Go ask Alice

Code-named “Alice,” new software from i4i has been developed to conduct XML searches of multiple data repositories regardless of their architecture. Designed to work in conjuntion with i4i’s S4Text DataPipe, Alice turns Microsoft Word into a browser that can search multiple corporate network servers for the files containing the information they need, in much the same way as browsing the Internet.

Once found, these files can be book-marked so that the user can find them again whenever necessary, creating their own map of the corporate information they use. i4i says Alice also keeps track of which information is being used, in the same way as an Internet hit counter, so managers can assess which corporate documents are accessed most ofteN.

i4i's S4/Text DataPipe allows the content in Microsoft Word documents to be exchanged as XML. The information stored in Word documents remains in the proprietary format but the DataPipe uses Word's API to get beneath the format and create, in real time, an XML file. This XML file can be exchanged with other XML applications.