Technologies for integrating cloud content items across platforms

• US 10,657,228 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2019
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Kaplan, Joshua, Terk, Jason, Yeung, Stan
• Primary Examiner(s): Tiv, Backhean
• Application Number:
  US16/582,425
• Publication Number:
  US 20200143011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 237 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1824 implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/183 Provision of network file services by network file servers, e.g. by using NFS, CIFS network file access protocols H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2379 Updates performed during online database operations; commit processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24573 using data annotations, e.g. user-defined metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/94 Hypermedia Hyperlinking G06F40/134
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1015 to users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4451 User profiles; Roaming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0807 using tickets, e.g. Kerberos cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using tickets or tokens H04L9/3213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 : for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/141 : Setup of application sessions admission control or resource allocation in data switching networks H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 : Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

Systems and methods for integrating cloud-based and cloud-backed content items with a content management system are provided. In some examples, a method can include receiving a request to access a canonical content item stored at a content management system, the canonical content item representing a cloud-based content item or a cloud-backed content item having features designed for access through a native online application associated with a cloud content provider; in response to the canonical content item being invoked, sending, from a local application to the cloud content provider, a request for the features of the content item; receiving, at the local application and from the cloud content provider, metadata for enabling the features of the content item; and based on the metadata, providing, on the local application, the features and a content of the content item as part of a rendered instance of the canonical content item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a first request to access a canonical content item stored at a content management system, the canonical content item representing a content item comprising a cloud-based content item or a cloud-backed content item, wherein one or more features of the content item are designed for access through a native online application associated with a cloud content provider;

in response to the canonical content item being invoked, sending, from a local application to the cloud content provider, a second request for the one or more features of the content item;

receiving, at the local application and from the cloud content provider, metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item; and

in response to receiving the metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item, providing, on the local application, the one or more features of the content item and a content of the content item as part of a rendered instance of the canonical content item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second request comprises at least one of (1) authentication information associated with the content management system, (2) a unique identifier associated with at least one of the canonical content item or the content item, or (3) access permissions configured at the content management system for the canonical content item, wherein the canonical content item is stored at a user account that is registered at the content management system and associated with the local application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud content provider comprises a third-party cloud service that is separate from the content management system, wherein the local application is different from the native online application associated with the cloud content provider and lacks native support for the one or more features associated with the content item, the local application providing the one or more features and the content of the content item as part of the rendered instance of the canonical content item without translating the content prior to presentation of the content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the one or more features and the content of the content item as part of the rendered instance of the canonical content item comprises providing access and support to the one or more features associated with the content item through the metadata and at least one of the canonical content item, the local application, or the content management system.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more features comprise one or more collaboration functionalities supported by the cloud content provider, the one or more collaboration functionalities comprising functionality for at least one of active commenting on the content of the content item, bi-directional communication between user accounts working on the content item, or accessing user activity associated with user accounts working on the content item.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing, using the local application, a filesystem operation on the canonical content item; and

propagating, from the local application to the cloud content provider, one or more changes associated with the filesystem operation performed on the canonical content item, the one or more changes comprising at least one of an update to the content of the content item, an update to a copy of the content of the content item that is stored on the cloud content provider, or an update to metadata that is associated with the content item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises a first comment added to a copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider, the method further comprising:

presenting, on the local application, the first comment with the rendered instance of the canonical content item;

receiving, by the local application, a second comment added to the rendered instance of the canonical content item from a client device associated with the local application; and

propagating, from the local application to the cloud content provider, the second comment to the copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the cloud content provider, data associated with the content item stored on the cloud content provider, the data comprising at least one of the metadata associated with the content item or one or more portions of content associated with a copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider;

in response to a search request associated with the data, searching indexed data on a user account registered at the content management system for at least one of the metadata or the one or more portions of content, the user account containing a plurality of content items stored on the content management system, and the indexed data comprising at least a portion of the data associated with the content item; and

presenting a search result at the local application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises at least one of a preview of the content item or an indication of user activity associated with the content item, the user activity comprising one or more interactions between one or more users and the content item, the method further comprising:

presenting, at the local application, at least one of the preview of the content item or the user activity associated with the content item, the user activity being presented within at least one of the rendered instance of the canonical content item, an activity feed, or a notification message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing, to a plurality of client devices, a plurality of sharing links to the canonical content item, the plurality of sharing links comprising a view link configured with read-only access rights to the canonical content item and an edit link configured with edit access rights to the canonical content item;

