recognition and processing of hand-drawn diagrams using syntactic and semantic analysis
We present an approach to the processing of hand-drawn diagrams. Hand drawing is inherently imprecise; we rely on syntactical and semantical analysis to resolve the inevitable ambiguities arising from this impreciseness. Based on the specification of a diagram language (containing aspects like concrete and abstract syntax, grammar rules for a parser, and attributes for semantics), editors supporting free hand drawing are generated. Since the generation process relies on the specifications only, our approach is fully generic. In this paper the overall architecture and concepts of our approach are explained and discussed. The user-drawn strokes (forming the diagram) are transformed into a number of independent models. The drawn components are recognized in these models, directed by the specification. Then the set of all components is analyzed to find the interpretation that best fits the whole diagram. We build upon DiaGen , a generic diagram editor generator enabling syntax and semantic analysis for diagrams, and extend it to support hand drawing. Case studies (done with a fully working implementation in Java) confirm the strength and applicability of our approach.
recognition hand drawing model diagen ambiguity resolution sketching