[comp.groupware] Answers to query: window systems for CSCW

li@nada.kth.se (Li Jiarong) (08/24/90)

Recently I posted the following questions to the net:

> Are there any window packages in the public domain that supports shared
> windows on different machines so that several users can view and manipulate t
he
> same data simultanously on different machines?
> 
> I have heard that HP has implemented such a package in X11.  Does anyone
> know more about it or how to get it?
> 
> /Jiarong
> li@nada.kth.se

Since several persons have asked me to post the answers, here they are.

From: db@East.Sun.COM (David Brownell)

Assuming for the moment that you use X11, which does allow clients
to talk to multiple display servers at once ...

This isn't a window system toolkit issue at all.  It's an application
object structure issue:  are the application objects built to know
that they should display themselves on multiple displays, or not?

The latest release of XView allows such applications to be written,
and is Sun's standard X11 windowing toolkit.  It's also available in
source form -- you should be able to use it without any problem.

-- 

David Brownell			db@east.sun.com.

"What's the network equivalent of 'the rough section of town'?"

From: Michael Lewis <ml@unix.cis.pitt.edu>

Try looking in comp.sources.x  The program is named "wscrawl" and was
posted within the last month.
                                 -Mike Lewis


From: trost%REED.BITNET@SEARN.SUNET.SE

"wscrawl" was (sorta) recently posted to comp.windows.x.  It's
essentially a multi-display drawing program.  Simple, but rather nice.


From: Greg McFarlane <gregm@otc.otca.oz.au>

I am very interested in this topic too. I am currently working on a
multiplexing
X server. This will allow a client to transparently connect to several servers.
It is still in the planning stages, but I have a design that will
support a limited
number of X requests. This may be usable, but I'll have to wait until it is
implemented to find out. That won't be for several months yet.

If you find anything interesting, please let me know. There are a few projects
going on, but no-one is saying anything about them.

Greg

                    Greg McFarlane
                    |||| OTC ||

                ACSnet:  gregm@otc.otca.oz.au
                  UUCP:  {uunet,mcvax}!otc.otca.oz.au!gregm
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From: Ian Smith <iansmith%warhol%gatech@gatech.edu>

Li: Here at the Software Engineering Research Center we are about to start
such a project.  We are going to implement such a solution, and combine it
with voice teleconferencing over ethernet.  Through our research, we
have discovered four implementation of 'shared windows.' A list compiled
by my officmated follows, with my comments in  brackets:

>1) SharedX, Gust [1988], HP Labs.
>2) Dialogo, Lantz and Lauwers [1988], Olivetti Research Center.
>3) Rapport, Ensor [1988], Bell Labs.
>4) Shadows, Patterson [1989], BellCore.

>To the best of my knowledge, (1) is being held on to by HP until the lawyers
>decide what to do with it.  I've got some references on it though and we
>can track down the papers and find out how it works.  This, BTW, was the
>first shared window system for X.

[note: olivetti research center is no longer in existance]
>The Olivetti people have pretty much scattered to the four winds, but I've
>been trying to track down the people responsible for Dialogo.  It turns out
>that they've been trying to convince Olivetti-Italy to release the thing
>into the public domain, but it remains to be seen whether or not this will
>happen. 

>I know nothing about (3) but I've got a reference to a paper on it.  I'll try
>to find out about availability.

[The paper is available in a conference proceeding.]

>(4) seems pretty simple, I've got about a 4-page paper describing it.  I'll
>try to find out about availability here too.
[Availabilty unknown at this time.]

Hope this helps you, but really all it says is that nobody has one. We are
hoping to make our product public domain, but I don't know what the funding
source will say about that.

If you find out anything else, please let me know.
ian

iansmith@warhol.gatech.edu



--Jiarong
li@nada.kth.se