Patent Publication Number: US-2006020644-A1

Title: Method and apparatus for managing documents in computer system

Description:
FIELD  
      The present invention relates to computer systems, and more particularly to computer systems in which documents are stored.  
     BACKGROUND  
      Modern office computer systems provide convenient facilities for creating and storing documents electronically. However, managing documents once they have been created and stored can present administrative challenges, particularly for large organizations. It is desirable that at least some documents prepared by individuals in the organization be accessible to other members of the organization. Also, document management tools should be available to keep document storage facilities from becoming cluttered, or even overwhelmed, with the passage of time.  
     SUMMARY  
      To alleviate problems inherent in the prior art, the present invention introduces improved apparatus and methods for managing electronic documents.  
      According to one embodiment, a method includes defining a plurality of document profiles. Each document profile is for setting attributes of documents to be stored in a computer system. The method further includes storing the plurality of document profiles in the computer system, selecting a document, selecting one of the stored document profiles, applying the selected document profile to the selected document, storing the selected document in the computer system, and managing the stored selected document in the computer system in accordance with the document profile applied to the stored selected document.  
      With these and other advantages and features of the invention that will become hereinafter apparent, the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims, and the drawings attached herein. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computer system according to some embodiments.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a server computer that is part of the computer system of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a typical one of the client computers that are part of the computer system of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed according to some embodiments to define a document profile to be stored in the computer system of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIGS. 5 and 6  are views of portions of a screen display window that may be provided in connection with the process of  FIG. 4 .  
       FIG. 7  is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed according to some embodiments in connection with storing a document in the computer system of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIGS. 8-10  are views of portions of a screen display window that may be provided in connection with the process of  FIG. 7 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      System Overview  
      Turning now in detail to the drawings,  FIG. 1  is a computer system provided according to some embodiments of the present invention. In  FIG. 1 , reference numeral  100  generally indicates the computer system. The computer system  100  includes a server computer  102  and a number of client computers  104 . The computer system  100  also includes a data communication network  106  which is coupled to the server computer  102  and to the client computers  104  to permit data communication to occur among the server computer  102  and the client computers  104 . In some embodiments, the data communication network  106  may be implemented as an intranet, an extranet or a combination of intranet and extranet. In some embodiments, communication over the data communication network  106  may be performed in accordance with the well-known Internet Protocol (IP). The data communication network  106  may be physically realized with any one or more of a public network, a private network, dial-up lines or any combination thereof.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram which shows some details of the server computer  102 . In its hardware aspects, the server computer  102  may be entirely conventional, or may be constructed of standard hardware components developed in the future. Moreover, the server computer may include two or more computers that are interconnected and programmed to cooperate with each other. The server computer  102  includes a processor  200 , which may be a conventional microprocessor, or a number of processors operating in parallel. The processor  200  is in data communication with a communication interface  202  coupled to the data communication network  106  ( FIG. 1 ). Continuing to refer to  FIG. 2 , the server computer  102  communicates with other components of the computer system  100 , including the client computers  104 , through the communication interface  202 . The processor  200  is also in data communication with one or more output device(s)  204 , which may include one or more displays and/or printers. (Although not shown in the drawing, the server computer  102  may also include one or more input devices, such as keyboards and mice, in data communication with the processor  200 .)  
      Also included in the server computer  102  is a storage device  206 , such as a conventional hard disk drive or group of hard drives, in data communication with the processor  200 . The storage device  206  stores programs and data which are provided in accordance with some embodiments to control the processor  200  so that the computer system  100  operates in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention. In particular, the storage device  206  stores an operating system  208  which controls the processor  200  to perform basic functions of the server computer  102 . In addition, the storage device  206  stores file management software  210  which controls the processor  200  so that the server computer  102  functions to store and manage files such as documents originally created in the client computers  104  using word processing software, for example. Storage facilities for such documents are schematically indicated at  212  in  FIG. 2 . In addition, as will be seen, the server computer may store a number of document profiles which are created by one or more system administrative personnel and which are applied to documents stored in the server computer  102  to aid in managing the documents. Storage for the document profiles is indicated at  214 .  
