1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to information management systems and methods, and more particularly to a system and method for signing an electronic document.
2. Description of Related Art
Signatures are a very important because many documents (such as contracts or orders) need to be signed by a leader. For example, a purchase order will be not performed if the purchase order is not authorized and signed by the leader. Conventionally, paper orders are submitted to the leader to be signed. Due to problems, the time it takes to sign the paper orders can take a long time. In October 2000, the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (also known as “E-Sign”) was enacted. The new law broadly authorizes electronic records and electronic signatures as being legally effective. However, in existing electronic documents signing system, an electronic signature of a signer is only permitted to sign on a fixed position, such as at bottom of the electronic document. If the electronic signature of the signer is signed on another position, such as at middle of the electronic document, then the signature will be displayed on a wrong position. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method to overcome the aforementioned problem.
All of the processes described below may be embodied in, and fully automated via, function modules executed by one or more general purpose processors of a computer. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized hardware. The function modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device.
The one or more client computers 10 communicate with the application server 30 via a network 20. In one embodiment, the application server 30 may be a personal computer (PC), a network server, or other appropriate data-processing equipment. Each of the one or more client computers 10 provides an operation interface for controlling one or more operations of the application server 30. The network 20 may be a wide area network (e.g., the Internet) or a local area network. The database 40 may be used to store the electronic document and a signature tag for the electronic document.
The notifying module 310 electronically sends a notification to an authorized signer to sign an electronic document if the electronic document exists in the application server 30. In one embodiment, the notification may be an e-mail or a short message.
The obtaining module 320 obtains the electronic document and a signature tag from the database 40 to generate an extensible markup language (XML) file of the electronic document. In one embodiment, the XML file of the electronic document comprises the signature tag and the electronic document. The signature tag is an electronic tag that is associated with a field in the electronic document. For example, the signature tag may be associated with a word or a sentence in the electronic document.
The converting module 330 converts the XML file to an extensible stylesheet language formatting objects (XSL-FO) file, and converts the XSL-FO file to a portable document format (PDF) file 600 (referring to
The obtaining module 320 further obtains a signature position of the PDF file according to the signature tag. In one embodiment, as shown in
The inserting module 213 obtains an electronic signature from the database 40 and inserts the electronic signature into the PDF file 600. In one embodiment, as shown in
In block S10, the notifying module 310 electronically sends a notification to an authorized signer to sign an electronic document if the electronic document exists in the application server 30. As mentioned above, the notifying module 310 may send an e-mail or a short message to notify the authorized signer. For example, the notifying module 310 may send an e-mail to the authorized signer according to a predetermined e-mail address of the authorized signer. In another example, the notifying module 310 may also send a short message to the authorized signer according to a predetermined telephone number of the authorized signer.
In block S20, the obtaining module 320 obtains the electronic document and a signature tag from the database 40 to generate an extensible markup language (XML) file of the electronic document. As mentioned above, the XML file of the electronic document comprises the signature tag and the electronic document.
In block S30, the converting module 330 converts the XML file to an XSL-FO file, and converts the XSL-FO file to a PDF file 600. As mentioned above, the converting module 330 converts the XSL-FO file to the PDF file 600 using a formatting objects processor (FOP).
In block S40, the obtaining module 320 obtains a signature position of the PDF file according to the signature tag. In one embodiment, as shown in
In block S50, the inserting module 213 obtains an electronic signature from the database 40 and inserts the electronic signature into the PDF file 600. In one embodiment, as shown in
Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200810306339.9 | Dec 2008 | CN | national |