Document Structure

There are two aspects of the document that are important. There is the content, the document itself. And then there is context -- the [current] name of the document, when was it last changed, who owns it, it's place in the file system.

The contextual elements of a document help us to identify, filter and categorise the information stored on the computer. Existing systems don't give us very much help in managing these files and folders; it can hard to establish relationships between documents, make associations outside of the file system (e.g. web sites, people) or review transactions (the history of the document).

It is the purpose of this blog to document a method for capturing and presenting a wider variety of contextual information, and from there design a document-centric system for managing our electronic information.

Maintaining Context with Tree Structures

I propose three main elements for any document:

1. The Data (or content) element
   
2. The Transaction (or log) element
   
3. The Attributes element
   

The data element is nothing special -- it is just the document as it exists today, more or less.

The transaction element contains a series of log entries that describe the history of the document. As well as tracking how the data has changed over time, one could also examine past ownership (where the file originated, how it was received by the current owner) and with whom or by what means you have shared the document (sent on by email, stored on a shared folder, uploaded to a web site).

The attribute element is somewhat free-form. Here the user is invited to ascribe arbitrary context to the document. Here you can assign emblems, attach notes, reminders and alarms, perhaps even a To-Do list. Associate a URL to a web site that has a related theme. More significantly, instead of assigning documents to folders, one categorises a document according to a set of labels (cf. GMail). So a document can be associated with the categories "White paper" and "Networking" as part of a natural expression of what the document means to the person who manages it. And if you change your mind, it is a simple matter of editing the attribute list and removing that label which is no longer relevant. No shuffling files around or creating and removing directories or adding links. Directories and folders are not used within this system.

Another top-level element that is worth considering is that of preferred application. Rather than having the operating environment determine the associations between file extension / mime type, place this information in the document context. For example, one could maintain a history of the applications used to manage the document and pick the most frequently used application as the default. Or you could just embed a single attribute. If no such attribute exists, or if the application listed is not installed on the platform, then the operating environment makes an informed suggestion based on existing methods.