Thin Client Collaboration Web Services

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Thin Client Collaboration Web Services

Minjun Wang Minjun Wang

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Syracuse University, U.S.A Syracuse University, U.S.A

[email protected]

Geoffrey Fox Geoffrey Fox

Indiana University, U.S.A Indiana University, U.S.A

[email protected]@indiana.edu

Marlon Pierce Marlon Pierce

[email protected]

Presented by

Presented by Ahmet Sayar Ahmet Sayar

[email protected]

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Outline



Introduction



Problems



The Idea of Thin Client Collaboration Web

Services



Thin Client Web Services in Collaboration



Deployment and Usage of Collaboration

Web Services



Initial Effort and Future Work toward the

Implementation of the Idea

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Introduction



Collaboration applications over the Internet

• Online conferencing, distance education, e-Science, e-Online conferencing, distance education, Science, e-Business, etc.

Business, etc.



The advantage to make collaboration applications to be

Web Services



The idea of

Thin Client Collaboration Web Services

• Separation of the native interface from the rest of the Separation of the native interface from the rest of the software, correlation of the native interface to a web service software, correlation of the native interface to a web service

friendly user interface (e.g. in SVG & Java) friendly user interface (e.g. in SVG & Java)

• Two sets of ports: User-facing Input/Output ports (associated Two sets of ports: User-facing Input/Output ports (associated with a WS viewer) and Resource-facing Input/Output ports with a WS viewer) and Resource-facing Input/Output ports

(associated with a resource) (associated with a resource)

• Transcoding in both directions between the two sets of ports Transcoding in both directions between the two sets of ports with respect to displays and events

with respect to displays and events



Collaborative

projects

–

collaborative

PowerPoint,

collaborative Impress and collaborative ReviewPlus – as

resources; SVG related projects in converting some native

data to SVG format.

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Problems

Difficulties with

packaging the whole package of a

collaboration application as Web Service:

• If the package is big in size

If the package is big in size

 Collaborative Impress of OpenOffice, as well as the whole Collaborative Impress of OpenOffice, as well as the whole underlying OpenOffice source

underlying OpenOffice source

• If the package is related to proprietary software

If the package is related to proprietary software

 Collaborative PowerPoint, as well as the underlying Collaborative PowerPoint, as well as the underlying Microsoft PowerPoint application

Microsoft PowerPoint application

• If the package itself is complicated in architecture and

If the package itself is complicated in architecture and

deployment, possibly involving fire walls

 Collaborative ReviewPlus Collaborative ReviewPlus

• If the package was developed in a language that has not

If the package was developed in a language that has not

yet had accompanying tools for developing web services

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The Idea of Thin Client Collaboration

Web Services

• Separation of the native interface from the rest of the Separation of the native interface from the rest of the collaborative application, correlation of the native

collaborative application, correlation of the native

interface to a web service friendly user interface (e.g. in

SVG & Java)

• Two sets of ports: User-facing Input/Output ports Two sets of ports: User-facing Input/Output ports (associated with a WS viewer) and Resource-facing

(associated with a WS viewer) and Resource-facing

Input/Output ports (associated with a resource –

collaborative application)

• Transcoding in Transcoding in both directionsboth directions between the two sets of ports with between the two sets of ports with respect to displays and events

respect to displays and events

 1. 1. [][] Web Service takes the event message from the SVG Web Service takes the event message from the SVG

viewer/Web browser to the input port (I) of the user-facing I/O

viewer/Web browser to the input port (I) of the user-facing I/O [][] translates the event message to the equivalence of the event

translates the event message to the equivalence of the event

structure of the native interface of the resource

structure of the native interface of the resource [][] and directs the and directs the result to the output port (O) of resource-facing I/O.

result to the output port (O) of resource-facing I/O.

 2. 2. [][] Web Service takes the output display of the resource to the Web Service takes the output display of the resource to the

input port (I) of the resource-facing I/O

input port (I) of the resource-facing I/O [][] translates the information translates the information in the native interface to the equivalence in SVG format,

in the native interface to the equivalence in SVG format, [][] and and directs the result to the output port (O) of the user-facing I/O.

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Thin Client Web Services in

Collaboration



Thin Client Web Services in the real Collaboration

applications.

• Three scenarios are proposed. We will be mentioning just one Three scenarios are proposed. We will be mentioning just one of them.

of them.



We use our collaborative projects as resources. Each has at

least one master client that generates event message, and

at least one participant client that consumes the event

message.



The master and participant(s) communicate with and

cooperate on the event messages.



The thin client web services contact only with the native

interfaces of the clients and access/control them in

collaboration.



The scenarios bring interoperability, flexibility and diversity

to collaboration.

