Enforcing Strong Object Typing in Flexible Hypermedia

The presentation layer of hypermedia systems could benefit from standard object querying functionality and this is most effective if strong typing is enforced. By strong typing we mean the direct representation of data semantics as object types in an object database as oposed to a “slotted frames” representation. On the other hand, the flexible emergent nature of structure must be considered in the authoring activity and in this sense premature typing and organizing is counterproductive. Reflecting on these apparently contradictory issues and the past proposals to handle the problem, we extend the strongly typed data model of a prototype hypermedia system, WorldView, to support semi-automatic object submission and type metamorphosis. Weak types are also necessary for some constructs, so they coexist with strong types, but these are enforced. We emphasize the benefits available to the presentation layer of keeping a uniform object oriented structure. In particular we implement a dy...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1998
• Where: HT
• Authors: Pedro Furtado, Henrique Madeira
• Keywords: HT 1998, Hypermedia Systems, Internet Technology, Object Querying Functionality, Strong Typing