Introduction

The DEVise JavaScreen collaboration feature allows users to work together interactively, even if they are widely separated geographically.

The essence of JavaScreen collaboration is as follows: one user is the "leader", and the other users are "followers". The leader interacts normally with their JavaScreen applet; whatever actions they perform are mirrored by the followers' applets. For example, if the leader moves a cursor, the same cursor will be moved in the followers' applets, and the results of that movement will be the same.

While in collaboration mode, the followers' JavaScreen applets do not accept most user input (cursor moves, for example).

Starting Collaboration

Starting collaboration is a two-part process: first, the leader JavaScreen must create a collaboration; second, the follower or followers must connect to that collaboration.

Leader

At the present time, the leader must have a session open to successfully allow collaboration. To enable collaboration once a session is open, perform the following procedure:

• Click the "Collaborate" button.
• Then click the "Become Leader" button within the dialog.
• When you click the "Become Leader" button, a new dialog will be shown in which you can set a collaboration name and password. The collaboration name is simply a way of identifying the collaboration to prospective followers. If you don't want third parties "eavesdropping" on your collaboration, you should set a password for your collaboration.

Followers

Follow the link to get a JavaScreen follower.

Once the leader has created a collaboration, the followers can connect to that leader and start the actual collaboration. To do so, perform this procedure:

• Click the "Collaborate" button in the follower JavaScreen.
• Then click the "Become Follower" button in the dialog.
• A new dialog will be shown with a list of available collaboration leaders. For each leader, its client ID, collaboration name, host name, and session name are shown. Select the appropriate leader in the dialog, and click "OK".
• A new dialog will be shown in which you must enter the collaboration password. If you enter the correct password, you will become a collaboration follower.

Stopping Collaboration

Leader

The leader can end the collaboration as follows:

• Click the "Collaborate" button.
• Click the "Quit Leader" button.

The leader can also end the collaboration by simply exiting. In either of these cases, the followers will all return to their pre- collaboration state.

Followers

• Click the "Collaborate" button.
• Then click the "Quit Following" button in the dialog.

Notes

At the present time, collaboration does not work in CGI communication mode. (CGI mode is a special mode to deal with the problem of firewalls that prevent the JavaScreen client from connecting a socket back to the JSPoP on the web server machine. You can tell that you're in CGI mode because the text just to the right of the JavaScreen buttons says 'CGI' instead of 'Socket'.)

At the present time, you must exit and restart the collaboration to switch leaders.

Last updated 2002-05-08.