TANGO Interactive
Session Manager

Marek Podgorny

Overview
Basic Concepts
Session Manager
Session Manager Configuration
Users' Panel
Application Folders
Application Sessions
Session and Floor Control Operations
TANGO Interactive Mail
Server information
Changing the server
Exiting the system


 Overview       Back to index

TANGO Interactive (TI) is a web collaboratory tool. The system extends the capabilties of web browsers, allowing a fully interactive, multimedia-rich, many-user collaborative environment.

TANGO Interactive is written in Java. System modules are usually implemented as applets. The applets interact with each other and can control each other behavior. TI applets, even the ones in the same session (see below) can be loaded from different HTTP servers. The applets can be loaded when needed and released at any time, ensuring that the system is lean and agile.

How does TANGO Interactive work? Very simple. You start the system from your browser, which, thereafter, you may continue using. The system connects you to a TI server of your choice. Once in the system, you can use one of more than three dozen collaboratory applications to work on projects with your partners, take a class at a virtual university, create and use a chat room, either private or public, videoconference, watch a movie or surf the Internet with friends, play a game - such as 3D chess.  Do all this at the same time, in any combination, in as many chat rooms as you like.

Java applets are neat, but it takes time to load them. Not everybody is up to writing them, either. Javascript is an alternative for implementation of client-side web applications. TANGO Interactive offers the truly unique technology of collaborative Javascript. This technology is unique to TI system and not available anywhere else.

In addition of collaborative applications implemented in Java and JavaScript, IT also enables collaborative modules written in practically any other language. We offer a selection of collaborative tools implemented in C, C++, and LISP. 3D shared worlds can be implemented in OpenInventor or in VRML. We offer complete application mi\odules and/or demos implemented using both these technologies.

TANGO Interactive is an advanced, powerful, and extensible Web collaboratory.  The applications available with this release exemplify each of the technologies we have mentioned above and are available for your to try!

Basic Concepts       Back to index

Application is a collaborative tool used by a user to communicate with other users. Chat, Whiteboard, Video player, or video-conferencing agent are examples of Tango Interactive application. The Tango Interactive system can communicate with applets, JavaScript applications and with applications that run outside of the browser.

Session is a set of Tango Interactive application instances of the compatible type that exchange information. Each application instance belongs to a different user. Exchange of information is achieved by sending and receiving messages. For instance, a chat session enables exchange of text information between chat instance belonging to the same session. The communication between applications in the same session is transparently provided by Tango Interactive runtime.

Participant is a user taking part in a session. Participant exchanges information with other participants using the application. Each participant can have only one application instance running in a given session. However, the user can concurrently participate in many application sessions. This includes multiple concurrent application sessions of the same type.

Master is a participant that has special privileges in the session. Master controls the state of the session, approves new session participants or starts applications for other participants. The user that started session becomes the master of the session automatically. The master status can be dynamically transferred to another session participant.

TANGO Interactive Session Manager       Back to index

Session Manager (SM) is the "centerpiece" of the system. It is an applet which controls all other applets in the system. The main panel of the SM is the "control center" for the entire collaboratory  system. Among other things, it is used to:

  • Display names of available collaboratory applications,
  • Control collaboratory applications: launch and terminate application instances on local and/or remote machines, join and leave existing application sessions,
  • Display system status: system users and active sessions listings,
  • Control certain global characteristics of the system such as session control model.

Session Manager Configuration       Back to index

Session Manager has a few configuration options. They are controlled via the "Tools/Options" menu. From there you can define behavior of the new and joined application sessions, effectively setting up the session and floor control mode. This "Tools/Applications" menu displays the application configuration table. The table itself is configured externally by your system administrator.

TANGO Interactive Mail       Back to index

TANGO Interactive supports its own asynchronous mail system. The messages can be send internally and/or forwarded to standard user e-mail accounts. The internal mail is available only as long as your SM is active. You can use mail faciltiy to send private or public messages to other current users. If you use a secure TI server, the system uses the information contained in the user database to automatically forward all messages to your standard mailbox.

Access the mail facility by clicking the Tools/Mail menu item.  .

Application folders       Back to index

The "Applications" menu  displays multiple application folders. They are used to group TANGO Interactive  collaboratory applications into logical categories.

