Features Evaluation for Software to Aid Collaboration*
Bordin Sapsomboon and Michael B. Spring
May 28, 1997
Department of Information Science and Telecommunications
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA
Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Review of the First Report
1.2. Overview of this Report
2. Methodology and Goals of the Analysis
2.1. Identification of Objects and Processes
2.2. Refinement of Object/Process Set
2.3. Identification of Tests
3. Object and Task Analyses
3.1. Object Analysis
3.2. Task/Action Analysis
3.3. Action-Object Relations
4. Tests
5. Appendix A: Features of collaborative authoring systems
6. Appendix B: Objects in collaborative authoring systems
7. Appendix C: Non service-specific objects
8. Appendix B: Service-specific objects
9. Appendix D: Service-Task Matrix
10. Appendix E: Group Tasks
11. References
List of Tables and Figures
Table 1: Basic Collabortaive Authoring Features
Table 2: Detailed Features of Email
Table 3: Detailed Features of Email (cont.)
Table 4: Taxonomic Classification of Features
Table 5: Elaboration of Messaging Features
Table 6: Detailed Features of Database Management
Table 7: Detailed Features of Document Management
Table 8: Detailed Features of Calendaring and Scheduling
Table 9: Detailed Features of Conferencing
Table 10: Detailed Features of MIS
Table 11: Detailed Features of Workgroup Utilities
Table 12: Elaboration of Activity Management Features
Table 13: Elaboration of Shared Information Features
Table 14: Elaboration of Workgroup Utilities
Table 15: Elaboration of Other Features
Figure 1 Object-Process Pair Matrix
Introduction
This is the second in a series of technical reports prepared to facilitate the development of reference data sets for use in measuring the development of collaborative authoring software. The first report in the series, Software to Aid Collaboration: Focus on Collaborative Authoring (Sapsomboon, B. et.al., 1997) identified the features of collaborative authoring software. This second report refines this feature set and describes the kinds of tests that might be used to assess the existence or the completeness of the various features. A third, and final report, will specify the actual test data and/or mechanisms to be used as the reference data set.
Review of the First Report
Software to Aid Collaboration: Focus on Collaborative Authoring identified the features of collaborative authoring software. The initial feature set was derived from an analysis of a number of existing systems that provide some degree of collaborative authoring support. Once the preliminary feature set had been developed, further analysis endeavored to provide a more comprehensive description of these features. More specifically, a survey of existing software found one or more features shown in the Table 1 below..:
|
Feature |
|
|
|
database management |
|
document management |
|
calendaring |
|
conferencing |
|
MIS and DSS |
|
administrative services. |
Table 1: Basic Collaborative Authoring Features
In reviewing the many tools, and systems intended to support collaboration in authoring, this list was expanded to add additional detail. For example, the email feature was found to include many subfeatures, both basic and advanced, as shown in Table 2. (Features of other services are shown in Table 3-8 in Appendix A: Features in Collaborative Authoring Systems.)
|
Email Features |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
creation-postpone-delivery of |
B |
|
messages |
B |
|
folders |
B |
|
filters |
B |
|
threading |
B |
|
address book |
B |
|
aliases |
B |
|
form response |
B |
|
multimedia |
B |
|
spelling checking |
B |
|
automatic quoted reply |
B |
|
speech act-based dialogue |
A |
|
other full-fledged editor features |
A |
Table 2: Detailed Features of Email
|
Email Features |
|
|
process initiation, i.e. task automation via email |
A |
|
forwarding |
A |
|
auto-reply |
A |
Table 3: Detailed Features of Email (cont.)
After a review of the software packages and a review of the technical literature on collaborative authoring, the list of features was conceptually reorganized to reflect a more conceptual presentation of the feature set which it was hoped would provide a more general and extensible set of features. This analysis resulted in the following breakdown shown in Table 9.
|
End User Services |
Management Services |
|
Messaging |
Messaging |
|
Activity coordination and meeting support |
Activity coordination and meeting management |
|
Shared information store services |
Shared information store management |
|
Workgroup services |
Workgroup management |
Table 4: Taxonomic Classification of Features
This analysis in turn suggested additional features that had not been suggested by the survey of existing packages. Thus, end user messaging services was expanded to include the set of features included in Table 10. (Elaborations of other features are shown in Table 11-14 in Appendix A: Features in Collaborative Authoring Systems.)
|
Service Group: Message Transactions |
|
|
Feature |
Details |
|
Service: Email, voice mail, fax |
|
|
creation |
|
|
filters |
|
|
threading |
|
|
address book |
|
|
multimedia |
graphics, images, binaries |
|
spelling checking |
|
|
forwarding |
|
|
folders |
|
|
aliases |
|
|
Service: Structured messages |
|
|
processing of incoming |
calendaring |
|
edi |
|
|
forms |
|
|
generation of outgoing |
e.g. ballots, meeting setup, meeting reminders |
|
Service: Message transaction management |
|
|
auto-reply |
|
|
postponed message delivery |
|
|
integration with other mail systems |
|
|
mail exploders |
|
|
bulletin boards |
|
Table 5: Elaboration of Messaging Features
The first report also provides extensive detail on infrastructure issues that impact the kinds of services that might be provided by various systems. It explores the capabilities and limitations of various protocols and classifies the array of existing products as tools, programs, and systems. The current report continues the process of generalizing the analysis with an eye to defining metrics for the assessment of collaborative authoring systems.
While the feature analysis described above served the needs of the first report, it was decided that additional rigor was required before we could move onto the next step of defining tests. (We suspect that yet additional rigor will be required before the actual test data can be specified.) A review of the software testing literature (Perry, 1995) suggested a number of methodologies that might be employed:
Overall software quality, Security, and Software safety
Of these approaches, functional, compliance, and usability testing is the most applicable to the problem domain. Due to the complexity of the problem domain and maintainability requirement of the features tests, the object oriented approach (Rumbaugh, 1991) is selected to be an additional framework. This suggests that tests be constructed based on a set of possible actions on objects. Thus the remainder of this report is broken up into three major sections. The first identifies the basic methodology and goals of the analysis The second lists the objects and actions which are implied by the feature analysis. The third describes the tests which would provide an indication of the existence of the feature as described by the object action pair.
Methodology and Goals of the Analysis
The follow-up analysis on the features described in the first paper reveals that the features can be generally classified into two types: objects and processes. For examples, in email service, an address book and creation of message are required features. Objects imply associated processes; similarly actions imply involved objects. Therefore, the folder feature of email systems implies the process of storing and retrieving emails. The analysis also yields that we can identify and describe common objects and processes across services in collaborative authoring software. This suggests that we can have a common set of evaluation methods that can be applied to similar feature sets. We adopt the object-oriented task analysis approach to identify common requirements of the collaborative authoring systems as the basis for features evaluation specification.
An object-oriented approach classifies objects and processes in a hierarchy of classes. While this is suggested most clearly for objects, it may also be defined for processes. Thus, just as dog is a subclass of animal, so edit can be viewed as a subclass of create. This technique provides a systematic way to organize the many objects and processes that are generated.
The greatest difficulty in this process is that it is very difficult to keep track of both the forest -- a reference data test set for collaborative authoring, and the trees -- can the system import an X.400 mail note. The first report breaks the forest down into collections of trees. The current report examines the individual trees, and in some cases parts of the trees to insure that they manifest the desired characteristics. The first task was to insure that descriptive categories existed for all possible object/task pairs and to insure that those implied by the feature set were made explicit. Because this step generates a potentially large number of pairs, the next step was to pare the list of pairs down. Finally, the tests had to be specified for the pairs selected as most important.
