Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-88-TR-006Abstract
The separation of the user interface portion of a software system from the functional portion is intended to enable the production of tools to deal with the user interface, and to raise the quality and modularity of resulting software systems. One class of such separation tools that have been developed is the User Interface Management System (UIMS). This paper describes the runtime architecture and dialogue model of a particular UIMS named Serpent.
Serpent uses existing software systems to create a UIMS based on a structured production model to specify the dialogue, and uses a database approach for communication between its internal layers. The model for the dialogue in Serpent supports simultaneity of subdialogues and presents the dialogue specifier with a model that views data as mapping from the application to the presentation.
The database approach for communication between the layers provides a model that application programmers understand well and find easy to use. The approach also provides the power necessary to decouple the application structures from the structures implicit in the user interface.
Cite This SEI Report
Bass, L., Hardy, E., Hoyt, K., Little, R., & Seacord, R. (1988, May 1). Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-88-TR-006). Retrieved August 13, 2026, from https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/.
@techreport{bass_1988,
author={Bass, Len and Hardy, Erik and Hoyt, Kurt and Little, Reed and Seacord, Robert},
title={Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model},
month={May},
year={1988},
number={{CMU/SEI-88-TR-006},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
url={https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/},
note={Accessed: 2026-Aug-13}
}
Bass, Len, Erik Hardy, Kurt Hoyt, Reed Little, and Robert Seacord. "Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model." (CMU/SEI-88-TR-006). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, May 1, 1988. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/.
L. Bass, E. Hardy, K. Hoyt, R. Little, and R. Seacord, "Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-88-TR-006, 1-May-1988 [Online]. Available: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/. [Accessed: 13-Aug-2026].
Bass, Len, Erik Hardy, Kurt Hoyt, Reed Little, and Robert Seacord. "Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-88-TR-006). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 May. 1988. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.
Bass, Len; Hardy, Erik; Hoyt, Kurt; Little, Reed; & Seacord, Robert. Serpent Runtime Architecture and Dialogue Model. CMU/SEI-88-TR-006. Software Engineering Institute. 1988. https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/serpent-runtime-architecture-and-dialogue-model/