Method of virtualizing file extensions in a computer system by determining an association between applications in virtual environment and a file extension
First Claim
1. A computer system comprising:
- a system environment; and
an application manager comprising visibility rules;
one or more virtual environments, each comprising an association table;
wherein the system environment includes a shell extension configured to detect a request to perform an action on a file in the system environment, wherein in response to detecting the request the shell extension is configured to;
determine that the action comprises opening the file;
create a processing thread in the system environment;
determine the file extension is not associated with any application in the system environment;
apply said visibility rules to identify particular virtual environments of the one or more virtual environments to be searched for an association between an application and the file extension;
query association tables in each of the particular virtual environments to determine whether the corresponding virtual environment includes an association between an application and the file extension;
identify one or more of the virtual environments in which the file extension is associated with an application;
apply selection rules to select a given virtual environment from the identified one or more virtual environments;
move the processing thread to the given virtual environment; and
open the file in the given virtual environment.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for virtualizing file extensions. The system includes a system environment, one or more virtual environments, and a shell extension. The shell extension detects a request to perform an action on a file in the system environment. The file has an associated file extension. The system environment includes applications for opening files. In response to detecting the request, the shell extension determines that the action is to open the file in the system environment and the file extension is not associated with any of the applications in the system environment. The shell extension queries the virtual environments to find an association between the file extension and an application, identifies at least one of the virtual environments in which the extension is associated with an application, and opens the file in a selected virtual environment.
54 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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a system environment; and an application manager comprising visibility rules; one or more virtual environments, each comprising an association table; wherein the system environment includes a shell extension configured to detect a request to perform an action on a file in the system environment, wherein in response to detecting the request the shell extension is configured to; determine that the action comprises opening the file; create a processing thread in the system environment; determine the file extension is not associated with any application in the system environment; apply said visibility rules to identify particular virtual environments of the one or more virtual environments to be searched for an association between an application and the file extension; query association tables in each of the particular virtual environments to determine whether the corresponding virtual environment includes an association between an application and the file extension; identify one or more of the virtual environments in which the file extension is associated with an application; apply selection rules to select a given virtual environment from the identified one or more virtual environments; move the processing thread to the given virtual environment; and open the file in the given virtual environment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of virtualizing file extensions in a host computer system, the method comprising:
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detecting a request to perform an action on a file in a system environment, wherein the file has an associated file extension; in response to detecting the request; determining that the action comprises opening the file; creating a processing thread in the system environment; determining the file extension is not associated with any application in the system environment; applying said visibility rules to identify particular virtual environments of the one or more virtual environments to be searched for an association between an application and the file extension; querying association tables in each of the particular virtual environments to determine whether the corresponding virtual environment includes an association between an application and the file extension; identifying one or more of the virtual environments in which the extension is associated with an application; applying selection rules to select a given virtual environment from the identified one or more virtual environments; moving the processing thread to the given virtual environment; and opening the file in the given virtual environments. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium,
wherein the non-transitory computer accessible readable storage medium stores first program instructions executable by a computer system to: -
detect a request to perform an action on a file in a system environment, wherein the file has an associated file extension; and in response to detecting the request; determine that the action comprises opening the file; create a processing thread in the system environment; determine the file extension is not associated with any application in the system environment; apply said visibility rules to identify particular virtual environments of the one or more virtual environments to be searched for an association between an application and the file extension; query association tables in each of the particular virtual environments to determine whether the corresponding virtual environment includes an association between an application and the file extension; identify at least one of the virtual environments in which the extension is associated with an application; and apply selection rules to select a given virtual environment from the identified one or more virtual environments; move the processing thread to the given virtual environment; and open the file in the given virtual environments. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification