METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTENT SHARING

• US 20110196892A1
• Filed: 04/22/2011
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: XIA, Hui
• Granted Patent: US 8,332,423 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• 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: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

The present invention discloses a content sharing method and apparatus and pertains to the Internet field. The content sharing method includes: receiving a shared content access request which carries an identity (ID) of a sendShareUser, an ID of a receiveShareUser, and an contentID of a shared node; authenticating the receiveShareUser according to the ID of the sendShareUser, ID of the receiveShareUser, and contentID of the shared node; and providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds. The apparatus includes a receiving module, an authenticating module, and a shared content providing module. The present invention separates the management and maintenance of a node from the sharing relation of the node, so that the maintenance and management of the node do not affect the sharing relation of the node.

Claims

1. A content sharing method, comprising:

receiving a shared content access request which carries an identity (ID) of a sendShareUser, an ID of a receiveShareUser, and a contentID of a shared node;

authenticating the receiveShareUser according to the ID of the sendShareUser, the ID of the receiveShareUser, and the contentID of the shared node; and

providing shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds.

2. The method of claim 1, before receiving the shared content access request, further comprising:

organizing a directory tree in the following way;

allocating a contentID unique in a local system for each node in the system; and

associating the contentID with organization information of the node, wherein the organization information comprises a parentContentID of the node and a contentName of the node.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, when the node is a file, the organization information further comprises an ID of a physical entity corresponding to the node, wherein the ID of the physical entity corresponds to a lower-layer storage path of the physical entity.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

changing the parentContentID associated with the node to the contentID of a moved parent directory when the node is moved; and

changing the contentName of the node to a renamed contentName when the node is renamed.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording sharing information when a sharing operation is initiated, wherein the sharing information comprises the contentID of the shared node, the ID of the sendShareUser, and the ID of the receiveShareUser.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the authentication comprises:

comparing the ID of the sendShareUser, the ID of the receiveShareUser, and the contentID of the shared node carried in the shared content access request respectively with the ID of the sendShareUser, the ID of the receiveShareUser, and the contentID of the shared node in the sharing information, and determining whether the compared items are matched; and

if all items are matched, determining that the authentication succeeds;

if not all items are matched, determining that the authentication fails.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

10. The method of claim 4, herein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the providing the shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node after the authentication succeeds comprises:

obtaining the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtaining the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locating the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and providing the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

searching for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, searching for the other nodes, and providing a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

13. A content sharing apparatus, comprising:

a receiving module (801), configured to receive a shared content access request which carries an identity (ID) of a sendShareUser, an ID of a receiveShareUser, and a contentID of a shared node;

an authenticating module (802), configured to authentication the receiveShareUser when the receiving module receives the shared content access request of the receiveShareUser; and

a shared content providing module (803), configured to provide shared content to the receiveShareUser according to the contentID of the shared node.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a directory organizing module (804) which comprises:

a configuring unit (804A), configured to allocate a contentID unique in a local system for each node in the system; and

an associating unit (804B), configured to associate the contentID of the node with organization information of the node, wherein the organization information comprises a parentContentID of the node and a contentName of the node.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein, when the node is a file, the organization information further comprises an ID of a physical entity related to the node, wherein the ID of the physical entity corresponds to a lower-layer storage path of the physical entity.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the directory organizing module (804) comprises:

a changing unit (804C), configured to change the parentContentID associated with the node to a contentID of a moved parent directory when the node is moved; and

further configured to change the contentName associated with the node to a renamed contentName when the node is renamed.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:

a sharing information recording module (805), configured to record sharing information, wherein the sharing information comprises the contentID of the shared node, the ID of the sendShareUser, and the ID of the receiveShareUser.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the authenticating module (802) further comprises a comparing unit (802A) and a determining unit (802B), wherein:

the comparing unit (802A) is configured to compare the ID of the sendShareUser, the ID of the receiveShareUser, and the contentID of the shared node carried in the shared content access request with the ID of the sendShareUser, the ID of the receiveShareUser, and the contentID of the shared node in the sharing information respectively, and send a comparison result to the determining unit (802B); and

the determining unit (8023) is configured to determine whether all compared items are matched according to the comparison result, and if all compared items are matched, determine that the authentication succeeds, and if not all compared items are matched, determine that the authentication fails and obtain the authentication result.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the shared content providing module (803) comprises:

a shared file providing unit (803A), configured to obtain the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtain the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locate the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and provide the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

a shared directory providing unit (803B), configured to search for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, search for the other nodes, and provide a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the shared content providing module (803) comprises:

a shared file providing unit (803A), configured to obtain the ID of the physical entity related to the shared node according to the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a file, obtain the lower-layer storage path of the physical entity according to the ID of the physical entity, locate the physical entity according to the lower-layer storage path, and provide the content of the physical entity to the receiveShareUser; and

a shared directory providing unit (8033), configured to search for all shared subnodes whose parentContentID is the contentID of the shared node when the shared node is a directory, and if the contentID of a shared subnode is the parentContentID of other nodes, search for the other nodes, and provide a list of all content under the shared node to the receiveShareUser.