GB2493339A - Collaborative working apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A collaborative working environment established by suitable computers operates on the principle that documents stored by particular computers can be served to other computers a page at a time. Then, on any particular computer, a graphical user interface can be managed by the user thereof according to his own needs. In reviewing a document, pages on-screen will be replaced as review proceeds. For a document hosted on the computer on which a page-turn request has been made, the page-turn request causes the computer to retrieve the relevant information from storage and change the representation on screen, and also to send the new page information to the other computers in the collaborative working environment. For a document hosted on another computer, the computer checks whether the new page data has already been transmitted thereto. If it has, then the computer uses this page data, if not, then it has to seek retrieval of the new page data from the hosting computer. Apparatus and methods are provided, said apparatus including a document store 104, local page store 106 for storing resultant information and a workspace manager 100 for constructing a GUI and sending page replacement information to other apparatus in the CWE. Apparatus is also provided with a document store 104, an incoming page store 110 for storing pages for display, and a workspace manager 100 for constructing a GUI and offering a user the selection of a page for display from the document store 104 and/or the incoming page store 110.

Description

Asymmetric collaborative working The embodiments disclosed herein relate to collaborative working environments (CWE). In particular, they relate to collaborative working environments involving document sharing.

Everybody has an optimal speed of working, suited to them as an individual. Being forced to work more slowly than this speed can give rise to frustration and boredom, and more quickly can give rise to feelings of panic and inadequacy. This is particularly evident when considering the simple act of reading, reviewing and commenting on a document Therefore, in order to make collaborative working intuitive, natural and a real alternative to meeting in person, a mechanism is desirable which allows people to work together in real time but to maintain their ability to work at their own pace.

Collaborative working solutions as are presently available operate in one of two ways.

In a first approach, a document is shared via some form of shared repository (e.g MS SharePoint). Each user takes ownership of a file and works on it as required, then when complete, replaces it into repository, ready for the next user. This is a non-real time, sequential activity, as only one user can be updating the document at a time, and is akin to a document being routed through e-mail.

In a second approach, a document or a view of a document is shared in real time. In this case, multiple users share a view of a document and work together in real time to discuss and update it.

Neither of these approaches allows users to work together in real time but at their own pace.

The main objective in providing a CWE is to offer to a user technical facilities such that a virtual meeting can be established with other users which is of sufficiently high quality that the motivation to travel to meet physically is diminished. In that way, the value of the CWE can be captured. Existing CWE tools, as described above, assist in making remote, team working more possible, but these approaches do not provide a full solution that considers fully the needs of the user. Similarly, current solutions focused on video conferencing provide excellent audio/video communications but do not provide commensurate document management and so do little towards providing options to enable people to work efficiently together.

The nuVa product offered by Thales Research Technology, of Worton Drive, Reading, United Kingdom, partially addresses some of the above issues and provides all participants of a meeting with access to a shared, public workspace and their own private workspace. The documents in the public area are shared in real time with the other participants in all aspects. The layout of the documents is shared, so that if somebody moves a document, it is moved on everybody's desk. Further, the view of each document is shared, so everybody looks at the same page at the same time and if somebody turns a page, it is turned for everybody.

A first aspect of the invention provides apparatus for establishing, with cooperative apparatus, a collaborative working environment, involving the exchange of information relating to document information suitable for graphical presentation to users of such apparatus, the apparatus comprising a document information store for storing information defining one or more documents for display and for inclusion in the collaborative working environment, a document information processor for processing said document information into page information for display, a local page store for itoring said page information resultant from processing by said document information processing means, and a workspace manager operable to construct a graphical user interface comprising at least one page defined by page information stored in said local page store, the workspace manager being operable, on receipt of a user input action representative of a request to replace said page with another page in said graphical user interface, to send page information describing said other page to other apparatus with which said apparatus is in cooperation in said collaborative working environment.

A second aspect of the invention provides a collaborative working environment established by suitable computers, which operates on the principle that documents stored by particular computers can be served to other computers a page at a time.

