METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING DATA

• US 20140068295A1
• Filed: 08/28/2013
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Arrouye, Yan, Carol, Andrew, Giampaolo, Dominic
• Granted Patent: US 9,201,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/320
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• 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 16/134 Distributed indices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• 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 16/31 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing data, such as metadata or indexes for index databases. In one exemplary method, different processing priorities are assigned to different indexing tasks based upon the origin of the task. In another exemplary method, indexing tasks are processed in a first mode when a data processing system is in a first power state and indexing tasks are processed in a second mode when the data processing system is in a second power state.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

using, when the data processing system is in the low power state, a first indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence and a second indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein indexing tasks in the first indexing queue have a higher priority than indexing tasks in the second indexing queue.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein the data processing system is in the low power state when it is powered by a battery.

2. (canceled)

5. A method as in claim 2 further comprising performing indexing operations from the second indexing queue for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

6. A method as in claim 5 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

7. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

using, when the data processing system is in the low power state, a first indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence and a second indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

9. A medium as in claim 7 wherein indexing tasks in the first indexing queue have a higher priority than indexing tasks in the second indexing queue.

10. A medium as in claim 7 wherein the data processing system is in the low power state when it is powered by a battery.

8. (canceled)

11. A medium as in claim 8 further comprising performing indexing operations from the second indexing queue for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

12. A medium as in claim 11 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

13. A data processing system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

means for determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

means for using, when the data processing system is in the low power state, a first indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence and a second indexing queue for indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

15. A system as in claim 13 wherein indexing tasks in the first indexing queue have a higher priority than indexing tasks in the second indexing queue.

16. A system as in claim 13 wherein the data processing system is in the low power state when it is powered by a battery.

14. (canceled)

17. A system as in claim 14 further comprising performing indexing operations from the second indexing queue for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

18. A system as in claim 17 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

19. A machine implemented method for processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

performing, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence before indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

21. A method as in claim 19 wherein when performing indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence, indexing is performed for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

22. A method as in claim 21 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

20. (canceled)

23. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method for processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

performing, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence before indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

24. (canceled)

25. A medium as in claim 24 wherein when performing indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence, indexing is performed for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

26. A medium as in claim 25 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

27. A data processing system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files, wherein the requested indexing operations are required as a result of one of either a first occurrence or a second occurrence;

means for determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

means for performing, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, indexing operations required as a result of the first occurrence before indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence.

29. A system as in claim 27 wherein when performing indexing operations required as a result of the second occurrence, indexing is performed for no more than a predetermined period of time after a last user action in a set of predefined user actions.

30. A system as in claim 29 wherein the set of predefined user actions does not comprise merely cursor movements.

28. (canceled)

31. A machine implemented method for processing data, the method comprising:

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power consumption state or a low power consumption state;

determining whether, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power consumption state, an indexing operation is of a first type or a second type;

performing indexing at a first priority if the indexing operation is of the first type;

performing indexing at a second priority if the indexing operation is of the second type, wherein the first priority is a higher priority than the second priority.

32. A method as in claim 31 wherein the indexing operation is of the first type when indexing is required as a result of a contemporaneous change by a user to a file, and wherein the indexing operation is of the second type when indexing is required as a result of an initial index of a volume or a reindex of a removable volume having files that have been modified since the removable volume was last mounted by the data processing system.

33. A method as in claim 32 wherein the data processing system is in the low power consumption state when it is powered by a battery.

34. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method for processing data, the method comprising:

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power consumption state or a low power consumption state;

determining whether, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power consumption state, an indexing operation is of a first type or a second type;

performing indexing at a first priority if the indexing operation is of the first type;

performing indexing at a second priority if the indexing operation is of the second type, wherein the first priority is a higher priority than the second priority.

35. A medium as in claim 34 wherein the indexing operation is of the first type when indexing is required as a result of a contemporaneous change by a user to a file and wherein the indexing operation is of the second type when indexing is required as a result of an initial index of a volume or a reindex of a removable volume having files that have been modified since the removable volume was last mounted by the data processing system.

