COLLECTIONS FOR STORAGE ARTIFACTS OF A TREE STRUCTURED REPOSITORY ESTABLISHED VIA ARTIFACT METADATA

• US 20110320479A1
• Filed: 06/29/2010
• Published: 12/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BURRIS, THOMAS J., KASIVAJJULA, BHAVAN KUMAR, KATARIA, MANISH, SRIVASTAVA, ANURAG
• Granted Patent: US 10,423,577 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/156 Query results presentation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/164 File meta data generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/168 Details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems, e.g. browsing and visualisation, 2d or 3d GUIs query results presentation G06F16/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/245 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

At least one unique collection of storage artifacts can be specified to indicate that the storage artifact is a member of the unique collection. Each storage artifact can be a discrete object comprising digitally encoded content that is stored as a node within a tree structure of a tangible storage medium. The collection can be referenced by a set of different storage artifacts to form a collection of related storage artifacts. Each storage artifact can correspond to different collections, wherein membership within a collection is independent of a storage path within the tree structure. A file management action relating to the storage artifact can be performed. The file management action can be dependent upon the storage artifact being a member of the unique collection.

Claims

1. A method for establishing collections of storage artifacts comprising:

specifying at least one unique collection within metadata of a storage artifact to indicate that the storage artifact is a member of the unique collection, wherein the storage artifact is a discrete object comprising digitally encoded content that is stored as a node within a tree structure of a tangible storage medium, wherein the collection is able be referenced by a plurality of different storage artifacts to form a collection of related storage artifacts, wherein each storage artifact is able to correspond to a plurality of different collections, wherein membership of said collection is independent of a storage path within the tree structure used by the storage artifact that uniquely identifies the storage artifact; and

performing a file management action relating to the storage artifact, wherein the file management action is dependent upon the storage artifact being a member of the unique collection.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the metadata of the storage artifact to indicate the storage artifact is no longer associated with the at least one unique collection; and

responsive to the updating of the metadata, excluding the storage artifact from file management actions specific to the unique collection as said storage artifact is no longer a member of the unique collection.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one file management action is a search action that uses said unique collection as a search constraint.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one file management action is at least one of a delete action, a copy action, and a move action.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one file management action is triggered against a different storage artifact, which is also a member of the unique collection as indicated by metadata of said different storage artifact, wherein said at least one file management action is performed against all storage artifacts of the unique collection including said storage artifact and said different storage artifact.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user command to perform said at least one file management action against said storage artifact;

determining that said storage artifact is a member of the unique collection by querying the metadata of the storage artifact;

responsive to the determining, presenting an option to have the file management action performed against only the storage artifact or against all storage artifacts of the unique collection;

when a response to the presenting indicates the file management action is to be against only the storage artifact, performing the file management action against only the storage artifact; and

when a response to the presenting indicates the file management action is to be against all storage artifacts of the unique collection, performing the file management action against all the storage artifacts of the unique collection.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said storage artifact is file managed by an operating system file manager, and wherein said storage artifact is stored within a non-volatile region of the tangible storage medium.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said unique collection is associated with a collection specific file that is stored on the tangible storage.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique collection is represented as a unique record of a collection table stored in a relational database system, wherein said collection table comprises a plurality of different records for different collections, each having a unique primary key, wherein said collection table is part of a database of the relational database system organized in third normal form.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the unique collection within metadata of at least a second storage artifact and a third storage artifact, wherein the storage artifact, the second storage artifact and the third storage artifact belong to the unique collection, and wherein the first storage artifact, the second storage artifact, and the third storage artifact are heterogeneous files.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying the unique collection within metadata of at least a second storage artifact and a third storage artifact, wherein the storage artifact, the second storage artifact and the third storage artifact belong to the unique collection, and wherein the first storage artifact, the second storage artifact, and the third storage artifact are different file types that are associated with different applications.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique collection is referenced by a plurality of different storage artifacts, wherein each of the different storage artifacts are associated with a numeric attribute that determines an order of the corresponding one of the different storage artifacts within the unique collection.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique collection is referenced by a plurality of different storage artifacts, wherein each of the different storage artifacts are organized within a workflow that indicates which of the different storage artifacts must exist before subsequent ones of the different storage artifacts are to be created.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

