Navigating through mashed-up applications with COMPASS

Abstract

Mashups integrate a set of complementary Web-services and data sources, often referred to as mashlets. We consider here a common scenario where the integrated mashlets are part of larger Web-applications, and their integration yields a set of inter-connected applications. We refer to them as Mashedup Applications (abbr. MashAPP). The inter-connections between the mashlets enrich the individual Web-applications, but at the same time make the user navigation within them more intricate as actions in one application may affect others. To address this difficulty, we present COMPASS, a system that assists users in their navigation through MashAPPs. The system employs a novel top-k algorithm to propose users the most effective navigation paths for their specified goals. The suggestions are continually adapted to choices taken by the users while navigating. © 2010 IEEE.