Graphical Display of Finite-State Machines
Description
Graphical or visual display of complex phenomena is a burgeoning research
area. There are have been many theses written on algorithms for displaying
general graphs and networks, but relatively little formal work on the
display and manipulation of finite-state machines. In this project you
will devise and construct a graphical interface for Grail+.
Tasks
- investigate current software and theory for display of automata,
graphs, and networks
- choose the most appropriate technique and either implement it
from scratch, or else adapt it for use with Grail+
- construct a library of test cases that demonstrate the power
of the implementation
- adapt the display implementation to permit update of parts of
the finite-state machine---in effect, develop a graphical editor for
automata
Difficulty
The first three tasks could easily require a full 4th year project
or an internship. The final task would only be expected of a highly
capable student who was also lucky enough to produce a good design
initially. The project is very programming intensive. It requires
good knowledge of X.11 or some other display abstraction acceptable
to the Grail+ project.
Value to the student
The project would be ideal for a student who wants the challenge of
a major programming project.
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