Shi-Kuo Chang - Böcker

This book is intended as both an introduction to the state-of-the-art in visual languages, as well as an exposition of the frontiers of research in advanced visual languages. It is for computer scientists, computer engi­ neers, information scientists, application programmers, and technical managers responsible for software development projects who are inter­ ested in the methodology and manifold applications of visual languages and visual programming. The contents of this book are drawn from invited papers, as well as selected papers from two workshops: the 1985 IEEE Workshop on Lan­ guages for Automation-Cognitive Aspects in Information Processing, which was held in Mallorca, Spain, June 28-30, 1985; and the 1984 IEEE Workshop on Visual Languages, which was held in Hiroshima, Japan, December 7-9, 1984. Panos Ligomenides and I organized the technical program of LFA '85, and Tadao Ichikawa and I organized the techni­ cal program of VL '84. Both workshops have now become successful annual events in their own right. The intersecting area of visual languages and visual programming especially has become a fascinating new research area. It is hoped that this book will focus the reader's attention on some of the interesting research issues as well as the potential for future applications. After reading this book, the reader will undoubtedly get an impression that visual languages and the concept of generalized icons can be studied fruitfully from many different perspectives, including computer graphics, formal language theory, educational methodology, cognitive psychology and visual design.

Multimedia has two fundamental characteristics that can be expressed by the following formula: multimedia = multiple media + hypermedia. How can software engineering take advantage of these two characteristics? Will these two characteristics pose problems in multimedia systems design? These are some of the issues to be explored in this book. The first two chapters should be of interest to managers, software engineers, programmers, and people interested in gaining an overall understanding of multimedia software engineering. The next six chapters present multimedia software engineering according to the conceptual framework introduced in Chapter One. This is of particular use to practitioners, system developers, multimedia application designers, programmers, and people interested in prototyping multimedia applications. The next three chapters are more research-oriented and are mainly intended for researchers working on the specification, modelling, and analysis of distributed multimedia systems, but will also be relevant to scientists, researchers, and software engineers interested in the systems and theoretical aspects of multimedia software engineering.The text can be used as a textbook in a graduate course on multimedia software engineering or in an undergraduate course on software design where the emphasis is on multimedia applications. It is especially suitable for a project-oriented course.

The technical ability to generate volumes of digital multimedia data is becoming increasingly "mainstream" in today's electronic world. Online services create volumes of primarily textual information, such as news reports, product reviews, and e-mail chronicles. Advances in digital video technology have given organizations the capability to amass visual records and produce collections of surveillance monitoring data streams. With this ability to generate and archive volumes of data comes the potential of deriving or recalling information and knowledge from these data histories. To effectively utilize the growing number of multimedia data repositories, there is a convergence in technologies from large-scale data management, semantic-oriented media (text, image, and video) understanding, and multi-source trend analysis. This convergence is not straightforward and introduces a significant challenge in construction solutions that offer scalable deployment with semantically rich quality.The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) and its member companies carried out a study in 1997 to investigate the state of the art in technologies for annotating and manipulating large-scale networks of multimedia information objects with content-based concepts. This book documents the study's technology assessment and identifies shortcomings where further research and integration of technologies are needed to meet anticipated application requirements. The major points highlighted in this book can be used as cornerstones for defining advanced research and development directions, and opportunities to exploit the content available in networks of large-scale multi-media sources. Based on the results of the study, MCC initiated the Content-Based Access to Multimedia (CBAM) Information project to investigate semantically-oriented access to large-scale image and video repositories. The project focuses on concept extraction, annotation, and collection principles applied in and across large-scale image and video repositories.It demonstrates proof-of-concept environments where multimedia objects acquire semantic content annotations and become elements exploited in distributed information-gathering applications.

