Systems and methods for ephemeral eventing

• US 9,942,121 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2015
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Poletto, Stephen, Wright, Thomas, Welinder, Nils Peter, Kleinpeter, Thomas, Haven, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice L
• Application Number:
  US14/741,277
• Publication Number:
  US 20150358224A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0894 Packet rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1085 involving dynamic management of active down- or uploading connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Embodiments are provided for ephemeral eventing. Ephemeral eventing may involve sending metadata portions associated with content items from a user device to a content management system prior to uploading the content portions of the content items. The content management system may then assign the content items to one or more events. The event assignments may then be sent back to the user device, allowing the content items to be locally displayed according to their events as if the content items had already been uploaded to the content management system.

Claims

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

identify a content item on a user device queued for upload to a content management system, the content item comprising a content portion and a metadata portion;

determine that a first network connection between the user device and the content management system is unavailable;

in response to determining that the first network connection is unavailable, provide, in a first upload and over a second network connection with the content management system, the metadata portion of the content item to the content management system;

receive, from the content management system over the second network connection, event assignment metadata that associates the content item with an event; and

in response to determining that the first network connection becomes available, provide, in a second upload and over the first network connection with the content management system, the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

determine that a connection speed of the first network connection exceeds a minimum threshold speed; and

provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system in response to determining that the connection speed of the second network connection exceeds the minimum threshold speed.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the second network connection comprises a cellular network connection.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 3, wherein the first network connection comprises a non-cellular network connection.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 3, wherein the first network connection comprises one of a WiFi connection, an Ethernet connection, or a broadband connection.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving the event assignment metadata comprises receiving the event assignment metadata prior to commencing the second upload.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 6, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system in response to receiving the event assignment metadata.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to display, on the user device, a prompt to upload the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

receive a selection of the prompt to upload the content portion of the content item to the content management system; and

provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system in response to receiving the selection of the prompt to upload the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein determining that the first network connection between the user device and the content management system is unavailable comprises determining that a connection speed of the first network connection is below a threshold connection speed.

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

identify a content item on a user device queued for upload to a content management system, the content item comprising a content portion and a metadata portion;

detect a first network connection with the content management system;

determine that a connection speed of the first network connection is below a threshold connection speed;

in response to determining that the connection speed of the first network connection is below the threshold connection speed, provide, over a second network connection with the content management system, the metadata portion of the content item to the content management system without providing the content portion of the content item to the content management system;

receive, from the content management system over the first network connection, event assignment metadata that associates the content item with an event;

detecting a second network connection with the content management system;

determine that a connection speed of the second network connection is greater than the connection speed of the first network connection; and

in response to determining that the connection speed of the second network connection is greater than the connection speed of the first network connection, provide, over the second network connection with the content management system, the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the first network connection comprises a cellular network connection.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 12, wherein the second network connection comprises a non-cellular network connection.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 12, wherein the second network connection comprises one of a WiFi connection, an Ethernet connection, or a broadband connection.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein receiving the event assignment metadata comprises receiving the event assignment metadata prior to providing the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system in response to receiving the event assignment metadata.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to display, on the user device, a prompt to provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as recited in claim 17, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to:

receive a selection of the prompt to provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system; and

provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system in response to receiving the selection of the prompt to provide the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

19. A system comprising:

at least one processing device; and

at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by the at least one processing device, cause the system to;

identify a content item on a user device queued for upload to a content management system, the content item comprising a content portion and a metadata portion;

determine that a first network connection between the user device and the content management system is unavailable;

in response to determining that the first network connection is unavailable, provide, in a first upload and over a second network connection with the content management system, the metadata portion of the content item to the content management system;

receive, from the content management system over the second network connection, event assignment metadata that associates the content item with an event; and

in response to determining that the first network connection becomes available, provide, in a second upload and over the first network connection with the content management system, the content portion of the content item to the content management system.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the system to:

determine a connection speed of the first network connection with the content management system;

determine a connection speed of the second network connection with the content management system;

determine that the connection speed of the second network connection with the content management system is greater than the connection speed of the first network connection with the content management system; and

wherein providing the content portion of the content item to the content management system further comprises providing the content portion of the content item to the content management system over the second network connection based on determining that the connection speed of the second network connection is greater than the connection speed of the first network connection.