Resolving PDF to HTML Issue

Hello all,

Following-up on the call this morning with Irit , Ketan , Harsh and Jitesh discussing progress with the PDF to HTML conversion projects, it is increasingly unlikely that we will complete converting all the required PDF documents into an HTML format before the end of the month. As a result, we need to come up with a contingency plan for dealing with the fact that approximately 50-100 documents will not have HTMLs available before the application launches in January.

Based on the discussion this morning (and follow-up discussion with Irit after the meeting), there three possible solutions:

(1) Integrate PDF pinpointing system from legacy application into new application

In this scenario, for documents where an HTML is not available, we make modifications to the application that allow us to integrate the PDF pinpointing systems from the legacy application, which would utilize migrated Citator and Subject Naviagor data to pinpoint to passages within PDF documents that already have relevant destinations codes inserted into he PDF.

After discussing this with Harsh , this solution appears to be very difficult to implement, and it would be unlikely that we would be able to complete this change to the application before launch.

(2) proceed without HTMLs and create prompts for users

In this scenario, we would perform an audit of the system to determine what features will be affected by the absence of an HTML and create specific requirements that would prevent users from performing those functions on documents where an HTML is unavailable.

Harsh has pointed out that this solution would still require a significant amount of work, because it will affect many aspects of the application. 

(3) Create placeholders HTMLs that warn user that a full HTML is not available

This scenario was suggested by Irit after our call, and would involve creating a placeholder HTML that would be used for all the documents where a converted HTML is unavailable. The placeholder HTML would include a message to the user indicating that the HTML is currently unavailable and to refer to the PDF. 

This solution would still require application auditing to ensure it works across the different features, but could be a better solution than #2, because it doesn't require modifications to the application requirements.

Please review and provide your comments and suggestions, and we'll discuss the during the development team meeting tomorrow.

Thanks,

Morgan