Then, on any particular computer, a graphical user interface can be managed by the user thereof according to his own needs. In reviewing a document, pages on-screen will be replaced as review proceeds. For a document hosted on the computer on which a page-turn request has been made, the page-turn request causes the computer to retrieve the relevant information from storage and change the representation on screen. For a document hosted on another computer, the computer checks whether the new page data has already been transmitted thereto. If it has, then the computer uses this page data; if not, then it has to seek retrieval of the new page data from the hosting computer.

While aspects of the invention, and embodiments disclosed below, are described in terms of apparatus, or methods, the reader will appreciate that in the field of the art, it may be suitable to provide an aspect of the invention in the form of a computer program product. Such a product may comprise a self contained set of computer executable instructions to cause a computer to become configured as apparatus in accordance with an aspect of the invention, or to perform a method in accordance with another aspect of the invention, or may instead comprise computer readable instructions, which, when executed, cause reference to generally available computer program instructions which might reasonably be expected to be provided already on a suitable computer, such as calls to an operating system or widely available applications. Such a computer program product might be provided in the form of a suitable storage medium, such as an optical disk, or readable memory (e.g FLASH memory) or by way of a signal, such as a download from a remote server, accessed for instance by means of the internet. The exact nature of computer program products inevitably develops over time, and the reader will understand that this development should not in any way inhibit the scope of protection conferred by this disclosure.

Further aspects, advantages, features and effects of the invention will become apparent from the following disclosure ol specific embodiments, intended to inform the reader on ways in which the invention can be brought into effect. The reader will appreciate that nothing in the following description is intended to limit the invention to specific features intended to demonstrate how an embodiment relating to the invention might be implemented in practice.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a network implementing a collaborative working environment, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a CWE suite of the network illustrated in figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a computing unit of the CWE suite illustrated in figure 2; Figure 4 is a functional diagram of the computing unit inustrated in figure 3; Figure 5 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the computing unit, in response to a request for a document to be opened and added to a CWE workspace; Figure 6 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the computing unit, in response to a request for a displayed page of a document to be changed for another page of the document; Figure 7 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the computing unit, in response to a request from another CWE suite for page information to be sent thereto; Figure 8 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the computing unit, in response to user input entry of an annotation on a displayed page of a document; Figure 9 is a flow diagram of a process performed by the computing unit, in response to receipt of annotation information from another CWE suite; and Figure 10 is a graphical representation of a workspace as might be presented to a user of a CWE suite in accordance with an illustrated embodiment.

The arrangement illustrated in figure 1 shows a computer network io comprising a plurality of GWE suites 20, interconnected by way of the internet 12. The illustrated interconnections could be direct or could be implemented by means of a central server.

Each GWE suite 20 is of the form illustrated in figure 2. The CWE suite 20 comprises a computing unit 22, a screen 24, a video camera 26 and microphone 28, a keyboard 30 a mouse 32, and speakers 34. These components are used in their conventional way.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated human machine interface (HMI) components are not extensive, and that further components could be provided in a CWE suite, such as a projector headphones 01 a tablet and pen.

The computing unit 22 is illustrated schematically in figure 3. The computing unit 22 comprises a processor 40, to which is connected a working memory 42. The working memory 42, as is conventional will comprise a combination of random access memory (RAM) devices and read only memory (ROM) devices as required. The working memory is configured to store data and program segments as required by the processor 40.

The processor 40 is also in communication with a storage device 44. The storage device 44 is1 in this example, a magnetic hard drive, though the reader will appreciate that other technologies exist. The storage device 44 provides the computing unit with high capacity but relatively slow read/write storage capability, when compared with the capabilities of the working memory 42.

In this example, the storage device 44 is operable to store, as directed by the processor 40, information relevant to the execution of computer programs on the computing unit 20. It may also store data operable to configure the computing unit, referred to by computer programs executed thereon.

