OpenKM is a open source document management system that can be used by home users, corporations, government institutions and medium to small business. Its architecture allows better management of documents, providing a flexible, cost-effective alternative to systems.

License

OpenKM is licensed by GNU General Public License (Version 2).

Usage

OpenKM is a web-based document management application, so only a web browser is needed to use it. Currently only Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari are supported. The web interface is built using Google Web Toolkit, so the browser support depends on the toolkit.

Architecture

OpenKM is developed using Java technology based on J2EE standards and the JBoss application server. Therefore it can be installed and executed on various platforms (Linux, Windows, etc.)

The OpenKM architecture is based on the following technologies:

• JBoss Application Server
• Java J2EE (JDK 1.5 or higher)
• Apache Jackrabbit
• GWT (Google Web Toolkit - Ajax)
• Lucene

Due to its architecture, OpenKM can work on any operating system—Unix, Linux, Windows—though Linux is recommended due to its higher ROI, as well its stability. This is a lightweight application that runs on most typical computers, so no expensive server is required.

Data can be stored in a directory or in any RDBMS (Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)

This technology considerably reduces the hardware requirements compared to proprietary applications, as well as the hardware costs necessary for setting it up.

General features

A Document Management system manages personal documents or business documentation, making it easier to find a previous document version. It enables searching by content, using document content indexing. OpenKM supports several languages, currently Spanish, English, Catalonian, Dutch, Persian, Portuguese, Galician, Italian, Chinese and Swedish.

An important characteristic of any open source software is multi-platform support (Linux, Windows, Mac OS, Unix). When the end-user's client is web-based, wide browser support is important. OpenKM's browser-based GUI supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.

In a Document Management system it is important to have an audit trail of users' actions and an ability to manage information on separate areas, general use, and others like template administration, and personal areas for users. OpenKM has some enhancements in this area, like bookmark administration by user, mail notification, and subscription to folders and documents. Other important usability features include advanced search capabilities, masive uploading and downloading (zip files expanded), and integrated multimedia preview of videos and image files.

See also

• Document Management
• List of collaborative software

External links

• OpenKM Website
• OpenKM Download
• OpenKM Forum & Community Germany