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Abstract. Complex workflows require intelligent interactions. In this paper we attack the problem of combining user interfaces of specialized applications that support different aspects of objects in scientific/technical workflows with semantic technologies. We analyze the problem in terms of the (new) notion of full semantic transparency, i.e., the property of user interfaces to give full access to an underlying semantic object even beyond application lines. In a multi-application case full semantic transparency is difficult, but can be achieved by representing the semantic objects in a structured ontology and actively supporting the application-specific framings of an object in a semantic interface manager. We evaluate the proposed framework in a situation where aspects of technical constructions are distributed across a CAD system, a spreadsheet application, and a knowledge base.

In this paper we analyze the problem of "situating explanations" in user assistance systems. We introduce semantic transparency as a user interface property that enables giving appropriate help. We explicate this notion in document player applications found in office suites, for example. Moreover, we show how semantic transparency can be strengthened when the underlying software is complemented by a semantic ally system. The approach consists in illustrating existing software semantically. We present some semantic extensions of office applications as examples. We also describe how the semantic transparency approach allows the exploitation of new interactions for user assistance systems.

We study the formalization of a collection of documents created for a Software Engineering project from an MKM perspective. We analyze how document and collection markup formats can cope with an open-ended, multi-dimensional space of primary and secondary classifications and relationships. We show that RDFa-based extensions of MKM formats, employing flexible "metadata" relationships referencing specific vocabularies for distinct dimensions, are well-suited to encode this and to put it into service. This formalized knowledge can be used for enriching interactive document browsing, for enabling multi-dimensional metadata queries over documents and collections, and for exporting Linked Data to the Semantic Web and thus enabling further reuse.