Maintaining multi-way dataflow constraints in collaborative systems

Multi-way dataflow constraints are very useful in the development of collaborative applications, such as collaborative CAD and CASE systems, but satisfying multi-way dataflow constraints in the presence of concurrency in collaborative systems is difficult. In this article, we discuss the issues and techniques in maintaining multi-way dataflow constraints in concurrent environments. In particular, we also proposed a novel strategy that is able to reconstruct computation flows to satisfy multi-way dataflow constraints according to concurrent user operations in collaborative systems. Our strategy ensures both constraint satisfaction and system consistency, which is independent of the execution orders of concurrent operations.