Identification of Objects and ProcessesTo insure that all appropriate objects were identified, the feature list was reviewed and any explicit or implicit object was listed. These objects were then organized into classes, subclasses, components, or attributes. Several passes were made to insure that no objects were implied that were not accounted for in the list.
To insure that all applicable processes were identified, several taxonomies were reviewed. The lists of processes were then organized classifying each process as a task, subtask, or action. The original feature list was then reviewed to make sure that the tasks and actions specified or implied by the feature list could be found in the resulting taxonomy. Several passes were made to insure that no objects were implied that were not accounted for in the list.
The specification of M objects and N processes defines a universe of pairs for testing that is equal to NxM. However, it is clearly the case that not every process will be applicable to every object. Similarly, it is the case that a test on an object class will establish conformance for that process will all subclasses of the class. So that while the worst case testing scenario would require the definition of NxM test suites (each pair might require a set of tests -- see below), the goal of this process was to examine the validity of pair and to exclude specific pairs as meaningless. Thus, without classing objects and processes, the resulting object/process matrix looks as follows:
objects |
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x |
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x |
x |
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x |
x |
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x |
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x |
x |
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processes (actions) |
x |
x |
x |
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x |
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x |
x |
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x |
x |
x |
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x |
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x |
x |
x |
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x |
x |
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Figure 1 Object-Process Pair Matrix
The sample matrix is only meant to suggest that while the comparison of all objects against all processes provides a reasonable assurance that all of the needed tests are specified, the reality is that the matrix is sparsely populated. In addition, given any number of tests defined as important, it may be the case that a single test will provide evidence for multiple cells.
Each test provides an evaluation method for at least one object/process pair or a test for combination of involved objects and processes. At the class and task level, it may be possible to define evaluation methods that could be applied to multiple objects, or a method that would confirm the performability of multiple actions on an object.
There are four kinds of test methods that are considered in each situation:
Object and Task Analyses
This section describes how objects and tasks in the context of collaborative authoring systems could be analyzed using the object-oriented approach.
Object Analysis
Objects in the systems can be classified based on various criteria, such as types, functions, creators and locations of objects, etc. Each object belongs to its class, and each class may have specialized subclasses. Object classes or subclasses can be natural classes, such as textual v.s. non-textual email, but some classes are specified by the requirements, such as encrypted email. Most objects are composite objects which consists of multiple components, rather than a single element. In other words, an object can contain other objects within itself. For example, an email contains header and body sections. The email header also consists of necessary components, and the body may contains both textual and non-textual components. Objects can have relationship with other objects, and this adds more values or informational content into objects. In the context of groupware, objects can be linked into an external space, such as the Internet space. Each object is associated with its attributes.
Our first step was to define objects and classify them into different categories based on their components and functionalities. The overall preliminary objects analysis are presented in Appendix A: Objects in Collaborative Authoring Systems. An object is a member of its superclass which has generic properties of other objects in the same class. An object may constitute a class for other objects to be inherited and differ from its parent (superclass) by having special properties and behaviors or lacking of some properties of the parent class. Subsequent analyses suggested that objects in collaborative authoring systems may be generally divided into non service-specific (general) and service-specific objects, which are listed in the Appendix B: Non Service-Specific Objects and Appendix C: Service-specific Objects. Please note that some objects that are inferred from the task analysis, see the task analysis section, are added into the object (feature) list. The general object model is composed of:
object name (class):
superclass:
components:
attributes:
Object name provides a referent to an object and the superclass indicates what class the object is inherited. Object components and attributes are parts of the object which may be regarded as system features or parts of action-object pairs for features evaluation. Each object contains at least one component or attribute. Objects are organized by services of collaborative authoring systems. This schema allows commonality among different features to be identified, possibly across services of collaborative authoring systems.
A task can consist of processes, or actions, but some task may be only an action. In this paper, task, process and action are used interchangeably. Similar to objects, each task or action can belong to a class of action. We adopt Spring’s taxonomy of process in document processing (1992) as the basic framework for our analysis. This framework classifies processes into four basic categories:
As described in the first paper, groupware technology supports communication, allows for shared information and activity coordination. Process/object management tasks are also crucial in collaborative authoring systems. Therefore, other basic processes include:
The final taxonomy of process for groupware is the combination of the two frameworks.
Each class of task contains subclasses or related actions. The features list also implies a set of basic actions that are required in performing a task. Basis actions include:
Therefore, based on the basic actions, we can identify associated actions of each process class. It is apparent that some basic actions can belong to more than one class.
1. Creation
creating
editing/modifying
displaying/viewing
arranging
validating/proofing
linking
2. Storage
storing/archiving
transforming
analyzing/solving
removing
3. Retrieval
querying/retrieving
selecting/filtering
protecting/locking
displaying/viewing
4. Dissemination
transforming
distributing
5. Communication
sending
receiving
interacting
displaying/viewing
6. Coordination
coordinating/controlling
protecting/locking
7. Managing
managing/setting
resuming
monitoring
As described in the methodology section, actions can be applied to objects and objects can perform actions, and this implies that objects have relation with actions. However, not all objects can be associated with an action, and vice versa. Action-object relations (pairs) specify features required in groupware. For examples, organizing email indicates the ‘folder’ feature of email service, and the action of displaying can be applied to many objects in the system such as displaying incoming emails or displaying contents of a document. In addition, some actions can be associated with processes, such as controlling file saving process and monitoring document retrieval process. Therefore, the features of collaborative authoring systems, fundamentally, are objects, actions, and action-object relations that are available in the systems. Using this definition of features allows common patterns of features to be identified. Appendix D: Service-Task Matrix tabulates tasks (and actions) across services in groupware systems. This matrix aims to provide a high level view of patterns of features in collaborative authoring systems. The tests section will specify necessary action-object pairs required in features evaluation.
Tests
We organize features evaluation methods according to the taxonomy of processes and the object classes offered in collaborative systems. Each feature evaluation consists of object descriptions and test procedures. When an object is a subclass of another object, the object descriptions and test methods can be referred to those of the superclass the object belongs to. Additional tests are required for an object with specialized feature(s). Each test may require different kinds of test methods or multiple methods. Test method(s) is specified after the test description. The general test description contains:
C = Checklist, P = Procedure test
I = Input test, O = Output test
U = Usability test
6. Additional descriptions:
I. Creation Process
I.1 Creating task
A. Class: Textual object
superclass: object
component: text (printable characters)
attributes: typeface, size, color, spacing, position
Test procedures:
T1. create/write text (P)
T2. insert text (P,I)
T3. import text from files (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P)
B. Class: Non-textual object
superclass: object
attributes: title/label, type, size, source, access level, creation date, last modified
B1 Class: Graphics
superclass: non-textual object
component: graphics
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. create/draw graphics (P)
T2. insert/add graphics (P,I)
T3. import graphics from files (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P)
B2 Class: Video/Animation
superclass: non-textual object
component: video/animation
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. create video (P)
T2. insert/add video (P,I)
T3. import video from files (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P)
B3 Class: Sound
superclass: non-textual object
component: sound
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. create/digitize sound (P)
T2. insert/add sound (P,I)
T3. import sound from files (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P)
B4 Class Application-specific object
superclass: non-textual object
component: application-specific object
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. application-specific attributes, e.g. application ID
Test procedures:
T1. create application object (P,O)
T2. insert/add application object (P,I)
T3. import appl. from files (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P)
C. Class: (Hypertext) Link
superclass: object
component: label
text
destination name
symbolic name
non-text
attributes: destination (URL convention)
destination can be internal (intra-document) or external (inter-document)
destination can be document or non-document object.
