[ MDV | Zest | Papers, Posters and Presentations ]

Model Driven Visualization (MDV) is an approach to designing and generating visualizations using meta-models and model transformations. Using techniques prescribed by Model Driven Engineering, MDV supports rapid development of information visualization tools. Views created using the MDV framework can be seamlessly integrated with the Eclipse platform. While we are currently investigating the power of MDV in the Software Engineering domain, the applicability of this technology reaches deep into other fields.

Model Driven Visualization is a joint research initiative between The University of Victoria and IBM's Centers for Advanced Studies, and provides Interaction Designers with the tools to construct new and innovative visual representations of complex relational data. MDV is built within the Eclipse Modeling Framework and using a round trip methodology provides tools for importing, manipulating and and generating visualizations for EMF.

We use a number of standard widgets for visual representations, such as tables, trees and lists, and we also provide more advanced visual interfaces such as flow graphs and two-dimensional zoomable hi-graphs. The standard widgets are available from the Eclipse Standard Widget Toolkit (SWT) and advanced visualizations are contributed through an Open Source Widget library built by the University of Victoria.

Participants:

• R. Ian Bull PhD Student, University of Victoria
• Dr. Margaret-Anne Storey, University of Victoria
• Chris Callendar, University of Victoria
  
• Marin Litoiu, IBM Toronto
• Marcellus Mindel, IBM Ottawa

Project Plan:

Our research has been divided into two projects: Zest, an Open Source Visualization Toolkit for SWT, and the Model Driven Visualization Engine (MDV). Zest is available on the Eclipse.org as a component of the GEF Project at http://www.eclipse.org/gef/zest/zest.php.

Zest: A Visualization Toolkit for Eclipse:

Zest, 100% Java and written entirely in SWT (Draw2D & GEF), provides a set of visualization components for developers to use directly in eclipse. Developed in a domain independent fashion, these widgets remove the need for the developers to re-create common 2-Dimensional widgets for every application, and allows the developers reuse many common components such as figure movement, resizing and layout algorithms. Currently under development are a simple diagram visualizer, nested diagram visualizer and a zoomable diagram visualizer. By using, and extending these widgets, developers can focus on customizing their application for their domain, instead of how to implement graph algorithms.

Other Visualization Tools:

• Shrimp
• Snap Together
• Bloom