Abstract
We provide a framework that allows one to study structural properties of hypertext in connection with formal language theory. We model hypertext as a transformation device (an a-transducer) that transforms a link-following into a sequence of matched pairs: basic linkable units. Then, we address the following questions: What can hypertext do? What structure is formed when a link-following is done? What structure is built when a virtual document is constructed? We show that the set of all link-followings in hypertext is a regular set. Then, the set of all possible outputs of link-followings is shown to be context-free, which means that constructing virtual documents is essentially same as generating words of a context-free language.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages | 180-187 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1998 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1998 9th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Pittsburgh, PA, USA Duration: 1998 Jun 20 → 1998 Jun 24 |
Other
| Other | Proceedings of the 1998 9th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia |
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| City | Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
| Period | 98/6/20 → 98/6/24 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Software
- Hardware and Architecture