Reversible document format

• US 20040199876A1
• Filed: 04/07/2003
• Published: 10/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: McKenzie, Gavin, Ethier, Christopher, Orthlieb, Carl W., Brinkman, John P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,653,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/249
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/117 Tagging; Marking up details of markup languages G06F40/143; Designating a block; Setting of attributes style sheets, e.g. eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation [XSLT], G06F40/154

Abstract

Systems and techniques to create and use a reversible format document. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes: obtaining an electronic document in a binary format, reforming the electronic document in a markup language format using information selected from the binary format document according to predefined extraction parameters, and inserting an encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format into the electronic document in the markup language format. A markup language document can include a first and second portions, the first portion including a subset of information, including rules governing how the electronic document is processed by a machine, from a binary format document corresponding to the second portion, and the second portion including an encoded version of the binary format document, where the electronic document is fully transformable to the binary format after a modification to the electronic document in the markup language format.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining an electronic document in a binary format;

transforming the electronic document into a markup language format by

extracting a subset of information from the electronic document in the binary format according to predefined extraction parameters,

incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format, and

inserting an encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format into the electronic document in the markup language format; and

using the transformed electronic document.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format contains less information than the obtained electronic document in the binary format.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the transformed electronic document; and

transforming the received electronic document into the binary format by unencoding the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format, and selectively updating the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format with information from a markup language portion of the received electronic document.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein selectively updating the unencoded version of the electronic document comprises:

transferring recognized information from the markup language portion of the received electronic document to the retransformed electronic document in the binary format, the recognized information having a corresponding definition in the binary format; and

placing unrecognized information in a designated location in the retransformed electronic document in the binary format such that the unrecognized information is retrievable upon retransformation to the markup language format, the unrecognized information not having a corresponding definition in the binary format.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein transferring the recognized information comprises overwriting existing information in the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format in a case of information conflict.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein transferring the recognized information comprises selectively overwriting existing information in the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format based on read/write permissions.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the predefined extraction parameters comprise extraction parameters defined by a creator of the electronic document.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic document comprises rules governing information capture, and the subset of information comprises at least a portion of the rules governing information capture.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the subset of information comprises a template definition including the at least a portion of the rules governing information capture.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein using the transformed electronic document comprises preprocessing the electronic document by modifying the markup language portion of the electronic document, and receiving the transformed electronic document comprises receiving the preprocessed electronic document, the method further comprising sending the retransformed and modified electronic document over a network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein obtaining the electronic document comprises receiving, at a third party, the electronic document over a network from a server, and preprocessing the electronic document comprises pre-populating the electronic document with data at the third party.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein preprocessing the electronic document comprises server-side personalization of the electronic document.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein sending the retransformed and modified electronic document over the network comprises electronically publishing the retransformed and modified electronic document to a network.

14. The method of claim 3, wherein using the transformed electronic document comprises digitally signing the transformed electronic document to produce a digital signature, the method further comprising:

sending the retransformed electronic document over a network;

receiving the retransformed electronic document over the network; and

transforming the retransformed electronic document into the markup language format, wherein the digital signature remains intact.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein digitally signing the transformed electronic document comprises not signing the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format inside the transformed electronic document in the markup language format.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the binary format comprises a predetermined final format that defines an appearance of the electronic document.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein transforming the electronic document into the markup language format further includes flattening the electronic document in the binary format before said inserting the encoded version of the electronic document, and using the transformed electronic document comprises archiving the transformed electronic document.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format comprises adding annotations.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format comprises adding audit trail information.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format comprises adding workflow routing information.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format comprises adding asset management information.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein incorporating the subset of the information into new portions of the electronic document in the markup language format comprises adding configuration information and data source information.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the predetermined final format comprises PDF.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the markup language format comprises XML.

25. A software product tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, the software product comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

obtaining an electronic document in a binary format;

reforming the electronic document in a markup language format using information selected from the electronic document in the binary format according to predefined extraction parameters; and

inserting an encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format into the electronic document in the markup language format.

26. The software product of claim 25, wherein the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format contains less information than the obtained electronic document in the binary format.

27. The software product of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise transforming the electronic document into the binary format by unencoding the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format, and selectively updating the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format.

28. The software product of claim 27, wherein selectively updating the unencoded version of the electronic document comprises:

transferring recognized information into the binary format, the recognized information having a corresponding definition in the binary format; and

placing unrecognized information in a designated location in the electronic document in the binary format such that the unrecognized information is retrievable upon retransformation to the markup language format, the unrecognized information not having a corresponding definition in the binary format.

29. The software product of claim 28, wherein transferring the recognized information comprises overwriting existing information in the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format in a case of information conflict.

30. The software product of claim 28, wherein transferring the recognized information comprises selectively overwriting existing information in the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format based on read/write permissions.

31. The software product of claim 25, wherein the predefined extraction parameters comprise extraction parameters defined by a creator of the electronic document.

