HI-VISUAL for hierarchical development of large programs

At Hiroshima University, the authors have been developing an iconic programming environment called, HI-VISUAL, where program construction is carried out by arranging icons on the screen. An extension of HI-VISUAL programming facilities for enabling users to develop large programs is investigated. They first present a model for supporting hierarchical development of large programs. Implementational issues of a system prototype are also discussed. In the system, an office metaphor is applied for realization of the hierarchical program development model, where an agent and a frame correspond to an employee and an office room, respectively