Most collaboration applications have the following components in common.
Folders Private and public folders are essential for creating collaboration applications. Private folders are not collaborations, but they do play a role in the design and testing of collaboration applications. Collaboration applications are created, developed, and tested in private folders before they are copied to public folders and made into collaborations. Public folders facilitate online discussion groups and the sharing, recording, tracking, and distribution of information that is constantly updated.
Views Views determine how information is displayed in a collaboration application. When data is collected into a folder application, views are created to display sorted, grouped, or calculated data in an organized presentation for users.
Fields Fields store information about an object. Objects include tasks, individuals, and appointments. Microsoft Outlook has many fields that can be placed on forms. The fields you create can be simple containers of values or complex formulas based on other fields. Controls, such as the text box control, allow the user to view and edit fields.
Forms Forms are the graphical interface most often presented to users for composing or reading messages. When you double-click a message, for example, you are looking at a form that you can customize for users.
Databases Databases provide structured storage for collaboration applications. Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) databases such as Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access, as well as Oracle and others, can store data.