Multi-level locks to control collaborative modeling sessions

Abstract

Collaborative editing systems require mechanisms of control in order to make the collaboration more effective. The synchronous collaboration allows the notion of simultaneity; however, it demands more adequate perception elements. In the collaborative edition of UML diagrams where dependencies between their modeling elements do exist, it is necessary to apply a mechanism of control to support the edition of consistent models. In this work, we present a multi-level locking mechanism that automatically manages locks in the modeling elements of UML diagrams during a collaborative session. This paper also describes a controlled experiment conducted to study the use of the multi-level locking mechanism during collaborative modeling sessions, and the observations from the empirical data collected.