JPH0677958A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To participate in a conference in the executing state of the same application as a computer to continuously advance the conference even in the case of an interrupted or newly connected computer by providing an electronic conference supporting device. CONSTITUTION:A shared managing part 14 of a computer 1 requests the transmission of a connecting command to a connection managing part 113 to an input/output information managing part 110 of a computer 4. It is recorded in a connection data base 116 by the managing part 113 that the computers 1 and 4 are connected through a network 11. The managing part 14 receives an application 15 to be used by a user and requests the managing part 110 so that other computers 2 and 3 can be provided with the same application. On the other hand, the shared managing part 14 requests the transmission of an end command to the connection managing part 113 at the end of the electronic conference to the managing part 110. Information inputted by a keyboard 13 or the like is received by the shared managing part 14. The shared managing part 14 works input/output information while adding an application identifier 21 under use, identifier 22 of the computer, information number 23, information type 24 and real data 25 or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conferencing system in which the execution states of applications can be kept the same on each computer by using computers interconnected by a network. In the present specification, the term “application” refers to software other than the operating system (OS) that operates the system, and includes, for example, a word processor editor, spreadsheet software, DrawTool, and software created by yourself. Including etc. In the present specification, the term "computer" refers to a machine, such as a word processor, a workstation, or a computer, which can be connected to a network to hold an electronic conference.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a conventional electronic conference system. In FIG. 7, for example, the computers 1 to 3 are mutually connected to the network 71. Each of the computers 1 to 3 has a computer main body 72, 72 ', 72 "including a display and the like.
, Keyboard / mouse 73, 73 ', 73 ", shared management unit 74, 74', 74", and application 75
It consists of and. Then, the sharing management unit 74 in the computer 1 manages the input / output of the application 75, the management of peripheral devices and disks (not shown) connected to the computer main body, and the other computers 2 or 3
It manages communication with. Application 7
5 includes, for example, a word processor editor, spreadsheet software, DrawTool, or software created by oneself. FIG. 7 shows a diagram in which an electronic conference is held using the application 75.

An example of a conference in the electronic conference system having the above configuration will be described. For example, the computers 1 to 3 are started by the user at the start of the conference. The progress of the electronic conference is managed by the sharing management unit 74 of the computer 1, which is the first one of the computers 1 to 3 to start up. The sharing management unit 74 loads a desired application 75 and also distributes the application 75 to the other computer 2 or 3 according to a user's instruction. Then, the user uses the application 75 to work while watching the display on the display of the computer 1. Then, this work result is displayed on the display of the other computers 2 and 3 at the same time by the sharing management unit 74 of the computer 1, so that the sharing management units 74 ′ and 7 of the other computers 2 and 3 are displayed.
4 ″. Further, the result of the work performed by the computer 2 or 3 is the same as that of the above-mentioned other shared management unit 74.
And 74 ″ or shared management units 74 and 74 ′. Therefore, the user can proceed with the electronic conference while seeing the result of the work performed by any computer in real time.

Further, the sharing management unit 74 manages the peripheral devices or disks connected to the computer 1 and eliminates the environmental difference from the other computer 2 or 3 by using a correspondence table or the like. You can also Even if the same file is stored under different names by different computers, the shared management unit can hold all computers in the same environment and hold an electronic conference if it has the above correspondence table.

[0005] Further, as a document relating to the electronic conference system, "Terence Crowley, Paul" is used.
Milazzo, Ellie Baker, Harr
yForsdick, and Raymond Tom
Linson, “MMConf: An Infrast
ruture for Building Shar
ed Multimedia Application
s ", pp.329-342, CSCW 90 Pro.
Ceedings, 1990 ”. Similar to the example shown in FIG. 6, the electronic conference system described in the above-mentioned document transmits the input / output information of the result executed by the application between the computers participating in the conference to each other to transmit the conference. Was proceeding. Such an electronic conference keeps the information processed by the execution of the same application in the same execution state on all the computers participating in the conference.

