A computer program product provides an active interactive document resource with an active shell surrounding its data. The shell operates in a runtime environment, a nest, and can operate with a helper process for the coordination and distribution of tasks. The active document in conjunction with its shell provides functionality in basic document management features, interactivity features, search, and other miscellaneous features such as imbedding dynamically generated content. Basic document features include automatic update or synchronization of document content, maintaining a list of similar documents, adding related or updated content, automatic update of the document's index, and automatic update and conversion of the underlying document format. Interactivity features include interacting with other documents within the same nest or other nests, interacting with users, and maintaining security.