Integrating, Customizing, and Extending Environments with a Message-Based Architecture

Message-based architectures have typically been used for integrating an engineer‘s set of tools as in FIELD and SoftBench. This paper presents our experience using a message-based architecture to integrate complex, multi-user environments. Where this style of control integration has been effective for encapsulating independent tools within an environment, we show that these techniques are also useful for integrating environments themselves. Our experience comes from our integration of two types of process-centered software development environments: a groupware application that implements a Fagan-style code inspection process and a software development process environment where code inspection is a single step in the overall process. We use a message-based mechanism to federate the two process engines such that the two process formalisms complement rather than compete with each other. Moreover, we see that the two process engines can provide some synergy when used in a single, integrated software process environment, Specifically, the integrated environment uses the process modeling and enactment services of one process engine to customize and extend the code inspection process implemented in a different process engine. The customization and extension of the original collaborative application was accomplished without modifying the application. This was possible because the integration mechanism was designed for multi-user, distributed evironments and encouraged the use of an environment‘s services by other environments. The results of our study indicate that the message-based architecture originally conceived for tool-oriented control integration is equally well-suited for environment integration

Expanding the Repertoire of Process-based Tool Integration

The purpose of this thesis is to design and implement a new protocol for tool enveloping, in the context of the Oz Process Centered Environment. This new part of the system would be complementary to the already existing Black Box protocol for Oz and would deal with additional families of tools, whose character would be better serviced by a different approach, providing enhanced flexibility and a greater amount of interaction between the human operator, the tools and the environment during the execution of the wrapped activities. To achieve this, the concepts of persistent tool platforms, tool sessions and transaction-like activities will be introduced as the main innovative features of the protocol. We plan to be able to encapsulate and service conveniently classes of tools such as interpretive systems, databases, medium and large size applications that allow for incremental binding of parameters and partial retrieving of results, and possibly multi-user tools. Marginal modification and upgrading of the Oz general architecture and components will necessarily be performed

The CSCW paradigm for software development

People work together to solve a wide variety of problems using different forms of cooperation for each class of problem. Modern technology is complex, and therefore it is unusual for an individual to attempt the development of a major project single-handedly. In an attempt to provide computer-based support for the problems that arise when two or more people attempt to cooperate to perform a task or solve a problem, the area of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) becomes relevant. The software development process almost invariably involves cooperation that crosses group, professional, and subcultural boundaries. The complexity of software development demands that highly integrated groups of analysts, designers, and users are involved in the process. Many development activities may occur concurrently. The area of CSCW and advanced information technology, with its enormous capabilities for transmitting and storing information, holds considerable promise for the software development process

Generating collaborative work processes

The paper describes ways to support collaboration in business processes. Collaborative processes are different from predefined processes in the sense that they can change dynamically as the situation emerges. Such changes can be time consuming as they require users to continually adapt the system to changing contexts. The solution proposed here to support process evolution is to provide generic work objects and use software agents to assist users to dynamically change the process by quickly adding or changing work objects. The paper outlines a way of describing work processes in terms of generic work objects. The structure of the generic work objects is based on a metamodel, which provides the fundamental concepts to define generic objects. A prototype implementation is then described

An analysis framework for CSCW systems

Software toolkits are under development to help construct applications that support group-working. Toolkit developers adopt different approaches to group-work support in order to tackle different issues and a toolkit is commonly characterised by the approach adopted. It is difficult to compare toolkits because of this lack of apparent commonality and it is difficult to decide which toolkits meet specific application requirements. [Continues.

Enveloping Sophisticated Tools into Process-Centered Environments

We present a tool integration strategy based on enveloping pre-existing tools without source code modifications or recompilation, and without assuming an extension language, application programming interface, or any other special capabilities on the part of the tool. This Black Box enveloping (or wrapping) idea has existed for a long time, but was previously restricted to relatively simple tools. We describe the design and implementation of, and experimentation with, a new Black Box enveloping facility intended for sophisticated tools --- with particular concern for the emerging class of groupware applications