Further, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-84860, there is a method of distributing data and commands input by executing an application to all computers participating in a conference. In addition, JP-A-3-15
As described in Japanese Patent No. 7029, there is known a method of ordering inputs given to applications so that no inconsistency occurs between all computers participating in a conference.

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Document "Terrenc"
e Crowley, Paul Milazzo, El
lie Baker, Harry Forsdick,
and Raymond Tomlinson, "MMC
onf: An Infrastructure Structure for
Building Shared Multimedi
a Applications ", pp.329-34.
2, CSCW 90 Proceedings, 199
0 ", JP-A-2-84860, and JP-A-3-
In the conventional technology described in Japanese Patent No. 157029, only the input / output information executed by the application between the computers participating in the conference is mutually transmitted. Therefore, a computer that participated in the conference halfway had a different running state of the application from the computer that participated in the conference from the beginning, and it took a long time to grasp the contents of the conference.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a case where a computer participating in a conference connected via a network is interrupted. In FIG. 8, for example, computer 8
21, 823, 825, 827 are connected via the network 11 for electronic conferencing. Now, one user has “abc” on the display 822 of the computer 821.
After inputting, it is assumed that another user inputs “zyx” on the display 824 of the computer 823. At this time, the use of some computers may be interrupted for some reason. The interruption includes, for example, the power of the computer being turned off while participating in the electronic conference, the failure of a part of the network, and the like.

For example, when the power of the computer 825 is turned off, the input / output information executed by the applications of the other computers 821 and 823 does not reach the computer 825. However, "abczyx" input by the computers 821 and 823 is displayed on the display 828 of the computer 827 whose power is not turned off. It is also displayed on the displays 822 and 824 of the computers 821 and 823, which are input at the same time. afterwards,
The power supply is restored, and the suspended computer 825 returns to the state where the electronic conference is held again. However, calculator 8
25 remains missing the "abczyx" executed by the other computers 821 and 823 during its interruption. That is, the computer 825 that has been interrupted is the computers 821, 823, and 82 that have continued the conference from the beginning.
The execution state of the application differs among the seven. Therefore, the user who has been using the computer 825 has difficulty in proceeding with the electronic conference because the contents of the electronic conference are missing.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a case where two computers connected to the network execute applications substantially at the same time. For example, it is assumed that the applications are simultaneously executed in the computer 821 and the computer 823. The computer 821 displays “ab
c ”, and when“ zyx ”is input by the computer 823, the respective displays 822 and 824 display
As shown in FIG. 9, “abczyx” is displayed. However, the signals from the computers 821 and 823 are as shown in FIG. 9 when the signals are normally transmitted and received. However, while being transmitted and received via the network 11, for some reason, the signals “a” to “ x "may not be sent in the correct order. For example, of the above data,
The signal from the computer 821 and the signal from the computer 823 may be alternately transmitted and received, or may be received in a state where the order is changed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even in the case of a computer that has been interrupted or newly connected, the same application execution state as that of the computer that continues the conference is maintained. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic conference system capable of participating in a conference.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conferencing system in which the order of information transmission / reception does not get out of order for some reason in a network or the like.

[0012]

(First Invention) In order to achieve the above object, an electronic conferencing system of the present invention comprises a plurality of computers (FIG. 1) connected to each other by a network (11 in FIG. 1). The same application (15 in FIG. 1) can be synchronously executed on each computer (1 to 4) by using (1) to (4) of the above, and hardware management, input / output management of information regarding applications and files, and Sharing management means (1 in FIG. 1) that manages connection with other computers.
Computers (1, 2, 3) with 4, 14 ', 14 ")
And a connection management means (113 in FIG. 1) for managing the connection state of a plurality of computers (1 to 3) connected to the network (11), and input and output information executed by the application (15). Input / output information storage means (111 in FIG. 1) and each computer (1 to 3)
Execution state management means (112 in FIG. 1) for recording the execution state of the application (15) of the
1) Input / output information management means (in FIG. 1) for managing communication between a plurality of computers (1 or 3) connected to each other, the management means (112, 113), and the input / output information storage means (111). 110) and an electronic conference support device (4 in FIG. 1) that supports the electronic conference.

