Trellis Model

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The DexterReferenceModel and the AmsterdamModel provide frameworks against which to compare existing systems and guide the creation of new systems (e.g. DeviseHypermedia). In contrast, the Trellis Model was designed to aid the formal analysis of hypertexts.

The Trellis Model describes hypertexts using PetriNets. A PetriNet allows the specification of the browsing semantics of a hypertext by attaching meaning to the connections between nodes. A hypertext is built up of a PetriNet structure, a set of documents, a set of interface components, and a collection of mappings between them.

The Trellis Model can be used to calculate:

  1. Display Parameters: Characteristics of the display can be calculated e.g. the maximum number of windows that will appear on the screen at the same time.

  2. Concurrent Browsing Paths and Synchronisation: The model lends itself naturally to multiple browsing paths. Concurrent paths can be synchronised at specified points.

  3. Node Reachability: It can be verified that all nodes in the hypertext are reachable. The nodes that can be reached from different starting points can also be calculated.

The Trellis Model was used to formalise a hypertext 'meta-structure' (the Trellis r-model) that can be used in a similar way to the DexterReferenceModel and the AmsterdamModel.

(--TimMilesBoard)


The Trellis Hypertext Reference Model
Richard Furuta & David Stotts, Proceedings of the 17th International SIGGRAPH Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, 144-155, 1990.

A Functional MetañStructure for Hypertext Models and Systems
Richard Furuta & David Stotts, Electronic Publishing - Origination, Dissemination and Design, 3(4), 179-205, 1990.

-- Last edited October 27, 2002

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