Showing papers on "User interface published in 1972"

The formulary model for flexible privacy and access controls

Abstract: This paper presents a model for engineering the user interface for large data base systems in order to maintain flexible access controls over sensitive data. The model is independent of both machine and data base structure, and is sufficiently modular to allow cost-effectiveness studies on access mechanisms. Access control is based on sets of procedures called formularies. The decision on whether a user can read, write, update, etc., data is controlled by programs (not merely bits or tables of data) which can be completely independent of the contents or location of raw data in the data base.

Architecture Definition Technique: Its objectives theory, process, facilities, and practice

Abstract: The Architectural Definition Technique (ADT) is an approach to arriving at a complete, concise, non-ambiguous functional specification of a software or hardware system which is totally independent of packaging considerations. The Architecture Definition Process (ADP) contains six manageable steps leading to the creation and communication of the desired functional specification. Fundamental to the process and its theory, is (1) the reduction of the user visible entities into the system's state variables as represented by machine processable entity classes, attribute classes and set classes and (2) the establishment of the user interface as machine processable function definition algorithms. The Architecture Definition Facility (ADF) which supports the Architecture Definition Process is described. A case study defining the functionality of a File System is used for tutorial purposes

Interactive graphics for schematic editing, a working tool

Abstract: LOGIGRAF, an interactive graphics program to lay out and edit schematic drawings, is now being used in a production environment at Bell Telephone Laboratories. The program runs on a GRAPHIC-211 graphics terminal (fig.1 ) which consists of a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-15 computer with 8K of memory, secondary storage disk, card reader, 9 track tape, display processor, refreshed 21 inch CRT display, keyboard, light pen, function buttons, storage CRT, and hard copy unit. The cost of this hardware assuming a one shift operation and including maintenance is around d25/user hour.2 A virtual memory operating system is used to optimize the use of the 8K of core memory. The operating system and graphical programming support were developd as part of a general interactive graphics system for Bell Laboratories. LOGIGRAF is one of about a half dozen major application programs which all use the same system software. LOGIGRAF itself required almost three man years to develop and presently contains about fifty thousand words of Instructions. Programming was done in a higher level macro language designed for graphic application programming. Many technical obstacles had to be overcome in the development of the program. The most important of these had to do with providing a satisfactory user interface. In addition, a number o f new algorithms for dealing with the graphical data base permitted more complete graphical editing functions to be made available to the user.