XML to User Interface Binding

Separated from GUI builders, existing GUI building tools for XML are complex systems that duplicate many functions of GUI builders. They are specialized in building GUIs for XML data only. This puts unnecessary burden on developers since an application usually has to handle both XML and non-XML data. In this paper, we propose a solution that separates the XML-to-GUI bindings from the construction of the GUIs for XML, and concentrates on the XML-to-GUI bindings only. Cooperating with a GUI builder, the proposed system can support the construction of the GUIs for XML as GUI building tools for XML can. Furthermore, the proposed mechanism is neutral to GUI builders and toolkits. As a result, multiple GUI builders and toolkits can be supported by the proposed solution with moderate effort. Our current implementation supports two types of GUI platforms: Java/Swing and Web/Html.