Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Tommy Ellkvist 1, Erik Anderson 2, David Koop 2, Juliana Freire 2, and Claudio Silva 2 (1) Linköping University ( (2) University of Utah (

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Outline u Motivation u Workflow evolution u Demo u Architecture u Technical issues u Use cases u Conclusion and Future Work

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Collaborative workflow design - example  Scientists at CMOP (Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction) collaborating with researchers at University of Utah u Combine knowledge of visualization with knowledge about data. u An efficient method of workflow specification sharing is needed.

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Collaborative workflow design - motivation u Designing workflows can be time consuming u In data analysis and exploration, workflows are iteratively refined u Multiple users, with different expertise, need to collaborate

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Current approaches to collaboration Interactive Stores workflow provenance Parallel workflow design Workflow merging (√)√ Version Control√√ Remote desktop√N/A Synchronous workflow design √(√)N/A

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Our Approach: Provenance-enabled synchronous workflow design u Share workflow provenance, not only workflow specifications! u Leverages change-based provenance [Freire et al., IPAW 2006] u Unobtrusive –Does not interfere with the users activities –The user can choose whether to incorporate changes u Immediate –Changes are propagated instantly –You can track other users progress u Automatic –No extra operations need to be performed by the users –Once connected, the synchronization is automatic

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Workflow Evolution Version Tree Workflows Data Products

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Collaboration using workflow evolution Version Tree User juliana eranders stevec Workflows

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Demo

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Architecture u MySQL database u VisTrails clients User 1User 2

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Propagating Changes Provenance is monotonic!

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Synchronization Algorithm Monotonicity is preserved!

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows u Monotonicity is good: users need not worry about interfering the work of others u Can combine workflows from different branches using analogy operation –Compute difference between workflow versions –Apply difference to other workflow Integrating Branches using Analogy (Scheidegger et al., TVCG 2007)

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Collaborative Design as a Teaching Aid u Correcting errors u Highlighting interesting nodes u Suggesting alternate solutions

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Collaborative Design in Multi-disciplinary Research u Immediate sharing of workflow specifications u Real-time explorative design between users

Using Provenance to Support Real-Time Collaborative Design of Workflows Conclusion and Future Work u New mechanism for enabling synchronous collaborative workflow design –Unobtrusive, real-time, automatic u User studies needed u Extend to other domains –Graphics design –Other design tools –Parameter exploration tools