(Second Invention) The input / output information management means (110) in the electronic conference system of the present invention can extract only specific information from the information stored in the input / output information storage means (111). It is characterized by being.

(Third Invention) The information handled by the input / output information storage means (111) in the electronic conference system of the present invention is provided with additional information (21 to 24 in FIG. 2) indicating specific information. I / O information management means (11
0) is characterized in that only the specific information with the additional information can be extracted.

(Fourth Invention) One sharing management means (14) in the electronic conference system of the present invention uses the input information executed by the application (15) as another sharing management means (14 'or at any time interval). 14 ″).

[0016]

[Operation] (First invention) A plurality of computers participating in an electronic conference are connected to each other by a network.
Then, in order to execute the same application synchronously on each computer, the sharing management means in the computers participating in the electronic conference is the user's event (mouse movement, mouse button press, keyboard type, etc.). And the information executed by the application including computer events (file access, messages from other processes, etc.) is processed into input / output information and distributed to each computer participating in the electronic conference, and electronic conference support is also provided. It is sent to the input / output information management means of the device. Also, the sharing management means sends a command to the input / output information management means. The input / output information management means stores the input / output information sent from the sharing management means in the input / output information storage means. The connection management means holds information regarding all computers participating in the electronic conference.

The input / output information management means checks the connection status of all the computers and manages the connection status by sending a command to the connection management means. The input / output information management means sends a command to the input / output information storage means to store the input / output information executed by the application. Further, the input / output information management means sends a command to the execution status management means and manages the execution status executed by the application of each computer. As described above, all computers participating in the electronic conference manage the application execution status, the network connection status, and the input / output information executed by the application. A user such as the computer or the computer that has been interrupted due to some cause can participate in the electronic conference in the same running state of the application as when the user was participating in the electronic conference from the beginning.

(Second Invention) Since the input / output information management means stores the input / output information executed by the application of the computer participating in the electronic conference in the input / output information storage means, the specific information, for example, the computer. Information, or data of a running application can be extracted.

(Third Invention) The information stored in the input / output information storage means is added with additional information indicating that it is specific information by the input / output information management means. For example, the additional information includes an application identifier, an identifier of a computer participating in the electronic conference, an information number that can identify the input order, an information type, and the like. The input / output information management means can compensate for the lack of information or distribute the information in the correct order by extracting the information number, for example, based on the additional information.

(Fourth Invention) One sharing management means sends the input information executed by the application to another sharing management means at an arbitrary time interval. Therefore,
The sharing management unit of the computer participating in the electronic conference can check whether the input / output information comes at an arbitrary set time interval. Then, when the input / output information does not come at a predetermined time interval, the sharing management unit can request the input / output information to the input / output information management unit, assuming that the input / output information is missing.

[0021]

EXAMPLE FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining an example of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the network 11
For example, computers 1 to 4 are connected to the computer. Computers 1 to 3 represent that they are participating in an electronic conference via the network 11. The computer 4 is an electronic conference support device that functions as a management unit in the electronic conference system. The electronic conference support device shown as the computer 4 can be provided in the network as a computer dedicated to management for managing the electronic conference, or can be provided as an auxiliary part of the computers 1 to 3. Since the computers 1 to 3 are the same, only the computer 1 will be described. The computer 1 includes a computer main body 12 having a display, an input unit 13 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a sharing management unit 14.
And an application 15.

The sharing management unit 14 includes user events (for example, mouse movements, mouse button presses, keyboard types, etc.), computer events (for example, file access, messages from other processes, etc.),
Input / output of the application 15 (drawing request, file access, user input to the application) is managed, and the event and input / output of the application 15 are processed into input / output information. Also, the sharing management unit 14
Manages the peripheral devices and files connected to the computer 1, and outputs the input / output information to the other computers 2 to 4.
Distribute to. In addition, the sharing management unit 14 is used by another computer 2
To 3 of the shared management units 14 ′ and 14 ″ or the input / output information management unit 110 described later for managing the communication.

