Exploiting Hypergraph Grammars for the Realization of Syntax-Based User Assistance in Diagram Editors

In this thesis, a generic, syntax-based approach for the realization of user assistance in diagram editors is presented. In order to apply the approach, diagrams need to be represented by hypergraphs, and the syntax of the visual language needs to be defined by a hypergraph grammar. An error-correcting hypergraph parser can then be employed for the computation of so-called hypergraph patches, which can be transformed into the corresponding diagram modifications afterwards. Following this approach, the grammar is not only used for checking the syntactical correctness of diagrams, but also to gather information on how the user can be supported. That way, the assistance features diagram completion, example generation, correctness-preserving editing operations and auto-link can be provided with virtually no additional effort. The highly relevant language of business process models serves as a running example.