home Usage The concept and types of interfaces. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame. entering or changing information

The concept and types of interfaces. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame. entering or changing information

TEST

by discipline

"System Software"

Topic: "User Interface"

Introduction

1. The concept of the user interface

2. Types of interfaces

2.1 Command interface

2.2 GUI

2.2.1 Simple GUI

2.2.2 WIMP interface

2.3 Speech technology

2.4 Biometric technology

2.5 Semantic (public) interface

2.6 Interface types

3. Methods and tools for developing a user interface

4. Standardization of the user interface

Bibliography

Introduction

As you know, the process of penetration of information technologies into almost all spheres of human activity continues to develop and deepen. In addition to the already familiar and widespread personal computers, total number which has reached many hundreds of millions, there are more and more built-in computing facilities. There are more and more users of all this diverse computer technology, and the development of two seemingly opposite trends is observed. On the one hand, information technologies are becoming more and more complicated, and for their application, and even more so for further development, it is required to have very deep knowledge. On the other hand, user interaction interfaces with computers are simplified. Computers and information systems are becoming more and more friendly and understandable even for a person who is not a specialist in the field of computer science and computer technology. This became possible primarily because users and their programs interact with computers through special (system) software - through the operating system. The operating system provides interfaces to both running applications and users.

1. The concept of the user interface

Interface - a set of technical, software and methodological (protocols, rules, agreements) means of interface in the computing system of users with devices and programs, as well as devices with other devices and programs.

Interface - in the broad sense of the word, it is a way (standard) of interaction between objects. The interface in the technical sense of the word defines the parameters, procedures and characteristics of the interaction of objects. Distinguish:

User interface - a set of methods of interaction between a computer program and the user of this program.

Programming interface - a set of methods for interaction between programs.

A physical interface is a way for physical devices to interact. Most often we are talking about computer ports.

The user interface is a set of software and hardware that provides user interaction with a computer. Dialogues form the basis of such interaction. In this case, a dialogue is understood as a regulated exchange of information between a person and a computer, carried out in real time and aimed at jointly solving a specific problem. Each dialog consists of separate input/output processes that physically provide communication between the user and the computer. The exchange of information is carried out by the transmission of a message.

Fig.1. User interaction with the computer

Basically, the user generates messages of the following types:

information request

help request

operation or function request

entering or changing information

In response, the user receives hints or help; informational messages requiring a response; orders requiring action; error messages and other information.

The user interface of the computer application includes:

means of displaying information, displayed information, formats and codes;

command modes, language "user - interface";

dialogues, interactions and transactions between the user and the computer, feedback with the user;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

The user interface (UI) is often understood only as appearance programs. However, in reality, the user perceives through it the entire program as a whole, which means that such an understanding is too narrow. In fact, the UI combines all the elements and components of the program that are capable of influencing the user's interaction with the software (SW).

It's not just the screen the user sees. These elements include:

a set of user tasks that he solves with the help of the system;

the metaphor used by the system (for example, the desktop in MS Windows®);

system controls;

navigation between system blocks;

visual (and not only) design of program screens;

means of displaying information, displayed information and formats;

data entry devices and technologies;

dialogues, interactions and transactions between the user and the computer;

user feedback;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

2. Types of interfaces

An interface is, first of all, a set of rules. Like any rules, they can be generalized, collected into a "code", grouped according to a common feature. Thus, we came to the concept of "interface type" as a combination of the similarity of the ways of interaction between humans and computers. Briefly, we can propose the following schematic classification of various interfaces for communication between a person and a computer.

Modern types of interfaces are:

1) Command interface. The command interface is so called because in this type of interface a person gives "commands" to a computer, and the computer executes them and gives the result to a person. The command interface is implemented as batch technology and command line technology.

2) WIMP - interface (Window - window, Image - image, Menu - menu, Pointer - pointer). A characteristic feature of this type of interface is that the dialogue with the user is conducted not with the help of commands, but with the help of graphic images - menus, windows, and other elements. Although commands are given to the machine in this interface, this is done "directly", through graphic images. This kind of interface is implemented on two levels of technology: a simple graphical interface and a "pure" WIMP interface.

3) SILK - interface (Speech - speech, Image - image, Language - language, Knowlege - knowledge). This type of interface is closest to the usual, human form of communication. Within the framework of this interface, there is a normal "conversation" between a person and a computer. At the same time, the computer finds commands for itself by analyzing human speech and finding key phrases in it. It also converts the result of command execution into a human-readable form. This type of interface is the most demanding on the hardware resources of a computer, and therefore it is used mainly for military purposes.

2.1 Command interface

Packet technology. Historically, this type of technology appeared first. It already existed on the relay machines of Sues and Zuse (Germany, 1937). Its idea is simple: a sequence of characters is supplied to the computer input, in which, according to certain rules, the sequence of programs launched for execution is indicated. After the execution of the next program, the next one is launched, and so on. The machine, according to certain rules, finds commands and data for itself. This sequence can be, for example, a punched tape, a stack of punched cards, a sequence of pressing the keys of an electric typewriter (of the CONSUL type). The machine also issues its messages on a perforator, an alphanumeric printer (ATsPU), a typewriter tape. Such a machine is a "black box" (more precisely, a "white cabinet"), into which information is constantly fed and which also constantly "informs" the world about its state (see Figure 1). A person here has little influence on the operation of the machine - he can only stop the machine, change the program and start the computer again. Subsequently, when the machines became more powerful and could serve several users at once, the eternal expectation of users like: "I sent data to the machine. I'm waiting for it to answer. And will it answer at all?" - became, to put it mildly, annoying. In addition, computer centers, after newspapers, have become the second largest "producer" of waste paper. Therefore, with the advent of alphanumeric displays, the era of a truly user-friendly technology, the command line, began.

Fig.2. View of the main computer of the EC series of computers

command line technology. With this technology, the keyboard serves as the only way to enter information from a person to a computer, and the computer outputs information to a person using an alphanumeric display (monitor). This combination (monitor + keyboard) became known as a terminal, or console. Commands are typed on the command line. The command line is a prompt symbol and a blinking rectangle - the cursor. When a key is pressed, characters appear at the cursor position, and the cursor itself moves to the right. This is very similar to typing commands on a typewriter. However, unlike it, the letters are displayed on the display, not on paper, and a mistyped character can be erased. The command is terminated by pressing the Enter (or Return) key. After that, the transition to the beginning of the next line is performed. It is from this position that the computer displays the results of its work on the monitor. Then the process is repeated. Command line technology already worked on monochrome alphanumeric displays. Since only letters, numbers and punctuation marks were allowed to be entered, the technical characteristics of the display were not significant. A television receiver and even an oscilloscope tube could be used as a monitor.

Both of these technologies are implemented in the form of a command interface - commands are given to the machine as input, and it, as it were, "responds" to them.

Text files became the predominant type of files when working with the command interface - they and only they could be created using the keyboard. The time of the most widespread use of the command line interface is the advent of the UNIX operating system and the appearance of the first eight-bit personal computers with the multiplatform operating system CP / M.

2.2 GUI

How and when did the GUI appear? His idea originated in the mid-70s, when the concept of a visual interface was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). The prerequisite for the graphical interface was to reduce the reaction time of the computer to the command, increase the amount of RAM, as well as the development of the technical base of computers. The hardware basis of the concept, of course, was the appearance of alphanumeric displays on computers, and these displays already had such effects as "flickering" of characters, color inversion (reversing the style of white characters on a black background, that is, black characters on a white background ), underlining characters. These effects did not extend to the entire screen, but only to one or more characters. The next step was the creation of a color display that allows, along with these effects, symbols in 16 colors on a background with a palette (that is, a color set) of 8 colors. After the advent of graphic displays, with the ability to display any graphic images in the form of many dots on a screen of various colors, there were no limits to the imagination in using the screen! PARC's first GUI system, the 8010 Star Information System, thus appeared four months before the first IBM computer was released in 1981. Initially, the visual interface was used only in programs. Gradually, he began to move to the operating systems used first on Atari and Apple Macintosh computers, and then on IBM-compatible computers.

From an earlier time, and influenced also by these concepts, there has been a process of unification in the use of the keyboard and mouse by application programs. The merger of these two trends has led to the creation of the user interface, with the help of which, with minimal time and money spent on retraining staff, you can work with any software product. The description of this interface, common to all applications and operating systems, is the subject of this part.

2.2.1 Simple GUI

At the first stage, the graphical interface was very similar to command line technology. The differences from the command line technology were as follows:

1. When displaying symbols, it was allowed to highlight part of the symbols with color, inverse image, underline and blinking. Thanks to this, the expressiveness of the image has increased.