As will be generally understood, the computing unit 20 may use the working memory 42 and the storage unit 44 substantially interchangeably, the storage unit 44 offering relatively large additional memory resources for the execution of computer programs This is known as virtual memory' as will be understood by the reader.

Augmenting this, a removable media drive 46 is operable to receive a removable storage medium 48. When the storage medium 48 is loaded into the removable media drive 46, it can be used in much the same way as the storage device 44.

By way of background, a computer program, for use on a computer, may comprise a complete set of processor executable instructions operable to configure the computer in a certain way. More usually, however, a computer program consists of a plurality of references to functions implemented by other computer program segments, often arranged as libraries. Such libraries might be supplied with a computer program, or might be supplied beforehand, such as in the original equipment, such as in the form of an operating system. Either way, a program can be introduced to the computer either as a whole set of executable instructions, or as instructions indicating to the computer as to which program instructions are to be executed, to bring a desired effect about.

This serves to indicate to the reader the range of different possible configurations of a computer program, stored in a computer, suitable to configure the computer to operate in a particular manner. A computer program may be embodied as a computer program product. This may take the form of a computer readable storage medium storing computer readable data, defining computer executable instructions forming the program. The product may also take the form of a computer receivable signal.

In the presently described embodiment, as illustrated, the computing unit 22 stores numerous computer programs operable to configure the processor to interact with hardware elements within the computing unit, and also so that the GWE suite 20 of which the computing unit 22 forms a part can establish CWE communication with other CWE suites 20.

As such, the computing unit 22 comprises a keyboard interface 50, a mouse interface 52, a video/audio output driver 54, a communications driver 56 and a video/audio input interlace 56. The keyboard interface 50 and the mouse interface 52 receive ?Onnecton from the keyboard and the mouse respectively, and each comprises functional features enabling signals received therefrom to be directed to the processor 40. The reader will appreciate that, if a suite were provided with different or additional HMI components, then corresponding alterations to the illustrated connectivities would be required.

The video/audio output driver 54 is operable to translate video output information generated by the processor into video signals suitable for use by the screen 24. It is envisaged in this embodiment that the screen 24 has audio output capability, though the reader will understand that separate audio output devices could be provided as well 3D or instead.

The communications driver 56 is operable to establish communications links with other CWE suites 20, under control by the processor 22. The video/audio input driver 58 is operable to receive video and audio signals from the video camera and the microphone, respectively, and to convert these signals into a format suitable for processing, such as for communication by the communications driver 56.

For reasons of clarity, computer program components are not illustrated in figure 3, as this is not relevant to an understanding of the function of the present embodiment. As wilt become clear, the software elements of the present embodiment exist, at any point in time, either on the working memory or in the storage unit, or a portion in both, depending on the memory capability and processing characteristics of the particular implementation of the computing unit 22. It will be understood by the reader that an illustrative representation of this would only serve to obscure the present description.

Figure 4 illustrates the computing unit 22 in functional terms.

As illustrated, a workspace manager 100 provides facilities to enable the CWE suite 20 to generate a video output to the user thereof, and also to coordinate communication with other CWE suites as required. To do this, it receives user signals representative of user input actions, such as from the keyboard and mouse 30 and mouse 32 as previously described. The handling of video/audio streaming data, establishing other aspects of the CWE, is not illustrated in figure 4, nor is this described herein, as a detailed description thereof is not necessary for an understanding of the present embodiment.

A document application 102 is illustrated, which also is operable in receipt of user input actions, to open a document for presentation to the user, and for the transmission of appropriate data to further CWE suites. The act of "opening" a document comprises, in conventional terms, processing of document data into a form suitable for generation of display of a page, or a portion of a page. In this embodiment the document application is operable to present, to a user, and for forward transmission to other CWE suites 20, a representation of a page. A user might be motivated, in response to reading text of the representation, to actuate the keyboard or mouse of the user's CWE suite, to present user input actions associated with editing commands for that text. The handling of editing of documents in the CWE is not described in detail here as it is not necessary for an understanding of the present embodiment.

Data describing documents is held in a document store 104. As previously noted, document data is configured such that, when it is processed by the computing unit when configured by an appropriate software application, the computing unit 22 generates page data which can then be displayed. Rendering of page data into a visual image is achieved in a conventional manner, and detailed description thereof will therefore not be provided herein.

On instruction, by a user, the document application 102 is used to process document data held in the document store 104, and to store page data in a local page store 106.

When a document is processed by the document application 102, it causes production of one or more portions of page data, each portion corresponding to a page.

The workspace manager 100 is operable also to use page information stored in an incoming page store 110. Information stored in the incoming page store 110 comprises page data representative of pages of documents stored in and managed by other CWE5.

During the course of a collaborative working session, a user is able to annotate documents. Annotations can be by way of keystroke and/or mouse action, to cause graphical comments to be superimposed on pages presented in a display. Data relating to annotations on pages is stored in an annotations store 108.

The workspace manager 100 is operable to generate data representative of a local workspace, stored in a local workspace storage unit 112, for onward presentation to the screen as a video output. The representation of the local workspace may comprise pages assembled from the local page store 106 or the incoming page store 110, each of which can have (but need not have) annotations stored by the annotations store 108.

Thus, the intended use of the working environment implemented by the present embodiment is such as to allow each user to lay out documents in a workspace in accordance with that user's preference. Each user can read and/or edit different pages of a document simultaneously. Thus, each participant in a collaborative working session can work at his own rate. Moreover, different workspace representations will arise at each CWE suite 20, as local user preference dictates this aspect of the implementation. The implementation does not require identical working environments at each CWE suite 20, and this asymmetry is advantageous for reasons which will be understood from the foregoing explanation.

When a user wishes to introduce a document into the collaborative working environment, the workspace manager 100 is arranged to cause that document to be opened by the document application 102 and then to store the consequent pages of that document in the local page store 106. This process is illustrated in Figure 5.

As illustrated in Figure 5, in step 51-2, in response to a request, from a user, to open a document, the document is retrieved from the document store 104. Then, in step 51-4, the pages of that document are generated by the document application 102. Finally, the pages of that document are stored in the local page store 106 in step 61-6.

Once the document has been opened, it is then be added to the workspace. The data describing page 1 of that document is retrieved from the document store, in step Si-S.

The page 1 data is then loaded into the local workspace 112, in step 61-10. The position of the representation of page 1 in the local workspace will be user defined, as per user input actions.

In step 31-12, it is determined if the page is to be added to the public workspace. If so, step S 1-14 is performed, in which the page 1 data is transmitted to other CWE suites.

so that equivalent representations of page 1 can (if desired by local users of those CWE suites) be inserted into local workspaces at the other CWE suites. Then, whether or not step 61-14 is performed, the procedure ends.

Then, in order to engage collaboiative working, each user can place annotations on any page of any represented document in the public workspace. Whether these annotations are visible to other users will depend upon whether they are designated as public or private annotations. The significance of this, and the management thereof, will be described in due course. In accordance with the following, each user can have graphically represented on his workspace a different selection of pages of the documents being worked upon in the collaborative working environment. As the actual graphical representation of documents is managed locally, by the local workspace manager, there is no technical reason why the layout of documents needs to be consistent from one suitable CWE suite to another. Again, the asymmetry provided by this feature of the embodiment is a distinct advantage, as the user of any particular CWE suite can design his working environment to suit his own manner and pace of working, and is not dictated to by other users to work through a document at a pace not to his liking.

In accordance with this, Figure 6 illustrates a process carried out when a workspace manager receives a user request to change the display page of a document graphically represented in the workspace. First, in step S2-2, it is determined as to whether the page is from a locally stored document, or one stored at another CWE suite 20.

