Remote document management system
View Patent ↗A remote document editing system and method are disclosed that permit users of wireless devices having limited capabilities to remotely edit and manage documents located and stored on a central or network server. The document to be edited is separated into text and format components or segments and only the text segment is typically sent or transmitted to the remote device. After editing or review of the document text is complete, the text segment is returned to the network server, where it is recombined with the format segment to reconstruct a new document having edited text but formatting unchanged from the original document.
1. A document management system comprising:
a document storage and processing device;
at least one document associated with said document storage and processing device, said document having a set of attributes of a first complexity level;
a remote device capable of editing documents having a set of attributes of a second complexity level, said second complexity level being less than said first complexity level;
a communications signal associated with said remote device for transmitting information of said set of attributes of said second complexity level to said document storage and processing device;
said document storage and processing device being responsive to said communication signal for creating a representation of said document having a set of attributes of said second complexity level; and
means for transmitting said representation of said document to said remote device for creating a first edited document by said remote device, and for transmitting said first edited document back to said document storage and processing device for using said first edited document to form a second edited document having a set of attributes of said first complexity level.
2. The document management system described in claim 1 , wherein said remote device comprises a wireless personal digital assistant.
3. The document management system described in claim 1 , wherein said remote device comprises an internet-capable cellular telephone.
4. The document management system described in claim 1 , wherein said set of attributes is particular to the type of remote device.
5. The document management system described in claim 1 , wherein said representation of said document contains text information.
6. The document management system described in claim 1 , wherein said representation of said document does not contain document more than a limited amount of format information.
7. A method for remote editing of documents comprising the steps of:
processing a first formatted document by a processor to create a first subset of said document containing format information and a second subset of said document containing text information;
transmitting the information of said second subset to a remote apparatus;
editing said information of said second subset using said remote apparatus;
transmitting said edited information of said second subset to said processor; and
combining said first subset and said edited information of said second subset to form a second formatted document in which the formatting information is unchanged from said first formatted document.
8. A document editing system for use by a remote device comprising:
means for processing a formatted document to separate formatting information from text information;
means for storing said formatting information in association with said processing means;
means for transmitting said text information to a remote device;
means for editing said text information by said remote device;
means for transmitting said edited text information to said processing means; and
means for combining said formatting information with said edited text information to provide a formatted document having edited text.
9. The document editing system described in claim 8 , wherein said means for transmission utilizes communications via the internet.
10. The document editing system described in claim 8 , wherein said means for processing further comprises means to separate said formatting information from said text information includes limited format information with said text information.
11. A document editing system comprising:
a document processor for storing at least one document having a first set of attributes;
a remote device capable of editing documents in accordance with a second set of attributes;
communications means associated with said remote device for providing information related to said second set attributes;
said document processor responsive to said information for modifying said at least one document in accordance with said second set of attributes; and
means operably coupled with said communications means for transmitting said modified document to said remote device for forming a first edited document and for transmitting said first edited document back to said document processor for using said first edited document to form a second edited document in accordance with said first set of attributes.