Many people think of hypermedia as a framework for organizing or struc
turing information Others view hypermedia more from a behavioral or pr
ocess-oriented perspective. It is not surprising, therefore, that exis
ting models for hypermedia tend to fall into three main categories: 1)
data models, concerned with the data structures that implement interc
onnected information; 2) process models, concerned with the interactio
ns that occur between a user and a hypermedia system, or the semantics
of linking and browsing; and 3) combination models, which address var
ious aspects of structure and behavior. Dexter is a combination model
that captures the essentials of the dynamic, interactional aspects of
hypermedia systems in the run-time layer, but focuses most of its atte
ntion on the data modeling aspects of hypermedia in the storage layer.
As such, the Dexter model provides a valuable reference for developin
g interchange and interoperability standard, through which hypermedia
can be shared.