Test procedures:
T1. create/write link (P)
T2. insert/add link (P,I)
T3 define attributes (P)
manual
system-assist: browsing
automatic
C1 Class: Bidirectional link
superclass: link
component: component of superclass
attributes:
A1 attributes of superclass
A2. origin
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.1-C1: T1-T3
F Form
superclass: object
components:
C1 field description
C2 data entry field
C3 data
attributes: form layout,
Test procedures:
D. Dictionary
superclass: object
component
C1 predefined words
C2 user-defined words
attributes: title/name, language
R. Record or Container
superclass: object
components: other objects and their attributes
attributes: title/name, type, number of objects contained,
Test procedures:
T1. create container (and its components) (P)
T2. insert/add container (and its components) (P,I)
T3 define attributes (P)
manual
system-defined
I.1 Creating task
1 Email service
I.1.1 Creating email
E. Email
superclass: structured document
components:
C1 X.400 elements* (* required)
header*
body/content
C2. components of superclass: as body
textual object
non-textual object (multimedia email)
C3. signature
attributes:
A1. file system attributes (attributes of superclass)
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. create/write component(s) (P)
X.400 compliance: header
header: single recipient and multiple recipients
T2. insert component(s) (P,I)
T3. import component(s): only into the body part (P,I)
T4. attach objects (files) to the email (P,I)
T5. create signature (P,I)
T6. create email by using a form: (P)
E1. Structured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body must be a structured document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. see I.2.1-E: T1-T6
T2. create an email by using a form (P)
E2. Secured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body is encrypted
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. see I.2.1-E: T1-T6
F. Folder
superclass: file
component: email(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. create a folder (P)
(this might happen in the process: saving an email)
T2. define attributes (P)
G. Email address
superclass: object
component: textual email address
attributes: attributes of textual objects
Test procedures:
T1. create/write email address (P)
T2. create/write a list of email addresses (P)
T3. define attributes (P)
R. Record of email address
superclass: record
components:
C1. email address
C2. name
C3. nick name/shortcut
attributes:
Test procedures: see I.1.1-A Address book object: T1
A Address book
superclass: file
component:
C1. record of email address
C2. individual and group alias (record of email address)
attributes: file system attributes
Test procedures:
T1. create/write component(s) (P)
T2. insert component(s) (P,I)
T3. import component(s) (P,I)
T4 define attributes (P,I)
2. Database management
I.1.2 Creating database
D. Database
superclass: file
components:
C1. record structure/specification
C2. record of data
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2.
R. Record of data
superclass: record
components:
a) conventional database-related object
text, numeric, currency, date, time, boolean,
b) non-textual object
multimedia, link, application-specific object
attributes: see record structure/specification
S. Record structure/specification
superclass: record structure
components:
specification of a record
number of field, type of each field, name of field,
attributes:
D1. Textual database
superclass: database
components: components of superclass
only conventional database-related object
attributes: attributes of superclass
D2. Multimedia database
superclass: database
components: components of superclass
both conventional database-related objects and
non-textual objects
attributes: attributes of superclass
L. Display layout
superclass: layout
3. Document Management
I.1.3. Creating documents
Objects:
D. Document
class: document
superclass: object
components: components can be classified into two kinds
a): physical components
text object
non-text object (multimedia document)
link
comment/annotation
document processing related objects such as page brake, carriage return
b). logical components:
page including
attributes of the document layout such as margin
section(s) or part(s) of:
unstructured components
structured components
mixed types components
attributes: title/name, author, group, creation date, last modified date, access level, size, type
Documents can be classified by using different criteria such as:
I. Types of components
unstructured document
structured document
II. Types of components
textual document
multimedia document
III. Purposes of document
primary document
secondary document - comment, annotation
D1. Unstructured document
superclass: class document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. create/write component(s) (P,I)
T2. insert component(s) (P,I)
T3. import component(s) (P,I)
T4. create/define section(s) or part(s) of the document
T5. define attributes
system-defined
user-defined
D2. Structured document (SGML)
superclass: class document
components:
C1. components of superclass :these components are also content of parts (sections)
C2. structure (element) identifier such as chapter, section, paragraph, title element, or other DTD’s
entities
C3. DTD
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. attributes of structure (element) identifier(s) such as relations with other elements
Test procedures:
T1. create/define/insert new section(s) or element(s) (P)
T2. create/write component(s) into a section or an element (P)
T2. insert component(s) into a section or an element (P,I)
T3. import component(s) into a section or an element (P,I)
T4. validate the elements and their structures (P)
automatic validation while authoring
on-demand validation
T5. define attributes (P)
T6. define DTD (P)
D3 Comment
superclass: document
components:
C1. components of superclass
C2. link to the primary document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass
D4. Annotation
superclass: document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass
F. Folder
superclass: container
component: document(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. create folder(s) (P)
T2. define attributes (P)
I.2. Editing task
Non service-specific objects
A. Textual object
superclass: object
component: text (printable characters)
attributes: typeface, size, color, spacing, position
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify text (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
text selection
move
drag/drop
T4 edit attributes (P)
B. Non-textual object
B1. Graphics
superclass: non-textual object
component: graphics
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. Edit/modify graphics (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
graphics selection
move
drag/drop
T4 edit attributes (P)
B2. Video/Animation
superclass: non-textual object
component: video/animation
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify video (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
video/frame selection
move
drag/drop
T4 edit attributes (P,I)
B3. Sound
superclass: non-textual object
component: sound
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify sound (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
sound selection
move
drag/drop
T4 edit attributes (P)
B4. Application-specific object
superclass: non-textual object
component: application-specific object
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. application-specific attributes, e.g. application ID
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify object (P)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
object selection
move
drag/drop
T2 edit attributes (P)
C. (Hypertext) Link
superclass: object
component: label
text
destination name
symbolic name
non-text
attributes: destination (URL convention)
destination can be internal (intra-document) or external (inter-document)
destination can be document or non-document object.
