A pattern system for the development of collaborative applications

Collaborative applications provide a group of users with the facility to communicate and share data in a coordinated way. Building collaborative applications is still a complex task. In this paper we propose a pattern system to design basic aspects of data sharing, communication, and coordination for collaborative applications. These patterns are useful for the design and development of collaborative applications as well as for the development of platforms for the construction of collaborative applications. q 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.