Smart containers

• US 20070233709A1
• Filed: 03/30/2006
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Merhoff, Eric, Robertson, Don, Spivak, Victor, Shao, Howard I-Hui, Moore, Kristy, Abnous, Razmik
• Granted Patent: US 7,512,578 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application

Abstract

Smart containers are disclosed. A definition is received of a logical structure configured to manage associated content. A policy or operation specified by the definition is applied to an item of content associated with an instance of the logical structure.

Claims

1. A method for managing content comprising:

receiving a definition of a logical structure configured to manage associated content; and

applying to an item of content associated with an instance of the logical structure a policy or operation specified by the definition.

2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising creating the instance of the logical structure.

3. A method as in claim 1, further comprising creating the instance of the logical structure using a template.

4. A method as in claim 1, further comprising creating the instance of the logical structure using a template wherein the template is configure to propagate changes to the template by one of the following:

to propagate template changes to the instance, to propagate template changes in the event that instance policies match original template policies, to propagate change in the event that instance policies do not match original template policies, and to not propagate changes.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the policy or operation specified by the definition is applied to the item of content at least in part by a method of the instance.

6. A method as in claim 1, wherein the instance is configured based at least in part on the definition to apply the policy or operation.

7. A method as in claim 1, further comprising receiving an indication that the item of content has become or is desired to be associated with a logical structure.

8. A method as in claim 5, wherein said policy or operation is applied to the item of content at least in part in response to said indication.

9. A method as in claim 1, wherein the instance of the logical structure and the item of content comprise a composite object.

10. A method as in claim 7, wherein the item of content comprises one of a plurality of items of content comprising the composite object.

11. A method as in claim 1, wherein the item of content comprises a first item of content, the first item of content and a second item of content are associated with the instance of the logical structure, and the logical structure specifies a relationship between the first and second items of content.

12. A method as in claim 1, wherein the policy comprises one or more of the following:

a retention policy, a security policy, a viewing policy, a versioning policy, a full text indexing policy, and a role-based policy.

13. A method as in claim 1, wherein the definition defines one or more of the following:

a membership rule;

a structure of the logical structure;

a role associated with the logical structure; and

a role-based or other privilege with respect to the logical structure or one or more associated objects.

14. A method as in claim 1, further comprising defining a parameter value for the instance of the logical structure.

15. A method as in claim 1, further comprising modifying a default parameter value in the instance of the logical structure.

16. A method as in claim 1, further comprising saving the instance as a new definition.

17. A method as in claim 1, wherein the definition comprises one or more of the following:

a template, a model, and a class.

18. A computer program product for managing content, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving a definition of a logical structure configured to manage associated content; and

applying to an item of content associated with an instance of the logical structure a policy or operation specified by the definition.

19. A system for managing content comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to;

receive a definition of a logical structure configured to manage associated content; and

apply to an item of content associated with an instance of the logical structure a policy or operation specified by the definition.