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify link (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
link selection
move
drag/drop
T2 edit attributes (P)
C1: Bidirectional link
superclass: link
component: component of superclass
attributes:
A1 attributes of superclass
A2. origin
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.2-C1: T1-T2
F. Form
superclass: object
components:
C1 field description
C2 data entry field
C3 data
attributes: form layout,
D. Dictionary
superclass: object
component
C1 predefined words
C2 user-defined words
attributes: title/name, language
R. Record or Container
superclass: object
components: other objects and their attributes
attributes: title/name, type, number of objects contained,
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify components (P,I)
add/insert
delete
replace
copy/cut/paste
object selection
move
drag/drop
T2 edit/modify attributes (P)
1 Email service
I.2.1 Editing email
E. Email
superclass: structured document
components:
C1 X.400 elements* (* required)
header*
body/content
C2. components of superclass: as body
textual object
non-textual object (multimedia email)
C3. signature
attributes:
A1. file system attributes (attributes of superclass)
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify component(s) and its elements (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T2. edit/modify attributes (P,I)
E1. Structured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body must be a structured document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. see test procedures of superclass I.2.1-E: T1-T2
T2. edit/modify an email using a form (P,U)
E2. Secured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body is encrypted
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.2.1-E: T1-T2
F. Folder
superclass: file
component: email(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify folder(s) (P)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T2. edit/modify attributes (P)
G. Email address
superclass: object
component: textual email address
attributes: attributes of textual object
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify email address (P)
T2. edit/modify a list of email addresses (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T3. edit/modify attributes (P)
R. Record of email address
superclass: record
components:
C1. email address
C2. name
C3. nick name/shortcut
attributes:
Test procedures:
see I.2.1-A. Address book object: T1, T2
A Address book
superclass: file
component:
C1. record of email address
C2. individual and group alias (record of email address)
attributes: file system attributes
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify component(s) (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T2. edit/modify attributes (P,I)
2. Database managment
I.2.2. Editing database
3. Document mangement
I.2.3 Editing document
D. Document
class: document
superclass: object
components: components can be classified into two kinds
a): physical compoments
text object
non-text object (multimedia document)
link
comment/annotation
document processing related objects such as page brake, carriage return
b). logical components:
page including
attributes of the document layout such as margin
section(s) or part(s) of:
unstructured components
structured components
mixed types components
attributes: title/name, author, group, creation date, last modified date, access level, size, type
Documents can be classified by using different criteria such as:
I. Structure of components
unstructured document
structured document
II. Types of components
textual document
multimedia document
III. Purposes of document
primary document
secondary document - comment, annotation
D1. Unstructured document
Superclass: class document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify component(s) (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T2. edit/modify attributes (P,I)
system-defined
user-defined
D2. Structured document (SGML)
superclass: class document
components:
C1. components of superclass :these components are also content of parts (sections)
C2. structure (element) identifier such as chapter, section, paragraph, title element, or other DTD’s
entities
C3. DTD
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. attributes of structure (element) identifier(s) such as relations with other elements
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify sections and their components (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T3. validate the new elements and their structures (P,I)
automatic validation while authoring
on-demand validation
T2. edit/modify attributes (P)
system-defined
user-defined
T4. edit/modify DTD
D3 Comment
superclass: document
components:
C1. components of superclass
C2. link to the primary document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass I.2.3-D
D4. Annotation
superclass: document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass I.2.3-D
F. Folder
superclass: container
component: document(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. edit/modify folder(s) (P,I)
add/insert
delete/remove
replace
copy/cut/paste
element selection
move
drag/drop
T2. edit/modify attributes (P)
I.3. Displaying task
Non service-specific objects
A. Textual object
superclass: object
component: text (printable characters)
attributes: typeface, size, color, spacing, position
Test procedures:
T1. display text (P,U)
graphics-based
text-based (bitmap characters)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
WYSIWYG (as parts of text itself)
description (information) window
T3. other display/view modes (P,U)
mono-color mode
symbolic mode
symbols (use symbols to represent actual characters and non-visible characters)
mark-up tags (use symbols as description of actual texts and their attributes)
service-specific modes
editing mode
background coloring
WYSIWYG
non-WYSIWYG
validating/proofing mode: display incorrect words
coloring/blinking texts
underlining texts
zoom mode
displayed text is scaled up or down from its original size
etc.
B. Non-textual object
B1. Graphics
superclass: non-textual object
component: graphics
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. display graphics (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
description (information) window
T3. other display/view modes (P,U)
mono-color mode
symbolic mode
mark-up tags (use symbols as description of actual graphics and their attributes)
service-specific modes
editing mode
background coloring
bordering
attributes are visualized using symbols
WYSIWYG
non-WYSIWYG
zoom mode
displayed graphics is scale up or scale down from its original size
etc.
B2. Video/Animation
superclass: non-textual object
component: video/animation
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. display video (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
description (information) window
T3. other display/view modes (P,U)
mono-color mode
service-specific modes
editing mode
frame sequencing
symbolic mode (timeline is displayed)
zoom mode
displayed video is scale up or scale down from its original size
etc.
B3. Sound
superclass: non-textual object
component: sound
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. play sound (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
description (information) window
T3. other play modes (P,U)
mono-audio mode
T4. service-specific modes (P,U)
symbolic mode (sound is visualized)
editing mode
frame sequencing
timeline is displayed
etc.
B4. Application-specific object
superclass: non-textual object
component: application-specific object
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. application-specific attributes, e.g. application ID
Test procedures:
T1. display objects (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
T3. other display modes (P,U)
T4. service-specific modes (P,U)
C. (Hypertext) Link
superclass: object
component: label
text
destination name
symbolic name
graphics
attributes: destination (URL convention)
destination can be internal (intra-document) or external (inter-document)
destination can be document or non-document object.
Test procedures:
T1. display label (P,U)
see test procedures corresponding to the type of label
T2. display attributes (P,U)
see test procedures corresponding to the type of label
T3. other display/view modes (P,U)
mono-color mode
symbolic mode
mark-up tags (use symbols as description of actual graphics and their attributes)
service-specific modes
editing mode
background coloring
bordering
attributes are visualized using symbols
WYSIWYG
non-WYSIWYG
zoom mode
displayed link is scale up or scale down from its original size
etc.
C1: Bidirectional link
superclass: link
component: component of superclass
attributes:
A1 attributes of superclass
A2. origin
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.3-C1: T1-T2
F. Form
superclass: object
components:
C1 field description
C2 data entry field
C3 data
attributes: form layout,
Test procedures:
T1. display components (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
D. Dictionary
superclass: object
component
C1 predefined words
C2 user-defined words
attributes: title/name, language
Test procedures:
T1. display components
see test procedures of text objects I.3-A: T1-T4
T2. display attributes
R. Record or Container
superclass: object
components: other objects and their attributes
attributes: title/name, type, number of objects contained,
Test procedures:
T1. display record(s) or container(s) (P,U)
see display attributes below
T2. display components (P,U)
see test procedures corresponding to types of components and their attributes
labels for components and their attributes
textual
graphical
symbols
T3. display attributes (P,U)
labels for attribute
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T3. other display/view modes (P,U)
multiple-window mode
different elements/components are displayed in separate windows
etc.
1 Email service
I.3.1 Displaying email
E. Email
superclass: structured document
components:
C1 X.400 elements* (* required)
header*
body/content
C2. components of superclass: as body
textual object
non-textual object (multimedia email)
C3. signature
attributes:
A1. file system attributes (attributes of superclass)
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. display components (P,U)
see test procedures corresponding to types of components
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T4. display email (P,U)
see also test procedures of folder object (where emails are filed) I.3.1-F: T1-T3
E1. Structured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body must be a structured document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.3.1-E: T1-T4
E2. Secured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body is encrypted
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.3.1-E: T1-T4
F. Folder
superclass: file or container
component: email(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. display folder(s) and their attributes (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T3. display components and their attributes (P,U)
emails are displayed as individual items using labels
textual
graphical
attributes of components, such message status, sender, date (in X.400 header)
T4. other display/view modes (P,U)
display folders or emails in certain order
alphabetical
values of some attributes such as folder size, creation date, sender name, subject description
service-specific modes
multiple-window mode
folders are displayed in multiple windows
etc.
G. Email address
superclass: object
component: textual email address
attributes: attributes of textual object
Test procedures:
T1. display email address or a list of email addresses (P,U)
T2. other display/view modes (P,U)
display a list of email addresses in certain order
alphabetical
values of some attributes such as folder size, creation date, sender name, subject description
mono-color mode
service-specific modes
editing mode
background coloring
bordering
etc.
