HySCharts: A Statechart-Based Environment for Hyperdocument Authoring and Browsing

The HySCharts environment (Hyperdocument System Based on StateCharts) supports the formal specification of hyperdocuments using a novel formalism called HMBS (Hyperdocument Model Based on Statecharts). This paper presents the HySCharts system architecture, with emphasis on its underlying model and on the functionality of its authoring and browsing modules. HMBS is a statechart-based, navigation-oriented model for hyperdocument specification that uses the structure and execution semantics of statecharts to specify both the structural organization and the browsing semantics of a hyperdocument. The formal definition of HMBS and its associated browsing semantics are introduced. A discussion of the system and its capabilities, as supported by the model, is also provided.