COPYING AND UPDATING FILES

• US 20090006420A1
• Filed: 06/26/2008
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Larsson, Josef N., Morrill, Jason F.
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1844 Management specifically adapted to replicated file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6236 between heterogeneous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

Copied and source files are tracked so that authors of these documents can selectively update these files. Stale copied files can be eliminated. A control is provided to mediate copying of files among servers that have differing security policies. Metadata of a file being copied is downloaded from a server to the control and the control uploads the metadata of the file to one or more servers. A relationship between copied files and source files are memorialized whether or not copied files reside in different namespaces from the namespace of the source files.

Claims

1. A method of updating file information comprising:

a. receiving at a plurality of destinations a binary stream of source file information from a source file located at an updated source file address, wherein each of the plurality of destinations has a destination address and metadata identifying a destination file name;

b. updating a destination file at each of the plurality of destinations with the received source file information, the destination file having a metadata field identifying an original address of the source file; and

c. updating the metadata field to include the updated source file address of the source file.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the metadata field comprises:

overwriting the original address of the source file with the updated source file address of the source file.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein updating the destination file with the received source file information comprises:

overwriting the destination file with the source file information.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein at least the original address of the source file is a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

5. The method of claim 1 wherein at least the updated source file address is a reference to a memory location.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein at least the original address of the source file is a reference to a memory location.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least the updated source file address is a URL.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that the source file and the destination address are contained within the same namespace.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

using a reference to obtain the binary stream.

10. A system for updating files comprising:

a. one or more servers configured to;

i. receive a request to transmit source file information from a source file having a source file address to a plurality of destinations, each of which has a destination address and metadata identifying a destination file name, wherein the request identifies the destination file name; and

ii. transmit the source file information from the source file having the source file address to the plurality of destinations; and

b. one or more clients corresponding to the plurality of destinations and configured to store the source file information at a destination file using the destination file name, wherein the destination file comprises metadata identifying the source file address.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the one or more clients corresponding to the plurality of destinations are configured to replace the destination file with the source file.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of destinations further includes metadata identifying an information update for updating the destination file.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the request to transmit the source file information is received from at least one of the one or more clients corresponding to the plurality of destinations.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein transmitting the source file comprises:

streaming the source file as a binary stream from the source file address to the plurality of destinations.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the source file address and the destination address at each of the plurality of destinations are organized under a single namespace.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the destination file at each of the plurality of destinations further comprises a reference to a memory location containing at least part of the source file.

17. A method comprising:

a. streaming a source file from an updated source file address to a plurality of destinations;

b. receiving a request to access the source file, the request originating from at least one of the plurality of destinations and identifying the updated source file address; and

c. responding to the request by the at least one of the plurality of destinations.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the source file is streamed as a binary stream.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein responding to the request by the at least one of the plurality of destinations comprises:

streaming the source file from the updated source file address to the at least one of the plurality of destinations.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the source file is streamed as a binary stream.