R. Record of email address
superclass: record
components:
C1. email address
C2. name
C3. nick name/shortcut
attributes:
Test procedures:
see I.3.1-A. Address book object: T1, T2
A Address book
superclass: file
component:
C1. record of email address
C2. individual and group alias (record of email address)
attributes: file system attributes
Test procedures:
T1. display address book(s) and their attributes (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T3. display components (records of email) and their attributes (P,U)
records are displayed as individual items using labels
textual
graphical
attributes of components
T4. other display/view modes (P,U)
display address books or records in certain order
alphabetical
values of some attributes such as address book size, creation date, name, alias
service-specific modes
multiple-window mode
address books are displayed in multiple windows
etc.
2. Database management
I.3.2. Editing database
3. Document management
I.3.3 Displaying document
D. Document
class: document
superclass: object
components: components can be classified into two kinds
a): physical components
text object
non-text object (multimedia document)
link
comment/annotation
document processing related objects such as page brake, carriage return
b). logical components:
page including
attributes of the document layout such as margin
section(s) or part(s) of:
unstructured components
structured components
mixed types components
attributes: title/name, author, group, creation date, last modified date, access level, size, type
Documents can be classified by using different criteria such as:
I. Structure of components
unstructured document
structured document
II. Types of components
textual document
multimedia document
III. Purposes of document
primary document
secondary document - comment, annotation
D1. Unstructured document
Superclass: class document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. display components (P,U)
see test procedures corresponding to types of components
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T4. display documents (P,U)
see also test procedures of folder object (where documents are filed) I.3.3-F: T1-T3
D2. Structured document (SGML)
superclass: class document
components:
C1. components of superclass :these components are also content of parts (sections)
C2. structure (element) identifier such as chapter, section, paragraph, title element, or other DTD’s
entities, using markup
C3. DTD
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. attributes of structure (element) identifier(s) such as relations with other elements
Test procedures:
T1. display components their markups (P,U)
display components (see test procedures corresponding to types of components)
textual objects
non-textual objects
display markups, using
label
textual
graphical
WYSIWYG (as parts of components themselves such as italic and bold text, numbering, etc)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T4. display documents (P,U)
see also test procedures of folder object (where documents are filed) I.3.3-F: T1-T3
D3 Comment
superclass: document
components:
C1. components of superclass
C2. link to the primary document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass I.3.3-D
D4. Annotation
superclass: document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures: see test procedures of superclass I.3.3-D
F. Folder
superclass: container
component: document(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
Test procedures:
T1. display folder(s) and their attributes (P,U)
T2. display attributes (P,U)
label
textual
graphical (icon)
separate description windows
T3. display components and their attributes (P,U)
documents are displayed as individual items using labels
textual
graphical
attributes of components, such document ID, document title, creation date, author, access level
T4. other display/view modes (P,U)
display folders or documents in certain order
alphabetical
values of some attributes
service-specific modes
multiple-window mode
folders are displayed in multiple windows
etc.
I.4. Arranging task
1 Email service
I.4.1 Arranging email body
E. Email
superclass: structured document
components:
C1 X.400 elements* (* required)
header*
body/content
C2. components of superclass: as body
textual object
non-textual object (multimedia email)
C3. signature
Test procedures:
T1. arrange body of email (P,U)
see test procedures of superclass
E1. Structured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body must be a structured document
attributes: attributes of superclass
Test procedures:
see test procedures of superclass I.4.1-E: T1
2. Database management
I.4.2. Arranging database
3. Document management
I.4.3 Arranging document components
D. Document
class: document
superclass: object
components: components can be classified into two kinds
a): physical components
text object
non-text object (multimedia document)
link
comment/annotation
document processing related objects such as page brake, carriage return
b). logical components:
page including
attributes of the document layout such as margin
section(s) or part(s) of:
unstructured components
structured components
mixed types components
Documents can be classified by using different criteria such as:
I. Structure of components
unstructured document
structured document
II. Types of components
textual document
multimedia document
III. Purposes of document
primary document
secondary document - comment, annotation
D1. Unstructured document
Superclass: class document
components: components of superclass
Test procedures:
T1. arrange component(s) of document (P)
arrange textual objects in certain order or format
alphabetical order (sorting)
columns and tables
arrange components
D2. Structured document (SGML)
superclass: document
components:
C1. components of superclass :these components are also content of parts (sections)
C2. structure (element) identifier such as chapter, section, paragraph, title element, or other DTD’s
entities
C3. DTD
Test procedures:
T1. arrange component(s) of document within parts or sections (P)
arrange textual objects in certain order or format
alphabetical order (sorting)
columns and tables
arrange components based on DTD specification
I.5. Validating task
A. Textual object
B. Non-textual object
B1. Graphics
B2. Video/Animation
B3. Sound
B4. Application-specific object
C. (Hypertext) Link
C1: Bidirectional link
F Form
D. Dictionary
R. Record
1 Email service
I.5.1 Validating email
2. Database management
I.5.2. Validating database
3. Document management
I.5.3 Validating document
|
Database Management |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
creation-storage-retrieval-removal of items |
B |
|
multiple data presentation/views |
B |
|
association (linking) mechanism |
B |
|
concurrent access controls |
B |
|
indexing and sorting |
B |
|
versioning |
B |
|
conflict resolution |
B |
|
scripting and programming language |
A |
|
automatic task processing |
A |
|
distributed database or client/server support |
A |
Table 6: Detailed Features of Database Management
|
Document Management |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
Electronic forms (creation process) |
B |
|
document conversion |
B |
|
library functions |
B |
|
commenting |
B |
|
linking |
B |
|
link management |
B |
|
SGML supports |
B |
|
document-management-specific user interface e.g. navigational tools and color coding |
A |
|
writer-commenter management tools |
A |
|
linguistic analysis |
A |
|
visualization tools for intra- inter-document analysis |
A |
Table 7: Detailed Features of Document Management
|
Calendaring and Scheduling |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
creation-removal and rescheduling of items(items include meeting, single event, multiday event, repeated event, call, and to-do) |
B |
|
individual |
B |
|
group |
B |
|
categorical scheduling |
B |
|
filter |
B |
|
prioritizing |
B |
|
follow up on changes |
B |
|
reminders |
B |
|
calendaring-specific user interface e.g. color-coding, banner |
A |
|
automatic time allocation for both individuals and group |
A |
|
automatic conflict resolution |
A |
|
process initiation e.g. automatic group notification/broadcasting |
A |
|
integration with other information e.g. linking from calendar items to database records |
A |
Table 8: Detailed Features of Calendaring and Scheduling
|
Conferencing-Asynchronous |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
basic email features |
B |
|
discussion forum (threaded messages) |
B |
|
bulletin board |
B |
|
extended email features |
A |
|
Conferencing-Synchronous |
|
|
whiteboard |
B |
|
computer based audio |
B |
|
computer based video |
B |
|
mixed public private windows |
B |
Table 9: Detailed Features of Conferencing
|
MIS |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
brainstorming tools |
B |
|
idea prioritizing tools |
B |
|
voting tools |
B |
|
anonymous posting/voting |
B |
|
access to various information resources e.g. on-line repository |
B |
|
asynchronous tools (may need access control features) |
B |
|
editor |
B |
Table 10: Detailed Features of MIS
|
Workgroup Utilities |
|
|
Features |
Basic or Adv. |
|
server management(addresses, ports, etc) |
B |
|
user management |
B |
|
group assignment |
B |
|
overlapping groups |
A |
|
group access rights |
B |
|
structural document contruction |
A |
|
document access protections |
B |
|
versioning |
B |
|
conversion |
A |
|
printing |
B |
Table 11: Detailed Features of Workgroup Utilities
|
Service Group: Activity coordination & meeting management |
|
|
Feature |
Details |
|
Service: Task/process oriented |
|
|
routing |
|
|
approval |
|
|
annotation |
|
|
conversion |
|
|
Service: Meeting oriented |
|
|
discussion forums (asynch. bulletin board) |
|
|
synchronous "whiteboards"-symbolic, audio, video |
