Flexible synchronization of shared groupware objects

Abstract

In this paper we describe an object manager, that has been developed for simplifying groupware development. The object manager offers a variety of services for controlling an application's shared data, including flexible object distribution, flexible coupling of user interface and shared data, latecomer support and configurable concurrency control. After a brief description of the object manager in total, we focus on a configurable concurrency control scheme. An example and directions for future work conclude the paper.

Customizable Data Distribution for Synchronous Groupware

“…they can use shared data objects like local objects of single-user applications. To achieve this transparency, DreamObjects uses substitutes (Lukosch and Unger, 2000), which are based on the substitution principle of object-oriented programming languages. A substitute class extends a developer-defined data class and overwrites some of their methods to add functionality, e.g.…”

Transparent Latecomer Support for Synchronous Groupware

“…they can use a shared data object like a local object of a single-user application. To achieve this transparency, DreamObjects replaces a developer-defined data object with a substitute [12]. For this purpose, a developer has to call a special method in the runtime system which creates the substitute and informs the other participating sites about the new shared object.…”