Installation of third-party web applications into a container

• US 9,176,720 B1
• Filed: 04/23/2012
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Day-Richter, John, Cairns, Brian Lewis, Schoeffler, Eric Benson, Procopio, Michael Jeffrey, Lemonik, Micah, Besen, Adam Wayne, Eaton, Brian Edgar, Wyrick, Robert Eugene
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen, Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, VIVA L
• Application Number:
  US13/453,232
• Time in Patent Office: 1,289 Days
• Field of Search: 717/176
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order

Abstract

Techniques are shown for installing third-party applications onto a network system in appropriate containers on the network system. The containers store data and content of the same internet media type or MIME-type as the third-party applications.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method that facilitates installation of a third-party application onto a network system, the method comprising:

receiving a selection from a user of a third-party application to be installed onto the network system;

obtaining configuration information for the third-party application;

based upon the obtained configuration information, selecting a container on the network system for receiving the third-party application;

installing the third-party application into the selected container;

storing a record of the installation of the third-party application into the selected container by linking the user with the third-party applications on the network system, wherein the record comprises an application expiration time;

sending an authorization code from a token-grant server to a third-party application along with one or more document identifications (IDs) identifying the user resources when the user installs the third-party application;

receiving the authorization code at a token-grant server from the third-party application along with a client secret that identifies the third-party application as the intended recipient of the authorization code; and

sending an authorization access token to the third-party application after receiving the authorization code and client secret from the third-party application.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein storing the record of the installation of the third-party applications into the selected container further comprises storing:

a user identifier; and

an application identifier.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein selecting the container comprises selecting the container based on a file type description of the third-party application.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3, wherein the file type description of the third-party application comprises a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein selecting a container comprises:

determining a container on the network system that contains the type of data the third-party application is capable of one or more of opening, creating, or modifying.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein installing the third-party application into the container comprises:

registering a relationship between the third-party application and a user'"'"'s account.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the container is an operating environment on the network system in which homogenous or like data types are one or more of handled, managed, or used by the third-party application.

8. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored

thereon program instructions that facilitate installation of third-party applications onto a network system, the instructions when executed by a machine cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving an indication of one or more to-be-installed third-party applications;

obtaining configuration information about the one or more to-be-installed third-party applications;

based upon the obtained configuration information, selecting a container on the network system for receiving the one or more to-be-installed third-party applications;

installing the one or more third-party applications into the selected container;

storing a record of the installation of the one or more third-party applications into the

selected container, linking the user with identifications of the one or more third-party applications installed by the user in the selected container on the network system;

wherein

the record of the installation comprises an application expiration time;

sending an authorization code from a token-grant server to a third-party application along with one or more document identifications (IDs) identifying the user resources when the user installs the third-party application;

receiving the authorization code at a token-grant server from the third-party application along with a client secret that identifies the third-party application as the intended recipient of the authorization code; and

sending an authorization access token to the third-party application after receiving the authorization code and client secret from the third-party application.

9. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8, the operations further comprising:

creating an Application Programming Interface (API) library configured to be queried to discover the one or more third-party applications installed by the user in the selected container on the network system.

10. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8, the operations further comprising:

storing descriptions of the third-party applications that include an open standard authorization token that enables a user to share their user resources stored on the network system with a third-party web site or one or more third-party applications, without having to provide their full credentials to the third party for accessing the network system where the user'"'"'s resources are stored.

11. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8, wherein:

storing a record of the installation of the one or more third-party applications into the selected container further comprises storing information linking a user with an identification of each third-party application installed by the user on the network system, wherein the identification of each third-party application comprises a tuple, or ordered list of elements, of the form;

{long user_id;

// a large number that uniquely identifies the user

long app_id;

// a large number that uniquely identifies the application

optional long expiration_—

time;

// an optional expiration date for this installation, stored as milliseconds since the Unix epoch date}.

12. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 8, wherein:

the obtained configuration information comprises an internet media type or a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type.

13. An application installation system configured to facilitate installation of third-party applications onto a network system, the application installation system comprising:

an application description database configured to store descriptions of third-party applications, wherein the descriptions of the third-party applications enable the third-party applications to access user resources stored on the network system;

a uniform resource locator (URL)-accessible installation utility configured to provide a URL destination address from which a user can initiate an installation action to install a third-party application on the network system;

a record indicating a container on the network system into which a third-party application is installed;

an application installation database configured to store a record of user installation actions including information linking a user with an identification of each third-party application installed by the user on the network system;

a processor configured to;

receive a user selection of a third-party application to be installed onto the network system,

obtain configuration information for the user-selected third-party application,

select, based upon the obtained configuration information, a container on the network system for receiving the user-selected third-party application,

install the user-selected third-party application into the selected container,

store a record of the installation of the third-party application in the application installation database, wherein the record comprises an application expiration time; and

identify one or more third-party applications associated with a user in response to an Application Programming Interface (API) library command;

send an authorization code and a document identification (ID) to a third-party application in response to a user installation of the third-party application for use with a resource identified by the document ID;

receive, from the third-party application, the authorization code and a client secret that

identifies the third-party application as the intended recipient of the authorization code; and

send an authorization access token to the third-party application in response to receiving the authorization code and the client secret from the third-party application.

14. The system according to claim 13, further including:

an API that conforms to Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture.

15. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the descriptions of the third-party applications stored in the application description database include an internet media type or a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type.

16. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the user resources comprise one or more of files, photographs, videos, documents, contact lists, data, or other content that a user has created or otherwise obtained, and that the user has one or more of ownership of, access to, or control over.

17. The system according to claim 13, further including:

the application description database further configured to store descriptions of the third-party applications that include an open standard authorization token that enables a user to share their user resources stored on the network system with a third-party web site or one or more third-party applications, without having to provide full credentials for accessing the network system to the third party.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein:

the user'"'"'s resources comprise one or more of files, photographs, videos, documents, contact lists, data, or other content that a user has created or otherwise obtained, and that the user has one or more of ownership of, access to, or control over.

19. The system according to claim 13, wherein:

the record indicating an appropriate web-based application on the network system designates a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type of data to be stored in the web-based application and manipulated by the third-party application installed into the web-based application.

20. The system according to claim 13, further including:

the application installation database further configured to store a record of user installation actions including information linking a user with an identification of each application installed by the user on the network system, wherein the identification of each application comprises a tuple, or ordered list of elements, of the form;

{long user_id;

// a large number that uniquely identifies the user

long app_id;

// a large number that uniquely identifies the application

optional long expiration_—

time;

// an optional expiration date for this installation, stored as milliseconds since the Unix epoch date}.