Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Using Provenance to Support Real-TimeCollaborative Design of Workflows
Tommy Ellkvist1, Erik Anderson2, David Koop2, Juliana Freire2, and Claudio Silva2
(1) Linköping University (http://www.liu.se)(2) University of Utah (http://www.utah.edu)
20082Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Outline
Motivation Workflow evolution Demo Architecture Technical issues Use cases Conclusion and Future Work
20083Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Collaborative workflow design - example
Scientists at CMOP (Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction)
collaborating with researchers at University of Utah Combine knowledge of visualization with knowledge
about data. An efficient method of workflow specification sharing is
needed.
20084Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Collaborative workflow design - motivation
Designing workflows can be time consuming In data analysis and exploration, workflows are iteratively
refined Multiple users, with different expertise, need to
collaborate
20085Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Current approaches to collaboration
Interactive
Stores workflowprovenance
Parallel workflow design
Workflow merging
E-mail (√) √
Version Control √ √
Remote desktop √ N/A
Synchronous workflow design
√ (√) N/A
20086Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Our Approach: Provenance-enabled synchronous workflow design
Share workflow provenance, not only workflow specifications!
Leverages change-based provenance [Freire et al., IPAW 2006]
Unobtrusive– Does not interfere with the users activities– The user can choose whether to incorporate changes
Immediate– Changes are propagated instantly– You can track other users progress
Automatic– No extra operations need to be performed by the users– Once connected, the synchronization is automatic
20087Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Workflow Evolution
Version Tree
Workflows Data Products
20088Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Collaboration using workflow evolution
Version Tree
User
juliana
eranders
eranders
eranders
stevec
Workflows
20089Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Demo
200810Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Architecture
MySQL database VisTrails clients
User 1 User 2
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Propagating Changes
Provenance is monotonic!Provenance is monotonic!
200812Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Synchronization Algorithm
Monotonicity is preserved!Monotonicity is preserved!
200813Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Monotonicity is good: users need not worry about interfering the work of others
Can combine workflows from different branches using analogy operation– Compute difference between workflow versions– Apply difference to other workflow
Integrating Branches using Analogy
(Scheidegger et al., TVCG 2007)
200814Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Collaborative Design as a Teaching Aid
Correcting errors Highlighting interesting nodes Suggesting alternate solutions
200815Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Collaborative Design in Multi-disciplinary Research
Immediate sharing of workflow specifications Real-time explorative design between users
200816Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows
Conclusion and Future Work
New mechanism for enabling synchronous collaborative workflow design– Unobtrusive, real-time, automatic
User studies needed Extend to other domains
– Graphics design– Other design tools– Parameter exploration tools