|
|
structured |
brainstorming |
|
decision making |
|
|
real-time chat |
|
|
Service: Scheduler |
|
|
group calendaring |
|
|
reminder |
|
Table 12: Elaboration of Activity Management Features
|
Service Group: Shared Information, Objects-, Documents, etc., Databases DesignsFeature |
Details |
|
Service: Document management |
|
|
structuring |
|
|
conversion |
|
|
version control |
|
|
library function |
|
|
access control |
|
|
linking & link management |
|
|
commenting |
|
|
conflict resolution |
|
|
electronic forms |
|
|
Service: DBMS |
|
|
structuring |
|
|
conversion |
|
|
access |
|
|
automatic data replication |
|
|
database synchronization |
|
|
hooks to external databases |
|
|
Service: Other (CAD/CAM) |
|
|
structuring |
|
|
conversion |
|
|
access |
|
Table 13: Elaboration of Shared Information Features
|
Service Group: Workgroup Utilities |
|
|
Feature |
Details |
|
Service: Scripting language |
|
|
Service: Server management |
|
|
Documents |
|
|
Database |
|
|
Administrative services |
|
Table 14: Elaboration of Workgroup Utilities
|
Service Group: Others |
|
|
Feature |
Details |
|
Service: Built-in tools |
|
|
Text editor |
|
|
Spread-sheet |
|
|
Remote & local OLE |
|
|
Searching facility |
|
|
Service: Integration capability |
|
|
with Internet |
|
|
with external gateways |
|
|
with other applications |
|
Table 15: Elaboration of Other Features
Email service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ [Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
header |
header |
message delivery component |
||
|
body |
body |
informational content |
text, non-text, Internet related element- URL |
|
|
|
|
header, body |
||
|
free-text email |
|
body:[free-text] |
||
|
multimedia email |
|
body:[multimedia context] |
||
|
structured email |
|
body:[structured content] |
listserve msg |
|
|
secured email |
|
body:[encrypted content] email:signatured |
||
|
broadcasting email |
|
email:[multiple receipients] email:+listserv address |
||
|
treaded email |
|
email:[grouping], link:[to other related emails] |
||
|
reply |
|
email:[reply purpose] |
||
|
outgoing email |
|
email: |
||
|
incoming email |
|
email: |
||
|
folder |
container |
|
||
|
email address |
email address |
e-address |
||
|
alias |
email address |
e-address or e-addresses |
||
|
address book |
address book |
name alias,e-address |
||
|
form |
form |
textual box or pull-down menu or checkbox |
||
|
dictionary |
dictionary |
words |
for spelling checking |
|
|
link |
link |
destination |
date, URL |
Database service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ [Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
file |
file |
|||
|
database file (DB) |
file |
records |
||
|
textual DB |
DB |
DB:[text] |
||
|
multimedia DB |
DB |
DB:[multimedia] |
||
|
record structure |
rec. struc. |
record description (fields) |
||
|
record |
record |
fields with informational content |
||
|
display layout (form) |
disp. layout |
layout (form) description customizable |
||
|
screen layout |
disp. layout |
disp layout:[screen] |
||
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ [Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
report layout |
disp. layout |
disp. layout:[report] |
||
|
relation (link) |
link |
relational key |
||
|
language |
language |
|||
|
scripting lang. |
language |
lang:scripting |
||
|
programming lang. |
Language |
lang:programming |
||
Document Management Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ [Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
document |
file |
content |
||
|
DB |
||||
|
free-textual doc |
document |
doc:text |
||
|
structured doc. |
document |
doc:structured content |
fax X.400 doc. SGML doc. |
|
|
multimedia doc. |
document |
doc:[multimedia content] |
||
|
primary doc |
document |
doc:[primary] |
||
|
secondary doc |
document |
doc:link to primary doc |
||
|
comment |
document |
doc:[commenting purpose], link:[to primary doc] |
||
|
annotation |
document |
doc:[annotating purpose], link:[to primary doc] |
||
|
outline |
document |
outline |
||
|
SGML doc. |
structured doc |
structured doc:DTD, document instance |
||
|
link |
link |
destination |
URL |
|
|
folder |
container |
doc: |
||
|
doc-doc link |
link |
dest:[to doc] |
||
|
doc-obj link |
link |
dest:[to object] |
||
|
intra-doc link |
link |
dest:[to internal part of doc] |
||
|
extra-doc link |
link |
dest:[to external entity] |
||
|
semantic link |
link |
dest:[based on related meaning] |
||
|
syntactic link |
link |
dest:[physical markup] |
||
Calendaring and Scheduling Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ :Specialization |
Example |
Purpose |
||
|
calendar |
calendar |
event |
||||
|
public calendar |
calendar |
calendar: public accessible |
||||
|
private calendar |
calendar |
calendar: private only |
||||
|
event |
event |
attributes: date, time, description, category |
||||
|
single event |
event |
event:[single] |
||||
|
multiday event |
event |
event:[multiday] |
||||
|
repeated event |
event |
event:[repeated] |
||||
|
call |
event |
event:[call] |
||||
|
to-do |
event |
event:[to-do] |
||||
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ [Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
||
|
meeting |
event |
event:[meeting] |
||||
|
other events |
event |
event:[other categories] |
||||
|
display layout (form) |
disp. layout |
layout (form) description multiple, predefined |
||||
|
screen layout |
disp. layout |
disp layout:[screen] |
||||
|
report layout |
disp. layout |
disp. layout:[report] |
||||
|
notification |
system msg |
email:[notification purpose] system msg: [notification purpose] |
||||
|
automatic notification |
notification |
notification:[automatic] |
||||
|
manual notification |
notification |
notification:[manual] |
||||
|
link |
link |
destination |
||||
Asynchronous Conferencing Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ :Specialization |
Example |
Purpose |
|
message |
message |
header, body |
||
|
free-text message |
message |
body:[free-text] |
||
|
structured message |
message |
body:[structured content] |
||
|
multimedia message |
message |
body:[multimedia] |
||
|
multiple-forum message |
message |
message:[multiple-forum posting] |
||
|
follow-up message |
message |
message, link:[to another message] |
||
|
treaded message |
message |
message:[grouping], link:[to other related message] |
||
|
forum |
forum |
message:[multiple, grouping, same destination] |
||
|
public forum |
forum |
forum:[public accessble] |
||
|
private forum |
forum |
forum:[private only] |
||
|
subscribed forum |
forum |
forum:[subscribed] |
||
|
unscribed forum |
forum |
forum:[unscribed] |
||
|
folder |
folder |
message:[locally saved copies] |
||
|
link |
link |
Synchronous Conferencing Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ :Specialization |
Example |
Purpose |
|
whiteboard |
whiteboard |
public and private window |
||
|
typing whiteboard |
whiteboard |
WB:[text] |
||
|
drawing whiteboard |
whiteboard |
WB:[picture] |
||
|
video |
video |
|||
|
audio |
Management Information Systems Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ :[Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
idea |
idea |
text, graphics |
||
|
vote |
vote |
vote |
||
|
named vote |
vote |
vote:[public vote] |
||
|
anonymous vote |
vote |
vote:[anonymous vote] |
||
|
information repository |
repository |
information unstructured database structured database |
web page DBMS |
|
|
text repository |
repository |
repository:[text] |
||
|
multimedia repository |
repository |
repository:[multimedia] |
||
|
window |
window |
|||
|
private window |
window |
window:[private] |
||
|
public window |
window |
window:[public] |
||
Workgroup Utilities Service
|
Object/Subclass |
Class |
Component/Property/ :[Specialization] |
Example |
Purpose |
|
user account |
user account |
|||
|
regular account |
user account |
user account |
||
|
alias |
user account |
user account:[alias] |
||
|
group |
group |
user account |
||
|
work-related group |
group |
|||
|
non work-related group |
group |
|||
|
overlapping group |
group |
|||
|
hardware |
hardware |
|||
|
printer |
hardware |
hardware:[printer] |
||
|
terminal |
hardware |
hardware:[terminal] |
||
|
data |
data |
|||
|
administration-related (system-related) data |
data |
admin data |
||
|
log file |
admin data |
|||
|
password file |
admin data |
|||
|
printer setup file |
admin data |
|||
|
application-related (user-related) data |
data |
appl-data |
||
|
document |
appl-data |
|||
|
file |
appl-data |
|||
|
security-related data |
data |
secur-data |
||
|
security file |
secur-data |
A. Textual object
superclass: object
component: text (printable characters)
attributes: typeface, size, color, spacing, position
B. Non-textual object
superclass: object
attributes: title/label, type, size, source, access level, creation date, last modified
B1 Graphics
superclass: non-textual object
component: graphics
attributes: attributes of superclass
B2 Video/Animation
superclass: non-textual object
component: video/animation
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
Test procedures:
T1. create video
T2. insert/add video
T3. import video from files
T4 define attributes
B3 Sound
superclass: non-textual object
component: sound
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. length
B4 Application-specific object
superclass: non-textual object
component: application-specific object
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. application-specific attributes, e.g. application ID
C. (Hypertext) Link
superclass: object
component: label
text
destination name
symbolic name
non-text
attributes: destination (URL convention)
destination can be internal (intra-document) or external (inter-document)
destination can be document or non-document object.
