System and method for tracking documents in an on-demand service

• US 7,818,298 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2007
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Lissack, Ryan, Barker, Timothy J., Pletter, Daniel L.
• Primary Examiner(s): LEWIS, CHERYL RENEA
• Application Number:
  US11/879,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20090024673A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,190 Days
• Field of Search: 707/8, 707/638, 707/695, 707/697, 707/999.203
• US Class Current: 707/638
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for tracking documents in an on-demand service. These mechanisms and methods for tracking documents in an on-demand service can enable embodiments to provide the sharing of documents and the tracking of whether one of the shared documents was changed. The ability of embodiments to provide the sharing of documents and the tracking can enable a safeguard that a user knows whether the document that they have in their possession is the most recent version.

In an embodiment, the shared documents are stored in a document management storage. In an embodiment, each file has an ID that includes version information for checking whether the document is the most recent version. In an embodiment, an application is downloaded onto the user system that automatically upon opening a document checks whether a document is the most recent version.

Claims

1. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization, wherein more than one user from the first organization has the ability to freely edit the document.

2. The method for tracking documents of claim 1, wherein the host system is a multi-organizational, on-demand database.

3. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, and including the hash value within the unique identifier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the applying of the hash function and the including of the hash value in the unique identifier are performed in association with the storing of the original document in the document management storage.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function, therein computing a new hash value; and

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising the hash value being a checksum of the original document.

7. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising the unique identifier also being a version number, the unique identifier at least including a pointer to a location in a database where information about the document is stored.

8. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on a user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current.

9. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

receiving a message from a user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at a user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current, sending a message to the user requesting whether to send an update for the document stored on the user system.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

12. A method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, which is a checksum of the document;

assigning a version number to the original document, storing the original document in the document management storage;

including the hash value and version number within the unique identifier in association with the storing of the original document;

embedding the unique identifier within the original document;

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function, therein computing a new hash value, and repeating the assigning of the version number;

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value;

repeating the embedding;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on a user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current;

receiving a message from the user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at the user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document; and

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

13. A method comprising:

receiving a copy of an original document from a document management storage on another system that serves multiple organizations, the copy including a unique identifier; and

tracking the copy by at least monitoring when the copy is opened,

when it is detected that the copy is opened, sending a message to the other system that includes at least the unique identifier, and

waiting to receive a reply to the message indicating whether the copy is current, the reply being based on the unique identifier sent in the message and a corresponding unique identifier in the original document, wherein more than one user from the organization has the ability to freely edit the document.

14. A host system comprising one or more computer readable media storing thereon a storage area for storing master copies of documents for a first organization having unique identifiers embedded within the master copies;

and

one or more machine instructions for a method including at least;

generating the unique identifiers,

revising the unique identifiers when the master copies are altered,

embedding the unique identifiers in the master copies, and

determining whether a copy of a master copy is current based on a unique identifier embedded in the master copy and a unique identifier embedded in the copy of the master copy, wherein more than one user from the first organization has the ability to freely edit the document.

16. The host system of claim 14, wherein the host system is a multi-organizational on-demand database.

15. A host system comprising one or more computer readable media storing thereon a storage area for storing master copies of documents for a first organization having unique identifiers embedded within the master copies;

and

one or more machine instructions for a method including at least;

generating the unique identifiers,

revising the unique identifiers when the master copies are altered,

embedding the unique identifiers in the master copies, and

determining whether a copy of a master copy is current based on a unique identifier embedded in the master copy and a unique identifier embedded in the copy of the master copy;

wherein the host system is a multi-organizational on-demand database;

the host system further comprising;

the one or more machine instructions including at least one or more machine instructions for inviting a user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the storage area, the one or more machine instructions for inviting including at least one or more machine instructions for sending user instructions for downloading an application that tracks copies of the master copies.