If the page is from a local document, then, in step S2-4, the requested page is retrieved from the local page store 106. It will be appreciated that the user initiated request to change page may be implemented by way of a page down keystroke, a scrolling action of the mouse, use of arrow keys on the keyboard 50, or a user interface based request for a particular page. Numerous ways of implementing this can be envisaged by the reader, and the present embodiment is not predicated on any particular one of these approaches being used.

In step S2-6, the data describing that retrieved page is transmitted to the other CWE suites 20. This is a background task -it requires no particular user involvement in order to bring it about. As the reader will appreciate, the page data for the new page may not be required by other users immediately -this will depend on the pace at which other users are reviewing the same document as the user at the CWE suite 20 executing the process illustrated in figure 7. An advantage of this approach is that it allow transmission, to other CWE suites 20 of page data which might be useful to other users at some point in the CWE session, but there is no requirement for the page data to be immediately transformed into graphical representation of a new page on screen at the other CWE suites 20.

Thus, in another approach, it may be that step 32-6 will not be performed as illustrated, but may only be performed when another CWE suite 20 requires access to that page data.

On the other hand, if the page requested in the user request is not from a locally stored document then, after step 82-2, a check is made (step S2-8) in the incoming page store 110 as to whether the data relating to that page has already been received from another GWE suite and stored. If not, then in step 52-10, the requested page is sought from the CWE suite that holds that document. Assuming that the page is then received and stored in the incoming page store 110, the process then continues by retrieving the page from the incoming page store 110 in step 52-12.

Thus, as discussed above, if another CWE suite 20 has already transmitted that page data to the present CWE suite 20, by virtue of the user of that CWE suite 20 being faster in reviewing the document in question and arriving at that page before the user of the present CWE suite 20, and that the other CWE suite reacted to that by transmitting the page data to other CWE suites in pursuit of an instance of step 52-6, the present CWE suite 20 can omit step 52-1 0 and immediately retrieve the page from the incoming page store in step 52-12, for added convenience and speed of use.

Following either step S2-6 (if performed) or step 52-12, the process continues, in step 52-14, by retrieving any annotation data relating to annotations for the requested page, from the annotations store 108. The page data, together with any annotations data, is then presented to the local workspace 112 in step S2-16.

Figure 7 illustrates a response by the workspace manager 100 to receipt of a request from another CWE suite 20 for an additional page of a document store at the CWE suite in receipt of the request. Such a request will, or course, arise from execution of step 52-10 described above.

In step S3-2, the requested page is retrieved from the local page store 106. This is then transmitted, in step 53-4, to all other CWE suites 20. The reader will note that, in response to a request from a single CWE suite 20, the requested pages transmitted to all other participating CWE suites 20. This acts as a background activity to cause transmission of relevant page data around the network, to reduce the number of page requests which result in the need for immediate retrieval of information.

It is not necessary, in all embodiments, for the requested page to be transmitted to all participating suites. Instead, in other embodiments, it may be sufficient to transmit the requested page only to that suite making the request. There is no requirement for all CWE suites to have identical local storage of incoming page data. Again, this feature of asymmetry has an advantage in that the local data storage capabilities of a particular CWE suite are not a constraint on the operation of the described embodiment. In essence, if an incoming page is stored, then it is locally stored for convenient access by a particular CWE suite, but if it is not stored, or not received, then the CWE suite can still retrieve the page data from the document holder at the time it is required.

Figure 8 illustrates a process used by the workspace manager 100 to handle user input actions which relate to annotation of a displayed page. In understanding this process further, reference is made to Figure 10 which illustrates a graphical representation which might be presented to a user, descriptive of the workspace for that user. The graphical representation comprises a screen area 200 known as the workspace. A portion of this workspace is bounded by broken lines, and is referred to as the public workspace 202. This region of the screen is a graphical display overall, as illustrated, on another workspace known as the private workspace. The reader will appreciate that the user may have the facility to switch between full screen representation of one, or other, of the public and private workspaces, or to have both as displayed shown in Figure 10.

