Create a Simple Document Management System Using Blockchain

In today's digital world, document security and integrity are vital. Traditional document management systems (DMS) are subject to tampering and unauthorized access. However, blockchain solutions development provides a strong and secure document management system that ensures authenticity and immutability. In this article, we'll look at how to build a simple document management system with blockchain technology.

Why Blockchain for Document Management?

Before we go into the implementation, let's look at why blockchain is a great fit for document management:

Immutability: Once data is stored on a blockchain, it cannot be changed or erased. This ensures the document's integrity.

Transparency: Blockchain offers a transparent and verifiable method for tracking the history of documents.

Security: Because blockchain is decentralized, bad actors have a tough time manipulating data.

Decentralization: It eliminates a single point of failure by distributing data among several nodes.

Elements of a Blockchain-based Document Management System

Blockchain Network: This is the foundation of our system, where papers will be hashed and saved.

Smart Contracts: These are self-executing contracts in which the terms of the agreement are directly written in code.

User Interface: A simple interface that allows users to upload and validate documents.

Storage: Documents themselves can be stored off-chain (for example, IPFS) alongside their hashes stored on-chain for verification.

Also, Explore | A Guide on Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN)

Step by Step Development of Blockchain-based Document Management System

Step 1: Establishing the Blockchain Network

To keep things simple, we'll be using Ethereum, one of the most popular blockchain platforms. Use tools like Ganache to create a local Ethereum network.

Ganache can be downloaded and installed directly from the official website.

Begin Ganache: Launch Ganache to begin your local Ethereum blockchain.

Step 2: Writing Smart Contracts

We'll create a simple smart contract in Solidity to manage document storage.

solidity
Copy code
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;
contract DocumentManager {
   struct Document {
       string hash;
       address owner;
       uint256 timestamp;
   }
   mapping(string => Document) private documents;
   function storeDocument(string memory _hash) public {
       require(bytes(documents[_hash].hash).length == 0, "Document already exists");
       documents[_hash] = Document(_hash, msg.sender, block.timestamp);
   }
   function verifyDocument(string memory _hash) public view returns (address, uint256) {
       require(bytes(documents[_hash].hash).length != 0, "Document does not exist");
       Document memory doc = documents[_hash];
       return (doc.owner, doc.timestamp);
   }
}

Compile the contract: To compile the contract, use the Remix IDE.

Deploy the Contract: Install the contract on your local Ganache network using Remix or Truffle.

Step 3: Storing documents off-chain

Using IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) to store off-chain documents:

Install IPFS: To set up IPFS, follow the installation procedure.

Add a document to IPFS: To add a document, run the IPFS command line.
sh

Copy code: ipfs add path/to/document.

Get the hash: IPFS will return a hash of your content. This hash will be recorded on the blockchain.

Step 4: Integrating with a user interface.

To interact with our smart contract, we'll build a simple web interface out of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
HTML

Copy code
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <title>Document Management System</title>
   <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/web3@latest/dist/web3.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <h1>Document Management System</h1>
   <input type="file" id="fileInput">
   <button onclick="uploadDocument()">Upload Document</button>
   <br>
   <input type="text" id="hashInput" placeholder="Enter document hash">
   <button onclick="verifyDocument()">Verify Document</button>
   <p id="result"></p>
   <script>
       const web3 = new Web3(Web3.givenProvider || "http://localhost:7545");
       const contractAddress = 'YOUR_CONTRACT_ADDRESS';
       const contractABI = [YOUR_CONTRACT_ABI];
       const contract = new web3.eth.Contract(contractABI, contractAddress);
       async function uploadDocument() {
           const fileInput = document.getElementById('fileInput');
           const file = fileInput.files[0];
           const reader = new FileReader();
           reader.onloadend = async () => {
               const buffer = reader.result;
               const hash = web3.utils.sha3(buffer);
               const accounts = await web3.eth.getAccounts();
               await contract.methods.storeDocument(hash).send({ from: accounts[0] });
               alert('Document uploaded successfully');
           };
           reader.readAsArrayBuffer(file);
       }
       async function verifyDocument() {
           const hashInput = document.getElementById('hashInput').value;
           const result = await contract.methods.verifyDocument(hashInput).call();
           document.getElementById('result').innerText = `Owner: ${result[0]}, Timestamp: ${new Date(result[1] * 1000)}`;
       }
   </script>
</body>
</html>

Upload Document: Reads the file, computes the hash, and stores it on the blockchain.

Verify Document: Uses a document hash to check the blockchain and display the owner and timestamp.

Also, Discover | Decentralized Social Media | Empowering Privacy and Autonomy

Conclusion

Following these instructions will allow you to establish a simple yet secure document management system utilizing blockchain technology. This technology guarantees the integrity and authenticity of papers, offering a visible and tamper-proof solution. As blockchain technology advances, its applications in document management and other fields will expand, creating new potential for creativity and security. If you are looking to initiate a document management system using blockchain, connect with our blockchain developers to get started.