Data propagation: a necessity for CSCW in design

Collaboration in cooperative information systems, like concurrent design and engineering, exploits common work and information spaces. In this paper we present the TOGA service (transaction-oriented group and coordination service for data-centric applications) and the data propagator CHAMPAGNE that together realize a shared information space that is controlled by a basic collaboration service. Our approach enables: 1) the evolution of a set of separate applications to form a cooperative information system, i.e., it provides a technique towards component-oriented system engineering; and 2) it can be exploited as a basic service within collaboration frameworks to effectively manage common work and information spaces.