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Thin Client Web Services in Collaboration

Scenario

- 1

Instances of a web service in

collaboration, with only one

instance for the master client

and at least one instance for

each of the participant clients

 The Master client controls the process of a The Master client controls the process of a

session of collaboration, captures events and

sends event messages to all Participant clients

through NaradaBrokering (NB) event broker; the

Participants do not interfere with the process,

they just receive the event messages and render

the same output displays as the Master under the

instructions in the messages.

 Only one instance of the Web Service is hooked Only one instance of the Web Service is hooked

up with the Master client of the resource, and the

controller or lecturer is controlling the process

through a WS viewer; at least one instance of

the Web Service is hooked up with each

Participant client, and the audiences or students

are viewing the displays via the WS viewers.

 The clients of the resource and the web service The clients of the resource and the web service

do not need to be deployed on the same location.

 The WS Viewers can be any SVG rendering tools: The WS Viewers can be any SVG rendering tools:

SVG viewers, Web browsers, Personal Digital

Assistants (PDA), or other mobile devices,

because of one factor – the output of the web

service to the viewers is in SVG format. This

makes universal access to resources possible,

and so for universal collaborations.

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Deployment and Usage of Collaboration

Web Services

 Service Interface Descriptions are in WSDLService Interface Descriptions are in WSDL

 Web Service is published to a UDDI Registry service to make itself Web Service is published to a UDDI Registry service to make itself

discoverable by the service consumers. discoverable by the service consumers.

 Resource consumers (collaborative applications) find and binds to Resource consumers (collaborative applications) find and binds to

the general Collaboration Web Service and cooperates with it the general Collaboration Web Service and cooperates with it through its resource-facing I/O; on the other end, a WS viewer through its resource-facing I/O; on the other end, a WS viewer performs the same procedure to bind to the general Collaboration performs the same procedure to bind to the general Collaboration Web Service and cooperates with it through its user-facing I/O.

Web Service and cooperates with it through its user-facing I/O.

 More specifically, incase of a video conferencing, the speaker’s WS More specifically, incase of a video conferencing, the speaker’s WS

viewer is bound to the instance of the general Collaboration Web viewer is bound to the instance of the general Collaboration Web Service that has the Master client of a resource bound to it, and Service that has the Master client of a resource bound to it, and each audience’s WS viewer is bound to the instance of the general each audience’s WS viewer is bound to the instance of the general Collaboration Web Service that has the Participant client of the Collaboration Web Service that has the Participant client of the corresponding resource bound to it.

corresponding resource bound to it.

 For each resource type, the Master client and the Participant For each resource type, the Master client and the Participant

client(s) collaborate on event messages via the underlying client(s) collaborate on event messages via the underlying communication of the NB event broker.

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Initial Effort and Future Work toward the

Implementation of the Idea



Effort in the direction from the resource to the

viewer, or from the resource-facing I/O to the

user-facing I/O. Effort in the conversion of native

interface data to SVG format.

• A converter which converts HTML file to SVG file

A converter which converts HTML file to SVG file

• A converter which converts files in WMF format to SVG

A converter which converts files in WMF format to SVG

format



Transcoding of events from the viewer to the

resource, or from the user-facing I/O to the

resource-facing I/O.



Converting other kinds of file formats to SVG

format.



Automating the Web Service with resources as

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Conclusion

 In this paper we introduced some resources of collaboration In this paper we introduced some resources of collaboration

applications, and the needs in making them to be Web Services. applications, and the needs in making them to be Web Services. We proposed and described the idea of Thin Client Collaboration We proposed and described the idea of Thin Client Collaboration Web Services, and explored some potential scenarios of this idea Web Services, and explored some potential scenarios of this idea in which it shows its merit and the freedom resulted in in which it shows its merit and the freedom resulted in

collaboration. collaboration.

 Such a Web Service has two sets of ports: User-facing Such a Web Service has two sets of ports: User-facing

Input/Output ports and Resource-facing Input/Output ports. The Input/Output ports and Resource-facing Input/Output ports. The user-facing I/O contacts a WS viewer, and the resource-facing I/O user-facing I/O contacts a WS viewer, and the resource-facing I/O contacts a collaborative application. Hence, the role of the Web contacts a collaborative application. Hence, the role of the Web Service is to transcode in both directions between the two sets of Service is to transcode in both directions between the two sets of ports with respect to displays and events, so that the user ports with respect to displays and events, so that the user

accesses the WS viewer as if the resource itself. accesses the WS viewer as if the resource itself.

 We used our collaborative projects as examples of resources, and We used our collaborative projects as examples of resources, and

projects in SVG as the indication of our initial effort toward the projects in SVG as the indication of our initial effort toward the implementation of a general Thin Client Collaboration Web implementation of a general Thin Client Collaboration Web Service. We described briefly the SVG projects, gave some results Service. We described briefly the SVG projects, gave some results