Building distributed, multi-user applications by direct manipulation

ABSTRACT

This paper describes Visual Obliq, a user interface development environment for constructing distributed, multi-user applications. Applications are created by designing the interface with a GUI-builder and embedding callback code in an interpreted language, in much the same way as one would build a traditional (non-distributed, single-user) application with a modern user interface development environment. The resulting application can be run from within the GUI-builder for rapid turnaround or as a stand-alone executable. The Visual Obliq runtime provides abstractions and support for issues specific to distributed computing, such as replication, sharing, communication, and session management. We believe that the abstractions provided, the simplicity of the programming model, the rapid turnaround time, and the applicability to heterogeneous environments, make Visual Obliq a viable tool for authoring distributed applications and groupware.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User interface management systems (UIMS)

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.4 Distributed Systems
          Subjects: Distributed applications

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces
          Subjects: Synchronous interaction

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Human Factors, Languages

Keywords:
CSCW, GUI-builders, UIMS, application builders, distributed applications, groupware