In accordance with this embodiment, all documents inserted into the public workspace, insertion being by any user, are presented to all users. However, page representations 204 are positioned by each user according to his or her preference. The significance of the public workspace 202 is that page representations placed within this portion of the workspace are treated differently by the collaborative working environment than if the user places page representations outside the boundary of the public workspace in the private workspace. Further, annotations made to a document may be public or private.

This is independent of the status of the document, or whether the document is itself in the public or private workspace. A public annotation will be visible to other users, if the document to which it is attached is itself in the public workspace.

In the context of this, therefore, Figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram for handling of annotation data received as a user input action by a usei. In step S4-2, the annotation data relating to that annotation is stored in the annotations store 108. Then, in step S4- 4, it is determined whether the annotation is on a page represented in the public part of the workspace 202 and whether the annotation itself is public. If so, then the annotation data is transmitted to the other CWE suites 20, in step 54-6. Otherwise, no other action is taken.

Further, in Figure 9, a simple procedure is illustrated in response to receipt of annotations data from another CWE suite 20. In such a case, the annotation data is simply stored, in step S5-2, in the annotations store 108, with reference to the page on which the annotation is to be placed, and, preferably, the user generating the annotation. Then, when that local CWE suite is configured next to illustrate the page on which the annotation applies, the annotation store 108 stores data which will cause that annotation to be displayed on that page.

The described embodiment therefore operates by allowing each CWE suite to manage the organisation of its documents locally. It should be noted that, in doing so, there is no reason that annotations created by any user are not visible immediately on another user's versions of the document (if so selected by the creator of the annotation). It may be, of course, that the annotations may be on other pages that those being viewed by a particular user, when the annotations are made. Indeed some documents may be "out of focus" (i.e. not being actively viewed) when annotations are added by others.

A single "Synchronise" button can be provided at the document level to allow a user to request all users to be synchronised to look at the same page, with further navigation being consistent across all users. This can be implemented by way of a graphical representation of a button embedded into the page representation presented to a user in the workspace 200. Similarly, a single synchronise button on the wider workspace layout 200 could offer to a user a facility to request that the layout of documents is made consistent, with further layout changes being seen by all users.

Given that the described embodiment can allow each user to configure his own display/platform in his own preferred manner1 tuned to the individual capabilities of the display/platform, then this allows the use of the collaborative workspace software across a wider range of display/platform types. That is, a user using a hand held device may wish to be presented with one document page at a time, rather than a more cluttered representation of five or six documents at a time.

The principle behind providing the functionality outlined herein, is to ensure that all pages of a document are available at each user platform. This is achieved by adding a "background" made of transmitting pages between users. This enables a situation to arise wherein, given sufficient time, all pages become available at all CWE suites 20.

Note that, even with the background transmission mode, if the page has already been transmitted, then presentation of this page can be made much quicker and mare seamless to the user.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the apparatus, methods and systems described herein may be made with out departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.

Claims (1)

