Collaborative information system for real estate, building design, construction and facility management and similar industries

• US 20050182641A1
• Filed: 09/14/2004
• Published: 08/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Meridian Project Systems
• Original Assignee: Meridian Project Systems
• Inventors: Brown, John, Zhang, Ming, Kent, Tim, Chamberlain, Casey, Flippance, Daniel, Gramer, Dan, Veljovic, Milan, Queenan, Peter, Bodrozic, John, Ing, David, Towert, David
• Application Number:
  US10/941,366
• Publication Number:
  US 20050182641A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/16 Real estate
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/80 Management or planning

Abstract

A collaborative information system for the project management of large-scale real estate, design, construction, and facility management professionals. The system is designed to be used by the various different companies and sub-contractors involved in the planning, building and maintenance of a building or facility, and brings together a number of systems that include information storage, retrieval, workflow and business rules that provide a business process management solution through an innovative combination of distribution techniques. The system allows the storage of both the data relating to the project management as well as the best practices.

Claims

1. The combination of:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document of a particular type, each document type including data elements to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document; and

a second signal associated with said first signal for storage in and operation by a system, said second signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said first signal through said states.

13. The combination of claim 1 wherein said states have transitions and additional information is provided with said second signal as needed for transitioning said signal between said first state and said second state, said additional information representing workflow collaboration in completing said document, said additional information capable of being detected and executed by said user or by a computing device in said external system for determining required steps to process said first signal.

14. The combination of claim 13 wherein said elements include:

a first value describing the user or the external system to receive the Document in said first state;

a second value describing who has sent said task notice requesting said transition from said first state to said second state;

a third value for setting additional information providing context on why said first signal should transition from said first state to said second state, and further providing any desired free-form information desired to facilitate said transition;

a fourth value describing that the next state to which said first signal is to be moved;

a fifth value describing a date by which said transition should take place, said fifth value for tracking the progress of Document processing or for reporting and analyzing progress of Documents through a business process; and

a sixth value describing the importance or severity associated by the system to said state transition.

15. The combination of claim 1 wherein said system organizes said business process rules in a Configuration Template Hierarchy.

16. The combination of claim 15 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy comprises (a) a hierarchy of related levels of configuration templates and (b) a number of Document State Templates that can be organized into larger grouping of concepts of the Document Templates, said larger grouping of concepts being held in Service Templates.

17. The combination of claim 16 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy includes at least signals representing document states and comprises:

a first configuration template level for system-wide data providing default settings and rules data applied through said system;

a second configuration template level providing Application Templates for default rules and settings for data in specific business applications provided in said system;

a third configuration template level providing Account Templates specifying default rules and settings for the data in the specific accounts representing a collection of Documents related to a particular project;

a fourth configuration template level providing Document Service Templates specifying default rules and settings for data in a particular Document Service representing a group of functionality regarding particular Document Types relating to a group of Documents within an account;

a fifth configuration template level providing Document Templates specifying rules and settings for a Document Type; and

a sixth configuration template level providing Document State Templates specifying rules and settings for a particular one of said Document states.

23. The combination of claims 1 or 2 wherein said system includes computing devices including all or any of mobile phone, hand-held computers, personal computers and workstations.

2. The combination of:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document, and a second signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, wherein

said first signal comprises;

a first plurality of signal portions representing a document type as a structured template specifying information to be entered into the document, and

a second plurality of signal portions representing a series of configuration templates for managing system rules to apply to the document, said configuration templates comprising a hierarchy of business rules and configurations that allow the user of said system to configure said system to provide for said distributed people and distributed computer systems processing information to complete said document, wherein

said second signal comprises;

a signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said signal through said states.

