DEFINING AND NAMING THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTS IN A DISTRIBUTED MESSAGE SYSTEM (CONVERSATIONS)
Abstract
Computer-based message systems support the exchange of messages among computer users spread over multiple computers. This thesis is a scientific study of message systems; we isolate their fundamental components and we explore ways in which they can be made a more powerful tool for exchanging information. We view the message system as a service offered in a distributed system, where the mailbox is the underlying object upon which the service is based. Given this foundation, we address two aspects of the service in depth: the way in which users identify the underlying objects that support the service, and the effect of the underlying object on the level of service perceived by the user. Specifically, we present a model that describes names and name resolution in distributed systems in which we view names to be purely syntactic entities and name resolution to be a syntax-directed operation. We use the model to formally define familiar concepts and terminology involved in naming, including hierarchical names, absolute names, relative names, group names, generic names, aliases, and synonyms. We also describe the role of name servers in name resolution. Furthermore, we describe a message system based upon conversations among individuals, where conversations provide a higher level organization to messages than conventional memo-based systems. Messages in a memo-based system are treated independently and presented to the user ordered by their arrival at the user's mailbox, requiring the user to explicitly observe and manage any relationship that may exist between messages. In contrast, a conversation-based mail system groups messages into conversations, with messages within a conversation ordered according to the context in which they were written. The context in which messages are written defines a relation between messages that leads to an efficient implementation of conversations in a distributed environment.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Computer science
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