2. Depending on the specific implementation of the graphical interface, the cursor can be represented not only by a flickering rectangle, but also by some area covering several characters and even part of the screen. This selected area is different from other, unselected parts (usually by color).

3. Pressing the Enter key does not always execute the command and move to the next line. The response to pressing any key depends largely on which part of the screen the cursor was on.

4. In addition to the Enter key, the "gray" cursor keys are increasingly used on the keyboard.

5. Already in this edition of the graphical interface, manipulators (such as a mouse, trackball, etc. - see Fig. 3) began to be used. They made it possible to quickly select the desired part of the screen and move the cursor.

Fig.3. Manipulators

Summing up, the following distinctive features of this interface can be cited.

1) Selection of areas of the screen.

2) Redefining keyboard keys depending on the context.

3) Using manipulators and gray keyboard keys to control the cursor.

4) Widespread use of color monitors.

The appearance of this type of interface coincides with the widespread use of the MS-DOS operating system. It was she who introduced this interface to the masses, thanks to which the 80s were marked by the improvement of this type of interface, the improvement of character display characteristics and other monitor parameters.

A typical example of using this kind of interface is the Nortron Commander file shell (see below for file shells) and the Multi-Edit text editor. A text editors Lexicon, ChiWriter and a word processor Microsoft Word for Dos are examples of how this interface has outdone itself.

2.2.2 WIMP interface

The "pure" WIMP interface became the second stage in the development of the graphical interface. This subspecies of the interface is characterized by the following features.

1. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame.

2. All programs, files, documents, devices and other objects are represented as icons - icons. When opened, the icons turn into windows.

3. All actions with objects are carried out using the menu. Although the menu appeared at the first stage of the development of the graphical interface, it did not have a dominant meaning in it, but served only as an addition to the command line. In a pure WIMP interface, the menu becomes the main control element.

4. Widespread use of manipulators to point to objects. The manipulator ceases to be just a toy - an addition to the keyboard, but becomes the main control element. With the help of the manipulator, they POINT to any area of the screen, windows or icons, HIGHLIGHT it, and only then they control them through the menu or using other technologies.

It should be noted that WIMP requires a high-resolution color raster display and a manipulator for its implementation. Also, programs oriented to this type of interface impose increased requirements on computer performance, memory size, bus bandwidth, etc. However, this type of interface is the easiest to learn and most intuitive. Therefore, now WIMP - the interface has become the de facto standard.

A prime example of programs with a graphical interface is the operating system. Microsoft system Windows.

2.3 Speech technology

Since the mid-90s, after the advent of inexpensive sound cards and the widespread use of speech recognition technologies, the so-called "speech technology" SILK - interface appeared. With this technology, commands are given by voice by pronouncing special reserved words - commands. The main such teams (according to the rules of the Gorynych system) are:

"Rest" - turn off the speech interface.

"Open" - switching to the mode of calling a particular program. The name of the program is called in the next word.

"I will dictate" - the transition from the mode of commands to the mode of typing by voice.

"Command mode" - return to voice commands.

and some others.

Words should be pronounced clearly, at the same pace. There is a pause between words. Due to the underdevelopment of the speech recognition algorithm, such systems require individual pre-configuration for each specific user.

The "speech" technology is the simplest implementation of the SILK interface.

2.4 Biometric technology

This technology originated in the late 1990s and is still being developed at the time of this writing. To control the computer, a person's facial expression, the direction of his gaze, the size of the pupil, and other signs are used. To identify the user, the pattern of the iris of his eyes, fingerprints and other unique information is used. Images are read from a digital video camera, and then commands are extracted from this image using special image recognition programs. This technology is likely to take its place in software products and applications where it is important to accurately identify a computer user.

2.5 Semantic (public) interface

This type of interface arose in the late 70s of the XX century, with the development of artificial intelligence. It can hardly be called an independent type of interface - it includes a command line interface, and a graphical, speech, and mimic interface. Its main distinguishing feature is the absence of commands when communicating with a computer. The request is formed in natural language, in the form of associated text and images. At its core, it is difficult to call it an interface - it is already a simulation of "communication" between a person and a computer. Since the mid-1990s, there have been no publications related to the semantic interface. It seems that due to the important military significance of these developments (for example, for the autonomous conduct of modern combat by machines - robots, for "semantic" cryptography), these areas were classified. Information that these studies are ongoing occasionally appears in periodicals (usually in computer news sections).

2.6 Interface types

There are two types of user interfaces:

1) procedurally oriented:

primitive

with free navigation

2) object-oriented:

direct manipulation.

A procedural-oriented interface uses the traditional user interaction model based on the concepts of "procedure" and "operation". Within this model, the software provides the user with the ability to perform some actions for which the user determines the conformity of the data and the consequence of which is to obtain the desired result.

Object-oriented interfaces use a user interaction model focused on manipulating domain objects. Within this model, the user is given the opportunity to directly interact with each object and initiate the execution of operations during which several objects interact. The user's task is formulated as a purposeful change of some object. An object is understood in the broad sense of the word - a model of a database, system, etc. An object-oriented interface assumes that user interaction is carried out by selecting and moving icons of the corresponding object-oriented area. There are single document (SDI) and multiple document (MDI) interfaces.

Procedurally oriented interfaces:

1) Provide the user with the functions necessary to complete tasks;

2) The emphasis is on tasks;

3) Icons represent applications, windows or operations;

Object Oriented Interfaces:

1) Provides the user with the ability to interact with objects;

2) Emphasis is placed on inputs and results;

3) Pictograms represent objects;

4) Folders and directories are visual containers of objects.

A primitive is an interface that organizes interaction with the user and is used in console mode. The only deviation from the sequential process that is provided by data is the organization of a cycle for processing several sets of data.

Interface Menu. Unlike the primitive interface, it allows the user to select an operation from a special list displayed to him by the program. These interfaces involve the implementation of many work scenarios, the sequence of actions in which is determined by users. The tree-like organization of the menu implies a strictly limited implementation. In this case, there are two options for organizing the menu:

each menu window takes up the entire screen

there are several multi-level menus on the screen at the same time (Windows).

In conditions of limited navigation, regardless of the implementation, finding an item of more than two level menus turns out to be quite a challenge.

Free navigation interface (GUI). Supports the concept of interactive interaction with the software, visual feedback with the user and the ability to directly manipulate the object (buttons, indicators, status bars). Unlike the Menu interface, the free-navigation interface provides the ability to perform any operations valid in a particular state, which can be accessed through various interface components ("hot" keys, etc.). The freely navigable interface is implemented using event programming, which involves the use of visual development tools (through messages).

3. Methods and tools for developing a user interface

One of the ways to reduce the cost of developing and maintaining software systems is the availability of fourth-generation tools in the toolkit, which allow describing (specifying) the software tool being created at a high level and then automatically generating executable code according to the specification.

In the literature, there is no single generally accepted classification of tools for developing a user interface. Thus, user interface development software can be divided into two main groups - user interface development tools (toolkits) and high-level interface development tools (higher-level development tools). The user interface development toolkit usually includes a library of interface component primitives (menus, buttons, scrollbars, etc.) and is intended for use by programmers. High-level interface development tools can be used by non-programmers and are provided with a language that allows the specification of I/O functions as well as the definition of interface elements using direct manipulation techniques. Such tools include dialogue builders (interface builders) and SUPI - user interface management systems (User Interface Management Systems - UIMS). In addition to SUIS, some authors use terms such as User Interface Development Systems (UIDS) - user interface development systems, User Interface Design Environment (UIDE) - user interface development environment, etc.

Specialized interface authoring tools simplify user interface development by asking the developer to specify user interface components using specification languages. There are several main ways to specify an interface:

1. Language, when special languages are used to set the interface syntax (declarative, object-oriented, event languages, etc.).

2. A graphical specification is concerned with defining an interface, typically through visual programming tools, demo programming, and examples. This method supports a limited class of interfaces.

3. An interface specification based on an object-oriented approach is associated with a principle called direct manipulation. Its main property is the interaction of the user with individual objects, and not with the entire system as a whole. Typical components used for manipulations with objects and control functions are handlers, menus, dialog zones, buttons of various types.

4. Specification of the interface according to the specification of the applied task. Here, the interface is created automatically according to the specification of the semantics of the applied task. However, the complexity of the interface description hinders the possibility of the early appearance of systems that implement this approach.

