The User Interface Level

The user interface level determines how to present the information in the HAM level. Issues like what kind of commands should be shown to the user, how to present nodes and links, what commands should be made available to the user, etc are dealt with at this level.

Let us assume that the HAM level of a hypertext defines the links as being typed. The user interface level might decide not to display that information at all to some novice users and to make typing information available only in an authoring mode. The very distinction between reading and writing is one of the basic user interface issues.

This level could decide to display typing information in an overview diagram. If it had a color display available, it might choose to show each link type in a different color, whereas on a monochrome display it would have to use different representations, such as different line patterns, small icons or by using words to label the lines.

This level also will cover issues such as which buttons or links should be made available to the user, how they should be displayed, which document, fragment of a document or diagrams should be displayed and so on.