NATIVE VIEWER USE FOR SERVICE RESULTS FROM A REMOTE DESKTOP

• US 20130018939A1
• Filed: 08/25/2011
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Davis, Scott Howard, Chawla, Puneet Singh, Beveridge, Daniel
• Granted Patent: US 9,009,219 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/452 Remote windowing, e.g. X-Window System, desktop virtualisation protocols for virtual reality H04L67/131
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/08 specially adapted for terminal emulation, e.g. Telnet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes establishing a session to a remote desktop determined for a user of a client device. The session allows the client device to remotely access the remote desktop to have one or more services performed for the user of the client device using resources of the remote desktop. The client device sends a request for a service in the one or more services to be performed on the remote desktop in the session and receives a result set determined from the service being performed by the remote desktop. A native viewer for the client device is determined based on a type of the result set. The native viewer is then invoked to display the result set.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

establishing a session to a remote desktop determined for a user of a client device, the session allowing the client device to remotely access the remote desktop to have one or more services performed for the user of the client device using resources of the remote desktop;

sending, from the client device, a request for a service in the one or more services to be performed on the remote desktop in the session;

receiving a result set determined from the service being performed by the remote desktop;

determining a native viewer for the client device based on a type of the result set; and

invoking the native viewer to display the result set.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device has an associated form factor, wherein the native viewer presents the result set in a manner tailored to the form factor of the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein different native viewers are determined based on different types of result sets.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the result set comprises metadata; and

the metadata is used to determine the type of result set.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the result set has been optimized for transmission by the remote desktop, the method further comprising:

processing the result set based on the optimization to determine data in a format to be displayed by the native viewer.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the session between the remote desktop and the client device is established through a remote desktop server configured to manage access to the remote desktop.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the service comprises a search service for searching the remote desktop, a browser service for performing a browser-based search, or a file explorer service for accessing a file system.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the service request comprises a request for a list of files and the result set comprises the list of files, wherein invoking the native viewer comprises:

invoking a native file explorer to display the list of files in a form factor associated with the client device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the service request comprises a request for a file and the result set comprises content for the file, wherein invoking the native viewer comprises:

invoking a native file viewer to display the content of the file.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing the content at the client device, wherein additional requests for the file are serviced from the stored content rather than the remote desktop.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the additional requests are serviced from the stored content after the session between the client device and the remote desktop has ended.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a first portion of the content for the file, wherein the first portion is displayed in the native viewer; and

upon a further request, receiving a second portion of the content for the file, wherein the second portion is displayed in the native viewer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the service request is sent and the result set is received through a side channel to a main channel used for a remote desktop protocol session.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein if the client device does not include a native viewer to display the type of result set, the method further comprising:

communicating with a third party application to have the result displayed by the third party application; and

displaying a remote desktop representation of the third party application.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising using a local application to the client device that displays the result set using the native viewer and a third party application used to display an image of the remote desktop.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

performing authentication of the client device with the desktop management server; and

sending the request and receiving the result set through a tunnel created upon authentication through a desktop management server.

17. A method comprising:

establishing, at a remote desktop for a user, a session to a client device for the user, the session allowing the client device to remotely access the remote desktop to have one or more services performed for the user of the client device using resources of the remote desktop;

receiving, at a service agent of the remote desktop, a request from the client device for a service in the one or more services to be performed in the session;

causing the service to be performed by the remote desktop;

determining a result set from the service being performed; and

sending the result set to the client device, wherein the client device uses a native viewer to display the result set.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising processing the result set to optimize transmission of the result set.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the session between the remote desktop and the client device is established through a remote desktop server configured to manage access to the remote desktop.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein an audit trail for every file access is transmitted to a log file.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the remote desktop includes a plurality of service agents, and

different service agents process service requests of different types.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the service agent comprises a search service agent for searching the remote desktop, a browser service agent for performing a browser-based search, or a file explorer service agent for accessing a file system.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the service request is received and the result set is sent through a side channel to a main channel used for a remote desktop protocol session.

24. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to be operable to:

establish a session to a remote desktop determined for a user of a client device, the session allowing the client device to remotely access the remote desktop to have one or more services performed for the user of the client device using resources of the remote desktop;

send, from the client device, a request for a service in the one or more services to be performed on the remote desktop in the session;

receive a result set determined from the service being performed by the remote desktop;

determine a native viewer for the client device based on a type of the result set; and

invoke the native viewer to display the result set.