Web and file based document collaboration via aysnchronous and synchronous updates

Abstract

Collaborative documents can be worked on synchronously (collaborators see updates as they happen) and asynchronously (collaborators see updates after they are shared). Synchronous updates are useful when collaborators are working together in real-time on the details of a document. Asynchronous updates are more appropriate for sharing larger sets of changes or for publishing a particular version. Furthermore, although web-based collaboration is ideal for real-time updates, often authors wish to use software installed on their local computer to edit documents. As such, this note will outline an approach for merging synchronous and asynchronous updates across both the WWW and the user's local file system using Operational Transforms and Conflict-Free Replicated Data Types.