Active Documents is a technique for automating the handling and control of documents by making them a combination of service providers (mobile agents) and resources (compound documents) in the form of autonomous agents. The main focus of this solution is to provide an encapsulation of documents, including their data structures and related functionality, but also to enable documents to reflect upon themselves in respect of their computational environment, and take actions accordingly.
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem Description
The Evolution of Digital Documents
Limited Architectures
Limited Component Property Support
Fundamental Domain Issues
1.2 Approach to Problem Solution
Software Agents
The Thesis
1.3 Outline of the Thesis
1.4 Acknowledgements
2 Supporting Concepts and Technologies
2.1 Abstraction and Representation
Data Abstraction
Data Representation
2.2 Components, Documents, and Compound Documents
Components
Documents
Compound Documents
2.3 Software Agents
Active Objects
Mobile Objects
Conceptual Adherence
Communication Language
Behavior and Knowledge
Service-Oriented Architectures
2.4 Discussion
Implications of Abstractions
Requirements Implied by the Abstraction
3 Active Documents
3.1 Service-Oriented Architectures
Facilitators
Handlers
Services
3.2 Software Agents and Related Issues
Footprint
Mobility
Activation and Scheduling
Communication and Cooperation
3.3 Active Documents
Type Hierarchy
Entity Associations
3.4 Active Document Handling
Creating an Active Document
Storing an Active Document
Accessing an Active Document
3.5 Discussion
4 Delving Into Active Documents
4.1 Business Workflow Processes
Case Study
4.2 A Different Point of View
Decision Styles
Markup Languages and Context
Combining Information Structure, Context, and Active Documents
4.3 Personal Assistants
Control Agents
4.4 Discussion
5 Summary and Conclusions
5.1 The Problem
5.2 Active Documents and Applicability in Distributed Environments
Conformance to the Problem Domain
Implications of the Active Document Approach
Applicability in Distributed Environments
5.3 Future Work
Appendix A – Architecture Design
References
Author: Martin Fredriksson
Source: Blekinge Institute of Technology
Reference URL 1: Visit Now