1. <claim-text>CLAIMS: 1. Apparatus for establishing, with cooperative apparatus, a collaborative working environment, such that information relating to document information stored on the apparatus is made available for graphical presentation to users of said cooperative apparatus, the apparatus comprising a document information store for storing information defining one or more documents for display and for inclusion in the collaborative working environment, a document information processor for processing said document information into page information for display, a local page store for storing said page information resultant from processing by said document information processing means, and a workspace manager operable to construct a graphical user interface comprising at least one page defined by page information stored in said local page store, the workspace manager being operable, on receipt of a user input action representative of a request to replace said page with another page in said graphical user interface, to send page information describing said other page to other apparatus with which said apparatus is in cooperation in said collaborative working environment.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. Apparatus according to claim 1 and including an incoming page information store operable to receive, from said other apparatus, page information sent thereby, said page information defining a page of a document defined by document information stored by said other apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said workspace manager is operable to construct said graphical user interface such that it comprises at least one page defined by page information stored in said incoming page information store.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said workspace manager is operable, on receipt of a user input action representative of a request to replace said page defined by page information stored in said incoming page information store with another page from said document of which said page is a part, to determine if said page information defining said other page is stored in said incoming page information store and, if so, retrieving said page information from said incoming page information store.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said workspace manager is responsive, in the event that said page information defining said other page is not stored in said incoming page information store, to request said page information from said other apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A method performed on a computer apparatus for establishing a collaborative working environment with cooperative computer apparatus involving the exchange of information relating to document information suitable for graphical presentation to users of such apparatus, the method comprising storing information defining one or more documents for display and for inclusion in the collaborative working environment, processing said document information into page information for display, storing said page information resultant from said processing and constructing a graphical user interface comprising at least one page defined by stored page information the method comprising, on receipt of a user input action representative of a request to replace said page with another page in said graphical user interface, sending page information describing said other page to other apparatus with which said apparatus is in cooperation in said collaborative working environment.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A method according to claim 6 and including storing page information received from said other computer apparatus in an incoming page information store, said page information defining a page Qf a document defined by document information stored by said other apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>8. A method according to claim 7 wherein said constructing includes constructing a graphical user interface comprising at least one page stored in said incoming page information store.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A method according to claim 8 wherein, on receipt of a user input action representative of a request to replace said page defined by page information stored in said incoming page information store with another page from a document of which said page is a part, to determine if said page information defining said other page has already been stored in said incoming page information store and, if so, retrieving said page information from said incoming page information store.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A method according to claim 9 wherein, in the event that said page information defining said other page is not stored in said incoming page information store, the method comprises requesting said page information from said other apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A computer network comprising a plurality of computer apparatus at least one of which is in accordance with any one of claims ito 5.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A computer network in accordance with claim 11 wherein each computer apparatus is in accordance with any one of claims ito 5.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A computer network comprising a plurality of computer apparatus at least one of which is operable to perform a method in accordance with any one of claims 6 to 10.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A computer network in accordance with claim 13 wherein each computer apparatus is operable to perform a method in accordance with any one of claims 6 to 10.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. Computer apparatus for establishing, with cooperative apparatus, a document sharing environment, comprising a document store for storing information defining one or more documents, and an incoming page store for storing information defining one or more pages of information for display, and a workspace manager for constructing a graphical user interface, the workspace manager offering to the user a user actuated facility for selecting, for display, a page of a document stored in the document store and/or a page stored in the incoming page store and being operable in response to one or more user input selections to generate a graphical display of the or each page selected by said user.</claim-text> <claim-text>16. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 15 and comprising page information transmitting means operable to transmit page information of a document stored in said document store to a cooperative apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. computer apparatus in accordance with claim 16 wherein the page information transmitting means is operable in response to generation of a page by the workspace manager.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 16 or claim 17 wherein the page information transmitting means is operable in response to receipt of a request from a cooperative apparatus for a page of a document stored in said document store to be transmitted to said cooperative apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>19. Computer apparatus in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 18 and comprising an annotation facility manager, operable to offer to a user a facility to enter annotation commands to the computer apparatus, the annotation facility manager being responsive to user input action to record an annotation against or on a page being displayed on a graphical user interface of the computer in use.</claim-text> <claim-text>20. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 19 and further comprising an annotations store wherein the annotation facility manager is operable to store entered annotations in the annotations store.</claim-text> <claim-text>21. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 19 or claim 20 and comprising annotation sharing means, operable to transmit, to cooperative computer apparatus, annotation data defining an annotation entered by a user of said computer apparatus.</claim-text> <claim-text>22. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 21 wherein the annotation facility manager is operable to offer, to a user, a facility to determine whether an annotation entered by said user is to be shared with cooperative apparatus, and to associate, with an annotation, data describing the sharing status of said annotation and wherein said annotation sharing means is operable dependent on the sharing status of said annotation.</claim-text> <claim-text>23. Computer apparatus in accordance with any one of claims 19 to 22 wherein said annotation facility manager is operable to receive, from a cooperative computer apparatus, annotation data defining an annotation entered on that cooperative apparatus and with a sharing status indicative of a desire of the user of that cooperative apparatus that said annotation should be shared.</claim-text> <claim-text>24. Computer apparatus in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 23 wherein the workspace manager is responsive to a user input action to change a display from a first page of a document to a second page of said document, to determine if said page is of a document stored in said document store and, if so, to generate said second page for display based on information stored in said document store 25. Computer apparatus in accordance with any one of claims 15 to 24 wherein said workspace manager is responsive to a user input action to change a display from a first page of a document to a second page of said document, to determine if said first page is of a document stored on a cooperative apparatus and, if so, to determine if said second page is stored in said incoming page store.28. Computer apparatus in accordance with claim 25 wherein, in the event that the workspace manager determines that said second page is not stored in said incoming page store, said workspace manager is operable to emit a request to said cooperative apparatus for receipt of said second page therefrom.27. A method of establishing, at a suitably configured computer apparatus, a document sharing environment with another cooperative computer apparatus, comprising storing information defining one or more documents, storing information received from said cooperative apparatus defining one or more pages of information for display, and offering to a user of the computer apparatus a user actuated facility for selecting, for display, a page of a document stored in the document store and/or a page stored in the incoming page store and in response to one or more user input selections, generating a graphical display of the or each page selected by said user.28. A method in accordance with claim 27 and comprising transmitting page information of a stored document to a cooperative apparatus.29. A method in accordance with claim 28 wherein the page information transmitting is performed in response to said generating of a page for display.30. A method in accordance with claim 28 or claim 29 wherein the page information transmitting is performed in response to receipt of a request from a cooperative apparatus for a page of a document stored in said document store to be transmitted to said cooperative apparatus.31. A method in accordance with any one of claims 27 to 30 and comprising offering to a user a facility to enter annotation commands to the computer apparatus, the method comprising, responsive to user input action, recording an annotation against or on a page being displayed on a graphical user interface of the computer, in use.32. A method in accordance with claim 31 and further comprising storing entered annotations in an annotations store.33. A method in accordance with claim 31 or claim 32 and comprising transmitting, to cooperative computer apparatus, annotation data defining an entered annotation.34. A method in accordance with claim 33 comprising offering, to a user, a facility to determine whether an annotation entered by said user is to be shared with cooperative apparatus, and associating, with an annotation, data describing a sharing status of said annotation and wherein said transmitting of annotation data is carried out dependent on the sharing status of said annotation.35. A method in accordance with any one of claims 27 to 34 comprising receiving, from a cooperative computer apparatus, annotation data defining an annotation entered on that cooperative apparatus and with a sharing status indicative of a desire of the user of that cooperative apparatus that said annotation should be shared.36. A method in accordance with any one of claims 27 to 35 comprising responsive to a user input action to change a display from a first page of a document to a second page of said document, determining if said first page is of a document stored in said document store and, if so, generating said second page for display based on information stored in said document store 37. A method in accordance with any one of claims 27 to 36 comprising, responsive to a user input action to change a display from a first page of a document to a second page of said document, determining if said first page is of a document stored on a cooperative apparatus and, if so, determining if said second page is stored in said incoming page store.38. A method in accordance with claim 37 wherein1 in the event that it is determined that said second page is not stored in said incoming page store, emitting a request to said cooperative apparatus for receipt of said second page therefrom.39. A computer program product, comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a suitable computer, cause the computer to become configured as apparatus in accordance with any one of claims ito 5, or 15 to 26.40. A computer program product, comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a suitable computer, cause the computer to become configured to perform a method in accordance with any one of claims 6 to 10, or 27 to 38.41. A computer program product in accordance with claim 39 or claim 40, comprising a computer readable storage medium.42. A computer program product in accordance with claim 39 or claim 40, comprising a computer receivable signal.</claim-text>