3. The combination of claim 2, said states having transitions and said first signal further representing a series of business workflow rules of said document, said first signal starting in an initial state and being moved to a new state by a computing device operating upon document elements in said document, through a state transition representing a business processing step performed on said document.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein a computing device checks to determine whether said state transition is a valid transition and, if so, enables said first signal to leave said initial state and enter a new state.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said system includes system resources at least some of said resources storing system business rules spanning a number of Document Types for maintaining a set of high level business process rules that span a number of discrete business processes at the document level, and said computing device checks said state to determine:

whether the resource that initiated the action to request said state transition has the security privileges to do so;

whether the various document elements that are marked as required for the proposed state are completed;

whether the various document elements within the document data conform to the business rules that have been setup in the system for the industries to which the document pertains; and

whether the System Business Rules to which said system has been configured are met for said state transition.

6. The combination of claim 2, said first signal further including a third signal portion representing a document template, said third signal portion used by a computing device to check that an undertaken process step is a valid business process step.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said document template represents (a) a set of rules to apply for all states and (b) a series of rules to apply for each state.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said rules to apply for each state override the rules to apply for all states.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said document template includes a ‘

Purchase Amount’

Document Field, said ‘

Purchase Amount’

document field marked as ‘

Required’

for said document to enter a ‘

Purchase Approved’

state, said document failing to enter into said ‘

Purchase Approved’

state until said ‘

Purchase Amount’

field is completed.

10. The combination of claim 8 wherein said document template includes Document Fields marked with rules for each Document Type element, there being for each Document Type Element a corresponding set of Document Template rules stored in said system for use during a state transition.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said Document Template rules include:

a first rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is used by the system;

a second rule to describe the Document Type Element'"'"'s data type;

a third rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is required;

a fourth rule to determine whether the Document Element is allowed to be changed or not;

a fifth rule describing the security role required for performing a reading function; and

a sixth rule describing the security role required for performing a writing function.

12. The combination of claim 11 wherein said rules are applied in the sequence set forth.

18. A system configured for operating upon documents for one or more projects, said document to be completed by entering information into said document, said system configured for establishing default rules and process to be followed by users of said system, said system transmitting and operating upon a signal representing said documents, said signal capable of having a number of states with state transitions and transmissible between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said documents, said signal comprising:

a first signal portion representing series of Document Types stored and recognized by a computing device and used to identify what semantic meaning should be attached to information entered into said documents;

a second signal portion representing a Visual Identifier Caption for enabling a computing device to identify and use said signal as it proceeds to and from various of said people and systems;

a third signal portion representing a Category Caption for enabling a computing device to present information into said signal as a series of field values, one of said field values being an enumerated look up value chosen from a configurable list of acceptable data values for providing consistency of information entry into said signal.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein said signal further includes a fourth signal portion representing a specialized field value comprising a structured subset of information to be entered into said signal where said signal requires an undetermined series of values.

20. The system of claim 18 said system including one or more Business Applications that relate to the real estate, design, construction, facility management or similar industries, said Business Applications containing one or more Accounts of Document data to be processed by a set of Document Services, said system transmitting said signals by exporting said signals with a first Document Service from a first Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported to said external system via said Document Service into a second Account to store a copy of the document in said external system.

21. The system of claim 18 wherein said signal is exported via a second Document Service from a second Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported by an external system via a first Document Service Interface to store a copy of the signal in said external system.

22. The system of claim 18 wherein said signal can be transmitted via a first document service in said system, said signal being transferred between accounts within said system.

24. The system of claim 18 wherein said computing device can be all or any of a mobile phone, a hand-held computer, a personal computer and a workstation.

25. The method of distributing a combination of a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document of a particular type, each document type including data elements to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document;

and a second signal associated with said first signal for storage in and operation by a system, said second signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said first signal through said states, wherein said combination of signals belongs in four separate entity systems said process including;

said combination being sent and received, respectively, to and by, users of a plurality of separate service entity systems, said users collaborating on a single project, said collaborating including collaboratively completing said series of tasks, each separate service entity system maintaining a copy of said combination of signals in storage in said separate service entity system.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said first signal in said combination of signals goes through the states of Draft, Pending, In Review, Accepted and Closed.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein said combination of signals is distributed to at least some of said service entity systems for operating on said first signal to progress said first signal from a first state to a second state.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein a user of a separate service provider system receiving said combination of signals can perform transition actions on said first signal.