specifying a collection to be attached to an email message without explicitly specifying each storage artifact of the collection;

determining the plurality of storage artifacts of the collection;

responsive to the specifying, attaching each of the determined storage artifacts of the collection to the email message; and

sending said email message.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting one of the storage artifacts belonging to a collection responsive to a user selection within a communication application;

responsive to the selecting of the one storage artifact, determining a set of storage artifacts that belong to the collection, wherein the set comprises a plurality of different storage artifacts that have not been explicitly selected by a user; and

responsive to the determining, conveying the set of storage artifacts to a remotely located computing device via the communication application.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

representing for purposes of a file management system, each collection as a composite object, wherein file management actions actionable against each composite object comprise a copy action, a delete action, and a search action, each of which have a scope encompassing every storage artifact belonging to the collection that corresponds to the composite object.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each user of a computing system has a user specific set of composite objects, each encapsulating individualized knowledge with respect to the set of storage artifacts associated with each composite object.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising:

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to specify at least one unique collection within metadata of a storage artifact to indicate that the storage artifact is a member of the unique collection, wherein the storage artifact is a discrete object comprising digitally encoded content that is stored as a node within a tree structure of a tangible storage medium, wherein the collection is able be referenced by a plurality of different storage artifacts to form a collection of related storage artifacts, wherein each storage artifact is able to correspond to a plurality of different collections, wherein membership of said collection is independent of a storage path within the tree structure used by the storage artifact that uniquely identifies the storage artifact; and

computer usable program code stored in a tangible storage medium, when said computer usable program code is executed by a processor it is operable to perform a file management action relating to the storage artifact, wherein the file management action is dependent upon the storage artifact being a member of the unique collection.

19. A system comprising:

a tangible data store comprising a plurality of storage artifacts, wherein each of the storage artifacts is a discrete object comprising digitally encoded content that is stored as a node within a tree structure, wherein the storage artifacts are related to a plurality of different collections, wherein each collection is able to be referenced by a plurality of different storage artifacts and wherein each of the plurality of different storage artifacts is able to correspond to a plurality of different collections, wherein membership in a collection is independent of a storage path within the tree structure of each of the plurality of storage artifacts; and

a storage artifact engine able to perform a plurality of file management actions against the storage artifacts, wherein said file management actions comprise an add action to add a storage artifact to a collection, a remove action to remove a storage artifact from a collection, and an edit action to modify specifics of an existing collection.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising:

a graphical user interface through which any of the file management actions are able to be initiated by a user, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a file listing showing a set of files organized within a subnode of the tree structure, wherein for each set of files, a file name, at least one file property, and a collection that the file belongs to is shown.

21. The system of claim 19, said system representing for purposes of a file management system, each collection as a composite object, wherein file management actions actionable against each composite object comprise a copy action, a delete action, and a search action, each of which have a scope encompassing every storage artifact belonging to the collection that corresponds to the composite object.

22. A computing desktop rendered by a processor executing computer readable instructions to cause a display to present a graphical user interface, said computing desktop comprising:

a plurality of icons presented within the graphical user interface of the computing desktop, each icon representing a storage artifact of a tree structured repository, said repository comprising a tangible storage medium within which a plurality of storage artifacts are digitally encoded, said plurality of storage artifacts comprising a set of storage artifacts corresponding to each of the plurality of icons; and

a pop-up window selectively presented upon having selected any of the icons, wherein the pop-up window includes a collection option, wherein said collection option comprises a plurality of file management actions pertaining to a collection, which are able to be selectively initiated for the storage artifact represented by the icon, wherein the file management actions permit a user to change a membership state of storage artifacts within a set of collections.

23. The computing desktop of claim 22, further comprising:

a storage artifact engine configured to execute programmatic instructions for each of the file management actions, wherein each programmatic action changes a relationship between an associated storage artifact and a collection, wherein execution of any of the file management actions changes metadata of the associated storage artifact to indicate the change of relationship between the associated storage artifact and the collection.