Infrastructure and method for supporting generic multimedia metadata
First Claim
1. A multimedia metadata abstraction interface supporting program access to multimedia file metadata provided in a variety of formats, the abstraction interface comprising:
- a multimedia program interface corresponding to a set of multimedia file metadata management functions accessible by multimedia applications; and
a set of metadata decoders comprising a set of functions invoked by the multimedia application program interface, each metadata decoder including a metadata converter for parsing a metadata portion of a multimedia file to render metadata in a generic format;
wherein the multimedia program interface comprises a set of program instruction segments for invoking a specified one of the set of functions supported by the set of metadata decoders in response to receiving a program request to access metadata corresponding to a multimedia file instance.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for providing access by applications/utilities/tools to multimedia file metadata originally provided in any of a set of supported formats. A metadata abstraction interface is interposed between multimedia files and applications that seek to read and/or modify metadata associated with the multimedia files. The metadata abstraction interface supports program access to multimedia file metadata provided in a variety of formats and comprises a multimedia application program interface corresponding to a set of core multimedia file metadata management functions accessible by multimedia applications. The metadata abstraction interface includes an extensible set of file type-specific metadata decoders. Each decoder includes a metadata converter for parsing a metadata portion of a multimedia file stored in a particular native format (e.g., .bmp). The decoders render metadata in a generic format from the parsed metadata.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A multimedia metadata abstraction interface supporting program access to multimedia file metadata provided in a variety of formats, the abstraction interface comprising:
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a multimedia program interface corresponding to a set of multimedia file metadata management functions accessible by multimedia applications; and
a set of metadata decoders comprising a set of functions invoked by the multimedia application program interface, each metadata decoder including a metadata converter for parsing a metadata portion of a multimedia file to render metadata in a generic format;
wherein the multimedia program interface comprises a set of program instruction segments for invoking a specified one of the set of functions supported by the set of metadata decoders in response to receiving a program request to access metadata corresponding to a multimedia file instance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for providing access by programs to multimedia metadata stored in a variety of formats through a metadata abstraction interface interposed between the programs and the multimedia metadata, the method comprising the steps of:
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determining a proper module comprising a set of functions for servicing requests by a program to access metadata within a particular multimedia file;
first receiving, by the abstraction interface, a first request to access the metadata within the particular multimedia file;
invoking, in response to the receiving step, a format-specific decoder function corresponding to the first request to access; and
rendering, by the format-specific decoder function, generic multimedia metadata property items from format-specific metadata stored within the particular multimedia file. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24)
second receiving, by the abstraction interface, a second request to access the metadata within the particular multimedia file;
determining that at least one generic multimedia metadata property item, previously rendered for the metadata within the particular multimedia file, exists within a generic metadata memory associated with the abstraction interface, and in response accessing a generic metadata property value for the particular multimedia file from the generic metadata memory.
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16. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of presenting, by the abstraction interface, at least one metadata property item value from the generic multimedia property items in response to the first request.
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17. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of passing to a format-specific encoder at least one metadata property item value from the generic multimedia property items.
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24. The computer-readable medium of claim 11 further comprising computer executable instructions for performing the step of:
- passing to a format-specific encoder at least one metadata property item value from the generic multimedia property items.
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18. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for providing a metadata abstraction interface facilitating access by programs to multimedia file metadata stored in a variety of formats, the computer executable instructions performing steps including:
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determining a proper module comprising a set of functions for servicing requests by a program to access metadata within a particular multimedia file;
first receiving, by the abstraction interface, a first request to access the metadata within the particular multimedia file;
invoking, in response to the receiving step, a format-specific decoder function corresponding to the first request to access; and
rendering, by the format-specific decoder function, generic multimedia metadata property items from format-specific metadata stored within the particular multimedia file. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
second receiving, by the abstraction interface, a second request to access the metadata within the particular multimedia file;
determining that at least one generic multimedia metadata property item, previously rendered for the metadata within the particular multimedia file, exists within a generic metadata memory associated with the abstraction interface, and in response accessing a generic metadata property value for the particular multimedia file from the generic metadata memory.
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23. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 further comprising computer executable instructions for performing the step of:
- presenting, by the abstraction interface, at least one metadata property item value from the generic multimedia property items in response to the first request.
Specification