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05_operational_transform

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Operational Transform (OT)

Operational Transform is a technique in distributed systems for real-time collaborative editing of shared documents.

    [User 1]      [User 2]       [User 3]
      | Edit       | Edit         | Edit
      |            |              |
      v            v              v
    [OT Engine]--[OT Engine]--[OT Engine]
      \            |            /
       \           |           /
        \          |          /
         \         |         /
          \        |        /
       +----------------------------+
       |      Shared Document       |
       |  (Real-time Collaboration) |
       +----------------------------+

Collaborative Editing Challenges

Collaborative editing can be difficult in distributed systems because:

  • Multiple users can modify the document at the same time.
  • Coordination or synchronization is needed to prevent inconsistencies or corruption.

How OT Works

OT transforms a sequence of edits by:

  • Analyzing the meaning of the edits.
  • Identifying potential conflicts or inconsistencies.
  • Creating a new sequence of edits to apply without causing conflicts.

Types of Operations

OT can transform operations like:

  • Insertion: Adding new content to the document.
  • Deletion: Removing existing content from the document.
  • Move: Changing content position within the document.
  • Format: Changing the style or formatting of content.

Implementing OT

Implementing OT can be challenging due to:

  • The need for a suitable data model to represent the document.
  • The development of algorithms to transform operations.

Popular OT implementations include:

  • Google Docs: A web-based collaborative editing platform using OT to synchronize changes.
  • ShareJS: An open-source OT library for custom applications.

Graph View