in response to a security threat associated with at least one of the view link or the edit link, retroactively revoking associated access rights from the at least one of the view link or the edit link and downgrading the at least one of the view link or the edit link to a reference link that uniquely identifies the canonical content item and confers no access rights to the canonical content item; and

in response to an access request comprising the reference link, providing, to one or more client devices associated with the access request, a sharing link configured with at least one of read-only access rights to the canonical content item or edit access rights to the canonical content item, the sharing link being provided based on the reference link.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the content management system, one or more additional features associated with the canonical content item and supported by the content management system, the one or more additional features comprising at least one of (1) access permission settings associated with the canonical content item and a user account registered at the content management system, (2) organization settings associated with the canonical content item and the user account registered at the content management system, or (3) sharing features associated with the canonical content item.

12. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to;

receive a first request to access a canonical content item stored at a content management system, the canonical content item representing a content item comprising a cloud-based content item or a cloud-backed content item, wherein one or more features of the content item are designed for access through a native online application associated with a cloud content provider;

in response to the canonical content item being invoked, send, from a local application to the cloud content provider, a second request for the one or more features of the content item;

receive, at the local application and from the cloud content provider, metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item; and

in response to receiving the metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item, provide, on the local application, the one or more features of the content item and a content of the content item as part of a rendered instance of the canonical content item.

13. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the second request comprises at least one of (1) authentication information associated with the content management system, (2) a unique identifier associated with at least one of the canonical content item or the content item, or (3) access permissions configured at the content management system for the canonical content item, wherein the canonical content item is stored at a user account that is registered at the content management system and associated with the local application.

14. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the cloud content provider comprises a third-party cloud service that is separate from the content management system, wherein the local application is different from the native online application associated with the cloud content provider and lacks native support for the one or more features associated with the content item, the local application providing the one or more features and the content of the content item as part of the rendered instance of the canonical content item without translating the content prior to presentation of the content.

15. The computing device of claim 12, wherein providing the one or more features and the content of the content item as part of the rendered instance of the canonical content item comprises providing access and support to the one or more features associated with the content item through the metadata and at least one of the canonical content item, the local application, or the content management system, wherein the one or more features comprise a collaboration functionality supported by the cloud content provider, the collaboration functionality comprising at least one of active commenting on the content of the content item, bi-directional communication between user accounts working on the content item, or accessing user activity associated with user accounts working on the content item.

16. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to:

perform, using the local application, a filesystem operation on the canonical content item; and

propagate, from the local application to the cloud content provider, one or more changes associated with the filesystem operation performed on the canonical content item, the one or more changes comprising at least one of an update to the content of the content item, an update to a copy of the content of the content item that is stored on the cloud content provider, or an update to metadata that is associated with the content item.

17. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the metadata comprises at least one of a comment added to a copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider, a preview of the content item or an indication of user activity associated with the content item, the user activity comprising one or more interactions between one or more user accounts and the content item, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to:

present at least one of the comment, the preview of the content item, or the user activity;

receive, by the local application, a second comment added to the rendered instance of the canonical content item from a client device associated with the local application; and

propagate, from the local application to the cloud content provider, the second comment to the copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider.

18. The computing device of claim 12, wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium stores additional instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to:

receive, from the cloud content provider, data associated with the content item, the data comprising at least one of the metadata associated with the content item or one or more portions of content associated with a copy of the content item stored on the cloud content provider;

in response to a search request, search indexed data on a user account registered at the content management system for at least one of the metadata or the one or more portions of content, the user account containing a plurality of content items stored on the content management system, and the indexed data comprising at least a portion of the data associated with the content item; and

present a search result at the local application.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a first request to access a canonical content item stored at a content management system, the canonical content item representing a content item comprising a cloud-based content item or a cloud-backed content item, wherein one or more features of the content item are designed for access through a native online application associated with a cloud content provider;

in response to the canonical content item being invoked, send, from a local application to the cloud content provider, a second request for the one or more features of the content item;

receive, at the local application and from the cloud content provider, metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item; and

in response to receiving the metadata for enabling the one or more features of the content item, provide, on the local application, the one or more features of the content item and a content of the content item as part of a rendered instance of the canonical content item.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the cloud content provider comprises a third-party cloud service that is separate from the content management system, wherein the local application is different from the native online application associated with the cloud content provider and lacks native support for the one or more features associated with the content item, the local application providing the one or more features and the content of the content item as part of the rendered instance of the canonical content item without translating the content prior to presentation of the content.