This book is intended as both an introduction to the state-of-the-art in visual languages, as well as an exposition of the frontiers of research in advanced visual languages. It is for computer scientists, computer engi­ neers, information scientists, application programmers, and technical managers responsible for software development projects who are inter­ ested in the methodology and manifold applications of visual languages and visual programming. The contents of this book are drawn from invited papers, as well as selected papers from two workshops: the 1985 IEEE Workshop on Lan­ guages for Automation-Cognitive Aspects in Information Processing, which was held in Mallorca, Spain, June 28-30, 1985; and the 1984 IEEE Workshop on Visual Languages, which was held in Hiroshima, Japan, December 7-9, 1984. Panos Ligomenides and I organized the technical program of LFA '85, and Tadao Ichikawa and I organized the techni­ cal program of VL '84. Both workshops have now become successful annual events in their own right. The intersecting area of visual languages and visual programming especially has become a fascinating new research area. It is hoped that this book will focus the reader's attention on some of the interesting research issues as well as the potential for future applications. After reading this book, the reader will undoubtedly get an impression that visual languages and the concept of generalized icons can be studied fruitfully from many different perspectives, including computer graphics, formal language theory, educational methodology, cognitive psychology and visual design.

Decision making is a very complex phenomenon. Modern decision makers must deal with very complex problems which are constantly changing and often ill­ structured, making modeling and analysis difficult. In order to provide support for the decision makers, computer-based information systems are designed to collect, store, process, and transport information. Recent advances in computer technol­ ogy, data communications, database systems, office automation, and knowledge engineering have made possible the design of very sophisticated information sys­ tems. However, rapid technological advances also create many problems, not the least of which is the lack of integration among the various disciplines in infor­ mation system design. Without such integration, a costly computer-based infor­ mation system is at best partially useful and at worst totally useless. The aim of this book, therefore, is to examine the various issues involved in designing man­ agement information systems, decision support systems, and office information systems for increasing productivity and providing decision support. This book is the outcome of the Workshop on Management and Office Infor­ mation Systems, which was organized by the Knowledge Systems Institute and held at Chicago, Illinois, from June 28 to 30, 1982. Twenty-seven papers from the working papers presented at that workshop were selected for inclusion in the present volume, which is organized into five parts: (I) organization structures and management, (II) decision support systems, (III) database systems, (IV) office information systems, and (V) systems and applications.

Multimedia has two fundamental characteristics that can be expressed by the following formula: Multimedia = Multiple Media + Hypermedia. How can software engineering take advantage of these two characteristics? Will these two characteristics pose problems in multimedia systems design? These are some of the issues to be explored in this book. The first two chapters will be of interest to managers, software engineers, programmers, and people interested in gaining an overall understanding of multimedia software engineering. The next six chapters present multimedia software engineering according to the conceptual framework introduced in Chapter One. This is of particular use to practitioners, system developers, multimedia application designers, programmers, and people interested in prototyping multimedia applications. The next three chapters are more research-oriented and are mainly intended for researchers working on the specification, modeling, and analysis of distributed multimedia systems, but will also be relevant to scientists, researchers, and software engineers interested in the systems and theoretical aspects of multimedia software engineering.Multimedia Software Engineering can be used as a textbook in a graduate course on multimedia software engineering or in an undergraduate course on software design where the emphasis is on multimedia applications. It is especially suitable for a project-oriented course.

In the past five years, the field of electrostatic discharge (ESD) control has under­ gone some notable changes. Industry standards have multiplied, though not all of these, in our view, are realistic and meaningful. Increasing importance has been ascribed to the Charged Device Model (CDM) versus the Human Body Model (HBM) as a cause of device damage and, presumably, premature (latent) failure. Packaging materials have significantly evolved. Air ionization techniques have improved, and usage has grown. Finally, and importantly, the government has ceased imposing MIL-STD-1686 on all new contracts, leaving companies on their own to formulate an ESD-control policy and write implementing documents. All these changes are dealt with in five new chapters and ten new reprinted papers added to this revised edition of ESD from A to Z. Also, the original chapters have been augmented with new material such as more troubleshooting examples in Chapter 8 and a 20-question multiple-choice test for certifying operators in Chapter 9. More than ever, the book seeks to provide advice, guidance, and practical ex­ amples, not just a jumble of facts and generalizations. For instance, the added tailored versions of the model specifications for ESD-safe handling and packaging are actually in use at medium-sized corporations and could serve as patterns for many readers.

Two central ideas in the movement toward advanced automation systems are the office-of-the-future (or office automation system), and the factory­ of-the-future (or factory automation system). An office automation system is an integrated system with diversified office equipment, communication devices, intelligent terminals, intelligent copiers, etc., for providing information management and control in a dis­ tributed office environment. A factory automation system is also an inte­ grated system with programmable machine tools, robots, and other pro­ cess equipment such as new "peripherals," for providing manufacturing information management and control. Such advanced automation systems can be regarded as the response to the demand for greater variety, greater flexibility, customized designs, rapid response, and 'Just-in-time" delivery of office services or manufac­ tured goods. The economy of scope, which allows the production of a vari­ ety of similar products in random order, gradually replaces the economy of scale derived from overall volume of operations. In other words, we are gradually switching from the production of large volumes of standard products to systems for the production of a wide variety of similar products in small batches. This is the phenomenon of "demassification" of the marketplace, as described by Alvin Toffier in The Third Wave.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Visual Information Systems, VISUAL 2002, held in Hsin Chu, Taiwan, in March 2002. The 28 revised full papers presented together with one invited paper were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The papers are organized in topical sections on content-based indexing, search, and retrieval; visual information system architectures; image/video databases; networked video; and applications in various fields.

This book covers the principles and recent research results in intelligent image database systems design. Special emphasis is placed on spatial reasoning and the techniques for image indexing and retrieval, mainly based on the Theory of Symbolic Projection. In addition, applications of the theory and techniques to intelligent image database systems design are also discussed.

The last few years have seen an explosive growth in multimedia computing, communications and applications. This revolution is transforming the way people live, work, and interact with one another, and is impacting the way businesses, government services, education, entertainment, and health care are operating. It is safe to say that the multimedia revolution is underway. Yet, several issues related to modeling, specification, analysis and design of distributed multimedia systems and applications are still challenging both researchers and practitioners.This book addresses fundamental design issues and research topics, related to multimedia systems, and provides a comprehensive study of the issues. The topics covered include: distributed multimedia databases and computing; multiparadigmatic information retrieval; modeling and analysis of distributed multimedia systems; OS support for distributed multimedia systems; multimedia communications and networking; multimedia digital libraries and mail systems; multimedia human-computer interaction; multimedia applications for CSCW, distant education, electronic commerce teleconferencing, telemedicine; visual and multidimensional languages for multimedia applications; multimedia workflows; multimedia stream synchronization. In addition, a number of tutorial and overview articles are included so that the volume strikes a balance between introductory tutorials and advanced topics.

This is the first handbook to cover comprehensively both software engineering and knowledge engineering - two important fields that have become interwoven in recent years. Over 60 international experts have contributed to the book. Each chapter has been written in such a way that a practitioner of software engineering and knowledge engineering can easily understand and obtain useful information. Each chapter covers one topic and can be read independently of other chapters, providing both a general survey of the topic and an in-depth exposition of the state of the art. Practitioners will find this handbook useful when looking for solutions to practical problems. Researchers can use it for quick access to the background, current trends and most important references regarding a certain topic.The handbook consists of two volumes. Volume One covers the basic principles and applications of software engineering and knowledge engineering.Volume Two will cover the basic principles and applications of visual and multimedia software engineering, knowledge engineering, data mining for software knowledge, and emerging topics in software engineering and knowledge engineering.

This is the first handbook to cover comprehensively both software engineering and knowledge engineering - two important fields that have become interwoven in recent years. Over 60 international experts have contributed to the book. Each chapter has been written in such a way that a practitioner of software engineering and knowledge engineering can easily understand and obtain useful information. Each chapter covers one topic and can be read independently of other chapters, providing both a general survey of the topic and an in-depth exposition of the state of the art. Practitioners will find this handbook useful when looking for solutions to practical problems. Researchers can use it for quick access to the background, current trends and most important references regarding a certain topic.The handbook consists of two volumes. Volume One covers the basic principles and applications of software engineering and knowledge engineering.Volume Two will cover the basic principles and applications of visual and multimedia software engineering, knowledge engineering, data mining for software knowledge, and emerging topics in software engineering and knowledge engineering.

This is an excellent, up-to-date and easy-to-use text on data structures and algorithms that is intended for undergraduates in computer science and information science. The thirteen chapters, written by an international group of experienced teachers, cover the fundamental concepts of algorithms and most of the important data structures as well as the concept of interface design. The book contains many examples and diagrams. Whenever appropriate, program codes are included to facilitate learning.This book is supported by an international group of authors who are experts on data structures and algorithms, through its website at www.cs.pitt.edu/~jung/GrowingBook/, so that both teachers and students can benefit from their expertise.