Universal file type preview for mobile devices

• US 9,195,636 B2
• Filed: 03/07/2012
• Issued: 11/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Box Incorporated
• Inventors: Smith, Michael, Seibert, Jeffrey H. Jr., Silva, Nicholas
• Primary Examiner(s): Baderman, Scott
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kells, Asher
• Application Number:
  US13/414,480
• Publication Number:
  US 20130238969A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing previews to mobile client devices of files stored in a web-based collaboration platform are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system sends a request to preview a file uploaded to the web-based collaboration platform. The system receives preview information for accessing and manipulating preview of the uploaded file. The preview information includes a scheme for accessing file segments of the preview of the uploaded file. The file segments are byproducts of a conversion of the file from the source format to a target format and have a requested preview format. The system further includes a viewer to access the file segments of the uploaded file using the scheme. The viewer displays the accessed file segments on a touch screen responsive to swiping actions on the touch screen, the swiping actions determined based on the source format.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

sending, from a mobile client device, a request to preview a file uploaded to a cloud-based collaboration platform, the uploaded file having a source format, the mobile client device having a touch screen interface;

receiving, at the mobile client device, preview information for accessing and manipulating a preview of the uploaded file, the preview information including;

a scheme to access one or more intermediate file segments of the uploaded file;

wherein the intermediate file segments are intermediate byproducts of a conversion of the file from the source format to a target format; and

information identifying the source format of the file;

accessing the one or more file intermediate segments of the uploaded file using the scheme; and

displaying, at the mobile client device, the accessed file segments on a touch screen of the mobile client device, the displayed segments being responsive to swiping actions determined based on the source format;

identifying a swiping action at the touch screen interface of the mobile client device;

interpreting the swiping action at the mobile client device to identify an instruction based on the received information identifying the source format; and

performing, at the mobile client device, the instruction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction comprises a request for one or more additional segments to be displayed on the mobile client device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction comprises a request to annotate one or more sections of the displayed segment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction comprises a request to adjust the displayed segment on the touch screen of the mobile client device.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, at the mobile client device, notification that the file was uploaded to the web-based collaboration platform prior to sending the request to preview the uploaded file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to preview the file includes the requested preview format.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the scheme to access the one or more file segments of the uploaded file includes one or more uniform resource locators.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the preview information comprises meta data.

9. A system, comprising:

a wireless communication interface configured to send a request to preview a file uploaded to a cloud-based collaboration platform, the uploaded file having a source format, and receive preview information for accessing and manipulating a preview of the uploaded file, the preview information including;

a scheme to access one or more intermediate file segments of the uploaded file,

wherein the intermediate file segments are intermediate byproducts of a conversion of the file from the source format to a target format;

information identifying the source format of the file; and

a viewer configured to;

access the one or more file segments of the uploaded file using the scheme;

display the accessed file segments on a touch screen, wherein the displayed segments are responsive to swiping actions on the touch screen determined based on the source format;

identify a swiping action at the touch screen of the mobile client device;

interpret the swiping action to identify an instruction based on the received information, and

perform the instruction.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the instruction comprises a modification to the displayed file segment.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the wireless communication interface is further configured to send the modified file segment to the web-based collaboration platform.

12. The system of claim 9, the wireless communication interface further configured to receive a notification that the file was uploaded to the web-based collaboration platform prior to sending the request to preview the uploaded file.

13. The system of claim 9, the viewer further configured to modify the segments displayed on the touch screen and the wireless communication interface further configured to send the modified segments to the web-based collaboration platform.

14. A method for providing access to a preview of a file uploaded to a cloud-based collaboration environment, the file having a source format, the method comprising:

in response to a conversion event, converting, at a server, the file from the source format to a target format, the conversion resulting in a plurality of intermediate file segment byproducts having an intermediate format;

receiving, at the server, a request from a mobile client device to preview the file;

identifying, at the server, the type of the mobile client device requesting the preview;

in response to receiving the request, generating, at the server, preview information for accessing the preview of the file from the mobile client device, the preview information including;

a scheme to access one or more intermediate file segments of the uploaded file, the scheme based on the identified type of mobile client device; and

information identifying the source format of the file;

selecting, at the server, one or more of the intermediate file segments based on the intermediate file format and type of the mobile client device; and

providing the preview information and the one or more of the intermediate file segments to the mobile client device for display on a touch screen of the mobile client device;

wherein the preview information enables identification of a swiping action at a touch screen of the mobile client device, interpretation of the swiping actions to identify an instruction based on the source format and the type of mobile client device, and performance at the mobile client device, of the instruction.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

prior to providing the intermediate file segments to the mobile client device, altering the intermediate format of one or more of the intermediate file segments based on a type of the mobile client device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein altering the intermediate format of the one or more of the intermediate file segments comprises converting the one or more of the intermediate file segments to a requested preview format.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the request to preview the file includes the requested preview format.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the preview information provides the mobile client device with a uniform resource locator (URL) to access each of the intermediate file segments.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the preview information provides a scheme to alter the one or more of the intermediate file segments at the mobile client device.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the preview information comprises a total number of the intermediate file segments.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the conversion event comprises an indication that the file has been uploaded to the web-based collaboration platform.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the conversion event comprises an indication of a first preview of the file.

23. The method of claim 14, wherein the conversion event comprises an indication of a pattern of previously downloaded files.

24. The method of claim 14, wherein the mobile client device can commence preview prior to receiving all of the intermediate file segments associated with the file.

25. A non-transient computer readable medium comprising a set of instructions for causing a computer to perform the steps of:

sending, from a mobile client device, a request to preview a file uploaded to a cloud-based collaboration platform, the uploaded file having a source format, the mobile client device having a touch screen interface;

receiving, at the mobile client device, preview information for accessing and manipulating a preview of the uploaded file, the preview information including;

a scheme to access one or more intermediate file segments of the uploaded file;

wherein the intermediate file segments are intermediate byproducts of a conversion of the file from the source format to a target format; and

information identifying the source format of the file;

accessing the one or more file intermediate segments of the uploaded file using the scheme; and

displaying, at the mobile client device, the accessed file segments on a touch screen of the mobile client device, the displayed segments being responsive to swiping actions determined based on the source format;

identifying a swiping action at the touch screen interface of the mobile client device;

interpreting the swiping action at the mobile client device to identify a particular instruction based on the received information identifying the source format; and

performing, at the mobile client device, the particular instruction.

26. The non-transient computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the particular instruction comprises a request to adjust the displayed segment on the touch screen of the mobile client device.