JMS-Java-Based Meeting Space

Abstract

The convergence of business, technology, and market forces have brought about the computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) phenomena. Many CSCW systems adopt an inflexible style of collaboration and coordination. The problem becomes obvious when different application tools are integrated into a single, comprehensive CSCW system and various applications need different degrees of interaction mode. We introduce JMS (Java-based meeting space), an object-oriented framework for developing synchronous collaborative applications. The JMS framework provides a comprehensive collection of services that supports cooperative interaction at system level. The application developers can tailor some of these services to the specific needs of particular collaborative applications and usage situations. These services are grouped into three main categories. First, JMS provides session management service supporting dynamic integration of application tools as well as dynamic membership. Second, group awareness service guarantees allotted communications within a session. Third, JMS offers floor control service accommodating a set of policies as well as underlying mechanisms. The application developer can bind a floor control to an application tool and switch from one floor policy to another during the session. Our implementation is based on a fully, object-oriented replicated architecture in which the application and management services are replicated at each site. To illustrate the feasibility of JMS in a practical organizational environment, an electronic meeting incorporating voting has been built on the JMS framework. We also provide a brief overview of CSCW and its significance in organizational computing-in electronic meeting, in particular-and compare JMS with other related works.