C1 Bidirectional link
superclass: link
component: component of superclass
attributes:
A1 attributes of superclass
A2. origin
D. Data
superclass: object
components: data
attributes:
F Form (Data Entry Form)
superclass: object
components:
C1 field description
C2 data entry field
C3 data
attributes: name, form layout,
G. Report
superclass: object
C1. fields
C2. label
text
graphic
attributes:
A1. name/title
A2. file system attributes
G1. Screen report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
G2. Print-out report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
D. Dictionary
superclass: object
component:
C1 predefined words
C2 user-defined words
attributes: title/name, language
R. Record or Container
superclass: object
components: other objects and their attributes
attributes: title/name, type, number of objects contained
N. Notification
superclass: object
components: object of notification type
message
alarm
graphic
attributes: date, time, source, destination
1. Email Service
Objects:
E. Email
superclass: structured document
components:
C1 X.400 elements* (* required)
header*
body/content
C2. components of superclass: as body
textual object
non-textual object (multimedia email)
C3. signature
attributes:
A1. file system attributes (attributes of superclass)
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
E1. Structured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body must be a structured document
attributes: attributes of superclass
E2. Secured email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass:
body is encrypted
attributes: attributes of superclass
E3. Threaded email
superclass: email
components:
C1. components of superclass
C2. header contains threading field
attributes: attributes of superclass
F. Folder
superclass: file
component: email(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
G. Email address
superclass: object
component: textual email address
attributes: attributes of textual objects
R. Record of email address
superclass: record
components:
C1. email address
C2. name
C3. nick name/shortcut
attributes:
Test procedures: see I.1.1-A Address book object: T1
A Address book
superclass: file
component:
C1. record of email address
C2. individual and group alias (record of email address)
attributes: file system attributes
2. Database Management
Objects:
F. File
superclass: object
components: binary stream
attributes:
title/name, author, group, creation date, last modified date, access level, size, type
(file system attributes)
2D. Database (file)
superclass: file
components:
C1. record
attributes:
A1. attributes of record:
number of record fields
types of record fields
textual object: character, numeric, currency, date, time, boolean, enumerate
non-text (multimedia), link, application-specific object
fixed or variable length
primary key, secondary key
A2. attributes of superclass
D1. Textual database
superclass: database
components: record of textual object
attributes: attributes of superclass
D2. Multimedia database
superclass: database
components: record of
C1. textual object
C2. non-textual object (multimedia)
attributes: attributes of superclass
F. Data entry form
superclass: form
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R. Report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R1. Screen report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R2. Print-out report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
3. Document Management
Objects:
D. Document
class: document
superclass: object
components: components can be classified into two kinds
a): physical components
text object
non-text object (multimedia document)
link
comment/annotation
document processing related objects such as page brake, carriage return
b). logical components:
page including
attributes of the document layout such as margin
section(s) or part(s) of:
unstructured components
structured components
mixed types components
attributes: title/name, author, group, creation date, last modified date, access level, size, type
Documents can be classified by using different criteria such as:
I. Types of components
unstructured document
structured document
II. Types of components
textual document
multimedia document
III. Purposes of document
primary document
secondary document - comment, annotation
D1. Unstructured document
Superclass: class document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
D2. Structured document (SGML)
superclass: class document
components:
C1. components of superclass :these components are also content of parts (sections)
C2. structure (element) identifier such as chapter, section, paragraph, title element, or other DTD’s
entities
C3. DTD
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. attributes of structure (element) identifier(s) such as relations with other elements
D3 Comment
superclass: document
components:
C1. components of superclass
C2. link to the primary document
attributes: attributes of superclass
D4. Annotation
superclass: document
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
F. Folder
superclass: container
component: document(s)
attributes:
A1. file system attributes
A2. icon (user-interface related attribute)
R. Report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R1. Screen report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R2. Print-out report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
4. Calendaring and Scheduling Service
Objects:
C. Calendar
superclass: database
components:
C1. (record of) event
attributes:
A1. file system attribute: file name, access right
E. (Record of) Event
superclass: record
components: see attributes
attributes:
A1. label/title
A2. date/time
A3. creator
A4. category
A5. description
A6. (link)
E1. Single event
superclass: event
attributes: attributes of superclass
E2. Multiday event
superclass: event
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. multiple days
E3. Repeated event
superclass: event
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. repeating dates
E4. Call
superclass: event
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. callee name
A3. link to address book
A4. link to related calls
E5. To-do
superclass: event
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. priority
E6. Appointment
superclass: event
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. start date/time
A3. end date/time
R. Report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R1. Screen report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
R2. Print-out report
superclass: report
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
N. Notification
superclass: notification
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
L. Link
superclass: link
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
5. Asynchronous Conferencing Service
Objects:
M. Message
superclass: threaded email
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
F. Forum
superclass: folder of message (email)
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
F1. Public forum
superclass: folder of message (email)
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
*unrestricted access
F2. Private forum
superclass: folder of message (email)
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
*restricted access (only specific group of users)
F3. (Un)Subscribed forum
superclass: folder of message (email)
components: components of superclass
attributes:
A1. attributes of superclass
A2. subscription flag
5. Synchronous Conferencing Service
Objects:
W. Whiteboard
superclass: object
components:
C1. public window
typing/drawing window
C2. private window
typing/drawing window
attributes:
V. Video
superclass: video
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
A. Audio
superclass: audio
components: components of superclass
attributes: attributes of superclass
6. Management Information System Service
Objects:
I. Idea
superclass: object
components:
C1. text
C2. graphics
attributes:
A1. creator
V. Vote
superclass: object
components: see attributes
attributes: name/title, voter, date, time
V1. Named vote
