Integrating Collabora Online (full blown online document editor) with your web applications

The Need

Our client is a Quality Assurance, Compliance, and Risk Assessment audit firm that specializes in Radiology devices across Healthcare and Industrial applications of Radiology scans. They are based in France and serve their clientele in France and other neighboring EU regions. The client's consultants keep track of a multitude of documents regarding the various stages of the Quality audit process for each of their clients. Therefore, the client needs rich WYSIWYG documentation tools on which they can collaborate, as well as the ability to manage document stages, versions, and approvals. They had previously tried homegrown software solutions, but as their requirements evolved and became more complex, the current solutions became insufficient to meet the organization's needs.

Solution Overview

The client engaged Tacten to develop a robust solution that can shape their current and future needs. Tacten is a technology consulting firm that specializes in Frappe Web technology, DevOps, and 3rd party integrations. After understanding our client's requirements, we started exploring suitable enterprise-grade solutions that can meet such requirements. We figured out that what the client needs is a robust document management system that can cater to enterprise-grade features like

1. Authentication (oAuth, Social logins, SSO)

2. Role based access controls and authorisations

3. Modern Web user experience interfaces

4. Business workflows

5. Online Document WYSIWYG Editor

6. Collaboration features

7. Notifications

8. Support for 3rd party integrations via REST end points

9. Secure document storage and access management with full text search capabilities

10. Security and Privacy

We narrowed down on the following tech stack

Frappe Web Framework: Main tech stack for web application:→ We chose Frappe since it is found to be an ideal stack for rapidly achieving the business logic and workflows required for the document management system. Frappe comes with modern web app features included also for its low-code capabilities for fast feature development.

Collabora Online: Online Document Editor→ Given the requirement for a rich text WYSIWYG editor, we explored quite a bit of text editors. Frappe provides a Quill Editor as the standard text editor, and we explored TinyMCE. Finally, we narrowed down on Collabora Online editor, which is one of the most advanced open-source online editors that compares with features available on a word processor like MS Word. Collabora Online's document editing features are very user-friendly, and it also provides powerful tools for reviewing and commenting on documents.

Paperless ngx: for Document Storage and Full-Text Search→ We chose Paperless ngx as the document storage medium for the reason that it gives capabilities of OCR, document full-text search, and other APIs for preview download, search, Machine Learning based document tagging (that is it learns from the document content and tag the document automatically) and much more. Paperless is a strategic choice for catering to future needs as the scope of the project evolves into AI use-cases on the document and the like. Paperless allows for efficient and scalable document storage and retrieval, and its full-text search capabilities make it easy to find specific documents or information. The solution that we developed for the client includes a Frappe Document Management Web App that provides a user-friendly interface for managing documents and workflows. The app includes features like versioning, approvals, and notifications, which enable the client to manage the document lifecycle more efficiently. The Collabora Online editor is seamlessly integrated with the Frappe Document Management Web App, allowing users to edit documents directly within the app. The editor provides all the features you would expect from a desktop word processor, including formatting, styling, and table editing tools. Users can collaborate on documents in real-time, making it easy to work together on projects. Finally, Paperless ngx provides a secure and scalable document storage solution that can be easily integrated with the Frappe Document Management Web App. Paperless ngx also provides full-text search capabilities, making it easy to find specific documents or information within the document. The solution that we developed for our client provides them with a comprehensive document management system that meets their current and future needs. The system is easy to use, secure, and scalable, and it provides users with all the tools they need to manage documents efficiently.

Solution Screens:

Frappe Document Management Web App Screens

Challenges & Learning:

Having to implement 3 systems and each talking to each other seemed bit of a challenge initially when we started. However, we achieved the solution without requiring to do any customisations to the core of those systems, however with mere configurations variable changes - we could tweak the systems to meet our solution requirement. The major amount of development went in implementing WOPI protocol endpoint methods in Paperless. It was great to see the solution come together and meeting the desired utility for our client operations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Tacten has successfully delivered a robust document management system for our client. Our solution includes a Frappe Document Management Web App, Collabora Online editor, and Paperless ngx for document storage and full-text search. The system is user-friendly, secure, and scalable, providing our client with all the tools they need to manage their documents efficiently.