Title: Flexible and transparent data sharing for synchronous groupware

Authors: Stephan Lukosch

Addresses: University of Hagen, Computer Science II - Cooperative Systems, 58084 Hagen, Germany

Abstract: The data of a groupware application must be shared to support interactions between collaborating users. There have been a lot of discussions about the best distribution scheme for the data of a groupware application. While some groupware platforms support a replicated distribution scheme, others rely on a central distribution. The supported distribution scheme applies to the entire application. None of these distribution schemes fits well for every groupware application. Different applications or even single applications can have different requirements concerning data distribution. This article describes a development platform that allows a developer to select the distribution scheme for each shared data object. Besides this, it achieves maximum transparency for the application developer. The developer can concentrate on application-specific details and does not have to care about technical issues that concern the data distribution.

Keywords: concurrency control; data consistency; data distribution; data persistency; groupware; latecomer support.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2004.004070

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2004 Vol.19 No.3/4, pp.215 - 230

Published online: 10 May 2004 *

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