superclass: vote
components: see attributes
attributes: attributes of superclass
V2. Anonymous vote
superclass: vote
components: see attributes
attributes: attributes of superclass with name unspecified
R. Information repository
superclass: database
components:
a. unstructured information
free-text,
b. structured information
HTML documents
c. graphics
d. multimedia
attributes: attributes of superclass
W. Private/Public Window
superclass: object
components: other objects
attributes:
7. Workgroup Utilities Service
Objects:
U. User ID (account)
superclass: object
components: see attributes
attributes:
A1. user ID
A1. security level
A2. file system attributes – creation date, last access
A3. user group
U1. Alias
superclass: user ID
components: see attribute
attributes: alias name, referred user ID
G. User group
superclass: object
components:
C1. user ID(s)
attributes:
A1. group name
A2. security level
A3. file system attributes – creation date
G1. Task-related group (project)
superclass: user group (project)
components: see attributes
attributes: attributes of superclass
G2. System-related group (project)
superclass: user group (project)
components: see attributes
attributes: attributes of superclass
G3. Overlapping group
superclass: user group (project)
components: see attributes
attributes: attributes of superclass
A. Access (security) level
superclass: object
component: access level (of any resource in the system)
attributes:
H. Hardware
superclass: object
components:
attributes: name/title, category, description
such as printer, terminal
O1. Administration-related object
superclass: object
components: other objects
attributes: attributes of components
O11. Log file
superclass: administration-related object
components: log data
attributes: attributes of components
O12. Password file
superclass: admin object
components: password data
attributes: attributes of components
O2. Application-related data
superclass: object
components: other objects
attributes: attributes of components
O21. Document
superclass: application-related object
components: document
attributes: attributes of components
O22. Database file
superclass: application-related object
components: database file
attributes: attributes of components
O3. Security-related object
superclass: object
components: other objects
attributes: attributes of components
O31. Security file
superclass: security-related object
components: security file
attributes: attributes of components
|
|
DBMS |
DocMS |
Calendar |
Asyn Conf |
Syn Conf |
MIS |
Utilities |
||
|
Creating |
writing |
||||||||
|
inserting |
|||||||||
|
adding |
|||||||||
|
attaching |
|||||||||
|
drawing |
|||||||||
|
annotating |
|||||||||
|
commenting |
|||||||||
|
publishing |
|||||||||
|
making TOC |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
outlining |
||||||||
|
brainstorming |
|||||||||
|
jotting |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
editing |
||||||||
|
moving |
|||||||||
|
copying-pasting |
|||||||||
|
aligning |
|||||||||
|
positioning |
|||||||||
|
indenting |
|||||||||
|
spacing |
|||||||||
|
paginating |
|||||||||
|
replacing |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
naming |
||||||||
|
Creating |
scheduling |
||||||||
|
Creating |
summerizing |
||||||||
|
Creating |
transforming |
||||||||
|
scaling |
|||||||||
|
fitting |
|||||||||
|
converting |
|||||||||
|
changing attrib. |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
validating |
||||||||
|
enforcing |
|||||||||
|
testing/comparing |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
designing |
||||||||
|
Creating |
proofing |
||||||||
|
Creating |
displaying |
||||||||
|
viewing |
|||||||||
|
visualizing |
|||||||||
|
navigating |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
recording |
||||||||
|
Creating |
duplicating |
||||||||
|
Creating |
linking |
||||||||
|
Creating |
organizing |
||||||||
|
numbering |
|||||||||
|
grouping |
|||||||||
|
arranging |
|||||||||
|
Creating |
sorting |
||||||||
|
threading |
|||||||||
|
prioritizing |
|||||||||
|
Dissemination |
selecting |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
reviewing |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
editing |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
formatting |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
reproducing |
||||||||
|
printing |
|||||||||
|
reporting |
|||||||||
|
Dissemination |
distributing |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
archiving |
||||||||
|
Dissemination |
managing |
||||||||
|
Storage |
acquiring |
||||||||
|
Storage |
selecting |
||||||||
|
Storage |
analyzing |
||||||||
|
classifying |
|||||||||
|
indexing |
|||||||||
|
abstracting |
|||||||||
|
counting |
|||||||||
|
Storage |
converting |
||||||||
|
Storage |
storing |
||||||||
|
Storage |
saving |
||||||||
|
versioning |
|||||||||
|
filing |
|||||||||
|
Retrieval |
formulating query |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
searching query |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
searching doc |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
selecting |
||||||||
|
extracting |
|||||||||
|
Retrieval |
filtering |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
converting |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
delivery |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
using |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
browsing |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
collecting |
||||||||
|
Retrieval |
joining |
||||||||
|
Sending |
sending/replying |
||||||||
|
Sending |
forwarding/routing |
||||||||
|
Sending |
requesting/calling |
||||||||
|
Sending |
voting |
||||||||
|
Sending |
notifying |
||||||||
|
Sending |
acknowledging |
||||||||
|
Sending |
informing |
||||||||
|
Sending |
warning |
||||||||
|
Sending |
reminding |
||||||||
|
Receiving |
receiving |
||||||||
|
Receiving |
confirming |
||||||||
|
Receiving |
reminding |
||||||||
|
Receiving |
filing |
||||||||
|
Interacting |
exchanging |
||||||||
|
responding |
|||||||||
|
answering |
|||||||||
|
Coordinating |
controlling |
||||||||
|
synchronizing |
|||||||||
|
asynchronizing |
|||||||||
|
Coordinating |
sharing |
||||||||
|
creation/access |
|||||||||
|
locking |
|||||||||
|
preventing |
|||||||||
|
Coordinating |
logging |
||||||||
|
monitoring |
|||||||||
|
tracing |
|||||||||
|
Coordinating |
conditioning |
||||||||
|
Coordinating |
solving conflicts |
||||||||
|
Managing |
managing/setting |
||||||||
|
monitoring |
|||||||||
|
resuming |
The analysis also suggests that tasks/processes can be classified according to the performer(s) of the actions - user or system tasks. In the context of collaboration, tasks/processes can be classified along a continuum ranging from individual tasks to group tasks.
|
Individual Task |
Group Task |
|||
|
Individual done |
Individually done
|
Individually done (in parallel) |
Loosely-couple Individually done (some tasks are not parallel) |
Highly coupled task
|
|
Independent task (independent to other tasks) |
Independent tasks |
Interdependent tasks |
Collaborative tasks |
|
|
No coordination required |
Minimal coordination required (only task assigment) |
Minimal coordination required (only task assigment) |
Coordination required |
Complex coordination required |
|
Writing an email
|
Writing the same document but in different time |
Writing different pieces of a book |
One’s task depends on the completion of others such as comment/review task |
More than one people participate in writing on the same task at the same time |
|
Asynchronous collaborative authoring |
Asynchronous collaborative authoring |
Asynchronous collaborative authoring |
Synchronous collaborative authoring |
It is importnat to note that tasks performed in collaborative authoring systems can be differentiated according to how the final product is produced.
actions
1. object -----------> final product
actions actions
2. object -----------> intermediate object ----------> final product
The importance of intermediate object and coordination...