Method and apparatus for activity-based collaboration by a computer system equipped with a dynamics manager

An activity-based collaboration (ABC) system for providing communications and other shared and mutual activities between users in virtual spaces comprising telespaces, said system comprising:

• A) a plurality of network-capable devices connected for communication with one-another, each network-capable device having a memory;
• B) a plurality of substantially identical activities, each of the activities operable on a different one of the network-capable devices for performing a task;
• each telespace being an instantiation of at least one of the activities;
• each of the activities including
• 1) a tool for generating data change requests, responsive to user interactions, and
• 2) a data-change engine, separate from the tool and operating asynchronously therewith, for maintaining telespace data pursuant to a common data model in memory;
• C) a plurality of communications managers, each incorporated in a different one of the network-capable devices for receiving data change requests from others of the network-capable devices and causing data change requests from the tool of the network-capable device incorporating the communications manager to be sent to the others of the network-capable devices;
• and
• D) a plurality of dynamics managers, each incorporated in a different one of the network-capable devices, and, responsive to the data change requests, for directing the data-change engine operable on the network-capable device in which the dynamics manager is incorporated to make changes to the local copy of data stored in the memory of the network-capable device.

A networked system including plural, network-capable devices at different locations connected for communication;

• each network-capable device comprising:
• A) a memory for storing a local copy of data pursuant to a common data model;
• B) an activity including a tool for generating data change requests, responsive to user interactions, and a data-change engine separate from the tool and operating synchronously therewith for maintaining the data model;
• and
• C) a dynamics manager, responsive to data change requests generated by all network-capable devices for directing the data-change engine to make changes to the local copy of data stored in the memory so that all local copies of data remain consistent relative to each other.

A computer program product for use in each collaborative station of a peer-to-peer collaboration system having a plurality of collaboration stations, each having means for interacting with a user, a local copy of collaborative data and means for directly exchanging data change requests with other collaboration stations, the computer program product comprising a storage media for storing computer program code;

• and computer program code comprising activity program code for performing an activity comprising a task, the activity program code comprising:
• A) tool program code for initiating data change requests, responsive to user interactions;
• B) dynamics manager program code that receives data change requests both from the tool program code and from other collaboration stations, determines which data change requests should be executed so that collaborative data copies at all collaborative stations remain consistent and issues data-change directions;
• and
• C) data-change engine program code, for maintaining a local copy of collaborative data pursuant to a data model;
• the data-cange engine program code including a tool end program code responsive to data change requests for providing notification to the tool program code of data changes and dynamics manager end program code for receiving, from the dynamics manager program code, data-change directions that cause the data change engine program code to make changes to the local copy of collaborative data.

An activity-based collaboration method for enabling communications between network-capable devices that share in the performance of a task, each of the devices performing the method comprising the steps of:

• A) storing a local copy of data in a local memory in accordance with a data model;
• B) responsive to a user interaction, a tool initiating a first data change request;
• C) receiving a second data change request from a remote one of the computer systems;
• D) responsive to the first and second data change requests, an engine controlling storage of data in the memory in accordance with the data model, including making changes to the local copy of the data in accordance with the data model;
• and
• E) responsive to the first and second data change requests, a dynamics manager controlling the engine and coordinating execution of data change requests so that all local copies of data remain consistent.

A distributed, coordinated system comprising a plurality of network-capable devices for maintaining a plurality of copies of data pursuant to a distributed data model, wherein the copies can be changed responsive to users' actions by the network-capable devices, each of the network-capable devices having a local copy of the data and comprising:

• A) a tool for receiving user-requested changes to the data copies stored pursuant to the data model and generating a data change request;
• B) an engine separate from the tool for controlling the local copy of the data, and for making and unmaking changes to the local copy of the data;
• and
• C) a dynamics manager, responsive to the user-requested changes generated by tools in all of the plurality of network-capable devices, for controlling the engine in making changes to the local copy of the data in accordance with the data model so that all local copies of the data are maintained consistently.

A method implemented in a coordinated, distributed collaboration system comprising a plurality of network-capable devices for storing a plurality of copies of data each associated with a different one of a plurality of data-change engines for maintaining the associated copy in accordance with a distributed data model responsive to users' actions, the method comprising the steps of:

• A) at each network capable device, receiving directly from all of the network capable devices, requests for changing data stored locally;
• B) identifying, from an engine code in each request, which among a plurality of the data-change engines in each network-capable device is associated with data that the each request seeks to change;
• and
• C) invoking the identified engine to effect the requested change in accordance with the data model so that all local data copies are maintained consistently.