static scenes using an ontology-based approach to user interface development is proposed. The main idea of the approach is to form necessary to the user interface development and implementation information using ontologies and then based on this high-level specification to generate the user interface.