Distributed dynamic document conversion server

• US 6,119,137 A
• Filed: 01/30/1997
• Issued: 09/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Axway Incorporated (Axway Software SA)
• Original Assignee: Tumbleweed Communications Corporation (Axway Software SA)
• Inventors: Smith, Jeffrey C., Bandini, Jean-Christophe
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): YOUNG, JOHN L
• Application Number:
  US08/792,171
• Time in Patent Office: 1,321 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 707/523, 707/100, 707/513, 395/200.64, 709/234
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL

Abstract

A document delivery server dynamically customizes the format of a document to be delivered, based on the capabilities of the recipient and the type of document to be delivered. The server enables transparent delivery of formatted documents, regardless of the capabilities of the recipient. For example, the recipient platform could be a desktop computer, a network computer, a printer, a fax machine, or a personal digital assistant. The server attempts to maintain the information contained in the document in a high level representation and defers the decision of when to convert to a lower level representation, thereby maximizing the potential set of options and function at each step in the delivery process.

Claims

1. A method for dynamically delivering electronic documents via an electronic network, comprising the steps of:

receiving, in a dynamic document conversion server through said electronic network, a high level representation of an electronic document for delivery to a recipient;

determining a destination data format for said document based upon said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said document in said destination data format;

converting said document to said destination data format to form a converted document; and

completing delivery of said converted document to said recipient through said electronic network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving comprises:

receiving said document in a portable document data format.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said document is delivered from a sender to said server in a high level representation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said server propagates said document via said electronic network to a second server interposed between said dynamic document conversion server and said recipient, thereby bringing said document closer to said recipient.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:

converting said document from a native data format to a delivery data format, based on the native data format and capabilities of an immediate destination to process said document in said delivery data format.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said immediate destination is the second server.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the delivery data format is different from the destination data format.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

performing a database lookup to identify said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said document in said destination data format.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

using a server facility to determine whether to convert said document to the destination data format.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of:

maintaining a series of mapping tables to facilitate potential mapping between data formats.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

providing a table that includes possible mapping from a given data format.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:

providing a table that includes possible data data formats given a specific capability.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

maintaining a data base of capabilities with said server of specific users which have used said server.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

providing an inference engine to infer recipient capabilities.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said inference is based on one or more selected from a group consisting of a type of delivery mechanism and an address used to describe said recipient.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

providing an LDAP query engine to query recipient capabilities dynamically using a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

performing an interactive dialog with said recipient to identify said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said document in said destination data format.

18. An apparatus for delivering electronic documents via an electronic network comprising a sender for sending a high level representation of an electronic document to a recipient, said apparatus comprising:

a dynamic document conversion server for forwarding said document to said recipient, said server comprising;

a facility for determining a destination data format for said document based upon said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said document in said destination data format; and

a conversion engine for converting said document to said destination data format to form a converted document.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said sender comprises:

a send client for converting said document to a portable document representation of said document before sending said document.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said document is delivered from a sender to said server in a high level representation.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said server propagates said document via said electronic network to a second server interposed between the first-mentioned server and said recipient, thereby bringing said document closer to said recipient.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

a conversion engine for converting said document from a native data format to a delivery data format, based on the native data format and capabilities of an immediate destination to process said document in said delivery data format.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the immediate destination is the second server.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the delivery data format is different from the destination data format.

25. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

an inference engine for performing a database lookup to identify said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said converted document.

26. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a server facility for determining whether to convert said document to be delivered to the destination data format.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

at least one series of mapping table for facilitating potential mapping between data formats.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

a table that includes possible mapping from a given data format.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

a table that includes possible data formats given a specific capability.

30. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a data base of capabilities of specific users which have used said server.

31. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

an inference engine to infer recipient capabilities.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein said inference is based on one or more selected from a group consisting of a type of delivery mechanism and an address used to describe said recipient.

33. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

an LDAP query engine to query recipient capabilities dynamically using a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.

34. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

an inference engine for performing an interactive dialog with said recipient to identify said recipient'"'"'s capability to process said converted document.