STORAGE CONSTRAINED SYNCHRONIZATION ENGINE

• US 20170308598A1
• Filed: 12/30/2016
• Published: 10/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.
• Inventors: Goldberg, Isaac, Newhouse, Benjamin Zeis
• Granted Patent: US 10,049,145 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/23 Updating
• 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

A content management system synchronizes content items across client computing systems connected by a network. If a storage allocation for shared content items on a client device is exceeded by the request to add or edit a content item such that it is enlarged, a client application or the host of content management system selects content items to remove from residence on the client device but keep remotely on content management system. Upon removal of the selected content items, the client application creates shadow items, representing the content item but only containing the metadata of the content item. This creates sufficient space while maintaining user access to all synchronized shared content items. Entries in a file journal may be used to track and manage whether a stored item is a content item or a shadow item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing, on the client device, a local file journal, the local file journal comprising a plurality of local entries, each of the plurality of local entries corresponding to a synchronized item on the client device, and having a local namespace ID of the synchronized item, a local journal ID of the synchronized item, a local blocklist of the synchronized item, a plurality of local attributes of the synchronized item, and wherein each synchronized item corresponds to a content item or a shadow item on the client device;

receiving, by a client device, an updated entry from a content management system, the updated entry including an updated namespace ID of content item, an updated journal ID of the content item, an updated blocklist of the content item, a plurality of updated attributes of the content item, and an updated sync type of the content item;

comparing the received updated entry to the plurality of local entries in the local file journal, to identify a shadow item on the client device representing the content stored on the content management system, wherein the shadow item includes at least the namespace ID of the represented content item and the journal ID of the represented content item without the content data of the represented content item;

updating the identified shadow item by replacing the namespace ID of the shadow item with the updated namespace ID and replacing the journal ID of the shadow item with the updated journal ID; and

replacing the local entry corresponding to the shadow item with the updated entry.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison identifying a difference between the updated blocklist and the blocklist of the identified shadow item, that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item;

downloading, from the content management system, blocks indicated by the updated blocklist of the content item; and

replacing in the client device the shadow item with the represented content item including the downloaded blocks.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising

determining, based on a force reconstruct value associated with the updated entry, that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item;

downloading, from the content management system, blocks indicated by the updated blocklist of the content item; and

replacing in the client device the shadow item with the represented content item including the downloaded blocks.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the updated entry includes an updated file path and each of the plurality of local entries includes a local file path and wherein comparing, the received updated entry to the plurality of local entries further comprises:

comparing the updated file path with the local file path of each of the plurality of local entries.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is to be relocated to a new file path; and

relocating the shadow item on the client device at a location indicated by the updated file path.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is pending based on a change by a user of the client device; and

performing conflict resolution, based on an updated modification time included in the updated entry and a modification time of the shadow item.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, responsive to determining that the modification time of the shadow item is later than the updated modification time:

committing the change by the user of the client device to the content management system.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a client device, cause the client device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the client device, an updated entry from a content management system, the updated entry including an updated namespace ID, an updated journal ID, an updated blocklist, a plurality of updated attributes, and an updated sync type;

comparing the received updated entry to a plurality of local entries, each of the plurality of local entries having a local namespace ID, a local journal ID, a local blocklist, a plurality of local attributes, and wherein each local entry corresponds to a content item or a shadow item on the client device;

identifying, based on the comparison, a shadow item on the client device, the shadow item representing a content item stored on the content management system, wherein the shadow item includes at least the namespace ID of the represented content item and the journal ID of the represented content item without the content data of the represented content item;

updating the identified shadow item by replacing the namespace ID of the shadow item with the updated namespace ID and replacing the journal ID of the shadow item with the updated journal ID; and

replacing the local entry corresponding to the shadow item with the updated entry.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item;

downloading, from the content management system, blocks indicated by the updated blocklist; and

replacing in the client device the shadow item with the represented content item including the downloaded blocks.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the determination that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item is made based on a force reconstruct value associated with the updated entry.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the updated entry includes an updated file path and each of the plurality of local entries includes a local file path and wherein comparing the received updated entry to the plurality of local entries further comprises:

comparing the updated file path with the local file path of each of the plurality of local entries.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is to be relocated to a new file path; and

relocating the shadow item on the client device at a location indicated by the updated file path.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is pending based on a change by a user of the client device; and

performing conflict resolution, based on an updated modification time included in the updated entry and a modification time of the shadow item.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising, responsive to determining that the modification time of the shadow item is later than the updated modification time:

committing the change by the user of the client device to the content management system.

15. A system comprising:

a processor, and

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by a client device, an updated entry from a content management system, the updated entry including an updated namespace ID, an updated journal ID, an updated blocklist, a plurality of updated attributes, and an updated sync type;

comparing the received updated entry to a plurality of local entries, each of the plurality of local entries having a local namespace ID, a local journal ID, a local blocklist, a plurality of local attributes, and wherein each local entry corresponds to a content item or a shadow item on the client device;

identifying, based on the comparison, a shadow item on the client device, the shadow item representing a content item stored on the content management system, wherein the shadow item includes at least the namespace ID of the represented content item and the journal ID of the represented content item without the content data of the represented content item;

updating the identified shadow item by replacing the namespace ID of the shadow item with the updated namespace ID and replacing the journal ID of the shadow item with the updated journal ID; and

replacing the local entry corresponding to the shadow item with the updated entry.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item;

downloading, from the content management system, blocks indicated by the updated blocklist; and

replacing in the client device the shadow item with the represented content item including the downloaded blocks.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the determination that the shadow item is to be replaced with the represented content item is made based on a force reconstruct value associated with the updated entry.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the updated entry includes an updated file path and each of the plurality of local entries includes a local file path and wherein comparing, the received updated entry to the plurality of local entries further comprises:

comparing the updated file path with the local file path of each of the plurality of local entries.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is to be relocated to a new file path; and

relocating the shadow item on the client device at a location indicated by the updated file path.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

determining, based on the comparison, that the shadow item is pending based on a change by a user of the client device; and

performing conflict resolution, based on an updated modification time included in the updated entry and a modification time of the shadow item.