CONFIGURABLE METADATA-BASED AUTOMATION AND CONTENT CLASSIFICATION ARCHITECTURE FOR CLOUD-BASED COLLABORATION PLATFORMS

• US 20160065627A1
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Published: 03/03/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Inventors: Pearl, Annie, Huamonte, James, Tran, Brian, Low, Tiffany, Masse, Pierre-Alexandre, Blosser, Ted
• Granted Patent: US 9,894,119 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/11 File system administration, e.g. details of archiving or snapshots file system backup G06F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits

Abstract

Scalable architectures, systems, and services are provided herein for generating jobs by applying user-specified metadata rules to metadata events. More specifically, the scalable architecture described herein uses metadata to drive automations and/or polices in a cloud-based environment. In one embodiment, the architecture integrates a metadata service with an event-based automation engine to automatically trigger polices and/or automations based on metadata and/or changes in metadata changes. The metadata service can include customizable and/or pre-build metadata templates which can be used to automatically apply a metadata framework (e.g., particular fields) to files based on, for example, the upload or placement of a particular file in a particular folder. The architecture also provides for advanced metadata searching and data classification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of facilitating metadata-based automations in a collaborative cloud-based environment, the method comprising:

receiving a metadata event at a rule manager system of the collaborative cloud-based environment,

wherein the metadata event identifies a change in a metadata key-value pair associated with a particular work item in the collaborative cloud-based environment; and

automatically translating, by a processor of the rule manager system, the metadata event into one or more job requests by;

processing the metadata event to capture the key-value pair;

accessing pre-defined metadata rules from a memory in communication with the processor;

scanning the pre-defined metadata rules to select a first pre-defined metadata rule that matches a key of the key-value pair;

generating a job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, by a metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment, changes in the metadata occurring with respect to work items within the collaborative cloud-based environment.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting the change in the metadata key-value pair; and

generating the metadata event at the metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the changes in metadata occur as a result of events or job requests that are performed in the collaborative cloud-based environment.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the metadata key-value pair is associated with a pre-defined template,

wherein the metadata event is conditionally generated based on whether the metadata key-value pair is associated with a pre-defined template.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

classifying the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

applying a policy or workflow to the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair,

wherein the policy is applied by performing the job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing the job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment, a selection of one or more metadata attributes for a particular template,

wherein the metadata attributes define the template.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment, input defining one or more metadata attributes;

generating a template including the one or more metadata attributes,

wherein the template is automatically applied to a particular work item to implement a metadata framework.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the template is automatically applied to the particular work item based on a storage location of the particular work item in the collaborative cloud-based environment.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the template is automatically applied to a particular work item based on selection of the work item by a user of the collaborative cloud-based environment.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

processing the first pre-defined metadata rule that matches the key of the key-value pair to identify a threshold value associated with the key-value pair;

comparing the value of the metadata key-value pair with the threshold value,

wherein the job request is conditionally generated based on the comparison.

15. A computer-implemented method of facilitating metadata-based automations in a collaborative cloud-based environment, the method comprising:

receiving a metadata event at a rule manager system of the collaborative cloud-based environment,

wherein the metadata event identifies a change in a metadata key-value pair associated with a particular work item in the collaborative cloud-based environment; and

automatically translating, by a processor of the rule manager system, the metadata event into one or more job requests by;

processing the metadata event to capture the key-value pair;

accessing pre-defined metadata rules from a memory in communication with the processor;

scanning the pre-defined metadata rules to select a first pre-defined metadata rule that matches a key of the key-value pair;

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

processing the first pre-defined metadata rule that matches the key of the key-value pair to identify a threshold value associated with the key-value pair;

comparing the value of the metadata key-value pair with the threshold value,

conditionally generating a job request associated with the first pre-defined rule based on the comparison.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

monitoring, by a metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment, changes in the metadata occurring with respect to work items within the collaborative cloud-based environment;

detecting the change in the metadata key-value pair; and

generating the metadata event at the metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

classifying the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

applying a policy or workflow to the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair,

wherein the policy is applied by performing the job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

19. A collaboration system for facilitating metadata-based automations in a collaborative cloud-based environment, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory unit having instructions stored thereon which when executed by the one or more processors, causes the collaboration system to automatically translate a metadata event into one or more job requests by;

processing the metadata event to capture the key-value pair;

accessing pre-defined metadata rules from a memory in communication with the processor;

scanning the pre-defined metadata rules to select a first pre-defined metadata rule that matches a key of the key-value pair;

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

processing the first pre-defined metadata rule that matches the key of the key-value pair to identify a threshold value associated with the key-value pair;

comparing the value of the metadata key-value pair with the threshold value,

conditionally generating a job request associated with the first pre-defined rule based on the comparison.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further causes the collaboration system to automatically translate a metadata event into one or more job requests by:

monitoring, by a metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment, changes in the metadata occurring with respect to work items within the collaborative cloud-based environment;

detecting the change in the metadata key-value pair; and

generating the metadata event at the metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further causes the collaboration system to automatically translate a metadata event into one or more job requests by:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

classifying the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further causes the collaboration system to automatically translate a metadata event into one or more job requests by:

processing a value of the metadata key-value pair associated with the particular work item;

applying a policy or workflow to the work item based on the value of the metadata key-value pair,

wherein the policy is applied by performing the job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

23. A computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that when executed by one or more processors of a collaboration system, cause the collaboration system to:

automatically translate a metadata event into one or more job requests,

wherein the metadata event identifies a change in a metadata key-value pair associated with a particular work item in the collaborative cloud-based environment, and

wherein the translation includes;

processing the metadata event to capture the key-value pair;

accessing pre-defined metadata rules from a memory in communication with the processor;

scanning the pre-defined metadata rules to select a first pre-defined metadata rule that matches a key of the key-value pair;

generating a job request associated with the first pre-defined rule.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors of the collaboration system, further cause the collaboration system to:

monitor changes in the metadata occurring with respect to work items within the collaborative cloud-based environment;

detect the change in the metadata key-value pair; and

generate the metadata event at the metadata service system of the collaborative cloud-based environment.