A framework for development of Web applications for pervasive terminals

Overview

"Dynamic generation of HTML documents with Adaptive Rendering for Micro-Agents" ( DHARMA ) is a framework for development of Web applications for business objects and various pervasive terminals, such as wearable devices, PDAs, auto PCs, and network computers, as well as PCs and workstations.

These terminals differ with respect to their processing systems, user interaction, and communication. Thus, Web applications must adapt their contents to each device when they provide service sessions. DHARMA focuses on automatic generation of device-specific structures from structured business objects and logical contents definitions.

Research items

Architecture Design

DHARMA adds functions to servers to make Web applications independent of client devices. Its mechanism of DHARMA is as follows:

1. Determine the device's capabilities (modem speed, screen size, etc).
2. Determine the logical application structure (application breaks, importance level of data, etc).
3. Generate HTML documents adapted to individual devices with respect to characteristics such as:
   • Pagination
   • Conversion of embedded contents into indirect links (e.g., images)

Tool design and implementation

DHARMA generates Web contents for each application from both contents definitions written in a markup language, and business objects representing the application logic and data, such as data in enterprise databases. The markup language can be for example, an application of XML.

Web-application development languages

To get better rendering results, it is helpful to embed additional hints into the original contents, such as a logical structure definition for pagination and levels of importance for the information to be ordered in presentation or to be displayed on every split page.

We are proposing to extend HTML or use XML for describing such hints.

Publications

• Kitayama, F., Hirose, S., and Kuse, K., "A Framework for Development of Web Applications for Pervasive Terminals -- System Overview and Application Objects" IPSJ 57th Annual Convention, (1998).
• Hirose, S., Kitayama, F., and Kuse, K., "A Framework for Development of Web Applications for Pervasive Terminals -- View Object Generation and HTML Generation Mechanism" IPSJ 57th Annual Convention, (1998).
• Kitayama, F., Hirose, S., and Kuse, K., "Design and Implementation of Web-Application Development System for Business Objects and Pervasive Terminals" IPSJ '98 Object Oriented Symposium, (1998).
• Kondo, G.,Hirose, S., Kitayama, F., Kuse, K., "A SGML Parser based on DOM interface", IPSJ 58th Annual Convention (1999).
• Kitayama, F., "Software Change Propagation and an Experience on Web Application Development," IPSJ '99 Object-Oriented Symposium (1999)
• Hirose, S., Kondo, G., "Application of a Framework for Web Applications for Pervasive Terminals, to HTML Transforming Proxy Servers", IPSJ 59th Annual Convention (1999).