36. A medium as in claim 35 wherein the data processing system is in the low power consumption state when it is powered by a battery.

37. A data processing system comprising:

means for determining whether a data processing system is in a high power consumption state or a low power consumption state;

means for determining whether, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power consumption state, an indexing operation is of a first type or a second type;

means for performing indexing at a first priority if the indexing operation is of the first type;

means for performing indexing at a second priority if the indexing operation is of the second type, wherein the first priority is a higher priority than the second priority.

38. A system as in claim 37 wherein the indexing operation is of the first type when indexing is required as a result of a contemporaneous change by a user to a file, and wherein the indexing operation is of the second type when indexing is required as a result of an initial index of a volume or a reindex of a removable volume having files that have been modified since the removable volume was last mounted by the data processing system.

39. A system as in claim 38 wherein the data processing system is in the low power consumption state when it is powered by a battery.

40. A machine readable medium providing instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method for processing data, the method comprising:

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power consumption state or a low power consumption state;

determining whether, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power consumption state, an operation to add metadata of a file to a metadata database is of a first type or a second type;

performing an adding of metadata at a first priority if the operation is of the first type;

performing an adding of metadata at a second priority if the operation is of the second type, wherein the first priority is a higher priority than the second priority.

41. A medium as in claim 40 wherein the operation is of the first type when the adding of metadata is required as a result of a contemporaneous change by a user to a file, and wherein the operation is of the second type when the adding of metadata is required as a result of an initial importation or reimportation of a volume.

42. A medium as in claim 41 wherein the data processing system is in the low power consumption state when it is powered by a battery.

43. A machine implemented method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving an indication that a data processing system is in either a high power state or a low power state;

determining how to process indexing tasks in response to the indication.

44. A method as in claim 43 wherein the determining is performed automatically and causes indexing tasks to be processed from different indexing queues in response to the indication that the data processing system is in the low power state.

45. A method as in claim 43 wherein the indication comprises one or more indicators which specify at least one of:

(a) the data processing system is powered by only battery power;

(b) a battery charge level.

46. A method as in claim 43 wherein the determining comprises assigning different priorities to different indexing tasks stored in different indexing queues stored on a non-volatile storage.

47. A method as in claim 43 wherein the determining comprises at least one of determining to coalesce a plurality of notifications and determining whether indexing is required for a mounted storage device.

48. A machine readable medium providing executable instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving an indication that a data processing system is in either a high power state or a low power state;

determining how to process indexing tasks in response to the indication.

49. A medium as in claim 48 wherein the determining is performed automatically and causes indexing tasks to be processed from different indexing queues in response to the indication that the data processing system is in the low power state.

50. A medium as in claim 48 wherein the indication comprises one or more indicators which specify at least one of:

(a) the data processing system is powered by only battery power;

(b) a battery charge level.

51. A medium as in claim 48 wherein the determining comprises assigning different priorities to different indexing tasks stored in different indexing queues stored on a non-volatile storage.

52. A medium as in claim 48 wherein the determining comprises at least one of determining to coalesce a plurality of notifications and determining whether indexing is required for a mounted storage device.

53. A data processing system comprising:

means for receiving an indication that a data processing system is in either a high power state or a low power state;

means for determining how to process indexing tasks in response to the indication.

54. A data processing system as in claim 53 wherein the determining is performed automatically and causes indexing tasks to be processed from different indexing queues in response to the indication that the data processing system is in the low power state.

55. A data processing system as in claim 53 wherein the indication comprises one or more indicators which specify at least one of:

(a) the data processing system is powered by only battery power;

(b) a battery charge level.

56. A data processing system as in claim 53 wherein the determining comprises assigning different priorities to different indexing tasks stored in different indexing queues stored on a non-volatile storage.

57. A data processing system as in claim 53 wherein the determining comprises at least one of determining to coalesce a plurality of notifications and determining whether indexing is required for a mounted storage device.

58. A machine implemented method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files stored on a storage device;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

determining, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, storage locations of files to be indexed on the storage device, the files being listed in at least one indexing queue;

determining a sequence of indexing based on the storage locations.

