A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Advanced Technologies

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998

This research develops an object-oriented (00) approach and applies it to a user interface management system. It carries out a detailed analysis and designs a proposed model for developing an object-oriented user interface management system (OOUIMS). The model formulates four components: a library of user interface classes, a dialogue control, a presentation component and an application interface model. Based on general characteristics and requirement of user interface (UI), all kinds of element operations are treated as objects and classified into library UI classes. The core idea is the separation of program behaviors from UI by applying the 00 method. Both UI objects and functional applications are communicated by passing messages through the dialogue control. The system is implemented in Borland C++ Builder under the framework of the 00 paradigm. Since tools are integrated into the environment, the artifacts in the interface can interact directly with data, maintaining integrity between data and interface by minimizing code. The OOUIMS method reduces the amount of time devoted to actual coding and debugging, and allows designers to redesign the UI parts with very little effort. By using this prototype, designers can implement complex systems productively and flexibly. This case study does not consider all UI components but illustrates the necessary components for using the object-oriented user interface management system.