INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD

• US 20100146017A1
• Filed: 02/04/2010
• Published: 06/10/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Shimizu, Tomoyuki, Nagai, Hiroyuki, Itoh, Fumiaki, Inose, Tsutomu, Futatsugi, Hajime, Ishiwata, Hidenori
• Granted Patent: US 8,417,742 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/812
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/164 File meta data generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1774 Locking methods, e.g. locking methods for file systems allowing shared and concurrent access to files

Abstract

A folder relationship holding unit (305) manages the relationship only between parents and children of files and/or folders arranged in a hierarchical structure. An operation target of the files and/or folders managed by the folder relationship holding unit (305) is operated in a locked state. To reflect the operation result on each apparatus that manages information identical to that managed by the folder relationship holding unit (305), the apparatus is notified of the operation result at a designated timing.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A method of managing a virtual hierarchical structure, in a distributed file system in which a client terminal can access a real file stored in a server by accessing a virtual file belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure, using a computer to perform the steps of:

a file association step of associating a local path of the real file in the server with a virtual file identifier for identifying the virtual file;

a layer association step of associating a virtual file/folder identifier for identifying a virtual file/folder belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure with a virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a virtual parent folder storing the virtual file/folder;

an access step responsive to access by the client terminal to a virtual file of interest, wherein the access step locks and accesses a real file specified by a local path associated with a virtual file identifier of the virtual file of interest; and

a replacing step responsive to a moving of the virtual file/folder within the virtual hierarchical structure, wherein the replacing step replaces the virtual parent folder identifier associated with the virtual file/folder identifier of the virtual file/folder with a new virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a new virtual parent folder storing the moved virtual file/folder.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

a deletion step responsive to deletion of a virtual folder of interest, wherein the deletion step deletes a virtual folder having a virtual folder identifier with which a virtual folder identifier of the virtual folder of interest is associated as the virtual parent folder identifier in the layer association step.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the deletion step includes a step of,

when deleting a virtual file of interest, deleting a real file specified by a local path associated with a virtual file identifier of the virtual file of interest.

14. A computer-readable storage medium on which is stored computer-executable process steps for causing a computer to manage a virtual hierarchical structure, in a distributed file system in which a client terminal can access a real file stored in a server by accessing a virtual file belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure, said process steps comprising:

a file association step of associating a local path of the real file in the server with a virtual file identifier for identifying the virtual file;

a layer association step of associating a virtual file/folder identifier for identifying a virtual file/folder belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure with a virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a virtual parent folder storing the virtual file/folder;

an access step responsive to access by the client terminal to a virtual file of interest, wherein the access step locks and accesses a real file specified by a local path associated with a virtual file identifier of the virtual file of interest; and

a replacing step responsive to a moving of the virtual file/folder within the virtual hierarchical structure, wherein the replacing step replaces the virtual parent folder identifier associated with the virtual file/folder identifier of the virtual file/folder with a new virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a new virtual parent folder storing the moved virtual file/folder.

15. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a memory constructed to store a computer-executable program; and

a CPU constructed to execute the computer-executable program stored in the memory,

wherein the CPU executes the computer-executable program stored in the memory so as to control the information processing apparatus to perform a method of managing a virtual hierarchical structure, in a distributed file system in which a client terminal can access a real file stored in a server by accessing a virtual file belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure, the computer-executable program including program codes for which the CPU executes the steps that comprise;

a file association step of associating a local path of the real file in the server with a virtual file identifier for identifying the virtual file;

a layer association step of associating a virtual file/folder identifier for identifying a virtual file/folder belonging to the virtual hierarchical structure with a virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a virtual parent folder storing the virtual file/folder;

an access step responsive to access by the client terminal to a virtual file of interest, wherein the access step locks and accesses a real file specified by a local path associated with a virtual file identifier of the virtual file of interest; and

a replacing step responsive to a moving of the virtual file/folder within the virtual hierarchical structure, wherein the replacing step replaces the virtual parent folder identifier associated with the virtual file/folder identifier of the virtual file/folder with a new virtual parent folder identifier for identifying a new virtual parent folder storing the moved virtual file/folder.