Re: Seamless online-offline applications

2008-10-17 Thread Nikunj Mehta


Please bear with me as I gain my footing with the w3 communication 
style. This message is now in plain text.


[2] should be corrected as http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/

Below is a comparison of BITSY/AtomDB on the one hand and Gears and 
FeedSync on the other:


*Why would I use BITSY over FeedSync?*

FeedSync is a protocol developed by Microsoft to perform synchronization 
of data on XML feed formats such as RSS or Atom. FeedSync is suited to 
scenarios where there is no single “master” copy. Atompub and BITSY are 
designed for HTTP-based client-server systems where the server owns the 
master copy. FeedSync has additional restrictions on the Atom feeds and 
can only work with feeds specially prepared for synchronization with 
FeedSync. BITSY can work using plain old Atom feeds with no extensions. 
Furthermore, FeedSync places additional burden on feed sources to keep 
additional FeedSync metadata, while BITSY does not place any obligations 
on the server.


FeedSync has not been contributed to any standards body whereas Atompub 
is already standardized and BITSY is being offered for public 
standardization.


*How is AtomDB different from Gears?*

Gears (from Google) is an open source project to provide a web based 
application environment that will run inside of any browser and to 
extend the capabilities of existing browsers without becoming dependent 
on the browser vendor. Gears provides a SQL data store and a local HTTP 
server, however Gears does not provide a synchronization mechanism 
forcing applications to come up with their own. Moreover, applications 
are also required to use a SQL-based programming model to take advantage 
of the local storage capabilities requiring the application to be 
rewritten to acquire off line capabilities. By leveraging Atom feeds, 
AtomDB does not require every application to develop a new 
synchronization protocol nor does it impose a new programming technique 
for taking advantage of the local storage capabilities.


Gears engenders an offline application mindset where applications are 
designed primarily for off-line use with synchronization sprinkled in 
between. In environments where Gears is not present, a separate kind of 
application is offered to the user since local storage is not available. 
AtomDB fosters thinking about applications seamlessly transitioning 
between online and offline situations. The same application code that 
works off-line works online as well (modulo server replication logic 
running on the client when the server is missing). Some online functions 
may not be available when a server cannot be reached, but this is no 
different from Gears.


Hope that helps.

Nikunj

http://o-micron.blogspot.com

On Oct 16, 2008, at 12:19 AM, Michael(tm) Smith wrote:


Nikunj Mehta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 2008-10-14 21:00 -0700:


[...] More documents explaining the motivation for this approach as
well as comparisons with other techniques such as Gears and FeedSync are
also available [2]

[1] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/spec/bitsy.xhtml
[2] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds


I couldn't find anything at [2] that actually does compare BITSY
to Gears, etc. Perhaps you could post a summary directly to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

--Mike

--
Michael(tm) Smith
http://people.w3.org/mike/





Re: Seamless online-offline applications

2008-10-17 Thread Nikunj Mehta





[2] should be corrected as http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/


Below is a comparison of BITSY/AtomDB on the one hand and Gears
and FeedSync on the other:

Why would I use
BITSY over FeedSync?
FeedSync is a protocol developed by Microsoft to
perform synchronization of data on XML feed formats such as RSS or
Atom. FeedSync is suited to scenarios where there is no single
“master” copy. Atompub and BITSY are designed for HTTP-based
client-server systems where the server owns the master copy. FeedSync
has additional restrictions on the Atom feeds and can only work with
feeds specially prepared for synchronization with FeedSync. BITSY can
work using plain old Atom feeds with no extensions. Furthermore,
FeedSync places additional burden on feed sources to keep additional
FeedSync metadata, while BITSY does not place any obligations on the
server. 

FeedSync has not been contributed to any standards
body whereas Atompub is already standardized and BITSY is being
offered for public standardization.
How is AtomDB
different from Gears?
Gears (from Google) is an open source project to
provide a web based application environment that will run inside of
any browser and to extend the capabilities of existing browsers
without becoming dependent on the browser vendor. Gears provides a
SQL data store and a local HTTP server, however Gears does not
provide a synchronization mechanism forcing applications to come up
with their own. Moreover, applications are also required to use a
SQL-based programming model to take advantage of the local storage
capabilities requiring the application to be rewritten to acquire off
line capabilities. By leveraging Atom feeds, AtomDB does not require
every application to develop a new synchronization protocol nor does
it impose a new programming technique for taking advantage of the
local storage capabilities.
Gears engenders an offline application mindset where applications are
designed primarily for off-line use with synchronization sprinkled in
between. In environments where Gears is not present, a separate kind of
application is offered to the user since local storage is not
available. AtomDB fosters thinking about applications seamlessly
transitioning between online and offline situations. The same
application code that works off-line works online as well (modulo
server replication logic running on the client when the server is
missing). Some online functions may not be available when a server
cannot be reached, but this is no different from Gears.

Hope that helps.

Nikunj

http://o-micron.blogspot.com


On Oct 16, 2008, at 12:19 AM, Michael(tm) Smith wrote:


  Nikunj Mehta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 2008-10-14 21:00
-0700:
  
   [...] More documents explaining the
motivation for this approach as 
  
   well as comparisons with other techniques
such as Gears and FeedSync are 
  
   also available [2]
  
  
  
   [1]
http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/spec/bitsy.xhtml
  
   [2] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds
  
  
I couldn't find anything at [2] that actually does compare BITSY
to Gears, etc. Perhaps you could post a summary directly to
public-webapps@w3.org?
  
 --Mike
  
-- 
Michael(tm) Smith
http://people.w3.org/mike/
  









Re: Seamless online-offline applications

2008-10-16 Thread Michael(tm) Smith

Nikunj Mehta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 2008-10-14 21:00 -0700:

>  [...] More documents explaining the motivation for this approach as 
>  well as comparisons with other techniques such as Gears and FeedSync are 
>  also available [2]
> 
>  [1] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/spec/bitsy.xhtml
>  [2] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds

I couldn't find anything at [2] that actually does compare BITSY
to Gears, etc. Perhaps you could post a summary directly to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

  --Mike

-- 
Michael(tm) Smith
http://people.w3.org/mike/



Seamless online-offline applications

2008-10-15 Thread Nikunj Mehta
 plugin to desktop  
and mobile browsers. It is found to support a very simple and  
effective programming model, works nicely with existing servers and  
applications, and can be accommodated without significant client  
overhead.


I hope this serves as a decent starting point for the discussion on  
seamless online-offline applications which can use the network to the  
maximum extent possible, while still providing responsiveness and  
availability of local applications, and ensure authorization that is  
no different from the server's behavior without storing user  
credentials.


A proposal for the solution above in the form of programming interface  
for controlling synchronization and interacting with AtomPub servers  
inside a client-side store is available [1]. Oracle invites comments  
on this draft and requests the working group to consider its inclusion  
in the WG's deliverables. More documents explaining the motivation for  
this approach as well as comparisons with other techniques such as  
Gears and FeedSync are also available [2]


Regards,
Nikunj Mehta, Ph. D.
Consulting Member of Technical Staff
Oracle

[1] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds/spec/bitsy.xhtml
[2] http://oracle.com/technology/tech/feeds

P. S. If you are having trouble viewing the draft, blame your  
browser's content-type sniffing algorithm (and the inability of my  
server to set the correct Content-Type header). Please save the draft  
spec page locally and use it with your favorite XHTML browser.