The main concept of UIMS is to separate user interface development from the rest of the application. At present, the idea of separate interface and application design is either enshrined in the definition of ISMS or is its main property.

The composition of the PIMS is defined as a set of tools for the development phase and the execution period. Design-time tools operate on interface models to build their designs. They can be divided into two groups: interactive tools, such as model editors, and automatic tools, such as a form generator. Runtime tools use an interface model to support user activities, such as collecting and analyzing the data being used.

The functions of the API are to facilitate and facilitate the development and maintenance of the user interface, and to manage the interaction between the user and the application program.

Thus, at present, there are a large number of interface development tools that support various methods of its implementation.

4. Standardization of the user interface

In the first approach, the evaluation is performed by the end user (or tester), summing up the results of working with the program within the framework of the following ISO 9241-10-98 Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) indicators. P.11. Guidance on usability specification and measures:

effectiveness (effectiveness) - the impact of the interface on the completeness and accuracy of achieving the user's target results;

productivity (efficiency) or the impact of the interface on user productivity;

degree of (subjective) satisfaction (satisfaction) of the end user with this interface.

Efficiency is a criterion for the functionality of an interface, and the degree of satisfaction and, indirectly, productivity is a criterion for ergonomics. The measures introduced here correspond to the general pragmatic concept of quality assessment in terms of the "goals / costs" ratio.

The second approach tries to establish which (ergonomic guiding) principles the user interface should satisfy in terms of optimal human-machine interaction. The development of this analytical approach was caused by the needs of software design and development, as it allows you to formulate guidelines for the organization and characteristics of the optimal user interface. This approach can also be used in assessing the quality of the developed user interface. In this case, the quality score is assessed by an expert on the extent to which the guidelines or the resulting more specific graphical and operational features of an optimal "human-centric" user interface are implemented.

Standardization and design. When designing a user interface, the initial decision is the choice of basic standards for the types of interface controls, which should take into account the specifics of the corresponding subject area. Specification of the style of the user interface is carried out in the normative documents of the industry and company level. It is possible to further refine the design of the interface for a certain group of software products of the developer. When developing a user interface, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the intended end users of the software tool being developed. The user interface type specification defines only its syntax. The second direction of standardization in the field of design is the formation of a specific system of guiding ergonomic principles. The decision on their choice should be developed jointly by all members of the design team. This system should be aligned with the relevant base standard (or group of standards). In order to become an effective design tool, the system of guidelines must be brought to the level of specific instructions for programmers. When developing instructions, regulatory documents on the type (style) of the interface are taken into account, and regulatory documents on user interface design should be included in the profile of software project standards and in the terms of reference.

standards and quality. Formally, it is appropriate to associate the standardization of the user interface with other infrastructural sub-characteristics of the quality of the software product, such as conformance (including compliance with standards) and interchangeability (replaceability) (GOST R ISO IEC 9126-93). The choice of a particular design tool (rapid application development languages, CASE tools, GUI builders) may lead the developer to adhere to the underlying interface standard.

On the other hand, the choice by the developer of the type (style) of the user interface, adequate to the subject area and the OS used, should potentially ensure, at least in part, the implementation of such principles of user interface quality as naturalness and consistency within the working environment. Explicit consideration of interface syntax makes it easier to create an interface that is uniform in style and predictable for the user. In addition, you need to consider that when developing the standard itself, the basic principles of user interface design were already taken into account.

The usability measures introduced in ISO 9241-11 can be used by the contracting authority as a general framework for determining the usability requirements that the future system must meet and against which acceptance testing will be conducted prior to developing a custom system. Thus, a basis is created for ensuring the completeness, measurability and comparability of these requirements, which can indirectly have a positive impact on the quality of the designed software product.

Does it mean that strict adherence to standards can provide the required quality of the user interface? For simple and routine applications - following the standard guarantees only a minimum level of quality. For complex and pioneering applications, the requirement for completeness may conflict with the limitations provided by the user interface controls standard.

Bibliography

T.B. Bolshakov, D.V. Irtegov. operating systems. Site materials http: // www. citforum. ru/operating_systems/ois/introd. shtml.

Methods and tools for user interface development: state of the art, Kleshchev A.S. , Gribova V.V. , 2001. Site materials http: // www. swsys. en / index. php? page=article&id=765.

"Transmission mechanism" - The result of the lesson. Technology 3 class. Training in the design of various technical models with a drive mechanism. Cross gear - when the wheels are spinning in different directions. Types of gears: 1 - belt; 2 - chain; 3 - gear. Products with gear: conveyor, crane, mill. The main part of the mill design is the transmission mechanism.

"Computer interfaces" - User interface. Software. Service programs. Personal computer as a system. provided by the operating system of the computer. Specify inputs and outputs. hardware interface. Hardware-software interface. Operating system. Text files. System programs. Hardware-software interface - the interaction of hardware and software computer.

"Technologies in the classroom" - Forms of organization can be different: lesson, group, individual, pair. Active and interactive methods are used by me from grades 5 to 11. Types of technologies: Technology of student-centered learning. Developmental learning technology. Technology of student-centered learning Project-research technology.

"Educational technologies at school" - Laboratory of unsolved problems. Methodological support for creative projects of educational institutions and teachers. Game technologies. Growth in the indicator of ICT use in the educational process. Dissemination of advanced pedagogical experience. Reducing the number of repeaters. The growth of the skills of teachers, the impact on the quality of the lesson.

"Technology 6 - 7 - 8 class" - How is electrical energy measured? What measurement determines the size of the shoulder product? What, according to popular ideas, meant the beginning of all life? Which part drives all the working parts of the sewing machine? Raw material for making a carriage for Cinderella. What is the function of the grooves on the needle blade?

"Sections of technology" - And we have from brilliant beads - Unusual beauty. Subject - Technology. Patchwork has long been known to many nations. National holidays and rituals, national clothes. They talk about the traditions of different peoples, national holidays and rituals. After baking donuts, cool slightly, rub with crushed garlic.

Kleshchev A.S., Gribova V.V. 03/25/2001

The interface is important for any software system and is an integral part of it, focused primarily on the end user. It is through the interface that the user judges the application as a whole; moreover, the user often makes the decision to use an application based on how comfortable and understandable the user interface is. At the same time, the complexity of designing and developing the interface is quite high. According to experts, on average, it is more than half of the project implementation time. Reducing the cost of development and maintenance is relevant software systems or the development of efficient software tools, where efficiency refers to ease of development, ease of maintenance, and ease of use of the program.

One of the ways to reduce the cost of developing and maintaining software systems is the availability of tools in the toolkit fourth generation, allowing for high level describe (specify) the software tool being created and then automatically generate the executable code according to the specification. The software market offers a wide range of tools for its development. However, the available tools support the development of only some components of the user interface using the fourth generation, the rest of its components are programmed by the developer, which significantly increases the costs, complexity of development and maintenance.

User interface development research began with the advent of special I/O statements in programming languages and has now led to specialized interface development tools.

In the literature, there is no single generally accepted classification of tools for developing a user interface. So, in the software for developing the user interface is divided into two main groups - tools for developing the user interface (toolkits) and high-level interface development tools (higher-level development tools). The user interface development toolkit usually includes a library of interface component primitives (menus, buttons, scrollbars, etc.) and is intended for use by programmers. High-level interface development tools can be used by non-programmers and are provided with a language that allows the specification of I/O functions as well as the definition of interface elements using direct manipulation techniques. The authors refer to such tools as dialogue builders (interface builders) and SUPI - user interface management systems (User Interface Management Systems - UIMS). In addition to SUIS, some authors use terms such as User Interface Development Systems (UIDS) - user interface development systems, User Interface Design Environment (UIDE) - user interface development environment, etc.

The interface development toolkit is divided into three groups, which are defined as follows. The first group includes tools to support the creation of an interface by writing code - UIMS and Toolkits; in the second - interactive tools that allow you to design an interface from "blanks" (buttons, menus, scroll bars, etc.), - Interface Builders; the third type is based on creating an interface by linking its separately created components - Component Architectures.

As noted in, the terminology of this direction has not been finally formed and is currently also the subject of research. However, in most works, to refer to specialized tools for developing an interface, the term SUPI is given, which will be used in this work.

Specialized interface authoring tools simplify user interface development by asking the developer to specify user interface components using specification languages.

There are several main ways to specify an interface.

1. Language, when special languages are used to set the interface syntax (declarative, object-oriented, event languages, etc.).

2. A graphical specification is associated with an interface definition, usually by means of visual programming, programming demos and examples. This method supports a limited class of interfaces.

