3.1 HTML-based user interface

BSCW manages two basic types of objects:

• Objects that do not contain other objects:

  Document URL Note

  Search Result User

• Objects that may contain collections of objects ("Container objects"):

  Folder Meeting Discussion Group (members of a Workspace, participants of a Meeting)

  Your Calendar of Meetings Your Address Book Your Bag (enhanced clipboard) Your Wastebasket.

In its HTML-based user interface, BSCW displays the contents of Container objects in pages that share a common basic structure and functionality. The page of a Folder may be taken as a model of these pages. Therefore we occasionally use the term Folder pars pro toto, to denote all objects that may contain collections of objects.

If you use a Web browser with full support for JDK 1.1, you may install and use the JBrowser applet in addition to the HTML-based user interface (see section 3.2). The JBrowser interface is modeled after the Microsoft Windows Explorer. It displays the hierarchical structure of your Folders, Meeting objects, Discussion Forums and their contents in three communicating windows.

JBrowser is an optional part of the user interface. At the moment, it can display only part of the information that you need in using BSCW. On the other hand, it provides a broader view of your Folder tree in a familiar style, allowing you to "jump" between Folders in different branches of your Folder tree.

The HTML-pages of Folders, Meeting objects and Discussions, your Address Book, your Bag etc. all have a three-part structure consisting of:

• Header
• List of entries (body)
• Footer.

The following sections describe the general structure and functionality of such pages, using the Folder page as an example.

Please bear in mind that the details of what we describe here, e. g. the Folder page, the objects and also the actions may be different or may not be available to you in some of your Workspaces, due to

• variations in access right,
• the level of proficiency with BSCW that you have chosen for yourself (at the Beginner level -- the default when you start using BSCW -- you will see fewer objects and actions than shown here),
• the configuration of the BSCW server you use.

Section 4.2.4 and section 4.3 explain in detail how you may personalize the HTML-based user interface. The tables in section 6.2 show you the actions that may be performed on each type of object in BSCW, and where the respective buttons may be placed in the HTML-based user interface.

Note:

• Click the buttons and icons in the text or in the figures

to display a section of this online help that provides a short explanation of the action triggered by the button or icon.