@conference{255,
  keywords = {visual languages, diagrams, speciﬁcations, speciﬁcation languages},
  author = {Anitta Thomas and Aurona Gerber and Alta van der Merwe},
  title = {A Conceptual Framework of Research on Visual Language Speciﬁcation Languages},
  abstract = {Visual languages make use of spatial arrangements of graphical and textual elements to represent information. Domain speciﬁc diagrams, including ﬂowcharts and music sheets, are examples of visual languages. An established area of research is the study of languages which can be used to create declarative speciﬁcations of visual languages. In this paper, the result of a review of research on visual language speciﬁcation languages is presented. Speciﬁcally, a structured literature review is conducted to establish research themes by analysing what has been studied in the context of speciﬁcation languages. The result of the literature review is used to develop a conceptual framework that consists of six research themes with related topics. Additionally, discussions on how the conceptual framework can be used as a basis to guide research in the ﬁeld of speciﬁcation languages, to perform feature based characterisations and to create lists of criteria to evaluate and compare speciﬁcation languages are included in this paper. },
  year = {2019},
  journal = {International Conference on Advances in Big Data, Computing and Data Communication Systems (icABCD)},
  month = {05/09 - 06/09},
  publisher = {IEEE},
  address = {Winterton, South Africa},
  isbn = {978-1-5386-9236-3},
  url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8851003},
  doi = {10.1109/ICABCD.2019.8851003},
}