Oracle Tackles Docs & Content

By Doug Henschen

Some features of robust document and content management systems are overkill for ordinary business use; others are fundamental to efficient electronic interaction within any enterprise. In introducing its Internet File System (iFS), Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA, has aimed at the 20 percent of basic functionality that may well satisfy 80 percent of needs for ordinary collaboration.

iFS provides universal access to content with check-in, check-out, version control, full-text search and robust security. As its name suggests, iFS is an Internet-accessible filing system that provides a Windows Explorer-like file/folder tree structure built on top of Oracle's robust 8i database. By divorcing the filing system from the operating system and from server-specific applications, storage can be integrated in a single location with access from the Web, Windows, email or FTP. You gain single-point logon, security, administration and searching of more than 150 file types, including documents, spreadsheets, emails, Web content and database content. Best of all, iFS is a free module available to licensees of Oracle's 8i database.

For those working from Windows clients, the iFS server can be mapped to the network and made visible through Windows Explorer. Users save, drag-and-drop or FTP files and folders into the system just as they would any other drive or folder. Those accessing via the Web can upload files or drag and drop to a special upload window. iFS is supported by Netscape Navigator 4.7 or Internet Explorer 5.0 without plug-ins.

At a Glance
Product: Oracle Internet File System (iFS)
Vendor: Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA,
650-506-7000
www.oracle.com
Description: A free file system module offering a Web-accessible, Windows Explorer-like folder/file tree filing system built on top of the Oracle 8i database.
Platform Support
• Client: Netscape Navigator 4.7+, Internet Explorer 5.0+, Windows 9X/NT and all others via FTP, HTTP, IMAP4 and SMTP.
• Server: Solaris, NT
Strengths:
• Free to licensed users of Oracle 8i.
• Provides universal file check-in/check-out, editing, versioning and deletion via the Web (via HTTP), Windows (via SMB), email (via IMAP4 and SMTP) and FTP.
• Takes advantage of the robust scalability and security of the 8i database.
• Open Java application program interface and toolkit.
• Supports XML.
Weaknesses:
• Limited indexing capabilities require programming for customization.
• Lack of OCR for field or full-text indexing of images.
• Search capabilities limited to the file (rather than page) level.

Regardless of which client you're using, Access Control Lists let administrators and authors set up and select users, groups and permissions (read, modify, delete). Users can check out files and check them back in after editing from both Web and network-based clients. Checked out documents can be locked out to prevent users from over-writing each other's work, and versioning lets you create, track and roll back between successive versions of files. Files can be linked to multiple folders, and edits and versions are reflected automatically within all occurrences of the file. You can also set file expiration dates for automatic file deletion.

To retrieve a file, users can search attributes including file name, description, creation date/date ranges, owner/creator, version series number, version description, last modifier/modify date or lock state. If this proves inadequate, iFS also provides full-text indexing of text-readable documents (though not images).

This level of indexing and searching may be fine for many general-purpose applications, but it scratches the surface of the application-specific indexing templates found in most document and content management systems. Images, in particular, might be difficult to find with the generalized indexing and lack of text recognition capabilities.

Even with electronic documents, searching is limited to the file level rather than to individual pages. If a search leads you to a 100-page document, you won't know whether the word is on page two, page 99 or on several pages in-between (though it's easy enough to do a second search within your application).

Oracle offers an open, Java-based application program interface and a developers' kit for customization, but non-programmers would be hard-pressed to add custom index fields and application-specific tools.

Importantly, iFS supports XML with a built-in parser, and you can map to an iFS schema in order to dissect and store XML file attributes automatically. For example, iFS can be instructed to parse an XML-based insurance claim forms and then extract and store the information within specific columns in the database.

iFS is an all-purpose filing system offering the advantages of universal access and robust scaling and security. It's no replacement for traditional document or content management systems used in high-demand applications, but it just may be enough for enterprisewide access to content for ordinary, non mission-critical collaboration. For those running Oracle 8i, it's an easy choice. No doubt, developers will take advantage of the iFS toolkit and API to build application-specific document/content management systems on top of Oracle 8i.