Lotus manages Web documents
New tools will allow users to store documents on Web servers and allow selective access to their work.
Built atop the company's Domino Server, the new Domino.Doc document management application works with documents created using popular personal productivity suites such as Lotus SmartSuite, Microsoft Office, and Corel WordPerfect. The documents stored on the Domino.Doc Web server can be accessed through a personal productivity application, a Web browser, or a Lotus Notes client.
Domino.Doc allows a department to set up a virtual "file cabinet" where shared documents, such as company manuals or development plans, can be stored and updated. Users can fill out a form to restrict access to the document and send out a notification that the document exists in the file cabinet for the perusal of those with access.
The software consists of a Domino.Doc server that costs $4,275 and runs on top of the base Domino server. Company officials said that the product's function was requested by users who wanted more advanced document management features than those included with Domino.
Other features include document version control and customized access, all dictated by a single form. Lotus officials say the product will augment the uses of a typical document creation application.
"Your document management desktop essentially becomes your word processor," noted Scott Cooper, general manager of document management and imaging products at Lotus.
Cooper said the same document management techniques found in the full-blown Domino.Doc are likely to be included in future Java-based applet programs for the network computer environment, a project code-named Kona. Initial Kona applets are currently in beta.