The Graphical Language Server Protocol (GLSP) is emerging as a standard for communication between web-based graphical modelling clients and model servers, with existing implementations in Java and TypeScript — but none in Smalltalk. This paper describes the design and implementation of GLOSS, a GLSP-compliant model server built in Pharo Smalltalk, and compares it to the authors' existing EVA graphical modelling environment. The result reveals both the advantages of Smalltalk's dynamic, object-oriented approach and a set of concrete limitations in the GLSP protocol itself.
Designing an Effective Graphical Modelling Language
Graphical models are central to enterprise architecture and information systems work, yet they frequently fail to deliver value — not because the underlying analysis is wrong, but because the notations are poorly designed, mismatched to their audience, or unable to highlight what matters. This doctoral research paper sets out a programme of design science research aimed at improving visual language design and tooling, drawing on insights from human cognition, perception, semiotics, and graphic design. It introduces polymetric diagramming as a technique for making models more expressive and proposes a meta-meta model and tool architecture to support more effective visual language design and use.