3. An interface specification based on an object-oriented approach is associated with a principle called direct manipulation. Its main property is the interaction of the user with individual objects, and not with the entire system as a whole. Typical components used to manipulate objects and control functions are handlers, menus, dialog zones, buttons of various types.

The composition of the PIMS is defined as a set of tools for the development phase and the execution period. Design-time tools operate on interface models to build their designs. They can be divided into two groups: interactive tools, such as model editors, and automatic tools, such as the shape generator. Runtime tools use an interface model to support user activities, such as collecting and analyzing the data being used.

The functions of the API are to facilitate and facilitate the development and maintenance of the user interface, and to manage the interaction between the user and the application program.

The behavior of the interface and the application program is determined by the nature of the interaction with the user. Three different types of interaction can be distinguished: the dialogue initiative belongs to the user, the application program, or is mixed.

User management initiative. This type control means that the interface provides the initiative to the user (the application program is designed this way), or the user takes the initiative himself, and the interface supports this possibility (the application program is designed this way).

Application control initiative. This type of control means that if the application program needs some information, then it requests it from the user, the user is included in the decision process when it is necessary to enter the data required by the system.

Mixed management initiative. This type of interaction combines the two previous approaches, in which the user specifies the input data, but if the application program needs additional data for the solution, then it requests it from the user.

Thus, there are currently a large number of interface development tools that support various methods its implementation. However, there is no single generally accepted classification of the proposed tools, which makes it difficult to compare existing tools with each other and to select a specific tool for users. Therefore, before proceeding with the consideration and comparison of tools, the following questions should be answered: are there fourth-generation tools in the toolkit for specifying user interface components, and how does fourth-generation tools support the development of each user interface component?

The importance of answering the first question is due to the relevance of developing tools that can reduce the cost of developing and maintaining applications created with their help. The solution to the problem is the use of fourth-generation languages, which allow the developer to specify the components of the software at a high level, and then automatically generate executable code according to the developer's specification.

To answer the second question, it is necessary to highlight the components of the user interface, that is, those aspects by which interfaces can be compared with each other. At the same time, we will adhere to the following principles: 1) the user interface should be focused on the end user and developed in accordance with its requirements; 2) the user interface and the application program for which it is intended are developed separately.

The components of a user interface are defined by the principles outlined above, as well as the functions it performs.

By definition, for example, in , the user interface is designed to provide interaction between the user and the process that performs some task - the application program. The objectives of this interaction is to transfer information (input data) from the user to the application program, output data (results of the program) to the user. In accordance with the function of the interface, there is also an explanation of the results of the application program, which until recently was a characteristic feature of only expert system interfaces.

Orientation to the end user means that the interface must be able to present the initial data and results in the form generally accepted in the given subject area, or depending on the categories of users and their wishes: graphical, tabular, verbal, and each of them can also have several types of presentations. In other words, as noted in , for the same information, there may be different transmitting messages that form a class of equivalent messages. At the same time, there is always a basic message system in which any information about the subject area can be expressed, unambiguously understood and interpreted by all its representatives, and to which all user messages are reduced. Such a message system is a system of concepts of the subject area. In terms of the system of concepts, the objects of the subject area are named, statements are formulated that they have certain properties and characteristics that allow you to establish the similarity and difference of the object in relation to other objects, and also indicate the relationship in which the objects are among themselves. Thus, the component of the user interface is the description of information through the system of concepts of the subject area, which defines the function of interpreting messages.

As noted above, information for the user can be presented in the form of messages (verbal, graphic, tabular), each of which can take various forms. Thus, in the interface, messages that convey the same information for the user and the application program are presented differently: for the user, messages are formed in a form that is convenient for him or accepted in his subject area, for the application program, messages are the values of application program variables. Obviously, defining a set of application program variables comes down to defining names, types, and a way to represent their possible values.

Along with the transmission of messages to the user in the interface, it is necessary to set attributes that do not transmit information, but create comfort and convenience for him; they can be combined under the general term interface design. Such attributes include: the location of messages on the screen, their size, color, etc., as well as the setting of physical input devices (keyboard, manipulators, speech input, machine vision, etc.) and output (monitor, sound, photographic output, etc.). etc.). Thus, an integral part of the user interface, inextricably linked with the transmission of messages, is the definition of the form of messages.

The interface must convert the information entered by the user, presented in the form of messages understandable to him, into the values of the application program variables, as well as the values of the application program variables, which are the results of its work to messages to the user. To convert information to the user into various messages as part of the interface, an intelligent user support block is required that controls possible mistakes, generates explanations, manages the help system.

Any interaction of two or more objects with each other (in this case, the user and the interface) always obeys certain rules. The rules for interaction between the user and the interface also need to be defined in the interface. These rules should define the sequence of transitions from one state to another. Accordingly, the interaction of the interface with the user must contain the rules for the exchange of messages (in this case, these are the actions of the user and the interface to manage the initial data and results).

Thus, the user interface includes:

basic message system (system of concepts of the subject area);
message system for the user;
message system for the application program;
means of ensuring the convenience and comfort of the user;
means of intellectual user support;
means of managing interaction between the user and the interface.

Let's consider how the development of each component of the user interface is supported by means of the fourth generation.

Support for describing the concept system is provided in . According to the specification of the concept system, for which a specialized language is proposed, messages are automatically generated, presented in verbal form by a multitude of cascading menus and windows. The disadvantage of this specification is that the structure of the domain concept system is limited to a hierarchical representation, and its description is performed in a specialized language in batch mode.

It is also proposed in the works to start designing the interface with the modeling of the task and the subject area. To do this, the user is invited to describe the problem statement in an informal language, from which the concepts of the subject area and actions with them are automatically extracted. The next steps are the formalization of the resulting problem statement by sifting out unnecessary elements, organizing classes of selected elements, setting the area and types of their valid values, and acting on them in order to create a full-fledged domain model. As advantages of this method of extracting the task, the authors point to a decrease in the degree of misunderstanding between the developer and the user, the involvement of the user in the project from the very beginning of its implementation and the construction of a framework for the task model and the domain model. However, the possibility of using this approach for solving problems with a complex model of the subject area, which has a large volume and complex structure of the system of concepts necessary for solving the problem, providing the user with intellectual support, since the frame and elements of the model (terms and concepts) are distinguished based on the informal description of the task by the user. Our experience in designing complex systems, such as the expert system "Consultant-2" and, in particular, its interface, has shown that the process of forming a system of concepts, no doubt, should be carried out with the active participation of highly qualified specialists in the subject area on the basis of a serious previous analysis of it with a view to subsequent formalization. Interface design tools should therefore be geared towards the interface designer rather than the end user.

Toolkits provide libraries of interface elements used in a dialog, such as dialog boxes, forms, various types of menus, branching data hierarchy representation, and so on. At the same time, the developer has not only the ability to select the necessary interface elements, but also the ability to organize complex complexes from the proposed basic primitives using visual and object-oriented programming tools. However, it is difficult to talk about support for interface construction, since the proposed libraries reflect a rather arbitrary opinion about the standards of interface elements, without taking into account the specifics of applications for which the use of libraries is justified.

It should be noted that in all existing Toolkits there are no special tools for designing a user interface based on its components. Therefore, interface designers are forced to design all of its parts together without explicitly separating one component from another, although the design of its various components requires the use of different types of concepts and levels of abstraction. The interface development technology by these means is organized in such a way that the developer selects an interface element and “strings” the interface content onto it, and not vice versa, in accordance with the structure and content (concept system), forms of its presentation are proposed (possibly automatically formed). By developing an interface in this way, its developer must adjust the structure and content of the source data to the forms offered in the tool.

For the initial data presented graphically, there are many graphic packages of vector and raster graphics. Graphics packages only allow you to generate images, but do not have the means to connect graphic and verbal descriptions (connections between the concept system and the message system), so this part of the interface has to be programmed. It should be recalled that we are talking about fourth-generation tools that allow you to specify the interface at a high level.

An attempt was made to link the system of concepts and the system of messages. To do this, the toolkit has a database that stores information about which interface elements are more convenient to represent certain types of data. Based on this database, a developer can assign primitives to elements or data groups and then automatically generate an interface prototype. This approach is convenient for verbal representation of data, however, the graphical representation depends on the subject area, therefore, in this case, the primitives offered in the database cannot be used to generate messages.

All classes of tools support a variety of options for setting interface comfort parameters using visual and object-oriented programming tools, which allow you to set the location of interface elements on the monitor screen, their color, texture, size, etc., depending on the requirements of users, psychology and ergonomics, and also determine physical input/output devices.

