1 Algebraic Specification of User Interfaces

Formal methods have been successfully used to specify graphic (1,2) and interactive system (3,4). This paper discuss the use of algebraic specification to User Interface. We use a language, GRALPLA (5), for the specification and a translator for developing a running prototype. We propose two level of description for the specification and validation of a User Interface system: formally using algebraic specification to describe properties and interactively using the prototype for checking its flexibility. The paper contains an example of a Simple User Interface, to explain the design process.