Method and system for reducing an intentional program tree represented by high-level computational constructs

A method in a computer system for displaying a computer program represented by an intentional program tree, the method comprising:

• providing a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs, each display enzyme for displaying a representation of the computational construct;
• and
• for each computational construct represented by a node in the intentional program tree;
• identifying a display enzyme for the computational construct from among the provided display enzymes;
• and
• when such a display enzyme is found, invoking the identified display enzyme passing a reference to the node wherein the identified display enzyme displays of a representation of the computational construct represented by the passed node.

A method in a computer system for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for a program tree, the program tree being a representation of the computer program, each node having one of a plurality of node types, the nodes of the program tree specifying operators and operands of the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in a program tree structure;
• retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the program tree based on the stored data, each display representation format having a display representation for each of the plurality of node types, each display representation being a visual indication of the node type;
• generating a display representation of the program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format, the generated display representation including the visual indication of the node type of each node in the program tree;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A method in a computer system for displaying a computer program generated by direct manipulation of a program tree so that new computational constructs can be defined, the method comprising:

• receiving data representing a plurality of nodes of a program tree representing the computer program, the received data representing operations and operands that comprise the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the plurality of nodes within a program tree data structure of the computer system, the nodes of the program tree data structure forming a tree data structure containing the specification of the computer program;
• generating a display representation of the computer program in a display representation format from the data stored in the program tree data structure by invoking display enzymes based on the operations and operands of the nodes;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on a display device of the computer system.

A method in a computer system for displaying a representation of a program tree when modifying a program tree in a way that allows new computational constructs to be defined, the program tree representing a computer program, the program tree having nodes describing elements of the computer program, a representation of the program tree being stored in a program tree data structure in memory of the computer system, the method comprising:

• retrieving the nodes of the program tree from the program tree data structure for generating a display representation of the program tree based on the retrieved nodes;
• displaying the display representation of the program tree on a display device;
• selecting a displayed representation of a node of the program tree to effect the selection of the node as a currently selected node;
• receiving from a user of the computer system a location of an insertion point relative to the displayed representation of the currently selected node;
• positioning the insertion point at the received location;
• receiving from the user a computational construct to insert into the program tree;
• creating a node corresponding to the received computational construct;
• inserting the created node into the program tree data structure at a point corresponding to the insertion point;
• and
• re-displaying the display representation of the program tree with the inserted node on the display device.

A method in a computer system of displaying selected portions of a program tree so that new computational constructs can be defined, the program tree representing a computer program, the computer program having a plurality of computational constructs, the program tree having nodes describing each computational construct of the computer program, the program tree being stored in a program tree data structure in memory of the computer system, the method comprising:

• selecting a node as a currently selected node;
• receiving from a user of the computer system an indication to select a subtree of the program tree with the currently selected node as the root of the subtree;
• selecting the subtree of the currently selected node as the selected portion of the program tree;
• generating and displaying a display representation of the program tree from the nodes of the program tree stored in the program tree data structure, the display representation being generated by invoking display enzymes for the nodes of the program tree;
• and
• highlighting the display representation corresponding to the selected subtree.

A method in a computer system for displaying representations of computer programs so that a new computational construct can be added to a current set of computational constructs without affecting the computer programs that are already represented, each computer program having a plurality of computational constructs from the current set of computational constructs, the method comprising:

• for each computer program;
• storing the computer program in a program tree data structure having a plurality of nodes, each node corresponding to a computational construct of the computer program and having a reference to any node corresponding to an operand of the computational construct;
• modifying the computer program by directly manipulating the nodes of a program tree data structure;
• displaying the computer program by retrieving the nodes of the program tree data structure, generating a display representation corresponding to the computational construct of each retrieved node, and displaying the generated display representations;
• and
• generating object code for the computer program by retrieving the nodes of the program tree data structure and generating code corresponding to the computational constructs of the retrieved nodes
• wherein when the new computational construct is added to the current set of computational constructs, the object code of each computer program can be regenerated without modification to the program tree data structure of the computer program.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to specify a new computational construct for use in defining a computer program, the computer system having a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs, each display enzyme for displaying a representation of the computational construct, by:

• when displaying a computer program represented by program tree,
• for each computational construct represented by a node in the program tree,
• identifying a display enzyme for the computational construct from among the display enzymes;
• and
• invoking the identified display enzyme passing a reference to the node wherein the identified display enzyme displays of a representation of the computational construct represented by the passed node;
• and
• adding a new display enzyme for the new computational construct to the display enzymes so that the new computational construct can be specified in another computer program and wherein previously defined computer programs can be displayed without conflict with the new computational construct.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to display a computer program represented by a program tree, the computer system having a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs, each display enzyme for displaying a representation of the computational construct;

• and
• for each computational construct represented by a node in the program tree,
• searching for a display enzyme for the computational construct from among the provided display enzymes;
• and
• when such a display enzyme is found, invoking the identified display enzyme passing a reference to the node wherein the identified display enzyme displays of a representation of the computational construct represented by the passed node.

A method in a computer system for specifying a new computational construct for use in defining a computer program, comprising:

• providing a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs;
• identifying a display enzyme for each computational construct from among the provided display enzymes;
• and
• invoking the identified display enzyme to display a representation of the computational construct.

A method in a computer system for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for a program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in a program tree structure;
• retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the program tree based on the stored data;
• generating a display representation of the program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A method in a computer system for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for an intentional program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in an intentional program tree structure;
• retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the intentional program tree based on the stored data;
• generating a display representation of the intentional program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to implement a method for specifying a new computational construct for use in defining a computer program, comprising:

• providing a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs;
• identifying a display enzyme for each computational construct from among the provided display enzymes;
• and
• invoking the identified display enzyme to display a representation of the computational construct.

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to implement a method for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for a program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in a program tree structure;
• retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the program tree based on the stored data;
• generating a display representation of the program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to implement a method for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the method comprising:

• receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for an intentional program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in an intentional program tree structure;
• retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the intentional program tree based on the stored data;
• generating a display representation of the intentional program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A system for specifying a new computational construct for use in defining a computer program, comprising:

• means for providing a display enzyme for each of a plurality of computational constructs;
• means for identifying a display enzyme for each computational construct from among the provided display enzymes;
• and
• means for invoking the identified display enzyme to display a representation of the computational construct.

A system for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the system comprising:

• means for receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for a program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• means for storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in a program tree structure;
• means for retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the program tree based on the stored data;
• means for generating a display representation of the program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• means for displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A system for displaying a representation of a computer program, the computer system having a memory, a display device, and an input device, the system comprising:

• means for receiving, through the input device, data representing a plurality of nodes for an intentional program tree wherein the nodes of the program tree specify operators and operands of the computer program;
• means for storing the received data representing the nodes in the memory in an intentional program tree structure;
• means for retrieving an indication of one of a plurality of display representation formats for displaying a representation of the intentional program tree based on the stored data;
• means for generating a display representation of the intentional program tree in accordance with the retrieved indication of the display representation format;
• and
• means for displaying the generated display representation on the display device.

A method in a computer system for specifying a new computational construct for use in defining a computer program by using multiple computational constructs, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of display enzymes for a plurality of computational constructs, each display enzyme for displaying a representation of one of the computational constructs;
• identifying a display enzyme for each computational construct from the plurality of display enzymes;
• invoking the identified display enzyme to display a representation of each computational construct forming the computer program;
• and
• adding a new display enzyme to the plurality of display enzymes for the new computational construct.