Integrating a Hypertext Interface into a Syntax-Directed Programming Environment

This paper describes an integration of hypertext browsing and authoring facilities into a syntax-directed programming environment. The editor’s recognition of the programming language building blocks has been exploited not only to guide program entry, but to break programs into units which can be connected into a hyperdocument. Comments and documentation are separated from the actual program and integrated into this hyperdocument to provide an explanatory hypertext view through which programs can be navigated. The environment also incorporates a flexible history record mechanism deployed at appropriate points in the program structure, rather than only at the file level as with many current programming environments.