PDFKeeper began as an idea to solve a personal document storage issue. With both digital and paper documents stored in many places, it was becoming a challenge to locate documents quickly, especially at tax time. What proved to be an even bigger challenge was locating a free solution that could store PDF documents in a free, full-text search ready, relational database that could be accessed by anyone on the local area network. In addition, I had a requirement to store notes in the database with the PDF document that would also be searchable.
In early 2009, after being unsuccessful in locating a solution, I started building PDFKeeper, an open-source application that would use a free, full-text search ready, relational database for PDF document and notes storage, targeted at the Small Office Home Office and Small Business community. To develop the application quickly, I decided to build it with Open Object REXX, a scripting language with GUI support that I was very familiar with from my OS/2 days. As for the database, I chose to use Oracle® Database XE since it was free and was capable of indexing PDF documents; but it was my plan to expand database compatibility to other platforms over time.
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Last modified 05 January 2026