00CONTENTS
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This file describes the contents of:
ftp://ftp.iicm.tu-graz.ac.at/pub/Hyper-G/papers
Technical Documentation for Hyper-G:
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HTF.ps
"Hyper-G Text Format (HTF)"
The specification of the Hyper-G text format. You need to read this if you
plan enter text documents in HTF or to write filters to insert mass data in
Hyper-G. Is really a pointer to the current version of the specification.
Protocol.ps
"Hyper-G Client/Server Protocol (HG-CSP)"
The specification of the Hyper-G client/server protocol. You need to read
this if you want to write a new Hyper-G client or low-level tool to
manipulate information in a Hyper-G server. Is really a pointer to the
current version of the protocol specification.
hug.ps
"Harmony User Guide"
65 pages PostScript (27MB uncompressed). Detailed description of
Harmony (Unix/X11 client/authoring tool for Hyper-G), including
installation guide.
amadeus.ps
"Amadeus User Guide"
38 pages PostScript. Detailed description of Amadeus (Windows
client/authoring tool for Hyper-G), including installation guide.
Research Papers on Hyper-G (listed in reverse chronological order):
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vrml95.ps
Michael Pichler, Gerbert Orasche, Keith Andrews, Ed Grossman, and
Mark McCahill; "VRweb: A Multi-System VRML Viewer"; To appear in
Proceedings of The First Annual Symposium on the Virtual Reality
Modeling Language (VRML 95), San Diego, California, December
1995. [9 pages, 14.6 MB uncompressed]
Abstract: As VRML becomes *the* standard for describing 3D scenes
on the Internet, many VRML viewers are being developed with
proprietary interests or for specific target systems or protocols.
VRweb is a VRML viewer providing the same user interface for
multiple Web protocols (WWW, Gopher, and Hyper-G) and multiple
platforms (Unix, Windows, and Macintosh) and is available as both
binary and source code. VRweb source code is copyrighted, but is
freely available for non-commercial use, providing a platform for
research and experiment. Unlike other VRML viewers available in
source code, VRweb does *not* require additional commercial
libraries like OpenInventor or Motif, it is based entirely on freely
available software components.
A short overview of currently available VRML browsers is followed by
a more detailed look at VRweb, including its user interface,
multi-system nature, and software architecture.
windisch.ps
Claudia Windisch: "HarAdmin: A Graphical Tool for Hyper-G Server
Administration"
Master Thesis, IICM, Graz University of Technology, Austria,
November 1995. [108 pages]
Abstract: This thesis gives a short overview of information systems
available on the Internet and a detailed description of Hyper-G, the
first second generation hypermedia information system.
The biggest problem of distributed information systems is disorientation.
Because of the huge amount of information available on the Internet
the user has difficulty to gain an overview, to know how much
information exists to a certain topic, etc.
Hyper-G has navigational, structuring, and search facilities to
help cope with this problem.
Two particular features are Hyper-G's user accounts and its
hierarchical scheme of user groups, which are used to grant or deny
access to specific parts of the information space.
Hgadmin, a VT100 terminal and HarAdmin, a graphical X-Windows
based tool for user and group administration are explained in
detail in this thesis. HarAdmin is based on the Hyper-G
Client/Server Protocol and on hgadmin. It provides functionality for
browsing through the user-group hierarchy, displays all existing
users and groups of the current Hyper-G server, and makes it easy to
create, delete, and manipulate user accounts and user groups.
eyl.ps
Martin Eyl: "The Harmony Information Landscape: Interactive,
Three-Dimensional Navigation Through an Information Space",
Master Thesis, IICM, Graz University of Technology, Austria,
October 1995. [109 pages]
Abstract: Computer have made it possible to store and process larger
and larger amounts of information, but humans have problems to manage
such large amounts of data. Hence user interfaces have improved and
the use of spatial metaphors and hyperlinks and the 3D representation
of information have gained in significance. This thesis first
discusses a number of research projects which use spatial metaphors
and then introduces you to hypertext and the Harmony Information
Landscape which visualizes the hierarchical structure of information
as an information landscape. This information is stored on a Hyper-G
server which is an Internet-based, large-scale hypermedia
system. Blocks representing collections of individual pieces of
information are spread out on a plane and one can interactively fly
over this virtual landscape. Several different navigation modes are
provided.
ivis95.ps
Keith Andrews; "Visualising Cyberspace: Information Visualisation
in the Harmony Internet Browser"; Proc. of First IEEE Symposium on
Information Visualization, Atlanta, GA, Oct. 1995.
