Backup user interface

• US 9,542,423 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Wolf, Christopher, Feldman, Daniel I., Weiss, Eric A., McIntyre, Kristen A., Cisler, Pavel, Blair, Richard B., Misaki, Erika
• Primary Examiner(s): THAI, HANH B
• Application Number:
  US13/839,358
• Publication Number:
  US 20140188808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• Field of Search: 707/654, 707662-663, 707/666
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/11 File system administration, e.g. details of archiving or snapshots file system backup G06F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for storing data are disclosed. In some implementations, visual representations of files are generated for presentation in a backup user interface. The visual representations are generated from sparse file system metadata stored on the computing device, thus allowing faster navigating of the backup user interface. During a restore operation, the metadata can be used to retrieve the items from their physical storage locations. In some implementations, when the storage capacity of a backup storage device exceeds a threshold, the data for the N oldest backups are replaced with sparse file system metadata, which can be used to generate visual representations for presentation in the backup user interface.

Claims

1. A method of restoring backup data on a computing device, the method comprising:

generating a backup of the computing device at a first time, wherein the backup comprises one or more copies of one or more items stored on the computing device;

subsequent to generating the backup, displaying a backup user interface on a display of the computing device, the backup user interface including a visual representation of a file system of the computing device according to the first time, the visual representation of the file system including a first icon representing a first item stored within the backup and a second icon representing a second item not stored within the backup;

receiving, via the backup user interface, a user request to restore the second item from the backup;

determining, at the computing device, that the second item was previously purchased or downloaded from an online store distinct from the backup; and

retrieving, using the computing device, a copy of the second item from the online store using information related to the purchase or download of the second item,

where the method is performed by one or more hardware processors.

2. The method of claim 1, where determining that the second item was previously purchased or downloaded from an online store further comprises:

associating a receipt file with the second item, where the receipt file was generated during the purchase or download of the second item.

3. The method of claim 2, where retrieving the copy of the second item from the online store using information related to the purchase or download of the second item, further comprises:

using information contained in the receipt file to establish a connection with a server in the online store and to download the copy of the second item to the computing device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the backup is remote from the computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the user request to restore the second item from the backup comprises receiving an indication that a user selected the second icon in the visual representation of the file system.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the online store is remote from the computing device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the online store and the computing device are communicatively coupled using a communications network.

8. A method of managing backups on a computing device, the method comprising:

determining that a backup storage device is low on storage capacity;

identifying N oldest backups, where N is a positive integer greater or equal to one;

removing items in the N oldest backups from the backup storage device;

replacing the removed items with sparse file system metadata, wherein the sparse file system metadata comprises an icon and a name for each removed item; and

generating visual representations of the removed items in one or more backup user interfaces using the metadata,

where the method is performed by one or more hardware processors.

9. The method of claim 8, where generating visual representations of the removed items in the one or more backup user interfaces using the metadata, includes performing a set operation between items of a current file system and items of a virtual file system or a set operation between items of two or more virtual file systems, to determine contents of the visual representations.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the contents of the visual representations are determined by identifying items to be added to the visual representations relative to a current state of a file system.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the contents of the visual representations are determined by identifying items to be removed from the visual representations relative to a current state of a file system.

12. A system for restoring backup data on a computing device, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured to store instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

generating a backup of the computing device at a first time;

subsequent to generating the backup, displaying a backup user interface on a display of the computing device, the backup user interface including a visual representation of a file system of the computing device according to the first time, the visual representation of the file system including a first icon representing a first item stored within the backup and a second icon representing a second item not stored within the backup;

receiving, via the backup user interface, a user request to restore the second item from the backup;

determining, at the computing device, that the second item was previously purchased or downloaded from an online store distinct from the backup; and

retrieving, using the computing device, a copy of the second item from the online store using information related to the purchase or download of the second item.

13. The system of claim 12, where determining that the second item was previously purchased or downloaded from an online store further comprises:

associating a receipt file with the second item, where the receipt file was generated during the purchase or download of the second item.

14. The system of claim 13, where retrieving the copy of the second item from the online store using information related to the purchase or download of the second item, further comprises:

using information contained in the receipt file to establish a connection with a server in the online store and to download the copy of the second item to the computing device.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the backup is remote from the computing device.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein receiving the user request to restore the second item from the backup comprises receiving an indication that a user selected the second icon in the visual representation of the file system.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the online store is remote from the computing device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the online store and the computing device are communicatively coupled using a communications network.

19. A system for managing backups on a computing device, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

memory coupled to the one or more processors and configured to store instructions, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

determining that a backup storage device is low on storage capacity;

identifying N oldest backups, where N is a positive integer greater or equal to one;

removing items in the N oldest backups from the backup storage device;

replacing the removed items with sparse file system metadata, wherein the sparse file system metadata comprises an icon and a name for each removed item; and

generating visual representations of the removed items in one or more backup user interfaces using the metadata.

20. The system of claim 19, where generating visual representations of the removed items in the one or more backup user interfaces using the metadata, includes performing a set operation between items of a current file system and items of a virtual file system or a set operation between items of two or more virtual file systems, to determine contents of the visual representations.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the contents of the visual representations are determined by identifying items to be added to the visual representations relative to a current state of a file system.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the contents of the visual representations are determined by identifying items to be removed from the visual representations relative to a current state of a file system.