32. The software product of claim 25, wherein the electronic document comprises rules governing information capture, and the selected information comprises at least a portion of the rules governing information capture.

33. The software product of claim 32, wherein the selected information comprises a template definition including the at least a portion of the rules governing information capture.

34. The software product of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise:

preprocessing the electronic document in the markup language format by modifying a markup language portion of the electronic document;

transforming the preprocessed electronic document into the binary format; and

sending the transformed and modified electronic document over a network.

35. The software product of claim 34, wherein obtaining the electronic document comprises receiving, at a third party, the electronic document over a network from a server, and preprocessing the electronic document comprises pre-populating the electronic document with data at the third party.

36. The software product of claim 34, wherein preprocessing the electronic document comprises server-side personalization of the electronic document.

37. The software product of claim 34, wherein sending the transformed and modified electronic document over the network comprises electronically publishing the transformed and modified electronic document to a network.

38. The software product of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise digitally signing the electronic document in the markup language format to produce a digital signature that survives a transformation of the electronic document to the binary format and back to the markup language format.

39. The software product of claim 38, wherein digitally signing the electronic document comprises not signing the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format inside the electronic document in the markup language format.

40. The software product of claim 25, wherein the binary format comprises a predetermined final format that defines an appearance of the electronic document.

41. The software product of claim 40, wherein the operations further comprise:

flattening the electronic document in the binary format before said inserting the encoded version of the electronic document; and

archiving the electronic document in the markup language format.

42. The software product of claim 40, wherein the selected information comprises annotations.

43. The software product of claim 42, wherein the selected information further comprises audit trail information and workflow routing information.

44. The software product of claim 43, wherein the selected information further comprises asset management information, configuration information and data source information.

45. The software product of claim 40, wherein the predetermined final format comprises PDF.

46. The software product of claim 40, wherein the markup language format comprises XML.

47. A system comprising:

a processor;

a machine-readable medium coupled with the processor;

a network interface coupled with the processor; and

a server software product tangibly stored on the machine-readable medium, the server software product comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to perform operations comprising obtaining an electronic document in a binary format, reforming the electronic document in a markup language format using information selected from the electronic document in the binary format according to predefined extraction parameters, and inserting an encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format into the electronic document in the markup language format.

48. The system of claim 47, wherein the operations further comprise transforming the electronic document into the binary format by unencoding the encoded version of the electronic document in the binary format, and selectively updating the unencoded version of the electronic document in the binary format.

49. The system of claim 47, wherein the electronic document comprises rules governing information capture, and the selected information comprises at least a portion of the rules governing information capture.

50. The system of claim 47, wherein the operations further comprise:

preprocessing the electronic document in the markup language format by modifying a markup language portion of the electronic document;

transforming the preprocessed electronic document into the binary format; and

sending the transformed and modified electronic document over a network.

51. The system of claim 47, wherein the operations further comprise digitally signing the electronic document in the markup language format to produce a digital signature that survives a transformation of the electronic document to the binary format and back to the markup language format.

52. The system of claim 47, wherein the binary format comprises a predetermined final format that defines an appearance of the electronic document.

53. The system of claim 52, wherein the operations further comprise:

flattening the electronic document in the binary format before said inserting the encoded version of the electronic document; and

archiving the electronic document in the markup language format.

54. A software product tangibly stored on a machine-readable medium, the software product comprising:

an electronic document in a markup language format including a first portion and a second portion,

the first portion comprising a subset of information from a binary format document corresponding to the second portion, the subset of information comprising rules governing how the electronic document is processed by a machine, and

the second portion comprising an encoded version of the binary format document,

wherein the electronic document is fully transformable to the binary format after a modification to the electronic document in the markup language format.

55. The software product of claim 54, wherein the encoded version of the binary format document contains less information than the binary format document.

56. The software product of claim 54, wherein the first portion further comprises read/write permission information associated with the subset of information from the binary format document.

57. The software product of claim 54, wherein the subset of information from the binary format document corresponds to extraction parameters defined by a creator of the binary format document.

58. The software product of claim 54, wherein the rules governing how the electronic document is processed comprise rules governing information capture.

59. The software product of claim 54, wherein the electronic document further comprises a digital signature that survives a transformation of the electronic document to the binary format and back to the markup language format.

60. The software product of claim 59, wherein the digital signature corresponds to one or more designated portions of the electronic document that have been signed, the one or more designated portions including added information that does not have a corresponding definition in the binary format.

61. The software product of claim 54, wherein the binary format comprises a predetermined final format that defines an appearance of the electronic document.

62. The software product of claim 61, wherein the encoded version of the binary format document comprises a flattened version of the binary format document.

63. The software product of claim 61, wherein the subset of information from the binary format document comprises annotations, workflow routing information, configuration information, and data source information.

64. The software product of claim 63, wherein the subset of information from the binary format document further comprises audit trail information and asset management information.

65. The software product of claim 61, wherein the predetermined final format comprises PDF.

66. The software product of claim 61, wherein the markup language format comprises XML.