      Continuing to refer to  FIG. 2 , the storage device  206  further stores electronic mail system software  216  so that the server computer functions as a clearing house to provide for electronic mail communication among the client computers  104 . Furthermore, in accordance with some embodiments, the electronic mail system software  212  may also cause the server to operate so that electronic mail communication may occur directly between the server and the client computers  104 .  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a typical one of the client computers  104  shown in  FIG. 1 . Each client computer  104  may be, in its hardware aspects, constituted in a conventional fashion as a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer, for example. As seen from  FIG. 3 , the typical client computer  104  may include a processor  300  (e.g., a conventional microprocessor) and a communication interface  302  in communication with the processor  300 . The communication interface  302  may allow the processor to communicate with other components of the computer system  100  ( FIG. 1 ) such as the server computer  102  and other client computers.  
      Continuing to refer to  FIG. 3 , the client computer  104  also includes a display device  304  (e.g., a computer CRT monitor or a flat panel display) in communication with the processor  300 , a pointing device  306  (e.g., a computer mouse, a track ball or a touch pad) in communication with the processor  300 , and a keyboard  308  in communication with the processor  300 . In addition, the client computer  104  includes a storage device  310 , which may be a hard drive, for example.  
      The storage device  310  may store the following software: (a) an operating system  312 , (b) device drivers  314  for controlling and/or receiving input from peripheral devices such as the communication interface  302 , the display device  304 , the pointing device  306  and the keyboard  308 , (c) a browser  316  which allows the client computer  104  to operate as a client device relative to the server computer  102  ( FIG. 1 ) and to access web pages and other server functions provided by the server computer, (d) client electronic mail software  318 , and (e) a word processing program  320 . Indicated at  322  are facilities in the storage device  310  for storing documents created using the word processing program  320 .  
      In some embodiments, all of the software stored in the storage device  310  may be conventional, with all of the custom software and/or data required for the processes described below resident on the server computer  102  and accessible via standard client software on the client computers  104 .  
      In some embodiments, all of the client computers may be dedicated to users who are employees of a corporation that operates the computer system  100 .  
      The server computer  102  may, but need not, be located on premises controlled by the corporation. In some embodiments, the server computer may be maintained on the premises of a contractor who provides web hosting and/or other services to the corporation, with the understanding that access to the document management and other functions performed by the server computer  102  for the corporation are limited to authorized employees or associates of the corporation. In some embodiments, the computer system  100  and/or some or all of its components may also be used for purposes besides those described herein.  
      Document Management with Pre-defined Document Profiles  
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed according to some embodiments to define a document profile to be stored in the computer system  100 . As will be seen, the document profile may be used to set attributes of documents to be stored in the computer system  100 . The attributes may be referred to by the server  102  in managing documents stored in the document storage facility  212  of the storage device  206 .  
      In some embodiments only one or a few administrative personnel for the computer system  100  may be authorized/enabled to have access to a document profile creation tool that is part of the file management software  210  of the server  102 . The process of  FIG. 4  is launched by such an administrative person accessing the document profile creation tool and defining a document profile. As a first step in the process of  FIG. 4  (indicated at  400 ), a document profile creation window, illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , is opened. It will be observed that the view in  FIG. 5  corresponds to an upper portion of the window, and the view in  FIG. 6  corresponds to a lower portion of the window. The window may be displayed on a display device  304  ( FIG. 3 ) of a client computer  104  operated by the administrative person.  
      It will be noted that the window shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  presents a form to be filled out by the administrative person. The form may be completed by the administrative person to set attributes of documents to be stored in the computer system  100  in cases where the profile now being defined is applied to the document in question. Completion of the form by the administrative person is indicated at  402  in  FIG. 4 .  
      Details of the example document profile definition form shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  will now be described.  
      Indicated at  502  in  FIG. 5  is a text entry field in which the administrative person may enter text to define a name that will be used to refer to the document profile now being defined. Indicated at  504  is another text entry field in which the administrative person may enter text to define another designation for the document profile now being defined. The designation entered in the text entry field  504  may be shorter than the name entered in the text entry field  502  and may be more suitable for being displayed in some circumstances.  
