Implementing interface attachments based on surface representations

Abstract

This paper describes an architecture for supporting interface attuchments - small interactive programs which are designed to augment the functionality of other applications. This architecture is designed to work with a diverse set of conventional applications, but require only a minimal set of "hooks" into those applications. In order to achieve this, the work described here concentrates on what we will call observational attachments, a subclass of attachments that operate primarily by observing and manipulating the surface representations of applications - that is the visual information that applications would normally display on the screen or print. These attachments can be thought of as "looking over the shoulder of the user" to assist with various tasks. By requiring very little modification to, or help from, the applications they augment, this approach supports the creation of a set of uniform services that can be applied across a more diverse set of applications than traditional approaches. Copyright © 2012 ACM, Inc.