From: ellis@genoa.osf.org (Ellis S. Cohen)
Newsgroups: alt.hypertext
Subject: Final GAIA Workshop Announcement
Date: 13 Aug 92 21:52:29 GMT
Organization: Open Software Foundation


                Final GAIA Workshop Announcement
                --------------------------------

Enclosed is a final call for participation in the GAIA Workshop on
a GUI Application Interoperability Architecture, sponsored by the
Open Software Foundation, to be held August 18th and 19th at the
Cambridge Center Marriot in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The attendees include principal architects, researchers, and
business representatives working in the areas of user interfaces,
interoperability, and distributed and object-oriented computing.
Major system and software vendors and end-user organizations are
all involved in the workshop.

   Bruce Kin Huie        Ellis Cohen       Vania Joloboff
   Technology Manager    Architect         Engineering Manager
   (617) 621-8953        (617) 621-8718    (617) 621-8817

===========================================================================

                ANNOUNCEMENT AND INVITATION TO
                 THE OSF GAIA WORKSHOP ON A
         GUI APPLICATION INTEROPERABILITY ARCHITECTURE

OSF is undertaking the GAIA project to provide a standard
architecture and API to support GUI (Graphical User Interface)
based interchange and application interoperability across X and
non-X information environments.  Among the areas we expect to
address are:

    -- Transparent Conversion -- to allow filters to transparently
       provide format conversion for applications that have no common
       formats.

    -- Dynamic Updating -- to allow applications to arrange for
       unidirectional and bidirectional notifications about
       incremental changes in state.

    -- Embedded Applications -- to allow applications to provide
       sub-windows in which other clients can support editing of
       embedded data within compound documents.

    -- Linking Services -- to set up links among objects or regions
       of objects, for purposes of coordinating traversal, viewing,
       and dynamic updating.

    -- Groupware Services -- to support applications that allow
       multiple users to simultaneously act on the same information,
       obtaining feedback about the actions of other users

    -- Scripting Services -- to allow users to save, edit, and
       replay sequences of actions that span multiple applications 

This technology will be developed using an open process, open to the
entire computer industry, with a core team of architects consisting
of OSF employees, consultants and qualified sabbaticals made up of
both OSF and non-OSF members.

Within appropriate environments, we expect the architecture may
include standard OMG technology to the extent to which it is
available, including CORBA implementations, and OMG-compliant
object services.

Part of the work to be done may affect conventions and components
maintained by the X Consortium.  In particular, additional ICCCM and
Xt work is needed to support embedded applications.  OSF, with the
help of participating companies, would work with the X Consortium to
deal with these issues in the standard way.

However, GAIA is not aimed solely at X or POSIX environments, but
is meant to provide interoperability across the widest possible
range of architectures, operating systems, and windowing
environments.

The details of the process to be used to deliver this technology are
subject to change, but the plan is roughly the following:

Workshop: August 18-19
        An Application Interoperability Workshop will be held in
        Cambridge open to the computer industry at large.  Following
        initial presentations, most of the workshop will consist of
        breakout groups aimed at defining technical requirements,
        identifying issues, and proposing architectural frameworks.

Request for Information:
        A request will be made to the industry for submission of
        information pertaining to architectures and specifications for
        application interoperability and information interchange.

Development of Architecture and Specifications:
        A core team at OSF, made up of OSF employees, consultants and   
        sabbaticals from the computer industry, under the guidance and
        control of OSF will develop the architecture and specifications,
        using responses from the Request For Information.  Drafts of the
        architecture and the specifications will be circulated for comment.

Implementation:
        OSF will develop an implementation.  The implementation will be
        made available to the industry as other OSF technologies.  Where
        appropriate, OSF will issue a request for technologies to meet the
        specification.  This work will be undertaken in parallel with, but
        independent of the next release of OSF/Motif.

===========================================================================

WORKSHOP INVITATION:

Business and technical representatives are invited to attend the
GAIA workshop.  Attendees will be expected to engage in
discussions about the business models, technical requirements,
issues and architectural frameworks necessary to construct a
specification and development plan.

The agenda includes an overview of GAIA and presentations (by
Richard Soley, Technical VP of OMG) on OMG's Object Management
Architecture, CORBA specification, and (by Geoff Lewis, chair of
the OMG Object Services Task Force) on the OMG Object Services
Architecture and Roadmap.

Most of the workshop will be devoted to working group sessions,
including groups addressing


   Underlying Storage and Transport Infrastructure
      (e.g. Use of CORBA, DCE, X, to implement GAIA)

   Window System Interoperability
      (i.e. implementation of GAIA in multiple windowing environments
            and integration with other interchange and interoperability
            frameworks)

   GAIA Services and Interfaces
      (Format Conversion, Service Registration and Location,
       Interchange, Printing, Embedding, Dynamic Updating,
       Linking, Floor Control, Script Recording, etc.)

   Open Process and Business Issues


===========================================================================
       
WORKSHOP LOGISTICS:

Meeting date:   August 18-19 (all day, both days)

Time:           8:00am - 5:30pm

Location:       Cambridge Center Marriott
                Two Cambridge Center
                Cambridge,  Massachusetts  02142
                (617) 494-6600

A registration fee of $75 will be charged to help offset the cost
of meals and meeting facilities.  All of those registered will be
placed in a mailing group for future email messages.  Please DON'T
FORGET to include your email address.  Please provide the
following information.

===========================================================================
                   GAIA REGISTRATION FORM
===========================================================================

NAME:   

Company:

Address:


Telephone:

FAX:

email:

Technical or Business:


The REGISTRATION FEE of $75.00 may be paid by check or credit card
at the time of registration or on the first day of the workshop.  No
purchase orders will be accepted.

You may email all registration material to "bhuie@osf.org".