[8 pages, 13.8 MB uncompressed]
Abstract: The explosive growth of information systems on the Internet
has clearly demonstrated the need to organise, filter, and present
information in ways which allow users to cope with the sheer
quantities of information available.
The scope for visualisation of Gopher and WWW spaces is restricted by
the limitations of their respective data models. The far richer data
model supported by the Hyper-G Internet information system is
exploited by its Harmony client to provide a number of
tightly-coupled, two- and three-dimensional visualisation and
navigational facilities, which help provide location feedback and
alleviate user disorientation.
derler.ps
Christian Derler: "The World-Wide Web Gateway to Hyper-G: Using
a Connectionless Protocol to Access Session-Oriented Services",
Master Thesis, IICM, Graz University of Technology, Austria,
March 1995. [105 pages]
Abstract: In this thesis, possibilities are studied how session-oriented
services on the Internet can be made accessible to users of client
programs that use a connectionless application-level protocol.
The concepts and properties of two Hypermedia Information Systems,
the World-Wide Web (WWW) and Hyper-G, are described and a comparison
between these two systems is given.
A gateway program was developed which is used as a protocol converter
between the session-oriented Hyper-G client-server protocol and the
connectionless Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). A mechanism was
implemented that allows to differentiate HTTP requests and to assign
them to Hyper-G sessions. The gateway provides users of World-Wide Web
clients with session-oriented access to information residing on Hyper-G
servers.
marschall.ps
Bernhard Marschall: "Integration of Digital Video into Distributed
Hypermedia Systems", Master Thesis, IICM, Graz University of
Technology, Austria, March 1995. [80 pages]
Abstract: This thesis discusses digital video and its integration
into hypermedia systems. It shows some algorithms and formats to
compress and store digital video, focusing on the MPEG standard.
General topics on hypertext and hypermedia systems are discussed as
well as their problems and drawbacks, and ways to overcome them. As
a special example the architecture and features of Hyper-G and its
Unix/X11 client Harmony are described.
Finally, the features and implementation of the Harmony Film Player
are described. It fully integrates MPEG movies into the hyperlink
structure of Hyper-G/Harmony by allowing links from and to movie
documents. Any part of a movie, both temporal and spatial, can be
used either as source or destination anchor of a hyperlink.
chi95.ps
Keith Andrews, Frank Kappe, and Hermann Maurer; "Hyper-G and
Harmony: Towards the Next Generation of Networked Information
Technology"; Formal Demo Summary, to appear in CHI'95 Conference
Companion, Denver, May 1995. [2 pages]
Abstract: Current networked information systems on the Internet,
whilst extremely successful, run into problems of fragmentation,
consistency, scalability, and loss of orientation. The development
of "second generation" networked information systems, such as
Hyper-G and its Harmony client, can help overcome these
limitations. Of particular note are Hyper-G's tightly-coupled
structuring, linking, and search facilities, its projection of a
seamless information space across server boundaries with respect to
each of these facilities, and its support for multiple
languages. Harmony utilises two and three-dimensional
visualisations of the information space and couples location
feedback to search and link browsing operations, in order to reduce
the likelihood of disorientation.
dms94.ps
Keith Andrews, Frank Kappe, and Hermann Maurer; "The Hyper-G
Network Information System"; J.UCS, Vol. 1, No. 4, April 1995,
Special Issue: Selected Proceedings of the Workshop on Distributed
Multimedia Systems, Graz, Austria, Nov. 1994. [15 pages]
Abstract: As the Internet continues to experience exponential rates
of growth, attention is shifting away from mainstream network
services such as electronic mail and file transfer to more
interactive information services. Current network information
systems, whilst extremely successful, run into problems of
fragmentation, consistency, scalability, and loss of orientation.
The development of "second generation" network information systems
such as Hyper-G can help overcome these limitations. Of particular
note are Hyper-G's tightly-coupled structuring, linking, and search
facilities, its projection of a seamless information space across
server boundaries with respect to each of these facilities, and its
support for multiple languages. The Harmony client for Hyper-G
utilises two and three-dimensional visualisations of the
information space and couples location feedback to search and link
browsing operations, in order to reduce the likelihood of
disorientation. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of
Hyper-G and Harmony.
www95.ps
Keith Andrews, Frank Kappe, and Hermann Maurer; "Serving
Information to the Web with Hyper-G"; To appear in Computer
Networks and ISDN Systems, Vol. 27, No. 6, April 1995, Proc. Third
International World-Wide Web Conference, WWW'95, Darmstadt,
Germany, April 1995.
Abstract: The provision and maintenance of truly large-scale
information resources on the World-Wide Web necessitates server
architectures offering substantially more functionality than simply
serving HTML files from the local file system and processing CGI
requests.
This paper describes Hyper-G, a large-scale, multi-protocol,
distributed, hypermedia information system which uses an
object-oriented database layer to provide information structuring
and link maintenance facilities in addition to fully integrated
attribute and content search, a hierarchical access control scheme,
support for multiple languages, interactive link editing, and
point-and-click document insertion.
p-flood.ps
Frank Kappe: "A Scalable Architecture for Maintaining Referential
Integrity in Distributed Information Systems", J.UCS, Vol. 1,
No. 2, February 1995.
Abstract: One of the problems that we experience with today's most
widespread Internet Information Systems (like WWW or Gopher) is the
lack of support for maintaining referential integrity. Whenever a
resource is (re)moved, dangling references from other resources may
occur.
This paper presents a scalable architecture for automatic
maintenance of referential integrity in large (thousands of
servers) distributed information systems. A central feature of the
proposed architecture is the p-flood algorithm, which is a
scalable, robust, prioritizable, probabilistic server-server
protocol for efficient distribution of update information to a
large collection of servers.
The p-flood algorithm is now implemented in the Hyper-G system, but
may in principle also be implemented as an add-on for existing WWW
and Gopher servers.
report388.ps
Kappe F., Andrews K., Faschingbauer J., Gaisbauer M., Pichler M.,
Schipflinger J.: "Hyper-G: A New Tool for Distributed Hypermedia".
Abstract: This paper describes Hyper-G, a new hypermedia information system
which combines the best of Gopher, WAIS, and World Wide Web. Hyper-G is
specifically designed as a distributed, large-scale hypermedia information
system supporting navigation in a large body of dynamically changing
information without becoming ``lost in hyperspace''. Users may choose a
hierarchical navigation paradigm, click on hyper-links, go on guided tours,
or perform variable-scope searches.
This paper presents Hyper-G from the user's perspective, outlines the basic
architecture of the system, and describes its interaction with existing
distributed information retrieval tools like Gopher, WAIS, and World Wide
Web.
egmm94.ps
Andrews K. and Kappe F.: "Soaring Through Hyperspace: A Snapshot of
Hyper-G and its Harmony Client"; to appear in Proc. of Eurographics
Symposium and Workshop on Multimedia: Multimedia/Hypermedia in Open
Distributed Environments, Graz, Austria, June 1994.
Abstract: This paper describes the current status of work on Hyper-G
and its new viewer, Harmony. Hyper-G is a general-purpose,
large-scale, distributed hypermedia information system under
development at Graz University of Technology. It is based on the
client-server model across the Internet and is interoperable with both
Gopher and World Wide Web.
Harmony is the new native Hyper-G client for X Windows on Unix
platforms. It takes advantage of Hyper-G's structuring and retrieval
features to provide both intuitive navigational facilities and
informative feedback about the location of information.
mhvr94.ps
Andrews K. and Pichler M.: "Hooking Up 3-Space: Three-Dimensional Models as
Fully-Fledged Hypermedia Documents"; to appear in Proc. of East-West
International Conference on Multimedia, Hypermedia, and Virtual Reality,
Moscow, Sept. 94.
Abstract: This paper examines the incorporation of three-dimensional
models into hypermedia systems as fully-fledged documents. Their use
provides hypermedia authors with an additional, powerful means of
presentation. Display, linking, navigational, and authoring aspects
of 3D hypermedia documents are discussed and are illustrated with
examples taken from the Harmony Viewer for the Hyper-G hypermedia
information system.
vrv93.ps
Andrews K.: Constructing Cyberspace: Virtual Reality and Hypermedia.
To appear in Proceedings of Virtual Reality Vienna '93.
