a method for managing documents in a system comprising at least one electronic data processing installation for processing data by means of at least one data bank . a peripheral driver for electronic data processing installations which allows implementation of such a method . one aim is for simplifying and optimizing document management in electronic data processing systems by means of a data bank . for this purpose , document management is handled by a peripheral driver which is specific to the operating system and connected to the data bank . a improved embodiment of the invention , a data file system is provided for document management and the documents are managed by means of extended index features . the contents , of these extended index features is generated automatically or entered manually .