USER-FRIENDLY INTERFACE FOR ATTACHING DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTES TO GRAPHIC OBJECTS

A DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTE SPECIFICATION AND ATTACHMENT KIT (DASAK) IS PROPOSED TO SERVE AS A SUPPORT COMPONENT FOR THE RAPIDLY RECONFIGURABLE CREWSTATION (RRC) PROGRAM. A DASAK WILL PROVIDE A USERFRIENDLY INTERFACE TO COCKPIT DESIGNERS WITHOUT PROGRAMMING EXPERIENCE FOR DEFINING DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTES AND ATTACHING THEM TO GRAPHIC OBJECTS, SUCH AS TARGET AIRCRAFT, WEAPONS, ETC., WHICH ARE FOUND IN COCKPIT DISPLAYS. BESIDES PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE INTERFACE AND THE UNDERLYING SUPPORT FOR CREATING THE DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTE DEFINITIONS AND ATTACHING THEM TO THE OBJECTS, A DASAK WILL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: A DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTE MANAGER TO INSURE THE PROPER BEHAVIOR AND PROPAGATION OF ATTRIBUTES; A MANUAL SIMULATION FACILITY FOR EASY TESTING OF INDIVIDUAL OBJECTS AND ATTRIBUTES; CONSISTENCY CHECKING AMONG DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTES; DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTE DATABASE MANAGEMENT, EDITING, AND BROWSING; AN AUDIT-TRIAL FACILITY; AN ON-LINE HELP FACILITY; AND APPROPRIATE INTERFACE FACILITIES TO OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE RRC. THE RESEARCH PROPOSED HERE INCLUDES A THOROUGH STUDY OF USER-INTERFACE METHODOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGIES WHICH MAY PROVE APPROPRIATE FOR A DASAK, A THOROUGH STUDY OF RRC REQUIREMENTS, DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DYNAMIC ATTRIBUTES, IDENTIFICATION OF THREE USER-INTERFACE CONCEPTS FOR A DASAK, AND GENERATION OF DESIGNS FOR THREE WORKING REPRESENTATIONS OF THESE CONCEPTS.