EXTENDING SHARING OPTIONS OF LOCAL COMPUTING RESOURCES

• US 20090327447A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: GOTTUMUKKALA, SUNIL P., KOH, JERRY K., SEIXEIRO, STEVE, RAWAT, ANSHUL, NOLL, LINDSEY R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,775,548 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/216
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• 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 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A method, system, and medium are provided for sharing items residing on a computing device. Items selected for sharing can be made simultaneously available to users on a local network and to users outside of the local network. A remote sharing service allows access to copies of items based on user identifiers associated. Local attributes associated with items are modified such that the user identifiers are associated with the items for providing access via a local network.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of sharing an item that resides on a first computing device, the method comprising:

receiving an indication that said item is to be shared with a user who is associated with a user identifier;

providing a copy of the item to a remote sharing service that permits the user to access the copy based on the user identifier; and

associating the user identifier with an attribute of the item to indicate that the user is permitted to access the item, wherein said associating makes the item available to the user by way of a local area network (LAN) that facilitates communication between a second computing device and the first computing device.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein said user identifier is provided by the remote sharing service.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein said item comprises one of the group consisting of a file and a folder, wherein the folder contains at least one file.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein said user identifier is provided by the sharing service.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein said associating that makes the item available to the user comprises making the item immediately available to the user.

6. The media of claim 1, further comprising receiving an access permission setting that defines a type of access to the copy that the user is permitted.

7. The media of claim 6, further comprising modifying the attribute of the item such that the item is made available to the user according to the access permission setting.

8. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of sharing an item that resides on a first computing device, the method comprising:

providing a user interface that presents at least one sharing option for sharing the item with a user who is associated with a user identifier, wherein the user interface enables interaction with a remote sharing service;

receiving a selection of the at least one sharing option for configuring a sharing experience corresponding to the item such that the user is permitted to access a copy of the item by way of the remote sharing service according to the at least one sharing option; and

modifying an attribute of the item such that the user is immediately permitted to access the item from a second computing device upon establishing a connection with the first computing device.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein said establishing a connection is achieved by connecting to a network common to both the first and the second computing devices.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the network is a local area network (LAN).

11. The media of claim 9, wherein the network is a wide area network (WAN) through which the second computing device can directly communicate with the first computing device.

12. The media of claim 8, wherein the at least one sharing option comprises an access permission setting that defines a type of access.

13. The media of claim 8, wherein the attribute comprises a security descriptor.

14. The media of claim 8, further comprising notifying the user that the copy is available to the user via the sharing service.

15. The media of claim 8, further comprising notifying the user that the item is available to the user via the network.

16. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of sharing an item that resides on a first computing device, the method comprising:

displaying an option for invoking a remote sharing service that facilitates sharing the item with a user, wherein the remote sharing service maintains an association between the user and a user identifier;

invoking the remote sharing service such that the remote sharing service retrieves a copy of the item that may be accessed by the user based on a permission to access the copy, wherein the permission to access the copy is associated with the user identifier;

modifying an attribute of the item such that permission to access the item is associated with the user identifier;

receiving an indication that the user is attempting to access the item from a second computing device coupled to the first computing device by way of a LAN; and

granting the user access to the item incident to verifying that the user is associated with the user identifier.

17. The media of claim 16, wherein modifying an attribute of the item comprises making the item immediately available to the user by way of the LAN.

18. The media of claim 16, wherein invoking the remote sharing service comprises retrieving a web page from the remote sharing service, wherein the web page includes a user interface for interacting with the remote sharing service.

19. The media of claim 16, wherein the attribute comprises an access control list (ACL).

20. The media of claim 16, wherein the user identifier comprises an email address assigned to the user.