Abstract: Large-scale, distributed hypermedia information systems
allow fast, structured access to very large, dynamic information
bases. The highly perceptual nature of a virtual reality interface has
the power to take users both inside information and inside its
structure. Combining the two takes us a step towards cyberspace,
William Gibson's vision of a virtual model of all the world's
interconnected data. This paper reviews current work on the boundary
of virtual reality and hypermedia.
pichler[12].ps
Michael Pichler: "Interactive Browsing of 3D Scenes in Hypermedia:
The Hyper-G 3D Viewer", Master Thesis, IICM, Graz University of Tech-
nology, Austria, October 1993. [130 pages]
Abstract: This thesis discusses methods for interactive navigation
through virtual 3D scenes in hypermedia systems. Several methods for
manipulating the scene and navigating through it have been developed
as well as alternatives for hightlighting pickable objects
(information links). The implemented 3D viewer has been
embedded into
the Hyper-G hypermedia system. Program evaluation was done with
heuristic evaluation and usability tests.
inet93.ps
Kappe F.: Hyper-G: A Distributed Hypermedia System. Proc. INET '93, San
Francisco, California, pp. DCC-1--DCC-9 (Aug. 1993).
Abstract: Hyper-G is a general-purpose, large-scale, distributed hypermedia
system currently developed at the Graz University at Technology. It was
designed for handling large amounts of multimedia data, and care has been
taken to provide mechanisms for automatic maintenance of a dynamically
changing body of information, advanced user interface features, and efficient
use of network and computing resources.
While Hyper-G was originally designed to run in fast, local-area networks,
this paper shows how Hyper-G is currently being transformed into a global
hypermedia information system distributed over Internet that retains
Hyper-G's advanced functionality such as automatic link generation and
maintenance, navigation facilities, access rights, and distributed searching,
and makes efficient use of network bandwidth by extensive caching.
report364.ps
This file contains the paper "Hyper-G: A Large Universal Hypermedia System
and Some Spin-Offs" that has appeared in ACM SIGGRAPH's experimental special
online issue of "Computer Graphics" (May 1993) and can be retrieved by
anonymous ftp from host siggraph.org in directory
publications/May_93_online/Kappe.Maurer.
Abstract: The incremental implementation of a thoroughly modular, large,
networked hypermedia system called Hyper-G has been in progress in our
research institutes in Graz for a number of years. By incremental we mean
that certain parts of the system are not only working but are in actual use,
while others are still in the process of being tested, developed or even
specified. As additional modules become available they will improve current
possibilities or add new functionality. Despite the fact that Hyper-G is a
Unix-based networked system some parts of it can and have been ported to
stand-alone PC platforms. In this paper we will first briefly describe
Hyper-G, will then detail a few of the more unusual characteristics of it and
will also explain a number of stand-alone applications that have become
important on their own, mainly in the area of electronic publishing.
Note: The whole paper is one large postscript file (~10MB uncompressed). If
you want to look at the color images, you are probably better off accessing
siggraph.org, or look at the electronic hypertext version that is contained
on the Hyper-G server of Graz University of Technology.
report363.ps
Kappe F., Maurer H.: From Hypertext to Active Communication/Information
Systems. IIG Report 364, IIG, Graz University of Technology, Austria,
June 1993.
Abstract: In this paper we advocate the integration of advanced communication
facilities into a distributed hypermedia system. We will first develop a set
of user requirements and then come up with a simple design based on three
orthogonal concepts (annotation, active collections, and active documents)
that can be used to implement the required features in a certain
implementation of a distributed hypermedia system (Hyper-G).
We also show how allowing to apply the three concepts to every object of the
information space (as implied by the principle of orthogonality) transforms
the passive information system into an ``active communication/information
system'' in which the user is not only able to contribute to the information
body, but also to let the system actively seek and deliver information
according to the user's interests.
report341.ps
Kappe F., Pani G.: The Architecture of a Massively Distributed Hypermedia
System. IIG Report 341, IIG, Graz University of Technology, Austria,
Sept. 1991.
Abstract: For about 50 years computer science pioneers have dreamt of
augmenting their intellect by sharing the collective knowledge of individuals
with each other through a global network of machines. However, until recently
the technology to implement such a "global information system" was not
available at reasonable cost. We believe that today's technology and concepts
would allow to create an ambitious information and communication system based
on hypermedia principles that would be massively distributed (i.e. over the
whole world).
This paper first compares the old visions with systems that are available
today. Then we describe the architecture of a global, general-purpose
hypermedia system in an evolutionary way, i.e. we show how it can be
developed using techniques already explored by existing projects. The
resulting global information system is specifically designed to operate in
the real-world environment of the internet and makes efficient use of its
structure.
Note: has appeared in "Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications
and Policy", 3(1): 10-24.
report333.txt
Kappe F., Maurer H., Sherbakov N.: Hyper-G - A Universal Hypermedia System.
IIG Report 333, IIG, Graz University of Technology, Austria, June 1991.
Abstract: Hyper-G is the name of an ambitious hypermedia project
currently being developed as a joint effort by a number of
institutes of the IIG (Institutes for Information-Processing Graz)
of the Technical University of Graz and the Austrian Computer
Society. Hyper-G is conceived as a Universal Hypermedia System.
Hypertext and hypermedia systems were envisioned by pioneers like
Bush, Engelbart and Nelson as one way of obtaining easy to use
universal information systems. Hyper-G will be the basis of a
University Information System which combines concepts of
information retrieval systems, documentation systems, communication
and collaboration, and computer supported teaching and learning.
This article focuses on the applications of hypermedia technology
in university environments, and describes the ideas and concepts
behind Hyper-G as far as they are related to the university
applications domain.
Note: Has appeared in the Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia
2(1):39-66. For copyright reasons, we only offer the plain text without
images and formatting for anon-ftp.
Rather old stuff:
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report266.ps
Kappe F.: Picture Interchange Coding (PIC); Functional Specification and
Encoding of Profile '2D'. IIG Report 266, IIG, Graz University of Technology,
Austria, February 1989.
Abstract: This documentation contains detailed specification of the Picture
Interchange Coding (PIC) file format. PIC is a flexible format suitable for
the encoding of graphical and related data. The PIC data format has been
designed for and is used in conjunction with EDEN-based interactive graphics
editors. It is also used as the image format of the 'Hyper-G' project. The
functional specification is closely related to that of CGM, CGI and PHIGS.
The document presents an overview of the basic concepts of EDEN and PIC, the
functional specification of PIC, and the coding specification of profile '2D'.
60 pages.
report284.ps
Kappe F., Maurer H., Tomek I.: Hyper-G: Specification of Requirements. IIG
Report 284, IIG, Graz University of Technology, Austria, April 1991.
Abstract: Hyper-G is the name of an ambitious Hypermedia project currently
being developed as a joint effort by a number of institutes of the IIG
(Institutes for Information-Processing Graz) of the Technical University of
Graz (yes, the 'G' in Hyper-G stands for Graz) and the Austrian Computer
Society.
Study of modern hypermedia systems, information systems, and user interfaces
lead to a number of ideas, features, and examples of applications of Hyper-G.
They were condensed, put into a logical relationship, and now form a
framework of requirements that is contained in this report.
The requirements may also be seen as a description of Hyper-G's features.
Care has been taken to isolate requirements from implementation details,
design decisions, examples and applications of Hyper-G.
25 pages.
Note: Is a subset of report #308.
report308.ps
Kappe F.: Aspects of a Modern Multi-Media Information System. IIG Report 308,
IIG, Graz University of Technology, Austria, June 1991.
Abstract: This thesis describes a new, large-scale Hypermedia project
('Hyper-G') currently being developed at the Institute for Foundations of
Information Processing and Computer Supported New Media (Head: Professor
Hermann Maurer) of the Technical University of Graz. Experience gathered from
modern Hypermedia systems, large-scale information systems, computer aided
instruction and user interface design considerations led to a number of
ideas, features, and examples of applications of Hyper-G.
They were condensed, put into a logical relationship, and used to formulate a
set of requirements. The requirements, additional design decisions, and a
discussion of implementation-related issues are part of this thesis.
Also, a new concept for the creation of real-time, interactive animation is
presented. It is essentially a combination of Computer Animation and
Hypermedia technologies, therefore it is called ``Hyper-Animation''.
This concept is also the basis of some of the more advanced applications of
Hyper-G that are described in this thesis. Applications range from
information systems and electronic publishing to exhibits that may be found
in a virtual museum or exhibition environment.
163 pages.
Note: Reprint of Ph.D. Thesis of F. Kappe.
