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 both, firstly, 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. Secondly, it can be exploited as a basic service within collaboration frameworks to effectively manage common work and information spaces.