Document management system and method
View Patent ↗A system and method for document management for processing forms on a personal computer while isolated from a network. The forms may be Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) forms stored on a personal computer isolated from a network. The forms have data fields for data submission. Data is input into a selected form and a submit command is executed to submit the entered data. Execution of the submit command stores the data to a file on the personal computer. Once the personal computer is connected to the network, the stored data is sent to a central computer connected to the network.
1. A computer-implemented method for processing forms on a personal computer while isolated from a computer server which has a document management system, comprising the steps of:
storing Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) forms on the personal computer wherein the forms have data fields for data submission;
receiving data as input to at least one first data field on a first HTML form while the personal computer is physically disconnected from the computer server;
receiving a data submit command with respect to the first HTML form field input data;
storing the first HTML form field input data on the personal computer in response to the received data submit command;
wherein the HTML form field input data is stored in a first file on the personal computer in response to the received data submit command;
after the personal computer is connected to a network having a data connection to the document management system,
identifying second completed HTML forms including the first HTML form in response to a user command, second HTML form field input data associated with the second completed HTML forms being stored on the personal computer in second files;
using a graphical user interface to indicate that the second HTML form field input data are to be sent from the second files on the personal computer to the document management system;
converting each of the second files from a binary format into a character string;
combining the character strings corresponding to the second files into a single data stream;
sending the single data stream over the network to the document management system;
wherein after being successfully sent to the document management system, the first HTML form and the stored first HTML form field input data are removed from the personal computer;
wherein the document management system facilitates electronic capturing of documents and for storing and managing the documents.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the forms are business forms.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the personal computer is a laptop computer.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the personal computer is a notebook computer.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the personal computer is a hand-held computer.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein a remote forms manager screen is used by a user to access the HTML forms on the personal computer.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least several of the forms are grouped together and represented by an icon.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the storing of the HTML form field data on the personal computer includes collecting the entered data and saving the entered data to a self-contained file on the personal computer.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the storing of the HTML form field data on the personal computer includes collecting the entered data and saving the entered data to an HTML file on the personal computer.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein if the first HTML form and the stored HTML form field input data are not successfully sent to the document management system, the first HTML form and the stored HTML form field input data remain on the personal computer.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein if the stored HTML form field input data is successfully transferred to the document management system, then the HTML form field input data is removed from the personal computer.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein if the stored HTML form field input data is not successfully transferred to the document management system while the personal computer is connected to the network, then the HTML form field input data is not removed from the personal computer.
13. The method of claim 9 wherein the entered data includes HTML post data.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the data for each post is stored in a separate file.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the separate files are HTML files.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein at least one of the separate files represents a business document.
17. A computer-implemented system for processing forms on a personal computer while isolated from a computer server which has a document management system, comprising:
a data storage device on the personal computer that stores Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) forms, wherein the forms have data fields for data submission;
a data processor configured to store the first HTML form field input data, associated with a first HTML form, on the personal computer in response to a received data submit command, wherein the first HTML form field input data is stored in a first file on the personal computer in response to the received data submit command, wherein the storage of the first HTML form field input data in an HTML format occurs while the personal computer is physically disconnected from the computer server and includes HTML post data,
the data processor being further configured, after the personal computer is connected to a network having a data connection to the document management system, to identify second completed HTML forms including the first HTML form in response to a user command, second HTML form field input data associated with the second completed HTML forms being stored on the personal computer in second files;
a graphical user interface configured to be displayed on a display device, in response to the personal computer being connected to the network, the graphical user interface being used to indicate that the second HTML form field input data are to be sent from the second files on the personal computer to the document management system;
wherein the data processor is further configure to convert each of the second files from a binary format into a character string, combine the character strings corresponding to the second files into a single data stream, and send the single data stream over the network to the document management system;
wherein after being successfully sent to the document management system, the first HTML form and the stored first HTML form field input data are removed from the personal computer;
wherein the document management system facilitates electronic capturing of documents and for storing and managing the documents.