System and method for providing transparent access to distributed authoring and versioning files including encrypted files
First Claim
1. In a computer network, a method of automatically and transparently handling WebDAV server and file access requests, the method comprising:
- maintaining at an I/O manager a predetermined, stored priority order that indicates which of a plurality of redirectors has precedence to handle a WebDAV I/O request, wherein a plurality of suitably configured redirectors respond to the WebDAV I/O request, each redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O request;
receiving at the I/O manager the WebDAV I/O request initiated from an application program, wherein the WebDAV I/O request indicates a path and filename of a remote file accessible via WebDAV;
polling available redirectors to determine which redirectors are configured to handle the application program'"'"'s WebDAV I/O file request, each redirector suitably configured to handle the WebDAV I/O request including appropriate functionality for receiving and redirecting WebDAV I/O file requests to corresponding WebDAV server computer systems that store the remote files;
receiving responses from the plurality of suitably configured redirectors, each suitably configured redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O file request;
determining from the stored priority order which of the plurality of suitably configured redirectors has precedence to handle the WebDAV I/O file request;
based on the determination, requesting a local file system of the redirector determined to have precedence to create the file in response to the WebDAV I/O file request, downloading the file to a local cache of the redirector'"'"'s file system, and returning a file handle corresponding to the file in the local cache to the application program;
providing access to the file in the local cache of the file system via the file handle;
receiving a request to close the file via the file handle, and when received, uploading the file from the local cache of the file system to the WebDAV server;
determining that the redirector determined to have precedence is configured to handle all similar WebDAV I/O requests to a network share; and
bypassing any redirector polling for subsequent requests directed to the network share.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Access to WebDAV (Distributed Authoring and Versioning) servers is provided in a manner that is essentially transparent to applications. A WebDAV redirector and related components support file system I/O requests and network requests directed to WebDAV servers identified by URI (Universal Resource Identifier) names, or by a drive may be mapped to a WebDAV share. An application'"'"'s create or open I/O requests directed to a WebDAV server are detected, and result in a local copy of the file being downloaded and cached for local access. When closed, the local file is uploaded to the WebDAV server. Network-related requests such as for browsing that are directed to a WebDAV server are also handled transparently. WebDAV files may be locally encrypted and decrypted at the file system level, transparent to applications and the WebDAV server, via an encrypting file system that performs local encryption and decryption at the local file system level.
63 Citations
40 Claims
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1. In a computer network, a method of automatically and transparently handling WebDAV server and file access requests, the method comprising:
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maintaining at an I/O manager a predetermined, stored priority order that indicates which of a plurality of redirectors has precedence to handle a WebDAV I/O request, wherein a plurality of suitably configured redirectors respond to the WebDAV I/O request, each redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O request; receiving at the I/O manager the WebDAV I/O request initiated from an application program, wherein the WebDAV I/O request indicates a path and filename of a remote file accessible via WebDAV; polling available redirectors to determine which redirectors are configured to handle the application program'"'"'s WebDAV I/O file request, each redirector suitably configured to handle the WebDAV I/O request including appropriate functionality for receiving and redirecting WebDAV I/O file requests to corresponding WebDAV server computer systems that store the remote files; receiving responses from the plurality of suitably configured redirectors, each suitably configured redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O file request; determining from the stored priority order which of the plurality of suitably configured redirectors has precedence to handle the WebDAV I/O file request; based on the determination, requesting a local file system of the redirector determined to have precedence to create the file in response to the WebDAV I/O file request, downloading the file to a local cache of the redirector'"'"'s file system, and returning a file handle corresponding to the file in the local cache to the application program; providing access to the file in the local cache of the file system via the file handle; receiving a request to close the file via the file handle, and when received, uploading the file from the local cache of the file system to the WebDAV server; determining that the redirector determined to have precedence is configured to handle all similar WebDAV I/O requests to a network share; and bypassing any redirector polling for subsequent requests directed to the network share. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer-implemented method of automatically and transparently handling WebDAV server and file access requests, the method comprising:
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maintaining at a local application programming interface layer a predetermined, stored priority order that indicates which of a plurality of redirectors has precedence to handle a WebDAV I/O request, wherein a plurality of suitably configured redirectors respond to the WebDAV I/O request, each redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O request; receiving at the local application programming interface layer a WebDAV application I/O request comprising a WebDAV Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) indicating a path and filename of a remote file accessible via WebDAV; polling available redirectors to determine which redirectors are configured to handle the WebDAV URI, each redirector suitably configured to handle the WebDAV application I/O request including appropriate functionality for receiving and redirecting WebDAV URI requests to corresponding WebDAV server computer systems that store the remote files; receiving responses from the plurality of suitably configured redirectors, each suitably configured redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV URI request; determining from the stored priority order which of the plurality of responding redirectors has precedence to handle the WebDAV I/O URI request; determining that the specified share and file are accessible; based on the determination, handling the request, including; requesting a local file system of the redirector determined to have precedence to create the file in response to the WebDAV I/O URI request; downloading the file to a local cache of the redirector'"'"'s file system; and returning a file handle corresponding to the file in the local cache to the WebDAV application program; determining that the redirector determined to have precedence is configured to handle all similar WebDAV I/O requests to a network share; and bypassing any redirector polling for subsequent requests directed to the network share. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a computer network, a system including a processor and a memory for automatically and transparently handling WebDAV server and file access requests, the system comprising:
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an application program that issues WebDAV-related requests, including at least one request having a WebDAV Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) corresponding to path and filename of a remote file stored on a WebDAV server; a WebDAV redirector, the WebDAV redirector configured to respond to polls used to determine which redirectors are configured to handle the application'"'"'s WebDAV-related request, each redirector being suitably configured to handle the WebDAV I/O request including appropriate functionality for receiving and redirecting WebDAV I/O file requests to corresponding WebDAV server computer systems that store the remote files; an I/O manager configured to perform the following; maintain a predetermined, stored priority order that indicates which of a plurality of redirectors has precedence to handle a WebDAV I/O request, wherein the plurality of suitably configured redirectors respond to the WebDAV I/O request, each redirector being equally capable of redirecting the received WebDAV I/O file request, and that receives responses from the plurality of suitably configured redirectors; determine from the stored priority order which of the plurality of suitably configured redirectors has precedence to handle the WebDAV I/O request and indicating that the WebDAV red irector locally handling each request corresponding to the WebDAV server can be handled locally and was determined to have precedence to create the file in response to the WebDAV I/O request, and communicate with the WebDAV server to handle requests that cannot be handled locally; determine that the redirector determined to have precedence is configured to handle all similar WebDAV I/O requests to a network share; and bypass any redirector polling for subseauent requests directed to the network share. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification