Apparatus, system, and method for improved portable document format (“PDF”) document archiving

• US 8,099,397 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2009
• Issued: 01/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Felderman, Gregory S., Hoyt, Brian K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Kuen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Tuan A
• Application Number:
  US12/548,217
• Publication Number:
  US 20110055162A1
• Time in Patent Office: 874 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/667
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/123 Storage facilities

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for improved Portable Document Format (“PDF”) document archiving. The method includes scanning a source PDF document for a shared resource. The source PDF document includes a plurality of records. The shared resource includes a common resource referenced by way of a resource pointer associated with a record of the source PDF document. The method includes copying the shared resource to a resource group associated with the source PDF document. The method also includes short-circuiting a link between content for the shared resource and the resource pointer in each record that points to the shared resource. The method includes extracting a record from the source PDF document. The extracted record is void of content for the shared resource in response to the short-circuited link. Thus, records may be stored in a standalone format without excessive storage space requirements.

Claims

1. A method for improved Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document archiving, the method comprising;

scanning by use of a processor, a source Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document for a shared resource, the source PDF document comprising a plurality of records, the shared resource comprising a common resource referenced by way of a resource pointer associated with a record of the source PDF document;

copying the shared resource to a resource group associated with the source PDF document;

short-circuiting a link between content for the shared resource and the resource pointer in each record that points to the shared resource, wherein short-circuiting a link further comprises modifying the resource pointer to point to the copied shared resource in the resource group and wherein short-circuiting a link between the shared resource and the resource pointer further comprises removing content for the shared resource from the source PDF document; and

extracting a record from the source PDF document, the extracted record void of the content for the shared resource in response to the short-circuited link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein extracting a record from the source PDF document further comprises extracting a record using a PDF Application Programming Interface (“

API”

).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein modifying the resource pointer comprises setting the resource pointer to a resource identifier assigned by a PDF Application Programming Interface (“

API”

) that stores the shared resource in the resource group.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising indexing index data in the source PDF document and storing the index data in a searchable repository.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource group comprises a PDF document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein scanning a source PDF document for a shared resource further includes directing a PDF API to signal each shared resource of the source PDF document that matches a predetermined criteria.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving configuration information that defines a set of shared resources from among the shared resources of the source PDF document.

8. An apparatus for improved Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document archiving, the apparatus comprising;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer readable program code executable by a processor, the computer readable program code comprising;

a scanning module configured to scan a source Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document for a shared resource, the source PDF document comprising a plurality of records, the shared resource comprising a common resource referenced by way of a resource pointer associated with a record of the source PDF document;

a copying module configured to copy the shared resource to a resource group associated with the source PDF document;

a short-circuiting module configured to short-circuit a link between the shared resource and the resource pointer in each record that points to the shared resource, wherein the short-circuiting module further comprises a modification module configured to modify the resource pointer to point to the copied shared resource in the resource group and further comprises a removal module configured to remove content for the shared resource from the source PDF document; and

an extraction module configured to extract a record from the source PDF document, the extracted record void of content for the shared resource in response to the short-circuited link.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the extraction module is further configured to extract a record from the source PDF document using a PDF Application Programming Interface (“

API”

).

10. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising an indexing module configured to index data in the source PDF document, the apparatus further comprising a storage module configured to store the index data in a searchable repository.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the scanning module further comprises a direction module configured to direct a PDF API to signal each shared resource of the source PDF document that matches a predetermined criteria.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a configuration module configured to receive configuration information that defines a set of shared resources from among the shared resources of the source PDF document.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code executable by a processor to perform operations for improved Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document archiving, the operations of the computer program product comprising;

scanning a source Portable Document Format (“

PDF”

) document for a shared resource, the source PDF document comprising a plurality of records, the shared resource comprising a common resource referenced by way of a resource pointer associated with a record of the source PDF document;

copying the shared resource to a resource group associated with the source PDF document;

modifying the resource pointer to point to the copied shared resource in the resource group such that a link between the shared resource and the resource pointer in each record that points to the shared resource is short-circuited;

removing content for the shared resource from the source PDF document; and

extracting a record from the source PDF document using a PDF Application Programming Interface (“

API”

), the extracted record void of content for the shared resource in response to the short-circuited link.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein modifying the resource pointer further comprises setting the resource pointer to a resource identifier assigned by a PDF Application Programming Interface (“

API”

) that stores the shared resource in the resource group.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising indexing index data in the source PDF document and storing the index data in a searchable repository.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising receiving configuration information that defines a set of shared resources from among the shared resources of the source PDF document.