29. The method of claim 26 wherein said document is a document used in a construction project to be sent to users of said independent service entity systems for review and approval.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said document is an architectural document.

31. The method of claim 26 wherein said combination of signals is created by a subcontractor on a project, said subcontractor marking said second signal as in the Draft State, said second signal including details of a required clarification, to a contractor on said project.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said construction manager using a first service entity system to an architect using a second service entity system, said construction manager marking said second signal as in the Pending state indicating that more detailed review is required before said clarification is completed.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said architect to an engineer using a third service provider system, said second signal being marked as being in the In Review state by said architect to indicate that said engineer should review the clarification request and complete required information for the In Review state.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said engineer to said architect, said engineer marking said second signal as in the Pending state indicating that clarification has take place and its sufficiency should be reviewed.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said architect to said contractor, said architect marking said second signal as in the Accepted state to indicate that said clarification is sufficient.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said contractor to said subcontractor, said contractor marking said second signal as in the Closed state to indicate that said action required for state transition is complete.

37. The method of providing:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document of a particular type, each document type including data elements to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document; and

a second signal associated with said first signal for storage in and operation by a system, said second signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said first signal through said states.

49. The method of claim 37 wherein said states have transitions and additional information is provided with said second signal as needed for transitioning said signal between said first state and said second state, said additional information representing workflow collaboration in completing said document, said additional information capable of being detected and executed by said user or by a computing device in said external system for determining required steps to process said first signal.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein said elements include:

a first value describing the user or the external system to receive the Document in said first state;

a second value describing who has sent said task notice requesting said transition from said first state to said second state;

a third value for setting additional information providing context on why said first signal should transition from said first state to said second state, and further providing any desired free-form information desired to facilitate said transition;

a fourth value describing that the next state to which said first signal is to be moved;

a fifth value describing a date by which said transition should take place, said fifth value for tracking the progress of Document processing or for reporting and analyzing progress of Documents through a business process; and

a sixth value describing the importance or severity associated by the system to said state transition.

51. The method of claim 37 wherein said system organizes said business process rules in a Configuration Template Hierarchy.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy comprises (a) a hierarchy of related levels of configuration templates and (b) a number of Document State Templates that can be organized into larger grouping of concepts of the Document Templates, said larger grouping of concepts being held in Service Templates.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy includes at least signals representing document states and comprises:

a first configuration template level for system-wide data providing default settings and rules data applied through said system;

a second configuration template level providing Application Templates for default rules and settings for data in specific business applications provided in said system;

a third configuration template level providing Account Templates specifying default rules and settings for the data in the specific accounts representing a collection of Documents related to a particular project;

a fourth configuration template level providing Document Service Templates specifying default rules and settings for data in a particular Document Service representing a group of functionality regarding particular Document Types relating to a group of Documents within an account;

a fifth configuration template level providing Document Templates specifying rules and settings for a Document Type; and

a sixth configuration template level providing Document State Templates specifying rules and settings for a particular one of said Document states.

38. The method of providing:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document, and a second signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, wherein

said first signal comprises;

a first plurality of signal portions representing a document type as a structured template specifying information to be entered into the document, and

a second plurality of signal portions representing a series of configuration templates for managing system rules to apply to the document, said configuration templates comprising a hierarchy of business rules and configurations that allow the user of said system to configure said system to provide for said distributed people and distributed computer systems processing information to complete said document, wherein

said second signal comprises;

a signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said signal through said states.

