Implementation and Management of Web-Based Collaboration Using Java

Real-time collaboration systems, in which participants share multimedia documents and applications in real time, have been a subject of interest for many years. Although computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems have existed for a long time [1], Web-based collaboration tools, such as Microsoft NetMeeting, have started to emerge relatively recently. Moreover, there has been much advancement in Internet-related technologies lately. Among these, Java applets seem to have introduced the most exciting notion: platform-independent applications provided by the network. To run applets, users only have to make sure they have a Java-enabled Web browser on their platform. From CSCW point of view, the next step in the evolution of applets is their real-time sharing among many users. Although applets can usually be converted to applications and be shared using conventional techniques, there is a fundamental difference between sharing applets and applications. In practice, applets can be shared through a Web browser or a network station. This is not only platform-independent but also requires no downloading and installation of the specific application on the user side. A user simply navigates to a given URL and joins a session. Furthermore, users will always have the latest version of the applet. This is not the case with applications. Applications cannot be shared using a Web-browser. This means that a package must be downloaded and installed on the machine of every user who wants to take part in the collaboration session; an approach which is very similar to collaboration using non-Java applications. Hence,