17. A host system comprising one or more computer readable media storing thereon a storage area for storing master copies of documents for a first organization having unique identifiers embedded within the master copies;

and

one or more machine instructions for a method including at least;

generating the unique identifiers,

revising the unique identifiers when the master copies are altered,

embedding the unique identifiers in the master copies, and

determining whether a copy of a master copy is current based on a unique identifier embedded in the master copy and a unique identifier embedded in the copy of the master copy wherein the host system is a multi-organizational on-demand database, further comprising an on-demand multi-tenant database having a tenant storage area for each tenant, the storage area being located within a storage area of a tenant.

18. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization, wherein more than one user from the first organization has the ability to freely edit the document.

19. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, and including the hash value within the unique identifier.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein, the applying of the hash function and the including of the hash value in the unique identifier are performed in association with the storing of the original document in the document management storage.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 19, the method further comprising:

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function, therein computing a new hash value; and

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein, the hash value is a checksum of the original document.

23. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

assigning a version number to the original document, and

including the version number within the unique identifier.

24. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on a user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current.

25. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

receiving a message from a user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at a user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, the method further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current, sending a message to the user requesting whether to send an update for the document stored on the user system.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 25, the method further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

28. A computer readable medium storing thereon one or more instruction for implementing a method for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the method comprising:

receiving at a host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking, at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, which is a checksum of the document;

assigning a version number to the original document,

storing the original document in the document management storage;

including the hash value and version number within the unique identifier in association with the storing of the original document;

embedding the unique identifier within the original document;

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function, therein computing a new hash value, and repeating the assigning of the version number;

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value;

repeating the embedding;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on the user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current;

receiving a message from the user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at the user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document; and

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

29. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization, wherein more than one user from the first organization has the ability to freely edit the document.

30. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, and including the hash value within the unique identifier.

31. The host system of claim 30, the applying of the hash function and the including of the hash value in the unique identifier are performed in association with the storing of the original document in the document management storage.

32. The host system of claim 30, the method further comprising:

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function therein computing a new hash value; and

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value.

33. The host system of claim 30, the hash value being a checksum of the original document.

34. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization, the unique identifier also being a version number, the unique identifier at least including a pointer to a location in a database where information about the document is stored.

35. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on a user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current.

36. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

receiving a message from a user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at a user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document.

37. The host system of claim 36, the method further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current, sending a message to the user requesting whether to send an update for the document stored on the user system.

38. The host system of claim 36, the method further comprising:

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

39. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization;

the method further comprising;

applying a hash function to the original document, therein generating a hash value, which is a checksum of the document;

assigning a version number to the original document,

storing the original document in document management storage;

including the hash value and version number within the unique identifier in association with the storing of the original document;

embedding the unique identifier within the original document;

revising the original document;

repeating the applying of the hash function, therein computing a new hash value, and repeating the assigning of the version number;

revising the unique identifier by at least replacing the hash value within the unique identifier with the new hash value;

repeating the embedding;

sending a message to a user inviting the user to join a group of users that have authorization to access the document management storage, the message including at least instructions for installing an application on a user system for checking whether documents on the user system are current;

receiving a message from the user system including at least the unique identifier;

in response, checking whether a document stored at the user system is current, based on the unique identifier sent and a unique identifier stored with the original document, the document stored on the user system being a copy of the original document; and

if it is determined that the document stored at the user system is not current and if the user requests to update the document stored in the user system, sending the original document to the user.

40. A host system for tracking documents stored on behalf of a plurality of organizations, the system comprising:

a database system having

a processor system,

volatile memory, and

non-volatile memory;

the non-volatile memory including at least one machine readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions which when implemented causes the processor system to implement a method comprising;

receiving at the host system, an original document to store on behalf of a first organization;

storing a copy of the original document to a document management storage in a storage accessible to the host system; and

tracking at the host system, the original document and the copy of the original document in the document management storage by a unique identifier assigned to the original document and a corresponding unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage;

wherein the unique identifier assigned to the copy of the original document stored in the document management storage is tracked using a portion of a database resident at the host system limited to information of the first organization, where the host system is a database system.