FreeEed Viewer — app-side implementation (viewer mode + bundle export + notes sync-back)

[markkerzner]

FreeEed Viewer — app-side implementation (FreeEedUI)

The FreeEed Viewer is this FreeEedUI web app with viewer-mode changes, shipped as a portable packaged web app (thumb drive, per-OS launcher / Windows .exe, no install, offline). The cross-cutting tracker, lifecycle, and all settled decisions live in shmsoft/FreeEed#553 (use case: shmsoft/FreeEed#550). This issue is the app-side work in this repo. The packaging/distribution (building the per-OS Viewer pack) is FreeEed release tooling — tracked on shmsoft/FreeEed#553 slice 5, not here.

Viewer mode = read-only review: search + document display + add/edit notes. No processing, no tagging/redaction authoring. It loads a finished production (created here per #61, ESI format shmsoft/FreeEed#551) and its notes sync back into the review case DB.

Settled decisions (from shmsoft/FreeEed#553)

• Same FreeEedUI codebase, viewer-mode changes (not a separate build, not the Swing app).
• Packaged portable web app on a thumb drive — bundled Tomcat + Solr + JRE + viewer-mode war + index, launched by a per-OS .exe; no install, offline. (Packaging itself is FreeEed-side; this repo provides the viewer-mode app + bundle export/import.)
• Search: bundled Solr (reuse the complete-pack stack; no embedded Lucene).
• Production engine reused from FreeEed, driven from here (Production: produce a court-ready ESI production from review (tag → Bates → images/text/natives → load files) #61).
• Activation (Build a relationship with our users: free registration, feedback, and updates (not licensing) FreeEed#549): inherited-activation stamp — export writes the producer's registered email + activation key into manifest.json; viewer mode never prompts and verifies that stamp offline via the verify-only Activation.isValid (port the small Ed25519 verify class into FreeEedUI).
• Sync-back conflict policy: non-destructive append/union — never silent overwrite; idempotent by noteId; true divergences flagged for manual resolution; all imports audit-logged.

Notes overlay schema (foundation — build first)

A note is an attributed/timestamped record, not a single mutable field:

(noteId, bates, caseId, author, source[viewer|review], createdAt, text, supersedesId?)

• Keyed by Bates + caseId; noteId is stable (idempotent union + multi-source merge).
• Edits create a new record with supersedesId (history preserved), never mutate in place.
• Keep the overlay extensible for future Viewer-authored redactions (feat(review): document redaction — author in FreeEedUI, burn into ESI production, overlay in Viewer #69).

Work items

1. Viewer mode — a mode flag on the web app: read-only (disable processing + tagging/redaction authoring), expose search + display + notes. Never prompts for activation; verifies the manifest stamp offline.
2. Export a Viewer bundle — produced set (Production: produce a court-ready ESI production from review (tag → Bates → images/text/natives → load files) #61 / Implement standard eDiscovery (ESI) production format (TIFF + text + metadata + load files) FreeEed#551) + notes overlay + manifest.json (schema version + caseId + producer activation stamp) + search index.
3. Notes overlay (authoring) — add/edit notes in viewer mode, persisted as note records (schema above); production immutable.
4. Sync-back — "Import Viewer notes": union a returned overlay into the review case DB by noteId — idempotent, multi-source merge, manual resolution for true conflicts, import audit log.

Acceptance

• Web app runs in a read-only viewer mode (search + display + notes; no processing/authoring)
• Export produces a self-contained Viewer bundle (produced set + notes overlay + manifest with activation stamp + index)
• User can add/edit notes, persisted as attributed/timestamped note records (production immutable)
• "Import Viewer notes" unions a returned overlay into the review case DB — idempotent, multi-source, manual conflict resolution, with an audit log
• Viewer mode does not prompt for registration/activation; verifies the manifest stamp offline
• No outbound calls; works offline

References

• Tracking issue + decisions + packaging: FreeEed Viewer — portable packaged web app (viewer mode + notes round-trip) FreeEed#553
• Use case: FreeEed Viewer: portable production viewer with search and note-taking FreeEed#550
• Production (creates the produced set): Production: produce a court-ready ESI production from review (tag → Bates → images/text/natives → load files) #61
• Production format: Implement standard eDiscovery (ESI) production format (TIFF + text + metadata + load files) FreeEed#551
• Activation gate: Build a relationship with our users: free registration, feedback, and updates (not licensing) FreeEed#549
• Redaction (future overlay extension): feat(review): document redaction — author in FreeEedUI, burn into ESI production, overlay in Viewer #69