Select the application folder name to see available applications, then click on the application icon to launch local instance of the application. This procedure creates a new application session.

Application folders can be configured by your system administrator.

Users' panel       Back to index

Users' panel lists all users of the TANGO Interactive server. You become a user by starting TI Session Manager. Users' panel provides information about system users' status: available, busy, or absent. Double-click the user name to obtain more information about the user. Right-click your own name to change your status information.

Server information       Back to index

The main panel of the session manager visualizes the "interaction space" by listing all application sessions in a familiar form of a tree. The tree is rooted in an instance of a TI server. The panel displays server description. Right-click the name to access server properties information.

Application Sessions       Back to index

The main SM panel that lists all active application sessions.

Click on an existing session to obtain information about current session participants. If you want to join  leave ,  grab the floor (i.e., become master of this session), or close  the entire session, right-click its name for a drop-down menu or highlight the session and use "Sessions" menu of the SM. The menu offers a selection of valid operations.

TANGO Interactive  allows for multiple sessions of one application (i.e., you may have multiple chat windows, talking in each of them to a different group of users).

Each session has a master user, listed in the session panel. Master status can be dynamically transferred from one user to another. For some applications, master status defines who controls the application. Many system applications allow multiple users to concurrently operate the application. For such applications, master status only controls the ability of a user to close an application session and/or let other users join.

Session and floor control operations       Back to index

Launch application
How do I launch an application on my workstation?

There are two ways: (1) you can start applications by clicking an icon in the "QuickStart" bar; (2) you can use "Applications" menu. To use "Applications" menu

  1. Select  the label of an applications folder
  2. Click on the icon of the application you want to start.

Depending on the setup of the session startup option available from the "Tools/Option" menu, the system will react in one of two ways:

  • If you selected "Always new session", a new application session will be started
  • If you deselected "Always new session", and if there is already an application sessions of the same type in the system, you will be offered a choice of either starting a new session or joining (one of) the existing sessions.

Join session
How do I join an existing application session?

  1. Select a session from the sessions list.
  2. Right-click for the drop-down menu or use the "Sessions" menu to select "Join" operation

Remote open
How do I launch an application on another user's machine?

  1. Select a session from the session list
  2. Right-click for the drop-down menu or use the "Sessions" menu to select "Remote open" operation
  3. Select a user from the list that appears on your screen.
  4. Click the "OK" button.

Note: If there are only two users in the TANGO system at the moment, actions 3 and 4 will be taken automatically.

Leave the session
How do I leave the session?

  1. Select a session from the sessions list.
  2. Right-click for the drop-down menu or use the "Sessions" menu to select "Leave" operation

Notes:

  • If you have initiated the session for the application you are leaving, the entire session will be removed (for all users).  If you have become temporary master of the session but are not the original application initiator, master status will be transfered to the last application owner, and only your instance of the application will be closed.
             
  • TANGO Interactive applications do not have EXIT buttons. You should  terminate them from the SM using "Leave" operation. You may force the applications to close by appropraite window manager buttons, and in most cases the SM will catch it, but this is not a recommended method.

Grant master
How do I grant master status to another user?

  1. Select a session from the sessions list.
  2. Right-click for the drop-down menu or use the "Sessions" menu to select "Grant master" operation
  3. Select a user from the list that appears on your screen.
  4. Click the "OK" button.

In TANGO Interactive, floor control is applied on a "per application" basis, i.e., you may be the master of one session and a slave in another.

Note: If there are only two users in the session at the moment, actions 3 and 4 will be taken automatically.

Become master
How do I become the master of a session?

  1. Select a session from the sessions list.
  2. Right-click for the drop-down menu or use the "Sessions" menu to select "Become master" operation.


Changing the server       Back to index

Double click the name of the current server in the main SM panel and select "Disconnect". All your current sessions will be terminated and you will be offered a selection of available servers to login to.

Exiting TANGO Interactive       Back to index

Select "EXIT"  from the "Applications" menu.

Note: All your applications will be closed automatically,  and the server will be notified. Don't worry about the cleanup!


TANGO Interactive support group
Last modified: Fri Oct 8 10:25:27 EDT 1999