Constraint-based layout in visual program design

Visual program layout and program visualization make a number of useful contributions for all kinds of graphical editing tasks. We describe the constraint-based graphical editor InLay that automatically handles aspects of display layout in visual programming environments. Furthermore, innovative visualization and interaction techniques for dynamic displays can generate new insights and can be seen as a new quality of communication media. We concentrate on the intelligent use of visualization techniques: animated layout of chart diagrams, abstracting presentation parts, focussing of active display objects, editing graphical histories, and the visualization of hierarchical information structures