PRIORITIZING STRUCTURAL OPERATIONS AND DISTRIBUTING CHANGES IN A SYNCED ONLINE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

• US 20140181213A1
• Filed: 12/21/2012
• Published: 06/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Hunter, Rian, Euresti, David, Smith, Brian, Chen, Alicia, Sydell, Alex, Motes, Aston, Tang, Jie
• Granted Patent: US 10,348,821 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for prioritizing structural operations and distributing changes in a synced online content management system. An exemplary method can include receiving, from a first client device, a first structural operation for a particular content item and an account within the online content management system. The method can also include receiving, from a second client device, a competing structural operation for the particular content item and the account. The method can then include prioritizing the first structural operation from the first client device over the competing structural operation from the second client device based on predetermined factors. The method can then include executing the first structural operation for the particular content item and the account. The exemplary method can then include distributing the prioritized first structural operation to all synced devices for execution.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a first client device, a first structural operation for a particular content item associated with an account within a synced online content management system;

receiving, from a second client device, a competing structural operation for the particular content item associated with the account;

prioritizing, by a processor, the first structural operation from the first client device over the competing structural operation from the second client device based on at least one predetermined factor; and

executing the prioritized structural operation for the particular content item and the account.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one predetermined factor includes detected device type of the first client device and device type of the second client device, detected higher level of authority for the first client device and a lower level of authority for the second client device, or detected master access to the account for the first client and shared access to the account for the second client device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first client device type is a desktop computer and the second client device type is a mobile device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item from the account and the competing structural operation includes adding the particular content item to the account.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item and adding a renamed copy of the particular content item to the account.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item and adding an edited version of the particular content item to the account.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising sending a command to the second device to delete a local copy of the particular content item.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising, after executing the first structural operation, denying a request from a client device to add the particular content item to the account.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the particular content item is stored in memory together with an entry including identifying information and a key used to retrieve the particular content item from memory;

and

where the first structural operation is a structural operation to delete the particular content item from the account, deleting the particular content item by modifying the entry to reflect that the particular content item should no longer be displayed as being within the account when a client application accesses the account, and the particular content item should be deleted from memory associated with the second client device.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

adding a modified version of the particular content item by creating a new entry to reflect that the modified version of the particular content item should be displayed as being within the account when a client application accesses the account, and that the modified version of the particular content item should be added to memory associated with the second client device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein creating the key includes determining a hash value for the content item and using the determined hash value as the key.

12. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to:

receive, from a first client device, a first structural operation for a particular content item and an account within a synced online content management system;

receive, from a second client device, a competing structural operation for the particular content item and the account;

prioritize the first structural operation from the first client device over the competing structural operation from the second client device based on at least one predetermined factor; and

execute the prioritized structural operation for the particular content item and the account.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one predetermined factor includes detected device type of the first client device and device type of the second client device, detected higher level of authority for the first client device and a lower level of authority for the second client device, or detected master access to the account for the first client and shared access to the account for the second client device.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the first client device type is a desktop computer and the second client device type is a mobile device.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item from the account and the competing structural operation includes adding the particular content item to the account.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item and adding a renamed copy of the particular content item to the account.

17. A system comprising:

a processor; and

memory containing processor-executable structural operations that, when executed, cause the processor to;

receive, from a first client device, a first structural operation for a particular content item and an account within a synced online content management system;

receive, from a second client device, a competing structural operation for the particular content item and the account;

prioritize, by a processor, the first structural operation from the first client device over the competing structural operation from the second client device based on at least one predetermined factor; and

execute the prioritized structural operation for the particular content item and the account.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one predetermined factor includes detected device type of the first client device and device type of the second client device, detected higher level of authority for the first client device and a lower level of authority for the second client device, or detected master access to the account for the first client and shared access to the account for the second client device.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the first client device type is a desktop computer and the second client device type is a mobile device.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item from the account and the competing structural operation includes adding the particular content item to the account.

21. The system of claim 17, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item and adding a renamed copy of the particular content item to the account.

22. The system of claim 17, wherein the first structural operation includes deleting the particular content item and adding an edited version of the particular tile to the account.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising sending a command to the second device to delete a local copy of the particular content item.

24. The system of claim 22, further comprising, after executing the first structural operation, denying a request from a client device to add the particular content item to the account.