The computer 4 serving as an electronic conference support device is provided with an input / output information management unit 110 for exchanging input / output information or commands from the shared management units 14, 14 ', 14 "of the computers 1 to 3, and the input / output information management unit 110. An input / output information storage unit 111 that stores input / output information by sending a command from the output information management unit 110, and an execution state that checks the execution state of an application in each computer 1 to 3 by sending a command from the input / output information management unit 110 State management unit 112
And a connection management unit 113 that similarly manages the connection status of the computers 1 to 3, an input / output information database 114 that stores the input / output information, and management of the execution status of the computers 1 to 3. It is composed of an execution state database 115 in which the states are accumulated and a connection database 116 in which the connection states of the computers 1 to 3 are accumulated.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of input / output information processed by the sharing management unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The input / output information processed by the sharing management unit 14 includes, for example, the application identifier 21 and the computer identifier 2
2, information number 23, information type 24, actual data 25 of 5
It is represented by the type of data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of the sharing management unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a correspondence diagram of an example of commands and processing in one embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of the sharing management unit 14 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 and the commands shown in FIG. Figure 3
In addition, in FIG. 4, the sharing management unit 14 of the computer 1 sends a connection command “connect” to the input / output information management unit 110 of the computer 4. request to send "host" to the connection management unit 113 (step 301). The connection management unit 113 records in the connection database 116 that the computer 1 and the computer 4 are connected via the network 11. The sharing management unit 14 receives the application 15 used by the user, and the input / output information management unit 110 so that the other computers 2 and 3 are also the same application.
Ask. In addition, the sharing management unit 14 sends the command “disconnect” when the electronic conference ends. hos
The input / output information management unit 110 is requested to send “t” to the connection management unit 113.

Information input by the keyboard 13 or the like is received by the sharing management unit 14 (step 3).
02). Then, the sharing management unit 14 processes the input / output information with the application identifier 21, the computer identifier 22, the information number 23, the information type 24, the actual data 25, etc. in use as shown in FIG. 2, for example. . (Step 303). In this way, the input / output information to which each identifier is attached is transmitted to the input / output information management unit 110 (step 304). That is, the sharing management unit 14 transmits the input / output information to the input / output information management unit 110 together with the command “send data”. Then, the communication between the sharing management unit 14 and the input / output information management unit 110 is started (step 305). The input / output information then becomes a processing flow in the input / output information management unit 110 described later.

When the communication with the input / output information management unit 110 is started, the sharing management unit 14 checks whether the input / output information sent from the input / output information management unit 110 is a command (step 306). ). If the input / output information is a command, the content of the command is interpreted (step 307). The content of the command, for example "notice
If it is “execution”, the sharing management unit 14
Processing for returning the execution status of the application in the computer 1 to the input / output information management unit 110 (step 30)
8).

The sharing management unit 14 also checks whether there is input / output information waiting for processing (step 309). If there is no input / output information waiting for processing, it returns to the original state. if,
If there is input / output information waiting for processing, the sharing management unit 14 requests the application 15 for processing (step 310). The sharing management unit 14 repeats these processes. In step 306, if the input / output information is not a command but data, this input / output information is stored in a buffer not shown (step 311). Then, the sharing management unit 14, which receives the input-related information from the input / output information management unit 110, checks whether or not the input / output information is sent in order (step 312). If the input / output information is in order, the sharing management unit 14 proceeds to step 309 and waits for transmission of the input / output information. The sharing management unit 14 checks whether the input / output information has passed a certain time (step 313).

