Content item purging

• US 9,442,944 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Dwan, Michael, Grue, Anthony, Kluesing, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, THANH HA T
• Application Number:
  US14/077,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20150134624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,036 Days
• Field of Search: 707/692
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/162 Delete operations erasing in storage systems G06F3/0652
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/215 Improving data quality; Data cleansing, e.g. de-duplication, removing invalid entries or correcting typographical errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for content item purging functionality are provided. A contact item purger, such as may be incorporated within a local client application of a content management system, leverages its knowledge as to which items have been uploaded to the content management system, and how long content items have been stored on the user device, to propose items for local deletion and thus reclaiming storage on the user device. A contact item purger may run on one or more devices of a user associated with an account on a content management system upon various triggering events, and may run with or without user interaction, thus maintaining available user device memory capacity at all times.

Claims

1. A method of reclaiming storage space on a user device, comprising:

detecting a triggering event for reclaiming storage space on the user device;

determining an amount of storage space on the user device to be reclaimed; and

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identifying one or more content items stored on the user device that qualify for content item purging;

wherein a content item stored on the user device qualifies for content item purging only if the content item is previously synchronized with a remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

wherein identifying the one or more content items that qualify for content item purging comprises determining that each of the one or more identified content items is previously synchronized with the remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

determining whether deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device would reclaim at least the amount of storage space on the user device;

deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device;

wherein deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device reclaims at least the amount of storage space on the user device; and

wherein the method is performed by an electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein previous synchronizing causing at least a portion of at least one of the one or more content items to be stored in the remote data store.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said triggering event is at least one of:

a periodically scheduled purge,

a user request, or

a receipt of an additional content item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the triggering event comprises determining that available space in memory on the user device is less than a first memory threshold value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more content items are associated with a user account of a content management service held by a user of the user device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step comprises identifying one or more content items stored on the user device that have been stored on the user device for at least a defined time period and that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the defined time period is one of:

fixed, set as a default but modifiable by a user, or dynamically set as a function of memory capacity and/or content type.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more content items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store are versions of one or more corresponding synchronized content items stored in the remote data store.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the first memory threshold value comprises a first predefined percentage of a total capacity of the memory of the user device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a triggering event comprises determining that a battery charge of a battery of the user device exceeds a battery charge threshold.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a triggering event comprises determining that a battery of the user device is currently being charged.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step includes determining that an aggregate amount of storage space occupied by the one or more content items on the user device comprises at least a second memory threshold value of the user device'"'"'s memory.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identifying one or more photo or video items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store; and

replacing the one or more photo or video items with downsampled versions of the one or more photo or video items.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting a user to confirm a content item purge action only if deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device would reclaim at least the minimum amount of storage space on the user device; and

deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device only if confirmation to proceed with the content item purge action is received from the user.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

detect a triggering event for reclaiming storage space on a user device;

determine an amount of storage space on the user device to be reclaimed; and

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identify one or more content items stored on the user device that qualify for content item purging;

wherein a content item stored on the user device qualifies for content item purging only if the content item is previously synchronized with a remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to identify the one or more content items that qualify for content item purging, comprise instructions that cause the computing device to determine that each of the one or more identified content items is previously synchronized with the remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

determine whether deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device would reclaim at least the amount of storage space on the user device;

delete the one or more identified content items from the user device; and

wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to delete the one or more identified content items from the user device, cause to reclaim at least the amount of storage space on the user device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to previously synchronize the one or more content items with the remote data store causes at least a portion of at least one of the one or more content items to be stored in the remote data store.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to detect the triggering event comprise instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of the computing device, further cause the computing device to detect the triggering event based on determining that available space in memory on the user device is less than a first memory threshold value.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said triggering event is at least one of:

a periodically scheduled purge,

a user request, or

a receipt of an additional content item.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to detect the triggering event comprise instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of the computing device, further cause the computing device to detect the triggering event based on determining that a battery charge of a battery of the user device exceeds a battery charge threshold.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions that cause the computing device to detect the triggering event comprise instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of the computing device, further cause the computing device to detect the triggering event based on determining that a battery of the user device is currently being charged.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more content items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store are versions of one or more corresponding synchronized content items stored in the remote data store.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein said one or more items are associated with a user account of a content management service held by a user of the user device.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one processor of the computing device, further cause the computing device to:

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identify one or more photo or video items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store; and

replace the one or more photo or video items with downsampled versions of the one or more photo or video items.

24. A system for content item purging on a user device, comprising:

at least one processor;

a display; and

memory containing instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor to;

detect a triggering event for reclaiming storage space on the user device;

determine an amount of storage space on the user device to be reclaimed; and

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identify one or more content items stored on the user device that qualify for content item purging;

wherein a content item stored on the user device qualifies for content item purging only if the content item is previously synchronized with a remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

wherein the instructions that cause the at least one processor to identify the one or more content items that qualify for content item purging, comprise instructions that cause the at least one processor to determine that each of the one or more identified content items is previously synchronized with the remote data store and is not modified at the user device since the content item was previously synchronized with the remote data store;

determine whether deleting the one or more identified content items from the user device would reclaim at least the amount of storage space on the user device; and

delete the one or more identified content items from the user device; and

wherein the instructions that cause the at least one processor to delete the one or more identified content items from the user device, cause to reclaim at least the amount of storage space on the user device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the one or more content items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized to the remote data store are versions of one or more corresponding synchronized content items stored in the remote data store.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

in response to detecting the triggering event;

identify one or more photo or video items stored on the user device that have been previously synchronized with the remote data store; and

replace the one or more photo or video items with downsampled versions of the one or more photo or video items.