39. The method of claim 38, said states having transitions and said first signal further representing a series of business workflow rules of said document, said first signal starting in an initial state and being moved to a new state by a computing device operating upon document elements in said document, through a state transition representing a business processing step performed on said document.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein a computing device checks to determine whether said state transition is a valid transition and, if so, enables said first signal to leave said initial state and enter a new state.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein said system includes system resources at least some of said resources storing system business rules spanning a number of Document Types for maintaining a set of high level business process rules that span a number of discrete business processes at the document level, and said computing device checks said state to determine:

whether the resource that initiated the action to request said state transition has the security privileges to do so;

whether the various document elements that are marked as required for the proposed state are completed;

whether the various document elements within the document data conform to the business rules that have been setup in the system for the industries to which the document pertains; and

whether the System Business Rules to which said system has been configured are met for said state transition.

42. The method of claim 38, said first signal further including a third signal portion representing a document template, said third signal portion used by a computing device to check that an undertaken process step is a valid business process step.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein said document template represents (a) a set of rules to apply for all states and (b) a series of rules to apply for each state.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein said rules to apply for each state override the rules to apply for all states.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein said document template includes a ‘

Purchase Amount’

Document Field, said ‘

Purchase Amount’

document field marked as ‘

Required’

for said document to enter a ‘

Purchase Approved’

state, said document failing to enter into said ‘

Purchase Approved’

state until said ‘

Purchase Amount’

field is completed.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein said document template includes Document Fields marked with rules for each Document Type element, there being for each Document Type Element a corresponding set of Document Template rules stored in said system for use during a state transition.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein said Document Template rules include:

a first rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is used by the system;

a second rule to describe the Document Type Element'"'"'s data type;

a third rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is required;

a fourth rule to determine whether the Document Element is allowed to be changed or not;

a fifth rule describing the security role required for performing a reading function; and

a sixth rule describing the security role required for performing a writing function.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein said rules are applied in the sequence set forth.

54. A method of providing a system configured for operating upon documents for one or more projects, said document to be completed by entering information into said document, said system configured for establishing default rules and process to be followed by users of said system, said system transmitting and operating upon a signal representing said documents, said signal capable of having a number of states with state transitions and transmissible between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said documents, said signal comprising:

a first signal portion representing series of Document Types stored and recognized by a computing device and used to identify what semantic meaning should be attached to information entered into said documents;

a second signal portion representing a Visual Identifier Caption for enabling a computing device to identify and use said signal as it proceeds to and from various of said people and systems;

a third signal portion representing a Category Caption for enabling a computing device to present information into said signal as a series of field values, one of said field values being an enumerated look up value chosen from a configurable list of acceptable data values for providing consistency of information entry into said signal.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein said signal further includes a fourth signal portion representing a specialized field value comprising a structured subset of information to be entered into said signal where said signal requires an undetermined series of values.

56. The method of claim 54 said system including one or more Business Applications that relate to the real estate, design, construction, facility management or similar industries, said Business Applications containing one or more Accounts of Document data to be processed by a set of Document Services, said system transmitting said signals by exporting said signals with a first Document Service from a first Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported to said external system via said Document Service into a second Account to store a copy of the document in said external system.

57. The method of claim 54 wherein said signal is exported via a second Document Service from a second Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported by an external system via a first Document Service Interface to store a copy of the signal in said external system.

58. The method of claim 54 wherein said signal can be transmitted via a first document service in said system, said signal being transferred between accounts within said system.

59. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method of distributing a combination of a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document of a particular type, each document type including data elements to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document;

and a second signal associated with said first signal for storage in and operation by a system, said second signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said first signal through said states, wherein said combination of signals belongs in four separate entity systems said process including;

said combination being sent and received, respectively, to and by, users of a plurality of separate service entity systems, said users collaborating on a single project, said collaborating including collaboratively completing said series of tasks, each separate service entity system maintaining a copy of said combination of signals in storage in said separate service entity system.

60. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 59 wherein said first signal in said combination of signals goes through the states of Draft, Pending, In Review, Accepted and Closed.

61. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 60 wherein said combination of signals is distributed to at least some of said service entity systems for operating on said first signal to progress said first signal from a first state to a second state.

62. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 61 wherein a user of a separate service provider system receiving said combination of signals can perform transition actions on said first signal.

63. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 60 wherein said document is a document used in a construction project to be sent to users of said independent service entity systems for review and approval.

64. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 63 wherein said document is an architectural document.

65. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 60 wherein said combination of signals is created by a subcontractor on a project, said subcontractor marking said second signal as in the Draft State, said second signal including details of a required clarification, to a contractor on said project.

66. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 65 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said construction manager using a first service entity system to an architect using a second service entity system, said construction manager marking said second signal as in the Pending state indicating that more detailed review is required before said clarification is completed.

67. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 66 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said architect to an engineer using a third service provider system, said second signal being marked as being in the In Review state by said architect to indicate that said engineer should review the clarification request and complete required information for the In Review state.

68. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 67 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said engineer to said architect, said engineer marking said second signal as in the Pending state indicating that clarification has take place and its sufficiency should be reviewed.

69. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 68 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said architect to said contractor, said architect marking said second signal as in the Accepted state to indicate that said clarification is sufficient.

70. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 69 wherein said combination of signals is sent from said contractor to said subcontractor, said contractor marking said second signal as in the Closed state to indicate that said action required for state transition is complete.

71. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method of providing:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document of a particular type, each document type including data elements to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document; and

a second signal associated with said first signal for storage in and operation by a system, said second signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said first signal through said states.

83. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 71 wherein said states have transitions and additional information is provided with said second signal as needed for transitioning said signal between said first state and said second state, said additional information representing workflow collaboration in completing said document, said additional information capable of being detected and executed by said user or by a computing device in said external system for determining required steps to process said first signal.

84. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 83 wherein said elements include:

a first value describing the user or the external system to receive the Document in said first state;

a second value describing who has sent said task notice requesting said transition from said first state to said second state;

a third value for setting additional information providing context on why said first signal should transition from said first state to said second state, and further providing any desired free-form information desired to facilitate said transition;

a fourth value describing that the next state to which said first signal is to be moved;

a fifth value describing a date by which said transition should take place, said fifth value for tracking the progress of Document processing or for reporting and analyzing progress of Documents through a business process; and

a sixth value describing the importance or severity associated by the system to said state transition.

85. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 71 wherein said system organizes said business process rules in a Configuration Template Hierarchy.

86. The method of claim 85 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy comprises (a) a hierarchy of related levels of configuration templates and (b) a number of Document State Templates that can be organized into larger grouping of concepts of the Document Templates, said larger grouping of concepts being held in Service Templates.

87. The method of claim 86 wherein said Configuration Template Hierarchy includes at least signals representing document states and comprises:

a first configuration template level for system-wide data providing default settings and rules data applied through said system;

a second configuration template level providing Application Templates for default rules and settings for data in specific business applications provided in said system;

a third configuration template level providing Account Templates specifying default rules and settings for the data in the specific accounts representing a collection of Documents related to a particular project;

a fourth configuration template level providing Document Service Templates specifying default rules and settings for data in a particular Document Service representing a group of functionality regarding particular Document Types relating to a group of Documents within an account;

a fifth configuration template level providing Document Templates specifying rules and settings for a Document Type; and

a sixth configuration template level providing Document State Templates specifying rules and settings for a particular one of said Document states.

72. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method of providing:

a first signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, said first signal representing a document to be completed by entering information into said document, said first signal capable of having a number of states and transmissible over transmission circuits between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said document, and a second signal for storage in and operation upon by a system, wherein

said first signal comprises;

a first plurality of signal portions representing a document type as a structured template specifying information to be entered into the document, and

a second plurality of signal portions representing a series of configuration templates for managing system rules to apply to the document, said configuration templates comprising a hierarchy of business rules and configurations that allow the user of said system to configure said system to provide for said distributed people and distributed computer systems processing information to complete said document, wherein

said second signal comprises;

a signal representing a task notice specifying a series of tasks to be completed to progress said signal through said states.

73. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 72, said states having transitions and said first signal further representing a series of business workflow rules of said document, said first signal starting in an initial state and being moved to a new state by a computing device operating upon document elements in said document, through a state transition representing a business processing step performed on said document.

74. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 73 wherein a computing device checks to determine whether said state transition is a valid transition and, if so, enables said first signal to leave said initial state and enter a new state.

75. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 74 wherein said system includes system resources at least some of said resources storing system business rules spanning a number of Document Types for maintaining a set of high level business process rules that span a number of discrete business processes at the document level, and said computing device checks said state to determine:

whether the resource that initiated the action to request said state transition has the security privileges to do so;

whether the various document elements that are marked as required for the proposed state are completed;

whether the various document elements within the document data conform to the business rules that have been setup in the system for the industries to which the document pertains; and

whether the System Business Rules to which said system has been configured are met for said state transition.

76. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 72, said first signal further including a third signal portion representing a document template, said third signal portion used by a computing device to check that an undertaken process step is a valid business process step.

77. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 76 wherein said document template represents (a) a set of rules to apply for all states and (b) a series of rules to apply for each state.

78. The one or more processor readable storage devices claim 77 wherein said rules to apply for each state override the rules to apply for all states.

79. The one or more processor readable storage devices claim 78 wherein said document template includes a ‘

Purchase Amount’

Document Field, said ‘

Purchase Amount’

document field marked as ‘

Required’

for said document to enter a ‘

Purchase Approved’

state, said document failing to enter into said ‘

Purchase Approved’

state until said ‘

Purchase Amount’

field is completed.

80. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 78 wherein said document template includes Document Fields marked with rules for each Document Type element, there being for each Document Type Element a corresponding set of Document Template rules stored in said system for use during a state transition.

81. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 80 wherein said Document Template rules include:

a first rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is used by the system;

a second rule to describe the Document Type Element'"'"'s data type;

a third rule to determine whether the Document Type Element is required;

a fourth rule to determine whether the Document Element is allowed to be changed or not;

a fifth rule describing the security role required for performing a reading function; and

a sixth rule describing the security role required for performing a writing function.

82. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 81 wherein said rules are applied in the sequence set forth.

88. One or more processor readable storage devices having processor readable code embodied on said processor readable storage devices, said processor readable code for programming one or more processors to perform a method of providing a system configured for operating upon documents for one or more projects, said document to be completed by entering information into said document, said system configured for establishing default rules and process to be followed by users of said system, said system transmitting and operating upon a signal representing said documents, said signal capable of having a number of states with state transitions and transmissible between distributed people and distributed computer systems for collaborating in completing said documents, said signal comprising:

a first signal portion representing series of Document Types stored and recognized by a computing device and used to identify what semantic meaning should be attached to information entered into said documents;

a second signal portion representing a Visual Identifier Caption for enabling a computing device to identify and use said signal as it proceeds to and from various of said people and systems;

a third signal portion representing a Category Caption for enabling a computing device to present information into said signal as a series of field values, one of said field values being an enumerated look up value chosen from a configurable list of acceptable data values for providing consistency of information entry into said signal.

89. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 88 wherein said signal further includes a fourth signal portion representing a specialized field value comprising a structured subset of information to be entered into said signal where said signal requires an undetermined series of values.

90. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 88 said system including one or more Business Applications that relate to the real estate, design, construction, facility management or similar industries, said Business Applications containing one or more Accounts of Document data to be processed by a set of Document Services, said system transmitting said signals by exporting said signals with a first Document Service from a first Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported to said external system via said Document Service into a second Account to store a copy of the document in said external system.

91. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 88 wherein said signal is exported via a second Document Service from a second Account over a Local Area Network or Wide Area Network to an external system, said signal capable of being imported by an external system via a first Document Service Interface to store a copy of the signal in said external system.

92. The one or more processor readable storage devices of claim 88 wherein said signal can be transmitted via a first document service in said system, said signal being transferred between accounts within said system.