When the input / output information has not been sent for a certain period of time, the sharing management section 14 requests the input / output information management section 110 for retransmission (step 314). That is, when the input / output information is delayed by a predetermined unit time or longer, the sharing management unit 14 determines that the input / output information is missing and sends a command to the input / output information management unit 110 to request retransmission of the missing information. The sharing management unit 14 includes the input / output information management unit 110.
, For example, "request data ”to request the necessary input / output information. Further, the sharing management unit 14 sends the input / output information, the application execution state, and the command to the input / output information management unit 110.
The sharing management unit 14 issues the above-mentioned command indicating that a computer is connected, for example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the processing flow of the input / output embodiment management unit which is an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5
In, the input / output information management unit 110 is connected so as to be able to communicate with the sharing management unit 14 (step 510). The input / output information management unit 110 includes the sharing management unit 14
It is checked whether the command sent from is "send data" (step 520). When the command is "send data", the input / output information management unit 110 allocates an information number to the input / output information (step 521). For example, an information number 23 is attached to the input / output information shown in FIG. Then, the input / output information management unit 110 sends the input / output information with the information number 23 to the input / output information storage unit 111 (step 522). From the input / output information management unit 110, the command "register exe
By sending the “Cution”, the input / output information storage unit 111 stores the input / output information in the input / output information database 114 with an address and the like necessary for inputting / outputting.

Further, the input / output information management section 110 sends the input / output information to the respective shared management sections 14, 14 ', 14 "(step 523). For example, the input / output information management section 110 is
The command "notice Execution ”is sent to the sharing management unit 14. That is, the above command
The input / output information management unit 110 requests the sharing management unit 14 to return the execution status of the application.
In step 520, the command is "send da
If it is not “ta”, the input / output information management unit 110 checks whether or not the command is addressed to the input / output information management unit 110 (step 530). When the command is not addressed to the input / output information management unit 110, the input / output information management unit 110 checks whether the destination of the command is the execution state management unit 112, the connection management unit 113, or the input / output information storage unit 111. Then, the input / output information management unit 110 sends the command to the execution state management unit 1
If it is addressed to 12, the command is transferred to the execution state management unit 112 (step 531). Then, the execution state management unit 112 uses the command "register ex
The execution state of the application, which is input / output information, is recorded in the execution state database 115 by "ecution". If the command is addressed to the connection management unit 113, the input / output information management unit 110 transfers the command to the connection management unit 113 (step 532).

Furthermore, if the command is addressed to the input / output information storage unit 111, the input / output information management unit 110
The command is transferred to the input / output information storage management unit (step 533). For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the input / output information management unit 110 sends a command “check” to the execution state management unit 112. When the "execution" is transferred, the execution state management unit 112 determines that the execution state database 1
A process of returning the execution state of the application 15 recorded in 15 is performed. If the command is addressed to the input / output information management unit 110 in step 530, “request” from the sharing management unit 14 is sent. It is checked whether or not it is a "data" command (step 540). “Request from the sharing management unit 14 data ”command, the input / output information management unit 110 determines that the input / output information storage unit 11
A command for 1 is generated (step 541). The input / output information management unit 110 issues the generated command to the input / output information storage unit 111 (step 542). Then, the input / output information storage unit 111 acquires the input / output information from the input / output information database 114 by this command (step 543). In step 540, “r
request If it is not a "data" command, or if steps 522, 523, steps 531, 532,
533, and when the processing of step 543 ends,
Go back to the first step.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the entire electronic conference system which is an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, the input / output information database 114 stores the input / output information shown in FIG. For example, “X” is described as the application identifier 21. When “1” is described as the computer identifier 22, it is understood that the computer 1 is being executed by the application “X”. As the information number 23, "1" is shown in FIG. 6, and it can be seen that the information number 23 was first processed by the application "X". Then, the input / output information ordered by the information number 23 is input / output information management unit 1
It is stored in the input / output information database 114 by 10. Further, the input / output information ordered by the information number 23 has all the sharing management units 14, 14 ', 1 in order.
4 ″. When the input / output information is sent in a different order due to some reason by attaching the information number 23 to the input / output information, the sharing management unit 14 searches for this information number 23, A command can be sent to the input / output information management unit 110 to request the missing information.