For the organization of interaction between the user and the interface is currently not known accessibility, which would allow the developer at the specification level to determine the user's actions to manage the source data, so the developer has to program this component of the interface. In work, the toolkit offers the developer the ability to save sets of initial data, view them, edit them for subsequent input.

A set of variables and the representation of their values usually have to be programmed, or, as in , they are formed according to rules rigidly specified in the toolkit.

Means for generating explanations of the results of the software system are presented in the work. To do this, interface developers are offered a special macro language in which they can describe the explanation template. However, this language allows you to present the explanation only in verbal form, has limited means for formatting the text of the explanation, and contains a restriction on the format of the results of the program system - only in the form of relation tuples. Many other explanation generation systems are focused exclusively on expert systems, they depend on the inference engine, and also require the inclusion of additional knowledge in the knowledge base. The authors propose tools for automatically generating help tools for presenting the knowledge base.

The interaction between the interface and the application program is not supported at a high level, but is programmed by the developer.

So, the main goal of the API is to reduce the cost of creating and maintaining the user interface, which is achieved by providing high-level tools for defining the interface and thus freeing the developer from low-level programming. Existing specialized tools do not support the development of all components of the interface at a high level, most of the components developers have to program or they are hard-coded, which does not allow principle 1 to be ensured when designing the interface. This leads to a significant increase in the cost of developing and maintaining the interface.

Therefore, at the present time, work on the creation of an ISMS that provides high-level support for all stages of its development is relevant.
Bibliography

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1. The concept of the user interface

2. Types of interfaces

2.1 Command interface

2.2 GUI

2.2.1 Simple GUI

2.2.2 WIMP interface

2.3 Speech technology

2.4 Biometric technology

2.5 Semantic (public) interface

2.6 Interface types

3. Information technology

3.1 The concept of information technology

3.2 Stages of information technology development

4. Types of information technology

4.1 Information technology data processing

4.2 Management information technology

5. The role and importance of information technology

6. Components of information technology

7. Modern information technologies and their types

7.1 Decision support information technology

7.2 Information technology expert systems

8. Obsolescence of information technology

9. Methodology for the use of information technology

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

As you know, the process of penetration information technologies in almost all spheres of human activity continues to develop and deepen. In addition to the already familiar and widespread personal computers, the total number of which has reached many hundreds of millions, there are more and more built-in computing facilities. There are more and more users of all this diverse computer technology, and the development of two seemingly opposite trends is observed. On the one hand, information technologies are becoming more and more complicated, and for their application, and even more so for further development, it is required to have very deep knowledge. On the other hand, user interaction interfaces with computers are simplified. Computers and information systems are becoming more and more friendly and understandable even for a person who is not a specialist in the field of computer science and computer technology. This became possible primarily because users and their programs interact with computers through special (system) software - through the operating system. The operating system provides interfaces to both running applications and users.

user interface semantic biometric

1. User interface concept

Interface - a set of technical, software and methodological (protocols, rules, agreements) means of interface in the computing system of users with devices and programs, as well as devices with other devices and programs.

Interface - in the broad sense of the word, it is a way (standard) of interaction between objects. The interface in the technical sense of the word defines the parameters, procedures and characteristics of the interaction of objects. Distinguish:

User interface - a set of methods of interaction between a computer program and the user of this program.

Programming interface - a set of methods for interaction between programs.

A physical interface is a way for physical devices to interact. Most often we are talking about computer ports.

The user interface is a set of software and hardware that provides user interaction with a computer. Dialogues form the basis of such interaction. In this case, dialogue is understood as a regulated exchange of information between a person and a computer, carried out in real time and aimed at joint decision specific task. Each dialog consists of separate input/output processes that physically provide communication between the user and the computer. The exchange of information is carried out by the transmission of a message.

Figure 1. User interaction with the computer

Basically, the user generates messages of the following types:

information request

help request

operation or function request

entering or changing information

In response, the user receives hints or help; informational messages requiring a response; orders requiring action; error messages and other information.

The user interface of the computer application includes:

means of displaying information, displayed information, formats and codes;

command modes, language "user - interface";

dialogues, interaction and transactions between the user and the computer, user feedback;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

The user interface (UI) is often understood only as the appearance of a program. However, in reality, the user perceives through it the entire program as a whole, which means that such an understanding is too narrow. In fact, the UI combines all the elements and components of the program that are capable of influencing the user's interaction with the software (SW).

It's not just the screen the user sees. These elements include:

a set of user tasks that he solves with the help of the system;

the metaphor used by the system (for example, the desktop in MS Windows®);

system controls;

navigation between system blocks;

visual (and not only) design of program screens;

means of displaying information, displayed information and formats;

data entry devices and technologies;

dialogues, interactions and transactions between the user and the computer;

user feedback;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

2. Types of interfaces

Modern types of interfaces are:

1) Command interface. The command interface is so called because in this type of interface a person gives "commands" to a computer, and the computer executes them and gives the result to a person. The command interface is implemented as batch technology and command line technology.

2) WIMP - interface (Window - window, Image - image, Menu - menu, Pointer - pointer). characteristic feature This type of interface is that the dialogue with the user is conducted not with the help of commands, but with the help of graphic images - menus, windows, and other elements. Although commands are given to the machine in this interface, this is done "directly", through graphic images. This kind of interface is implemented at two levels of technology: simple GUI and "pure" WIMP - interface.

3) SILK - interface (Speech - speech, Image - image, Language - language, Knowlege - knowledge). This type of interface is closest to the usual, human form of communication. Within the framework of this interface, there is a normal "conversation" between a person and a computer. At the same time, the computer finds commands for itself by analyzing human speech and finding in it key phrases. It also converts the result of command execution into a human-readable form. This type of interface is the most demanding on the hardware resources of a computer, and therefore it is used mainly for military purposes.

2.1 Command interface

Fig.2. View of the main computer of the EC series of computers

command line technology. With this technology, the keyboard serves as the only way to enter information from a person to a computer, and the computer outputs information to a person using an alphanumeric display (monitor). This combination (monitor + keyboard) became known as a terminal, or console. Commands are typed on the command line. The command line is a prompt symbol and a blinking rectangle - the cursor. When a key is pressed, characters appear at the cursor position, and the cursor itself moves to the right. This is very similar to typing commands on a typewriter. However, unlike it, the letters are displayed on the display, not on paper, and a mistyped character can be erased. The command is terminated by pressing the Enter (or Return) key. After that, the transition to the beginning of the next line is performed. It is from this position that the computer displays the results of its work on the monitor. Then the process is repeated. Command line technology already worked on monochrome alphanumeric displays. Since only letters, numbers and punctuation marks were allowed to be entered, specifications displays were not significant. A television receiver and even an oscilloscope tube could be used as a monitor.

Both of these technologies are implemented in the form of a command interface - commands are given to the machine as input, and it, as it were, "responds" to them.

The predominant type of files when working with the command interface are text files- they and only they could be created using the keyboard. The time of the most widespread use of the command line interface is the advent of the UNIX operating system and the appearance of the first eight-bit personal computers with the multiplatform operating system CP / M.

2.2 GUI

How and when did the GUI appear? His idea originated in the mid-70s, when the concept of a visual interface was developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). The prerequisite for the graphical interface was to reduce the computer's reaction time to a command, increase the volume random access memory, as well as the development of the technical base of computers. The hardware basis of the concept, of course, was the appearance of alphanumeric displays on computers, and these displays already had such effects as "flickering" of characters, color inversion (reversing the style of white characters on a black background, that is, black characters on a white background ), underlining characters. These effects did not extend to the entire screen, but only to one or more characters. The next step was the creation of a color display that allows, along with these effects, symbols in 16 colors on a background with a palette (that is, a color set) of 8 colors. After the advent of graphic displays, with the ability to output any graphic images in the form of many dots on the screen of different colors, the imagination in using the screen has no boundaries at all! PARC's first GUI system, the 8010 Star Information System, thus appeared four months before the first IBM computer was released in 1981. Initially visual interface used only in programs. Gradually, he began to move to the operating systems used first on Atari and Apple Macintosh computers, and then on IBM-compatible computers.

From an earlier time, and influenced also by these concepts, there has been a process of unification in the use of the keyboard and mouse by application programs. The merging of these two trends has led to the creation of the user interface, with the help of which, when minimal cost time and money for retraining of personnel, you can work with any software product. The description of this interface, common to all applications and operating systems, is the subject of this part.

