Document management system for recording and viewing the history of document use

• US 6,493,731 B1
• Filed: 01/27/1999
• Issued: 12/10/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Jones, Rachel, MacLean, Allan, Bentley, Richard, Dourish, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Huynh, Thu V.
• Application Number:
  US09/238,092
• Time in Patent Office: 1,413 Days
• Field of Search: 707/501, 707/513, 707/522, 707/501.1, 707/530, 707/102, 707/511, 707/911, 707/500, 345/761, 345/762
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A document management system is adapted to operate with a process management system for recording and viewing metadata of a document. The document metadata is used to record resources referenced while the content of the document is developed. The resources are recorded in the document metadata to identify relationships between the resources and the content of the document. The document content includes links that reference the document metadata stored on a remote server. The resources recorded in the document metadata and the content of the document are simultaneously displayed on a user interface of the document management system to provide context for understanding document history. By storing document metadata and document content separately, the metadata of the document remains consistent even when multiple copies of the document are distributed over a network.

Claims

1. A document management system for recording and viewing activity of document use, comprising:

a user interface for receiving commands from an operator of the document management system;

a first memory for recording content of a document developed at said user interface;

a second memory for recording metadata of the document;

the metadata specifying resources referenced while the content of document is developed; and

a processor for accessing the metadata of the document to identify relationships between the resources specified in the metadata and the content of the document;

the resources identified in the metadata of the document providing context for understanding the document'"'"'s history of creation, modification, and use;

wherein said processor automatically populates said second memory with metadata that identifies resources referenced while the content of the document recorded in said first memory is developed; and

wherein said processor simultaneously displays on said user interface the content of the document developed at the user interface and the resources specified in the metadata.

2. The document management system according to claim 1, wherein the processor specifies a link In the content of the document that identifies a location on a network where the metadata Is accessible and editable independent of the content of the document.

3. The document management system according to claim 2, wherein said processor automatically populates said second memory by identifying links to documents displayed at said user interface while content of the document is recorded in said first memory.

4. The document management system according to claim 3, wherein said first memory, which stores the content of the document, is resident on a first file server and said second memory, which stores the metadata, is resident on a second file server having a unique address on a network;

the content of the document on the first file server storing a reference to the unique address of the second file server in the link specified in the content of the document.

5. The document management system according to claim 2, wherein the metadata recorded in said second memory further comprises a first data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the content of the document, a second data structure with at least one entry for storing a link to the resources of the content of the document, a third data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the resources identified by the link, and a fourth data structure with at least one entry for storing properties that relate the content of the document to the resources identified by the link.

6. The document management system according to claim 5, wherein said document management system operates in a process management system.

7. The document management system according to claim 6, wherein the operator of the document management system manually enters the metadata at said user interface.

8. The document management system according to claim 1, wherein said processor automatically populates said second memory by identifying links to documents displayed at said user interface while content of the document is recorded in said first memory.

9. The document management system according to claim 8, wherein said user interface further comprises:

a first window for viewing the content of the document stored in said first memory; and

a second window for viewing the resources referenced in the metadata of the document stored in said second memory.

10. The document management system according to claim 9, wherein said user interface further comprises means for viewing and editing properties of the metadata of the document;

and wherein the properties of the metadata comprise properties of the resources referenced while the content of the document is developed.

11. The document management system according to claim 10, wherein the processor specifies a link in the content of the document that identifies a location where the metadata is accessible and editable independent of the content of the document.

12. The document management system according to claim 11, wherein the properties of the metadata comprise properties of the document content.

13. A method for a document management system to record and view activity of document use, comprising:

receiving commands at a user interface of the document management system for developing content of a document;

recording in a first memory of the document management system content of the document developed at the user interface;

recording in a second memory of the document management system metadata of the document;

the metadata of the document specifying resources referenced while the content of document is developed;

automatically populating the second memory with metadata that identifies resources referenced while the content of the document recorded in the first memory is developed;

accessing the metadata of the document to identify relationships between the resources specified in the metadata and the content of the document;

the resources identified in the metadata of the document providing context for understanding the document'"'"'s history of creation, modification, and use; and

simultaneously displaying on the user interface the content of the document developed at the user interface and the resources specified in the metadata.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising specifying a link in the content of the document that identifies a location on a network where the metadata is accessible and editable independent of the content of the document.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the second memory is automatically populated by identifying links to documents displayed at the user interface while content of the document is recorded in the first memory.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the metadata recorded in the second memory further comprises a first data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the content of the document, a second data structure with at least one entry for storing a link to the resources of the content of the document, a third data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the resources Identified by the link, and a fourth data structure with at least one entry for storing properties that relate the content of the document to the resources identified by the link.

17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of distributing copies of the document content stored in the first memory to a network workstation;

the copies of the document content having a global reference to the metadata of the document stored in the second memory.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of accessing the metadata of the document content from the network workstation using the global reference stored in the copy of the document content.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said accessing step is performed using a global reference defined by a universal resource locator (URL) to the metadata recorded In said second memory having a first data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the content of the document, a second data structure with at least one entry for storing a link to the resources of the content of the document, a third data structure with at least one entry for storing properties of the resources identified by the link, and a fourth data structure with at least one entry for storing properties that relate the content of the document to the resources identified by the link.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

viewing the content of the document stored in the first memory in a first window; and

viewing the resources referenced in the metadata of the document stored in the second memory in a second window.