      Reference numeral  506  indicates another text entry field in which the administrative person may enter text which describes, for example, what types of documents the document profile is to be applied to.  
      Reference numeral  508  indicates a set of “radio buttons” (in this example, two buttons), of which one is to be selected by the administrative person to indicate a particular inactive status to be applied to the document in question upon expiration of the document&#39;s active status. As used herein, an “inactive status” of a document refers to a status of a document stored on the server computer in which the document&#39;s searchability and/or accessibility is limited as compared to an active status of the document. That is, in an inactive status, the community of users who may access the document may be limited (in some cases limited to one or more administrative personnel). In addition or alternatively, the document may not be returned in response to a search query unless a special query attribute is asserted, and/or unless a special search privilege is available to the user.  
      As shown at  508 , “archived” and “expired” are examples of designations that may be used for different types of inactive statuses. Such different types of inactive statuses may differ from each other in terms to the searchability and/or accessibility of the documents having the respective inactive statuses.  
      A numeric entry field  510  and a dropdown menu  512  are provided together to allow the administrative person to set the attribute for the document which specifies how long the document will remain in an active status. The options provided in the dropdown menu  512  (which are not shown) may include, for example, “week(s)”, “month(s)” and “year(s)”. The numeric entry field  510  may accept numerals such as “1”, “2”, “3”, etc. Together, the numeric entry field  510  and the dropdown menu  512  may allow the administrative person to specify a duration of active status for the document such as six months, two years, five years, and so forth.  
      A dropdown menu  514  is provided to allow the administrative person to set the date from which the end of the active period will be measured. The options presented (but not shown in the drawing) by the dropdown menu  514  may include “Created Date” or “Last Modified Date”. This allows the user to choose that the active duration of the document be measured from either the date of the last edit of the document or from the original date of creation of the document. This may provide additional flexibility in the capabilities of the system.  
      A numeric entry field  516  and a dropdown menu  518  are provided together to allow the administrative person to set the attribute for the document which specifies how long the document will remain in the inactive status before being deleted from the system. As in the case of the field  510  and menu  512  discussed above, the numeric entry field  516  and the dropdown menu  518  may together be used to specify a period of time such as six months, two years, five years (or six years, which may be an appropriate period to archive a contract after its time in active status has ended). Effectively, the information entered into field  516  and menu  518  may set the point in time at which the document is deleted from the computer system  100 .  
      At  520  is a set of radio buttons that allows the administrative person to select whether or not notification by electronic mail is to be provided to certain users when a document subject to the profile is stored in the system. If the administrative person opts for providing notification, the names of users who are to receive the notifications may be entered in the field shown at  522 . Entry of these user names may be made by, e.g., selecting the names from a roster or the like.  
      Referring now to  FIG. 6 , a dropdown menu is provided at  524  to allow the administrative person to select among options for “launching” documents subject to the profile when such documents are opened by a user. That is, the option selected via the menu  524  may determine whether opening of the document results in only descriptive information about the document being initially displayed, or alternatively whether the document itself is immediately displayed upon being opened.  
      At  526  is a set of radio buttons that allows the administrative person to select whether documents subject to the profile are to have a certain administrative characteristic that calls for a standard notice (e.g., text of a type sometimes referred to as a “legal disclaimer”) to be displayed and/or printed with the document.  
      When the administrative person has completed the form shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , he or she may, as indicated at  404  in  FIG. 4 , actuate a button (e.g., a “save and close” button  528 ,  FIG. 5 ) to cause the profile defined by the information entered into the form to be stored in the document storage facility  214  ( FIG. 2 ) of the server  102 .  
      It should be understood that the process of  FIG. 4  may be performed a number of times to define a number of different profiles. For example, different profiles may be entered for “sale contracts”, “lease contracts” and “purchase contracts”. As a result, a number of different profiles may be stored in the document storage facility  214  of the server  102 .  
      The set of document attributes selected and/or entered with the form shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  may be satisfactory for many applications. Alternatively, additional attributes may be included in the profile definition form, and/or some of the attributes included in the illustrated form may be omitted in some embodiments.  