The execution state management unit 112 always keeps track of the progress of the execution of the current application 15 and the retention of the application identifier 21 being executed in each of the computers 1 to 3. The execution status database 115 is described as shown in FIG. That is, the execution state 115 'of the application 15 is that the information number 10 is being executed by the application "X" in the computer 1, for example. Similarly, the computer 2 executes the information number 5 by the application “X”. The computer 3 represents the information number 0 by the application “X”, that is, the computer 3 has not yet executed.

The connection management unit 113 manages the connection status of the computers participating in the electronic conference. The connection database 116 is connected to the connected computers 1 to 3
And the information of which of the computers 1 to 3 is executing the same application in synchronization with each other. further,
When the input / output information management unit 110 checks the data on the execution state database 115 by the execution state management unit 112, the execution of the application “X” on the computer 1 is determined by the execution state of the application “X” on the computers 2 and 3. You can see that it is ahead of execution. Then, the input / output information management unit 110
Sends necessary input / output information to the respective shared management units 14 'and 14 "of the computers 2 and 3 whose execution states are delayed.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When there is a difference in execution status due to interruption or some reason for an application that is being executed in synchronization on multiple computers, the input / output information management unit will use the execution status of the execution status management unit. And send the necessary input / output information of the application to the computer. In this way, the input / output information management unit sends the input / output information to each computer while checking the execution state of each computer, so that the execution states of applications on all computers can be equalized. In order to participate in the electronic conference on the way, the application is executed on the connected computer using the data stored in the input / output information storage unit. It is possible to see the execution of the application that was performed before joining, and it becomes easy to grasp the current status of the application.

According to the present invention, the input / output information management unit can reduce network traffic by extracting and transmitting only necessary input / output information, and the shared management unit that has received the input / output information can also reduce the traffic. Since the useless processing of can be omitted, the application can be executed smoothly.

According to the present invention, by adding additional information to the input / output information, it is possible to easily reproduce the input / output information for a specific application or the work performed within a certain time. In addition, depending on the application, the current execution status can be created from intermediate data, and by adding additional information to such reproducible input / output information,
It becomes easy to reproduce the application execution state.

According to the present invention, when an application is executed by a computer connected on the way, the user can appropriately advance or delay the timing of the input to the application so that the execution state of the application up to the present can be determined. Can be monitored.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of input / output information processed by a sharing management unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a processing flow of a sharing management unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a correspondence diagram of an example of commands and processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of an input / output embodiment management unit that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the processing of the entire electronic conferencing system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an electronic conference system in a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a case where a computer participating in a conference connected via a network is interrupted.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a case where two computers connected to a network execute applications substantially at the same time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 to 4 ... Computer 11 ... Network 12 ... Computer main body 13 ... Keyboard / mouse 14, 14 ', 14 "... Shared management unit 15 ... Application 110 ... Input / output information Management unit 111 ... Input / output information storage unit 112 ... Execution state management unit 113 ... Connection management unit 114, 114 '... Input / output information database 115, 115' ... Execution state database 116, 116 ′ ... Connection database

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An electronic conferencing system including a device for synchronously executing the same application on each computer by using a plurality of computers connected to each other by a network, hardware management, applications and files. A computer equipped with a shared management unit that manages the input / output of information related to the computer and the connection management with other computers, a connection management unit that manages the connection status of multiple computers connected to the network, and an application Input / output information storage means for storing input and output information, execution state management means for recording the application execution state of each computer, communication between a plurality of computers connected to the network, each management means, and input / output information. Electronic conference having input / output information management means for managing output information storage means Electronic conference system comprising an electronic conference support apparatus assist, in that it consists of. 2. The input / output information management means in the electronic conference support device is capable of extracting only specific information from the information stored in the input / output information storage means. Electronic conferencing system. 3. The information handled by the input / output information storage means in the electronic conference support device is added with additional information indicating that it is specific information, and the input / output information management means is provided with the additional information. The electronic conference system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein only specific information can be extracted. 4. A share management means in a computer is capable of providing input information executed by an application to another share management means at an arbitrary time interval. The electronic conference system described in 3.