Targeting tablet devices with a template-based column layout approach

Most Graphical User Interface (GUI) frameworks offer layout managers that are commonly based on tabular arrangement. We introduce few wide-spread layout approaches and discuss their specialties. Furthermore, we investigate the state of the art research results on the field of automatic GUI layout. Based on the lessons learned from the existing layout solutions we introduce the main points of a new layout approach. This approach addresses the field of online magazines and focuses on tablet devices and horizontal scrolling. In order to make the layout specification intuitive, we hide layout-related mathematical formalisms from end users. We offer a template-based column layout solution that is supported with a high-level, editor friendly language. The high-level layout rules are automatically transformed into formal rules that are enforced during the layout calculation. The central concept of the approach is that beside the layout specification the actual content drives the final layout.