Patent ID: 7073120

Claim:
A method of managing document information transfers between a server and at least one of a plurality of clients, the server performing bidirectional transformation between a first structured document having a first server-compatible format and a second structured document having a second format, the second format being a client-compatible format and being one of a plurality of formats employed by the plurality of clients, wherein the first structured document and the second structured document each includes elements, comprising: in response to a request from the at least one of the plurality of cliens, the server: preparing a transformation rule having primitive rules each of which is applicable to respective one of the elements specified in units of paths within the first structured document, wherein the units of paths are paths names designating specific areas in the first structure document; detecting an important element within the elements of the first structured document, wherein the important element holds a semantic combination; performing a forward transformation which transforms the first structured document into the second structured document in accordance with the transformation rule; controlling the forward transformation to prevent the removal of the important element during the forward transformation; creating a transformation record wherein the primitive rules that were applied and the paths that were transformed in the forward transformation are recorded; and the server: transferring the second structured document to the at least one client; the at least one client: editing the second structured document; and transferring the edited second structured document to the server; and the server: performing a backward transformation which transforms the edited second structured document into the first structured document while referring to the transformation record, the transformation rule, and the first structured document.