After deciding to migrate to a distributed solution, WorldStreet realized that they needed to move to the Microsoft platform. Within this typical customer environment, the ideal point of integration is Microsoft Exchange Server, which is almost always a key component among the productivity and workflow applications used by our client base. Because of the platform's extensibility, it was easy to develop COM components that leveraged the extensibility of Exchange Server, enabling it to become a node in the distributed WorldStreet Net infrastructure. To send and receive packages, WorldStreet Net members initially exchange electronic business cards, in effect conducting an online handshake. Individuals have complete control over who can contact them, the subjects and types of information they receive, and from which systems or devices they access their packages.
Members also control what information about themselves, if any, is made available to other members.
Once submitted, the WorldStreet COM components convert the content to XML, broadcast the metadata to the WorldStreet Net nodes of other clients, and store the actual content on the local Exchange Server. At the other nodes, a similar server receives the metadata and compares it against the profiles created by that company's users. If the user decides to access the data, the receiving node communicates with the originating node and acquires the content represented by the metadata. XSL style sheets are then used to present the data to the user in the format specified in their profile. WorldStreet maintains a datacenter that tracks WorldStreet Net metadata.