Mix\'n\'Match: Exchangeable Modules of Hypermedia Style

Abstract

Making hypermedia adaptable for multiple forms of presentation involves enabling multiple distinct specifications for how a given collection of hypermedia can have its presentation generated. The Standard Reference Model for Intelligent Multimedia Presentation Systems describes how the generation of hypermedia presentation can be divided into distinct but cooperating layers. Earlier work has described how specifications for generating presentations can be divided into distinct modules of code corresponding to these layers. This paper explores how the modules for each layer of a presentation specification can be exchanged for another module encoded for that layer and result in the whole specification remaining well functioning. This capability would facilitate specifying presentation generation by allowing for the use of pre-programmed modules, enabling the author to focus on particular aspects of the presentation generation process. An example implementation of these concepts that uses current and developing Web standards is presented to illustrate how wide-spread modularized presentation generation might be realized in the near future