Process and architecture for use on stand-alone machine and in distributed computer architecture for client server and/or intranet and/or internet operating environments

A distributed computer system for migrating at least one program specific Application Programmer Interface (API) from an original state into a substantially consistent interface by building an object for at least one of an engine and a viewer process, the object providing substantially uniform access to the at least one of the engine having engine settings and the viewer process, comprising:

• a server configured to include
• the at least one engine and viewer process, each with one or more features to be executed;
• at least one engine component or another viewer process configured to execute the one or more features by converting the at least one program specific Application Programmer Interface (API) from the original state into the substantially consistent interface and mapping the substantially consistent interface to the at least one of the engine and the viewer process;
• and
• a client configured to be connectable to said server and optionally configured to be connectable to another server, said client including an object manager layer communicable with and managing the at least one engine component or the another viewer process via the substantially consistent interface.

An image viewer process for viewing at least one document image including an electronic document image, and for performing viewing operations to the electronic document image by a user, comprising the steps of:

• (a) selecting, by the user, one of a plurality of image viewing perspectives, each of the plurality of image viewing perspectives providing the user the capability of viewing the document image in accordance with a different predefined user perspective;
• (b) selecting, by the user, using the image viewer process the document image to be viewed;
• (c) retrieving, by the image viewer process, the document image;
• (d) providing by at least one of the user and a computer at least one substantially consistent program specific Application Programmer Interface (API) for the at least two processing application;
• and
• (e) displaying, by the image viewer process, the document image selected by the user in said selecting step (b), using the at least one substantially consistent API provided in said providing step (d), in accordance with the one of a plurality of imaging viewing perspectives selected by the user in said selecting step (a).

A distributed computer system, comprising:

• a server configured to include
• at least one engine having an engine interface, and providing one or more features to be executed;
• at least one engine component configured to execute the one or more features of the engine by mapping a substantially consistent interface to the engine interface of the engine;
• and
• a client configured to be connectable to said server and optionally configured to be connectable to another server, said client including an object manager layer communicable with and managing the at least one engine component stored on said server via the substantially consistent interface.

In a computer architecture including an engine management layer interfacing with a program specific application programmer interface (API) and providing engine management and administration, an engine configuration layer transforming API calls received from the program specific API into standardized calls, and an engine layer managing the standardized calls for each engine, said engine management layer configuring the computer architecture to perform at least one of the following computer implemented or computer assisted operations:

• (a) loading and unloading engine dynamic link libraries into and out of memory for each engine;
• (b) mapping at least one engine function to at least one corresponding engine object;
• (c) providing general error detection and error correction for each engine;
• (d) determining and matching arguments and returning values for mapping the at least one engine function to the at least one corresponding engine object;
• and
• (e) managing error feedback from the at least one program specific API.

A computer implemented process, comprising one or more of the following steps:

• (a) providing the user an engine management function furnishing a protective wrapper for each function call associated with the engine, trapping errors, and providing error management and administration to prevent conditions associated with improper engine functioning;
• (b) providing the user an engine configuration function transforming application programmer interface (API) calls received from the program specific API into standardized calls, the engine configuration function providing additional functionality, including safely loading and unloading the engine;
• and
• (c) providing the user an engine function managing the standardized calls for each engine, thereby providing substantially uniform access to the engine and the engine settings associated with the engine.