nextPage® technology

The NextPage 2 Client Service runs on each user’s computer. It consists of a core client service; Document Tracking Services™, which integrate with Microsoft® Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; and E-mail Tracking Services, which integrate with Microsoft Outlook®. Together, these components perform the following functions with minimal user intervention:

From an architectural standpoint, the integration for each supported document application has been kept as simple as possible. NextPage 2 inserts user interface elements such as a NextPage menu and a toolbar. It detects user operations such as file opens, saves and closes. NextPage 2 also acts as the Client Service’s interface to the application’s particular method for storing NextPage metadata.

In NextPage 2, the application integrations are add-ins for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel. They are written in C++ and communicate with their respective applications via published COM interfaces. Microsoft applications store key-value pairs in OLE structured storage and expose them via published interfaces as standard and custom properties. The NextPage add-ins all use this facility to store metadata.

The NextPage Client Service’s file system integration tracks NextPage-stamped files in response to certain trigger events:

In addition, the Client Service integrates with Microsoft Windows® Explorer to supply a NextPage context menu (accessible by right clicking a file icon) and an icon adornment to indicate whether or not a file is stamped and being tracked. This integration is also written in C++ and uses published COM interfaces.

The role of the E-mail Tracking Service is similar to that of the file system integration. The NextPage Client Service detects each e-mail with a NextPage-stamped attachment, and then collects metadata from the attachment and the enclosing e-mail. It also obtains a reference to the e-mail, so the NextPage Client Service can retrieve it later.

NextPage 2 includes e-mail tracking for Microsoft Outlook. Like the other add-ins, it is written in C++ and uses published COM interfaces.

The NextPage Client Service can run on a system without supported e-mail integration, albeit with reduced functionality. Without e-mail integration, any notification that would normally come up upon receiving an e-mail is delayed until the attachment first reaches the user’s hard drive, and the version history display does not include any e-mails.

The NextPage 2 Global Service is a collection of hosted capabilities that will continue to expand over time.

Interactions between the Client Service and the Global Service are fully asynchronous. This means that a client can run indefinitely while offline or with a bad network connection. Client operations execute without waiting for the Global Service to respond.

Non-trivial messages that pass between the Client Service and the Global Service travel securely via HTTPS/443. For compatibility with private address spaces, the Global Service never initiates contact with the Client Service. Instead, the Client Service polls the Global Service using lightweight queries via HTTP/80

Many of the most common causes of document risk and wasted editing cycles trace directly to a single root cause: e-mail is blind.

The Awareness Service overcomes this blindness by making it possible to always know who has created the latest version of any given document. The Client Service selectively passes this awareness on to users. To ensure privacy, the Client Service follows a simple, effective rule: For users to see anything in the Version Map, they must have physical possession of at least one version in that map. Moreover, they will see only versions that they physically possesses, plus the name of the author of the latest version on each row.

Unlike a centralized system, which is capable of tracking only the files that users remember to upload to a specific location, NextPage 2 can track files anywhere and under any circumstances.

The NextPage Digital Thread™ maintains files’ identities and relationships, and the Versioning Service maintains the Digital Thread. The Versioning Service accumulates genetic information from every NextPage-stamped file encountered by any Client Service. This genetic information is completely anonymous. It is composed of identifiers that, like Swiss bank-account numbers, are completely opaque—they cannot be traced back to files users do not have access to, or even to specific file names. To unlock their meaning, users must have physical possession of the files to which they refer.

NextPage Version Check enables a non-subscriber to benefit from the NextPage system. Whenever a subscriber sends an e-mail with a NextPage-tracked document attachment, she has the option of appending a NextPage Document Signature™, which is an e-mail footer that contains a special link to specific version information. Any recipient can click the link to see whether the attached file they received is still the latest version.

Unlike the rest of the NextPage system, Version Check is a Web application that any user can access through a standard browser. It runs on a Web server that is separate from the other NextPage components described above, and it functions as a Web service.

Because the NextPage service does not rely on a centralized repository, there are no files to protect from unauthorized viewing, modification or deletion. Users have complete control over access to their own files, and they have complete freedom to take advantage of any existing access security capabilities. For example, users can store files on personal computers and not allow access to anyone else. They can also post files on shared network drives and use built-in access controls to assign and control permissions.

With the NextPage system, the worst one user can do to another is create a file that is stamped as the next version, making another user’s version appear to be obsolete. However, users can even prevent this action by using the Document Control Service to maintain complete control over the document and force all other users’ edits to be treated as alternate versions.