Connecting Semantic Tools to a Syntax-directed User-interface

The problem of how to connect a function, ooered by a computational component, to a graphical user-interface part |such as a button| is addressed in a general way. We propose a solution that achieves a complete separation between the computational component and the user-interface component. We show that our approach is feasible in the application domain of interactive programming environments and present a user-interface deenition language for it. Code generated from a user-interface description written in this language can be combined with run-time code thus forming a User-Interface Management System. As a result, functions representing semantic tools, such as typecheckers, compilers and program transformers, can be \connected" to the user-interface of a syntax-directed editor. Several examples of typical man-machine dialogues in this application domain are presented and the suggested approach is compared with other techniques.