SYSTEM FOR HANDLING EVENT MESSAGES FOR FILE COLLABORATION

• US 20160357778A1
• Filed: 12/28/2015
• Published: 12/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Inventors: Reddy, Priyanka, MacKenzie, David, Treyger, Alex, Spielberg, Miles
• Granted Patent: US 10,210,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/36 for access to common bus or bus system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems

Abstract

A system and method for facilitating client software access to messages, such as event messages, generated in a networked computing environment, such as a file-collaboration system. An example method uses a message bus and accompanying Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to allow collaborators to employ client software to interface with highly scalable and organized message bus records, maintained via an underlying distributed database. The APIs and associated interface allow client software; not limited to collaboration software clients; to efficiently publish to, subscribe to, and obtain information about event records of the message bus. An embodiment allows selective load balancing and deferral of event message processing; efficient message offset handling and data center failover functionality, and so on.

Claims

1. A method for distributing event messages in a cross-enterprise file collaboration system, the system including one or more server computers in communication with one or more client devices, wherein the client devices include a first group of client devices on a first network and a second group of client devices on a second network, the method comprising the following performed by the one or more server computers:

receiving one or more user-initiated events;

maintaining an action log table in a particular database, the action log table including a record of the user-initiated events;

receiving records of other events in addition to the records of events in the action log table; and

using a message bus to store the records of the user-initiated events and the other events, the message bus allowing processes executing within the first and second networks to publish and subscribe to the records of the events.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining when a number of collected events intended for processing by the message bus is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

in response to the determining, deferring processing of one or more of the collected events.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the deferring is performed in accordance with one or more quality of service rules.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular database represents a repository for collecting data pertaining to events facilitated via a collaboration application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the message bus is implemented at least in part using a distributed database.

6. The method of claim 1, further including a subscription library for dispatching event records from the message bus.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the other events include one or more events from server administration software, the one more events documented via administration logs associated with the server administration software.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the other events include one or more events from a client message bus.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the other events include one or more events from analytics software.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the other events include one or more events from workflow software.

11. An apparatus for distributing log information in a cross-enterprise file collaboration system, the system including one or more server computers coupled to one or more client devices, wherein the client devices include a first group of client devices on a first network and a second group of client devices on a second network, the apparatus comprising:

a digital processor coupled to a display and to a non-transitory processor-readable storage device, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage device includes one or more instructions executable by the digital processor to perform the following acts;

receiving one or more user-initiated events;

maintaining an action log table in a particular database, the action log table including a record of the user-initiated events;

receiving records of other events in addition to the records of events in the action log table; and

using a message bus to store the records of the user-initiated events and the other events, the message bus allowing processes executing within the first and second networks to publish and subscribe to the records of the events.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the non-transitory processor-readable storage device further includes one or more instructions executable by the digital processor to perform the following acts:

determining when a number of collected events intended for processing by the message bus is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

in response to the determining, deferring processing of one or more of the collected events.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the deferring is performed in accordance with one or more quality of service rules.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the particular database represents a repository for collecting data pertaining to events facilitated via a collaboration application.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the message bus is implemented at least in part using a distributed database.

16. A non-transitory processor-readable storage device including instructions executable by a digital processor, the processor-readable storage device including one or more instructions for:

receiving one or more user-initiated events;

maintaining an action log table in a particular database, the action log table including a record of the user-initiated events;

receiving records of other events in addition to the records of events in the action log table; and

using a message bus to store the records of the user-initiated events and the other events, the message bus allowing processes executing within the first and second networks to publish and subscribe to the records of the events.

17. The non-transitory processor-readable storage device of claim 16, further includes one or more instructions executable by the digital processor for:

determining when a number of collected events intended for processing by the message bus is greater than a predetermined threshold; and

in response to the determining, deferring processing of one or more of the collected events.

18. The non-transitory processor-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the deferring is performed in accordance with one or more quality of service rules.

19. The non-transitory processor-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the particular database represents a repository for collecting data pertaining to events facilitated via a collaboration application.

20. The non-transitory processor-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the message bus is implemented at least in part using a distributed database.