A Model for Semi-(a)Synchronous Collaborative Editing

This paper presents a new model for semi-synchronous collaborative editing. It fills the gap between asynchronous and synchronous editing styles. The model is based on hierarchically partitioned documents, fine-grained version control, and a mechanism called active diffs for supplying collaboration awareness. The aim of the model is to provide an editing style that better suits the way people actually are working when editing a document or program together, using different writing strategies during different activities.