       FIG. 7  is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed according to some embodiments in connection with storing a document in the computer system  100 .  
      The process of  FIG. 7  may be initiated by a user operating one of the client computers  104 . In some embodiments, users who perform the process of  FIG. 7  may be required to have certain administrative privileges in the computer system  100 . In other embodiments, the process of  FIG. 7  may be available to all users of the computer system  100 . In any case, the process may be launched, for example, upon the user selecting an appropriate option such as “store document” from a menu which is not shown. Upon launching the process, a window like that illustrated in  FIGS. 8-10  may be displayed on the display device  304  of the user&#39;s client computer  104 .  FIGS. 8-10  respectively show upper, middle and lower portions of the window.  
      Referring to  FIG. 8 , fields  802  and  804  are respectively provided to allow the user to enter title and descriptive information for the document to be stored. Also, as indicated at  700  in  FIG. 7 , the user may select the document to be stored by actuating a button  806  ( FIG. 8 ) to invoke an “attach” function. In accordance with conventional practices, the attach function may allow the user to browse a file directory to locate a document stored in the document storage facility  322  of the storage device  310  of the user&#39;s computer  104 . The document in question may, for example, have previously been created by the user by using the word processing program  320 . For example, the document in question may be a contract or other document for which a previously defined standard document profile is required and/or is appropriate. Other specific techniques for selecting a document may alternatively or additionally be employed.  
      Referring to  FIG. 9 , a set of radio buttons  902  is provided to allow the user to indicate whether the document to be stored is to be subject to a previously stored standard document profile or subject to a customized document profile to be defined by the user via the window of  FIGS. 8-10 . If the user actuates the radio button marked “standard”, the user may be provided with options (e.g., via a pop-up menu which is not shown) to allow the user to select among the various standard document profiles that had previously been stored in the document profile storage facility  214  of the server computer  102 . For example, options such as “sale contract”, “lease contract”, “purchase contract” may be presented. By selecting one of the options, the user selects one of the standard document profiles, as indicated at  702  in  FIG. 7 . Next, as indicated at  704  and  706  in  FIG. 7 , the user may cause the selected standard document profile to be applied to the selected document and may cause the selected document to be stored in the document storage facility  212  of the storage device  206  of the server computer  102 . This may be done, for example, in response to the user actuating a “save and close” button  808  ( FIG. 8 ) provided in the window. In the event that a custom document profile is to be applied to the document to be stored, the user may enter the required information for the custom document profile via the window.  
      Once the document has been stored in the server  102 , the server may manage the document in accordance with the standard or custom document profile applied to the document. For example, the starting date, duration and ending date of the period of active status for the document may be determined in accordance with attributes set by the standard document profile applied to the document. Further, the type and duration of inactive status applied to the document upon expiration of its active status may also be determined in accordance with attributes set by the standard document profile applied to the document. Thus, the document may be deleted from the storage device  206  of the server  102  at a time (e. g., date) indicated by one or more attributes set by the standard document profile applied to the document.  
      Moreover, the individual users and/or groups of users granted access to the document stored in the server may be determined in accordance with an attribute set by the standard document profile applied to the document. In addition, in accordance with an attribute set by the standard document profile applied to the document, the server  102  may send an electronic mail message to one or more users to notify the user(s) that the document has been stored in the server.  
      Still further, the manner in which the document is displayed to a user (e.g., immediately opened or opened only on user input after a description of the document is presented; and/or displayed only in association with a standard notice such as a legal disclaimer) may be determined in accordance with one or more attributes set by the standard document profile applied to the document.  
      It will be appreciated that one of the standard document profiles may be applied to some documents as they are stored, and other document profiles may be applied to other documents as they are stored.  
      The use of pre-defined standard document profiles to determine management of documents stored in a computer system may aid users in making their documents available to the community of users of the computer system. At the same time, the standard document profiles may aid the administrators of the system in guarding against clutter and excessive use of storage facilities, while also enforcing legal or other requirements for document retention.  
      The present invention has the technical effect of facilitating electronic storage and management of documents in a computer system.  
      The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.