Revision as of 10:29, 11 April 2010

Tutorial - genSpace

Introduction to genSpace

genSpace is a research project at the Programming Systems Laboratory at Columbia University which aims to experiment in building social-networking oriented collaboration features into the existing geWorkbench application. Currently, genSpace’s primary function is identifying workflow patterns and providing real-time suggestions and support. genSpace provides researchers with real-time workflow suggestions (suggesting possible "next steps" for analysis based upon previous histories). genSpace also logs activity within geWorkbench in order to provide developers with usage feedback, and users with suggestions.

Registering for an account and logging in

You do not need to register for a genSpace account in order to take advantage of most of its features, but it is suggested. To register for an account, select "genSpace" from the "Tools" menu in geWorkbench. Click "Register." You must at minimum supply a user id, password, and your lab affiliation. You may choose to also create a profile with your contact information. When you finish entering your information, click "Save" to create your profile, and then log in with your newly chosen username and password.

Setting your data privacy options

genSpace logs your analysis events (what kinds of analyses are performed and with what settings and how long they take). It does not log anything about the data that you process, or what the results are. This data is used to provide workflow suggestions to users (ex, try using tool B after tool A) and to provide developers with feedback on how their tools are used. By default, genSpace logs your activity anonymously - not connecting your usage with your username. You can also choose to log your events with your username, or disable logging completely. To change your privacy settings, log into genSpace, and click the "data visibility" tab under "genSpace Login."

Viewing common workflows

To see visualizations of workflows that have been recorded by genSpace, choose "genSpace" from the geWorkbench "Tools" menu. Then choose the "Workflow Visualization" tab.

Most Common Workflows

You can see the most common workflows conducted by other genSpace users by choosing "Most common workflows starting with" or "Most common workflows including" from the "select action" drop-down list. Then select the analysis tool that you are interested in and click the "Search" button.

All Workflows

You can see all workflows including a particular analysis tool by choosing "All workflows including" from the "select action" drop-down list and the analysis tool you are interested in from the "select tool" drop-down list. Then click the "Search" button.

The visualization will show you the number of workflows found (indicated next to the "Search" button. The analysis tool you suggested will appear highlighted in yellow.

To refine your search and limit the workflows to those including other analysis tools (in addition to the one you selected initially), just click on a box representing another analysis tool. That analysis tool will appear highlighted in blue, and the workflow will appear with bold arrows.

To deselect the highlighted analysis tool, just click on it again.

Rating Analysis Tools

To rate an analysis tool or to see additional information about an analysis tool on the #genSpace Web Portal, right-click on the box representing the analysis tool to bring up a pop-up window.

Note that the "contact expert user" feature is currently disabled.

Receiving Real-Time workflow suggestions

To see suggestions about your current workflow, choose "genSpace" from the geWorkbench "Tools" menu. Then choose the "Real Time Workflow Suggestion" tab.

Current Workflow

genSpace will show you the analysis tools that you have used in the current workflow, as well as the time at which each was started. It will also show you how many times the particular workflow has been used by other genSpace users, and the most common "superflows" that include that workflow.

Under "possible next steps", genSpace will suggest other analysis tools that have been used in workflows that start with the one you are currently performing.

Rating Tools and Workflows

To rate an analysis tool or the entire workflow, or to go to the #genSpace Web Portal for the analysis tool or entire workflow, right-click on the analysis tool and choose the desired action

Note that the "contact expert user" feature is currently disabled.

Looking at tool statistics

To see statistics about the analysis tools and workflows used by all genSpace members, choose "genSpace" from the geWorkbench "Tools" menu. Then choose the "Workflow Statistics" tab.

Most Popular Tools and Workflows

Click the "See the top 3 of all tools" button at the top of the window to see a listing of the three overall most popular analysis tools, most popular analysis tools at the start of workflows, and most popular workflows.

Tool Statistics

To see statistics about an individual analysis tool, such as how many times it has been used, how many times it has been used at the start of a workflow, and what other tools it is commonly used together with, choose the analysis tool name from the drop-down menu towards the bottom of the window.

genSpace Web Portal

genSpace also has a Web Portal. Registered users have the ability to comment on and rate the tools and workflows.