SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENABLING REMOTE FILE ACCESS VIA A REFERENCE FILE STORED AT A LOCAL DEVICE THAT REFERENCES THE CONTENT OF THE FILE
First Claim
1. A method for remotely retrieving content regardless of its location by a first content ID reproducibly identifying the content and being calculated from the content using a first algorithm, wherein the method being implemented in a first computing device which stores a first reference file containing the first content ID, and the method comprising:
- retrieving the first content ID from the first reference file;
sending a content request containing the first content ID to at least one of remote computing devices communicably coupled to the first computing device; and
obtaining the content corresponding to the first content ID from at least one of the requested remote computing devices; and
wherein the reference file contains a first file type identifier, and the first computing device performs the method to process the first reference file according to the first file type identifier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computing system may include multiple computing devices. A file at a computing device may be accessed based on a reference file stored at the device that comprises a hash value of the content of the file. The hash value may be independent of the file location or file name and include a representation of the content of the file such that a given hash value is unique for given content. For example, the hash value may be generated using a hash function on the content of the file. The hash function may be generated by the hash function that reproducibly identifies the file based on the content of the file. In this manner, the reference file may be used to uniquely identify a file as well as serve as a basis for checking the integrity of files transmitted over a network from one computing device to another computing device.
6 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for remotely retrieving content regardless of its location by a first content ID reproducibly identifying the content and being calculated from the content using a first algorithm, wherein the method being implemented in a first computing device which stores a first reference file containing the first content ID, and the method comprising:
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retrieving the first content ID from the first reference file; sending a content request containing the first content ID to at least one of remote computing devices communicably coupled to the first computing device; and obtaining the content corresponding to the first content ID from at least one of the requested remote computing devices; and wherein the reference file contains a first file type identifier, and the first computing device performs the method to process the first reference file according to the first file type identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for remotely retrieving content regardless of its location by a first content ID reproducibly identifying the content and being calculated from the content using a first algorithm, the system being implemented in a first computing device which stores a first reference file containing the first content ID, and the system comprising:
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a reference file opener for retrieving the first content ID from the first reference file and sending a content request containing the first content ID to at least one of remote computing devices communicably coupled to the first computing device to obtain the content corresponding to the first content ID; and wherein the first reference file contains a first file type identifier, and the first computing device launches the reference file opener for processing the first reference file according to the first file type identifier. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for distributing first file content of a first file stored in a first computing device, the method comprising:
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generating a first content ID that reproducibly identifies the first file content regardless of lacking knowledge of the first file'"'"'s location; creating a first reference file including the first content ID and a first file type identifier; and wherein a second computing device receiving and opening the first reference file according to the first file type identifier sends a content request containing the first content ID for the first file content to at least one of computing devices communicably coupled to the second computing device and obtains the first file content from at least one of the requested computing devices. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for distributing file content implemented in a first computing device storing a first file containing first file content, the system comprising:
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an identification generator for generating a first content ID that reproducibly identifies the first file content regardless of lacking knowledge of the first file'"'"'s location; a file packager for creating a first reference file including the first content ID and a first file type identifier; and wherein a second computing receiving and opening the first reference file according to the first file type identifier sends a content request containing the first content ID for first the file content to at least one of computing devices communicably coupled to the second computing device including the first computing device and obtains the first file content from at least one of the requested computing devices. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification