System, method and computer program product for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system

• US 8,996,574 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2011
• Issued: 03/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Wu, Yongsheng, Vieira, Alfred, Jain, Punit
• Primary Examiner(s): LIN, SHEW FEN
• Application Number:
  US13/292,043
• Publication Number:
  US 20120054244A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,239 Days
• Field of Search: 707/784, 707/805
• US Class Current: 707/784
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/284 Relational databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen

Abstract

In accordance with embodiments, there are provided mechanisms and methods for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system. These mechanisms and methods for portal user data access in a multi-tenant on-demand database system can enable embodiments to provide portal-specific user accounts to the multi-tenant on-demand database system which have reduced configuration requirements than users directly accessing the multi-tenant on-demand database system. The ability of embodiments to provide portal-specific user accounts can reduce processing requirements of the database system.

Claims

1. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method, the method comprising:

providing a platform of a multi-tenant on-demand database system having hardware and software that is shared by multiple tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database system;

providing, by the multi-tenant on-demand database system, multiple portals to ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein each portal is a web interface that is specific to a different tenant of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by being customized for the tenant such that the portal appears as a site of the tenant;

registering a user associated with one of the tenants with the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein the registering is performed via the portal specific to the tenant such that the user appears to registering with a service provided by the tenant;

creating a user object associated with the user, in response to the registration, wherein the user object stores login information for use in authorizing a login to the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal by the user;

storing the user object associated with the user;

allowing the user to participate in ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, via the portal, including allowing the user to access data objects of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by;

determining that the user owns a data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system,

automatically referencing the user object with the data object determined to be owned by the user, wherein the user object is referenced with the data object by storing a unique identifier of the user object in the data object, and

providing the user access to the data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, based on the reference, including allowing the user to access the data object as a result of the referencing of the user object with the data object.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user indirectly accesses the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user object is stored by the multi-tenant on-demand database system.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user object stores a profile associated with the user.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the data object stores data.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the access includes reading the data object.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising storing another data object owned by the user.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising granting the tenant of the multi-tenant on-demand database system access to the other data object owned by the user.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the access is granted via a reference stored in the other data object to a system group associated with the tenant.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user object stores profile information for the user.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the profile information includes historical activity.

12. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the portal is to an application store of the multi-tenant on-demand database system.

13. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the portal is customized for the tenant by being branded for the tenant.

14. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user indirectly accesses the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal specific to the tenant, and wherein the tenant is an internal user of the multi-tenant on-demand database system which directly accesses the multi-tenant on-demand database system.

15. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user is denied access to a data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system when it is determined that the user does not own the data object.

16. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user is provided access to the data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, based on the reference, when the user attempts to access the data object via a query for the data object received in association with the user requesting a list.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the user is provided access to the data object by returning the data object in a result of the query.

18. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user is registered with the multi-tenant on-demand database system in response to a request received from the user by the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal.

19. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user object is configured based on information provided by the user.

20. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the user registers with the multi-tenant on-demand database system for reading the data objects of the multi-tenant on-demand database system.

21. A method, comprising:

providing a platform of a multi-tenant on-demand database system having hardware and software that is shared by multiple tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database system;

providing, by the multi-tenant on-demand database system, multiple portals to ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein each portal is a web interface that is specific to a different tenant of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by being customized for the tenant such that the portal appears as a site of the tenant;

registering a user associated with one of the tenants with the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein the registering is performed via the portal specific to the tenant such that the user appears to registering with a service provided by the tenant;

creating a user object associated with the user, in response to the registration, wherein the user object stores login information for use in authorizing a login to the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal by the user;

storing the user object associated with the user;

allowing the user to participate in ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, via the portal, including allowing the user to access data objects of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by;

determining that the user owns a data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system,

automatically referencing the user object with the data object to be owned by the user, wherein the user object is referenced with the data object by storing a unique identifier of the user object in the data object, and

providing the user access to the data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, based on the reference, utilizing a processor, including allowing the user to access the data object as a result of the referencing of the user object with the data object.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor for;

providing a platform of a multi-tenant on-demand database system having hardware and software that is shared by multiple tenants of the multi-tenant on-demand database system;

providing, by the multi-tenant on-demand database system, multiple portals to ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein each portal is a web interface that is specific to a different tenant of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by being customized for the tenant such that the portal appears as a site of the tenant;

registering a user associated with one of the tenants with the multi-tenant on-demand database system, wherein the registering is performed via the portal specific to the tenant such that the user appears to registering with a service provided by the tenant;

creating a user object associated with the user, in response to the registration, wherein the user object stores login information for use in authorizing a login to the multi-tenant on-demand database system via the portal by the user;

storing the user object associated with the user;

allowing the user to participate in ecommerce processes of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, via the portal, including allowing the user to access data objects of the multi-tenant on-demand database system by;

determining that the user owns a data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system,

automatically referencing the user object with the data object determined to be owned by the user, wherein the user object is referenced with the data object by storing a unique identifier of the user object in the data object, and

providing the user access to the data object of the multi-tenant on-demand database system, based on the reference, including allowing the user to access the data object as a result of the referencing of the user object with the data object.