2.2.1 Simple GUI

At the first stage, the graphical interface was very similar to command line technology. The differences from the command line technology were as follows:

1. When displaying symbols, it was allowed to highlight part of the symbols with color, inverse image, underline and blinking. Thanks to this, the expressiveness of the image has increased.

2. Depending on the specific implementation of the graphical interface, the cursor can be represented not only by a flickering rectangle, but also by some area covering several characters and even part of the screen. This selected area is different from other, unselected parts (usually by color).

3. Pressing the Enter key does not always execute the command and move to the next line. The response to pressing any key depends largely on which part of the screen the cursor was on.

4. In addition to the Enter key, the "gray" cursor keys are increasingly used on the keyboard.

5. Already in this edition of the graphical interface, manipulators (such as a mouse, trackball, etc. - see Fig. 3) began to be used. They made it possible to quickly select the desired part of the screen and move the cursor.

Fig.3. Manipulators

Summarizing, the following can be distinctive features this interface.

1) Selection of areas of the screen.

2) Redefining keyboard keys depending on the context.

3) Using manipulators and gray keyboard keys to control the cursor.

4) Widespread use of color monitors.

A typical example of using this kind of interface is the Nortron Commander file shell (see below for file shells) and the Multi-Edit text editor. BUT text editors Lexicon, ChiWriter and word processor Microsoft Word for Dos is an example of how this interface has outdone itself.

2.2.2 WIMP interface

The "pure" WIMP interface became the second stage in the development of the graphical interface. This subspecies of the interface is characterized by the following features.

1. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame.

2. All programs, files, documents, devices and other objects are represented as icons - icons. When opened, the icons turn into windows.

3. All actions with objects are carried out using the menu. Although the menu appeared at the first stage of the development of the graphical interface, it did not have a dominant meaning in it, but served only as an addition to the command line. In a pure WIMP interface, the menu becomes the main control element.

It should be noted that WIMP requires for its implementation a color bitmap display with high resolution and manipulator. Also, programs focused on this type of interface impose increased requirements on computer performance, the amount of memory, bandwidth tires, etc. However, this type of interface is the easiest to learn and most intuitive. Therefore, now WIMP - the interface has become the de facto standard.

A striking example of programs with a graphical interface is the Microsoft Windows operating system.

2.3 Speech technology

Since the mid-90s, after the appearance of inexpensive sound cards and the widespread use of speech recognition technologies, the so-called "speech technology" of the SILK interface has appeared. With this technology, commands are given by voice by pronouncing special reserved words- commands. The main such teams (according to the rules of the Gorynych system) are:

"Wake up" - turn on the voice interface.

"Rest" - turn off the speech interface.

"Open" - switching to the mode of calling a particular program. The name of the program is called in the next word.

"I will dictate" - the transition from the mode of commands to the mode of typing by voice.

"Command mode" - return to voice commands.

and some others.

Words should be pronounced clearly, at the same pace. There is a pause between words. Due to the underdevelopment of the speech recognition algorithm, such systems require individual pre-configuration for each specific user.

The "speech" technology is the simplest implementation of the SILK interface.

2.4 Biometric technology

This technology originated in the late 1990s and is still being developed at the time of this writing. To control the computer, a person's facial expression, the direction of his gaze, the size of the pupil, and other signs are used. To identify the user, the pattern of the iris of his eyes, fingerprints and other unique information is used. Images are read from a digital video camera, and then using special programs pattern recognition commands are extracted from this image. This technology is likely to take its place in software products and applications where it is important to accurately identify a computer user.

2.5 Semantic (public) interface

2.6 Interface types

There are two types of user interfaces:

1) procedurally oriented:

-primitive

-menu

- with free navigation

2) object-oriented:

- direct manipulation.

Procedurally oriented interfaces:

1) Provide the user with the functions necessary to complete tasks;

2) The emphasis is on tasks;

3) Icons represent applications, windows or operations;

4) The content of folders and directories is reflected using a list table.

Object Oriented Interfaces:

1) Provides the user with the ability to interact with objects;

2) Emphasis is placed on inputs and results;

3) Pictograms represent objects;

4) Folders and directories are visual containers of objects.

A primitive is an interface that organizes interaction with the user and is used in console mode. The only deviation from the sequential process that is provided by data is the organization of a cycle for processing several sets of data.

each menu window takes up the entire screen

there are several multi-level menus on the screen at the same time (Windows).

In conditions of limited navigation, regardless of the implementation, finding an item of more than two level menus turns out to be quite a challenge.

3. Information technology

3.1 concept of information technology

Definition of information technology

Technology when translated from Greek (techne) means art, skill, skill, and this is nothing more than processes. Under process it is necessary to understand a certain set of actions aimed at achieving the goal. The process should be determined by the strategy chosen by the person and implemented using a combination of various means and methods.

Under material production technology understand the process, determined by the totality of means and methods of processing, manufacturing, changing the state, properties, form of raw materials or material. Technology changes the quality or initial state of matter in order to obtain a material product ( http://www.stu.ru/inform/glaves/glava3/ - ris_3_10 rice. 1.7).

Information is one of the most valuable resources of society, along with such traditional material types of resources as oil, gas, minerals, etc., which means that the process of its processing, by analogy with the processes of processing material resources, can be perceived as a technology. Then the following definition holds.

Information technology- a process that uses a set of means and methods for collecting, processing and transmitting data (primary information) to obtain new quality information about the state of an object, process or phenomenon (information product).

Purpose of technology material production - the output of products that meet the needs of a person or system.

Purpose of information technology- the production of information for its analysis by a person and the adoption on its basis of a decision to perform an action.

It is known that by using different technologies to the same material resource, you can get different products, products. The same will be true for information processing technology.

For comparison in tab_3_3 the main components of both types of technologies are given.

Table 1.3. Comparison of the main components of technologies

Components of technologies for the production of products

material

information

Preparation of raw materials and supplies

Collection of data or primary information

Production of a material product

Data processing and obtaining information results

Sales of manufactured consumer products

Transferring the results of information to the user for making decisions based on it

New information technology

Information technology is the most important part of the process of using information resources society. To date, it has gone through several evolutionary stages, the change of which was determined mainly by the development of scientific and technological progress, the emergence of new technical means of information processing. In modern society, the main technical means of information processing technology is a personal computer, which significantly influenced both the concept of building and using technological processes, and the quality of the resulting information. The introduction of the personal computer in information sphere and the use of telecommunication means of communication determined a new stage in the development of information technology and, as a result, a change in its name by adding one of the synonyms: "new", "computer" or "modern".

The adjective "new" emphasizes the innovative rather than evolutionary nature of this technology. Its implementation is an innovative act in the sense that it significantly changes the content of various activities in organizations. The concept of new information technology also includes communication technologies that ensure the transmission of information by various means, namely telephone, telegraph, telecommunications, fax, etc. == tab. 1.4 shows the main characteristic features of the new information technology.

Table 1.4. Main characteristics of the new information technology

Methodology

Main feature

Result

Fundamentally new means of information processing

Embedding in control technology

New communication technology

Holistic technological systems

Integration of functions of specialists and managers

New Information Processing Technology

Purposeful creation, transmission, storage and display of information

Accounting for the laws of the social environment

New technology for making managerial decisions

New information technology - information technology with a "friendly" user interface, using personal computers and telecommunications.

The adjective "computer" emphasizes that the main technical means of its implementation is a computer.

Remember! Three basic principles of new (computer) information technology:

Interactive (dialogue) mode of work with a computer;

Integration (connection, interconnection) with other software products;

· flexibility in the process of changing both data and task definitions.

Apparently, the term should be considered more accurate. new, but not computer Information Technology, because it reflects in its structure not only technologies based on the use of computers, but also technologies based on other technical means, especially those that provide telecommunications.

Information Technology Toolkit

The implementation of the technological process of material production is carried out using various technical means, which include: equipment, machines, tools, conveyor lines, etc.

By analogy, there should be something similar for information technology. Such technical means of information production will be the hardware, software and mathematical support of this process. With their help, primary information is processed into information of a new quality. Let us single out software products separately from these tools and call them tools, and for greater clarity, we can specify it by calling information technology software tools. Let's define this concept.

Information technology tool - one or more related software products for a specific type of computer, the technology of which allows you to achieve the goal set by the user.

As tools, you can use the following common types of software products for a personal computer: word processor (editor), desktop publishing systems, spreadsheets, database management systems, electronic notebooks, electronic calendars, functional information systems (financial, accounting, for marketing, etc.), expert systems, etc.

How information technology and information system relate

Information technology is closely related to information systems, which are its main environment. At first glance, it may seem that the definitions of information technology and system introduced in the textbook are very similar to each other. However, it is not.

Information technology is a process consisting of clearly regulated rules for performing operations, actions, stages of varying degrees of complexity on data stored in computers. The main goal of information technology is to obtain the information necessary for the user as a result of targeted actions for the processing of primary information.

An information system is an environment whose constituent elements are computers, computer networks, software products, databases, people, various kinds of technical and software communications, etc. The main purpose of an information system is to organize the storage and transmission of information. An information system is a human-computer information processing system.

The implementation of the functions of an information system is impossible without knowledge of the information technology oriented towards it. Information technology can also exist outside the scope of the information system.

Thus, information technology is a more capacious concept that reflects the modern understanding of the processes of converting information into information society. The skillful combination of two information technologies - management and computer - is the key to the successful operation of the information system.

Summarizing all of the above, we offer somewhat narrower than previously introduced definitions of an information system and technology implemented by means of computer technology.

Information technology is a set of well-defined purposeful actions of personnel for processing information on a computer.

Information system - to man - computer system for decision support and production of information products using computer information technology.

Components of information technology

Used in the manufacturing sector, such technological concepts as a norm, standard, technological process, technological operation, etc., can also be used in information technology. Before developing these concepts in any technology, including information technology, one should always start with the definition of the goal. Then you should try to structure all the proposed actions leading to the intended goal, and select the necessary software tools.

On fig. 1.8 the technological process of information processing is presented in the form of a hierarchical structure by levels:

Rice. 1.8. Representation of information technology in the form of a hierarchical structure consisting of stages, actions, operations

1st level - stages, where relatively long technological processes are implemented, consisting of operations and actions of subsequent levels.

2nd level - operations, as a result of which a specific object will be created in the software environment selected at the 1st level.

3rd level - actions- a set of work methods standard for each software environment, leading to the fulfillment of the goal set in the corresponding operation. Each action changes the content of the screen.

It must be understood that the development of information technology and its further use should come down to the fact that you must first master a set of elementary operations, the number of which is limited. Of this limited number of elementary operations in different combinations an action is compiled, and from the actions, also in different combinations, operations are made that determine one or another technological stage. The set of technological stages forms a technological process (technology).

3.2 Stages of information technology development

There are several points of view on the development of information technologies using computers, which are determined by various signs of division.

Common to all the approaches outlined below is that with the advent of the personal computer began new stage development of information technology. The main goal is to satisfy the personal information needs of a person both for the professional sphere and for everyday life.

Division sign - type of tasks and information processing processes

Stage 1 (60-70s) - data processing in computer centers in the mode of collective use. The main direction in the development of information technology was the automation of operational routine human actions.

Stage 2 (from the 80s) - the creation of information technologies aimed at solving strategic problems.

Sign of division - problems standing in the way of informatization of society

Stage 1 (until the end of the 1960s) is characterized by the problem of processing large amounts of data in conditions of limited hardware capabilities.

The 2nd stage (until the end of the 70s) is associated with the spread of the IBM / 360 series computers. The problem of this stage is the software lagging behind the level of hardware development.

3rd - stage (since the beginning of the 80s) - the computer becomes a tool for a non-professional user, and information systems - a means of supporting his decision-making. Problems - the maximum satisfaction of the user's needs and the creation of an appropriate interface for working in a computer environment.

4th stage (from the beginning of the 90s) - creation modern technology inter organizational relations and information systems. The problems of this stage are very numerous. The most significant of them are:

development of agreements and establishment of standards, protocols for computer communications;

organization of access to strategic information;

Organization of protection and security of information.

The sign of division is an advantage that brings computer technology

· The 1st stage (since the beginning of the 60s) is characterized by rather efficient information processing when performing routine operations with a focus on centralized collective use of computer center resources. The main criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of the created information systems was the difference between the funds spent on development and the funds saved as a result of implementation. The main problem at this stage was psychological - poor interaction between users, for whom information systems were created, and developers due to the difference in their views and understanding of the problems being solved. As a consequence of this problem, systems were created that were poorly perceived by users and, despite their rather large capabilities, were not used to the full.

· The 2nd stage (since the mid-70s) is associated with the advent of personal computers. The approach to creating information systems has changed - the orientation is shifting towards the individual user to support his decisions. The user is interested in the ongoing development, contact is established with the developer, and mutual understanding arises between both groups of specialists. At this stage, both centralized data processing, typical for the first stage, and decentralized, based on solving local problems and working with local databases at the user's workplace, are used.

· The 3rd stage (since the beginning of the 90s) is associated with the concept of analysis of strategic advantages in business and is based on the achievements of telecommunications technology for distributed information processing. Information systems aim not just to increase the efficiency of data processing and help the manager. Appropriate information technology should help the organization survive the competition and gain an advantage.

Sign of division - types of technology tools

1st stage (until the second half of the 19th century) - "manual" information technology, the tools of which were: pen, inkwell, book. Communications were carried out manually by sending letters, packages, dispatches through the mail. The main goal of technology is to present information in the right form.

2nd stage (from the end of the 19th century) - "mechanical" technology, the tools of which were: a typewriter, telephone, voice recorder, equipped with more advanced means of mail delivery. The main goal of technology is to present information in the right form by more convenient means.

3rd stage (40 - 60s of the XX century) - "electric" technology, the tools of which were: large computers and related software, electric typewriters, photocopiers, portable voice recorders.

The purpose of the technology is changing. The emphasis in information technology is beginning to shift from the form of information presentation to the formation of its content.

4th stage (from the beginning of the 70s) - "electronic" technology, the main tools of which are large computers and automated control systems (ACS) and information retrieval systems (IPS) created on their basis, equipped with a wide range of basic and specialized software systems. The center of gravity of technology is shifting even more to the formation of the content side of information for the management environment of various spheres of public life, especially to the organization of analytical work. Many objective and subjective factors did not allow us to solve the tasks set for the new concept of information technology. However, experience was gained in the formation of the content side of management information and a professional, psychological and social basis was prepared for the transition to a new stage in the development of technology.

5th stage (since the mid-80s) - "computer"("new") technology, the main tool of which is a personal computer with a wide range of standard software products for various purposes. At this stage, the process of personalization of automated control systems takes place, which manifests itself in the creation of decision support systems by certain specialists. Such systems have built-in elements of analysis and intelligence for different levels of management, are implemented on personal computer and use telecommunications. In connection with the transition to the microprocessor base, technical means for domestic, cultural and other purposes are also undergoing significant changes. Global and local computer networks are beginning to be widely used in various fields.

4. Types of information technology

4.1 Information technology data processing

Characteristics and purpose

information technology data processing is designed to solve well-structured problems for which the necessary input data are available and algorithms and other standard procedures for their processing are known. This technology is used at the level of operational (executive) activities of low-skilled personnel in order to automate some routine, constantly recurring operations of managerial work. Therefore, the introduction of information technologies and systems at this level will significantly increase the productivity of personnel, free them from routine operations, and possibly even lead to the need to reduce the number of employees.

At the level of operations, the following tasks are solved:

processing of data on operations performed by the company;

Creation of periodic control reports on the state of affairs in the company;

Receiving answers to all kinds of current requests and processing them in the form paper documents or reports.

Example of a control report: a daily report on receipts and disbursements of cash by a bank, generated in order to control the balance of cash.

Query Example: A query against a Human Resources database that will provide information about the requirements for candidates for a particular position.

There are several features associated with data processing that distinguish this technology from all others:

Performing data processing tasks required by the company. Every firm is required by law to have and store data on its activities, which can be used as a means of establishing and maintaining control over the firm. Therefore, any company must necessarily have an information system for data processing and develop an appropriate information technology;

solving only well-structured problems for which an algorithm can be developed;

· performance standard procedures processing. Existing standards define standard data processing procedures and require organizations of all kinds to follow them;

Execution of the main scope of work in automatic mode with minimal human involvement;

use of detailed data. Records of the firm's activities are detailed (detailed) in nature, allowing for audits. In the audit process, the company's activities are checked chronologically from the beginning of the period to its end and from the end to the beginning;

emphasis on the chronology of events;

Requirement of minimal assistance in solving problems from specialists of other levels.

Main Components

Let us present the main components of information technology for data processing ( http://www.stu.ru/inform/glaves/glava3/ - ris_3_12 rice. 1.9) and give their characteristics.

Data collection. As a firm produces a product or service, each of its actions is accompanied by corresponding data records. Usually, the actions of the firm that affect the external environment are singled out specifically as operations carried out by the firm.

Data processing. To create information from the incoming data that reflects the activities of the company, the following typical operations are used:

classification or grouping. Primary data usually take the form of codes consisting of one or more characters. These codes, expressing certain features of objects, are used to identify and group records.

Data storage. Much data at the operational level needs to be stored for later use, either here or at another level. Databases are created to store them.

Creation of reports (documents). In the information technology of data processing, it is necessary to create documents for the management and employees of the company, as well as for external partners. At the same time, documents or in connection with the operation carried out by the company and periodically at the end of each month, quarter or year.

4.2 Management information technology

Characteristics and purpose

The purpose of information technology management is to meet the information needs of all employees of the company, without exception, dealing with decision-making. It can be useful at any level of management.

This technology is focused on working in the environment of an information management system and is used when the tasks being solved are worse structured when compared with the tasks solved using information technology for data processing.

Management IS are ideally suited to meet the similar information needs of employees of various functional subsystems (divisions) or levels of company management. The information they provide contains information about the past, present and probable: the future of the company. This information takes the form of regular or ad hoc management reports.

To make decisions at the level of managerial control, information must be presented in an aggregated form so that data trends, causes of deviations and possible solutions can be seen. At this stage, the following data processing tasks are solved:

assessment of the planned state of the control object;

assessment of deviations from the planned state;

Identification of the causes of deviations;

· analysis possible solutions and action.

Management information technology is aimed at creating various types of reports .

Regular reports are generated according to a set schedule that determines when they are generated, such as a monthly analysis of a company's sales.

Special reports are created at the request of managers or when something unplanned happened in the company.

Both types of reports may take the form of summary, comparative and extraordinary reports.

AT summarizing In reports, data is combined into separate groups, sorted and presented as intermediate and final totals for individual fields.

Comparative reports contain data obtained from various sources or classified according to various criteria and used for comparison purposes.

emergency reports contain data of an exceptional (extraordinary) nature.

The use of reports to support management is particularly effective in the implementation of so-called variance management.

Deviation management assumes that the main content of the data received by the manager should be deviations of the state of the company's economic activity from certain established standards (for example, from its planned state). When using the principles of variance management in a company, the following requirements are imposed on the generated reports:

· a report should only be generated when a deviation has occurred;

information in the report should be sorted by the value of the indicator that is critical for this deviation;

It is desirable to show all deviations together so that the manager can catch the connection between them;

· In the report it is necessary to show a quantitative deviation from the norm.

Main Components

The main components of management information technology are shown in fig. 1.13

Input information comes from operational level systems. The output information is formed in the form management reports in a form convenient for decision making.

The contents of the database are converted by appropriate software into periodic and ad hoc reports for the decision makers of the organization. Database used to retrieve specified information, should consist of two elements:

1) data accumulated on the basis of an assessment of the operations conducted by the firm;

2) plans, standards, budgets and other regulatory documents that determine the planned state of the control object (firm division).

5. The role and importance of information technology

The modern period of development of a civilized society characterizes the process of informatization.

Informatization of society is a global social process, the peculiarity of which is that the dominant activity in the sphere of social production is the collection, accumulation, production, processing, storage, transmission and use of information, carried out on the basis of modern means microprocessor and computer technology, as well as on the basis of various means of information exchange. Informatization of society provides:

active use of the constantly expanding intellectual potential of the society, concentrated in the printed fund, and scientific, industrial and other activities of its members;

integration of information technologies into scientific and industrial activities, initiating the development of all spheres of social production, the intellectualization of labor activity;

high level of information service, accessibility of any member of society to sources of reliable information, visualization of the information provided, materiality of the data used.

The use of open information systems designed to use the entire array of information available in this moment society in its certain area, allows to improve the mechanisms of managing the social structure, contributes to the humanization and democratization of society, increases the level of well-being of its members. The processes taking place in connection with the informatization of society contribute not only to the acceleration of scientific and technological progress, the intellectualization of all types of human activity, but also to the creation of a qualitatively new information environment of society, which ensures the development creativity individual. One of the directions of the process of informatization of modern society is the informatization of education - the process of providing the education sector with the methodology and practice of developing and optimal use modern or, as they are usually called, new information technologies focused on the implementation of the psychological and pedagogical goals of training and education.

The informatization process also affected the economic sectors. Their radical improvement and adaptation to modern conditions became possible due to the massive use of the latest computer and telecommunications technology, the formation of highly efficient information and management technologies on its basis. Means and methods of applied informatics are used in management and marketing. New technologies based on computer technology, require radical changes in the organizational structures of management, its regulations, human resources, documentation system, recording and transmission of information. New information technologies significantly expand the possibilities of using information resources in various industries, as well as in education.

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Just about the complex. Programs. Iron. Internet. Windows

The concept and types of interfaces. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame. entering or changing information

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1. The concept of the user interface

2. Types of interfaces

2.1 Command interface

2.2 GUI

2.2.1 Simple GUI

2.2.2 WIMP interface

2.3 Speech technology

2.4 Biometric technology

2.5 Semantic (public) interface

2.6 Interface types

3. Information technology

3.1 The concept of information technology

3.2 Stages of information technology development

4. Types of information technology

4.1 Information technology data processing

4.2 Management information technology

5. The role and importance of information technology

6. Components of information technology

7. Modern information technologies and their types

7.1 Decision support information technology

7.2 Information technology expert systems

8. Obsolescence of information technology

9. Methodology for the use of information technology

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

user interface semantic biometric

1. User interface concept

Interface - a set of technical, software and methodological (protocols, rules, agreements) means of interface in the computing system of users with devices and programs, as well as devices with other devices and programs.

Interface - in the broad sense of the word, it is a way (standard) of interaction between objects. The interface in the technical sense of the word defines the parameters, procedures and characteristics of the interaction of objects. Distinguish:

User interface - a set of methods of interaction between a computer program and the user of this program.

Programming interface - a set of methods for interaction between programs.

A physical interface is a way for physical devices to interact. Most often we are talking about computer ports.

Figure 1. User interaction with the computer

Basically, the user generates messages of the following types:

information request

help request

operation or function request

entering or changing information

In response, the user receives hints or help; informational messages requiring a response; orders requiring action; error messages and other information.

The user interface of the computer application includes:

means of displaying information, displayed information, formats and codes;

command modes, language "user - interface";

dialogues, interaction and transactions between the user and the computer, user feedback;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

It's not just the screen the user sees. These elements include:

a set of user tasks that he solves with the help of the system;

the metaphor used by the system (for example, the desktop in MS Windows®);

system controls;

navigation between system blocks;

visual (and not only) design of program screens;

means of displaying information, displayed information and formats;

data entry devices and technologies;

dialogues, interactions and transactions between the user and the computer;

user feedback;

decision support in a specific subject area;

how to use the program and documentation for it.

2. Types of interfaces

Modern types of interfaces are:

1) Command interface. The command interface is so called because in this type of interface a person gives "commands" to a computer, and the computer executes them and gives the result to a person. The command interface is implemented as batch technology and command line technology.

2.1 Command interface

Fig.2. View of the main computer of the EC series of computers

Both of these technologies are implemented in the form of a command interface - commands are given to the machine as input, and it, as it were, "responds" to them.

2.2 GUI

2.2.1 Simple GUI

At the first stage, the graphical interface was very similar to command line technology. The differences from the command line technology were as follows:

1. When displaying symbols, it was allowed to highlight part of the symbols with color, inverse image, underline and blinking. Thanks to this, the expressiveness of the image has increased.

2. Depending on the specific implementation of the graphical interface, the cursor can be represented not only by a flickering rectangle, but also by some area covering several characters and even part of the screen. This selected area is different from other, unselected parts (usually by color).

3. Pressing the Enter key does not always execute the command and move to the next line. The response to pressing any key depends largely on which part of the screen the cursor was on.

4. In addition to the Enter key, the "gray" cursor keys are increasingly used on the keyboard.

5. Already in this edition of the graphical interface, manipulators (such as a mouse, trackball, etc. - see Fig. 3) began to be used. They made it possible to quickly select the desired part of the screen and move the cursor.

2.2.2 WIMP interface

The "pure" WIMP interface became the second stage in the development of the graphical interface. This subspecies of the interface is characterized by the following features.

1. All work with programs, files and documents takes place in windows - certain parts of the screen outlined by a frame.

2. All programs, files, documents, devices and other objects are represented as icons - icons. When opened, the icons turn into windows.

A striking example of programs with a graphical interface is the Microsoft Windows operating system.