59. A method as in claim 58 wherein the sequence attempts to reduce power consumption of the data processing system.

60. A method as in claim 58 wherein the sequence continues to index files on a spinning storage media of the storage device before starting to spin another storage media.

61. A method as in claim 58 wherein the sequence continues to index files in a partition of a storage volume of the storage device before starting to index files in another partition of the storage volume.

62. A method as in claim 58 wherein the sequence continues to index files of a first user before starting to index files of another user.

63. A machine readable medium providing executable instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method of processing data, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files stored on a storage device;

determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

determining, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, storage locations of files to be indexed on the storage device, the files being listed in at least one indexing queue;

determining a sequence of indexing based on the storage locations.

64. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the sequence attempts to reduce power consumption of the data processing system.

65. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the sequence continues to index files on a spinning storage media of the storage device before starting to spin another storage media.

66. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the sequence continues to index files in a partition of a storage volume of the storage device before starting to index files in another partition of the storage volume.

67. A medium as in claim 63 wherein the sequence continues to index files of a first user before starting to index files of another user.

68. A data processing system comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of requests to index one or more files stored on a storage device;

means for determining whether a data processing system is in a high power state or a low power state;

means for determining, in response to determining the data processing system is in the low power state, storage locations of files to be indexed on the storage device, the files being listed in at least one indexing queue;

means for determining a sequence of indexing based on the storage locations.

69. A data processing system as in claim 68 wherein the sequence attempts to reduce power consumption of the data processing system.

70. A data processing system as in claim 68 wherein the sequence continues to index files on a spinning storage media of the storage device before starting to spin another storage media.

71. A data processing system as in claim 68 wherein the sequence continues to index files in a partition of a storage volume of the storage device before starting to index files in another partition of the storage volume.

72. A data processing system as in claim 68 wherein the sequence continues to index files of a first user before starting to index files of another user.

73. A machine implemented method of processing data, the method comprising:

storing data on a storage device of a data processing system;

receiving, through a port coupled to the storage device, at least one command to cause indexing of data stored on the storage device based, at least in part, on a power state of the data processing system.

74. A method as in claim 73 wherein the storage device is a storage volume, and wherein the port is to couple to another data processing system which includes another storage device which is another storage volume which is indexed based, at least in part, on a power state of the another data processing system.

75. A method as in claim 74 wherein the data processing system is capable of being powered by only battery power, and wherein the another data processing system is powered by AC power.

76. A machine readable medium providing executable instructions which when executed by a data processing system cause the data processing system to perform a method of processing data, the method comprising:

storing data on a storage device of a data processing system;

receiving, through a port coupled to the storage device, at least one command to cause indexing of data stored on the storage device based, at least in part, on a power state of the data processing system.

77. A medium as in claim 76 wherein the storage device is a storage volume and, wherein the port is to couple to another data processing system which includes another storage device which is another storage volume which is indexed based, at least in part, on a power state of the another data processing system.

78. A medium as in claim 77 wherein the data processing system is capable of being powered by only battery power, and wherein the another data processing system is powered by AC power.

79. A data processing system comprising:

means for storing data on a storage device of a data processing system;

means for receiving, through a port coupled to the storage device, at least one command to cause indexing of data stored on the storage device based, at least in part, on a power state of the data processing system.

80. A data processing system as in claim 79 wherein the storage device is a storage volume, and wherein the port is to couple to another data processing system which includes another storage device which is another storage volume which is indexed based, at least in part, on a power state of the another data processing system.

81. A data processing system as in claim 80 wherein the data processing system is capable of being powered by only battery power, and wherein the another data processing system is powered by AC power.

82. An apparatus comprising:

a first storage volume of a first data processing system;

a port of the first data processing system, the port to couple the first data processing system to a second data processing system which has a second storage volume, the port being coupled to the first storage volume, the port receiving at least one command to cause indexing of data stored on the first storage volume based, at least in part, on a power state of at least one of the first data processing system and the second data processing system.