Sharing a content item

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10484456-B2
Application number	US-201715463927-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 20, 2017
Priority date	Mar 8, 2013
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

A content item on a content management system can be shared using a generated sharing link. The sharing link can be a custom network address, such as a uniform resource locator (URL), which allows the content item to be accessed without authentication. The sharing index and a content path of the content items can be listed in a sharing index used to identify the content upon a request initiated by the sharing link. The content management system can generate a content link to a content item upon receiving a sharing input from a user indicating the user wants to share a content item. Alternatively, in some embodiments, sharing links can be pre-generated by the content management system and stored on the client device. The sharing link can stored directly to a data buffer on the client device, such as a clipboard, where it can be accessed by the user.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
generating one or more sharing links for sharing one or more content items;
creating one or more entries in a sharing index at a content management system, the one or more entries corresponding to the one or more sharing links;
receiving, by the content management system from a first client device, a first content sharing request identifying a first sharing link having an entry in the sharing index, the first sharing link being associated with a content item corresponding to the first content sharing request, wherein the entry and the first sharing link do not include a content path of the content item;
determining that the first content sharing request specifies the content path of the content item associated with the first content sharing request; and
in response to determining that the first content sharing request specifies the content path, adding, by the content management system, the content path of the content item to the entry in the sharing index.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one entry from the one or more entries comprises a respective content path of a second content item associated with a respective one of the one or more sharing links, the method further comprising:
receiving the content item from the first client device; and
after adding the content path to the entry, storing the content item at a location identified by the content path.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a second client device, the first content sharing request identifying the first sharing link, wherein the first content sharing request is sent by the second client device in response to activating the first sharing link;
searching the sharing index for the first sharing link;
identifying the entry in the sharing index associated with the first sharing link;
retrieving, by the content management system, the content item from a location identified by the content path in the entry; and
sending, to the second client device, the content item from the location.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content management system implements a security policy configured to prevent unauthorized access to content items stored on the content management system, and wherein the first sharing link is configured to enable one or more client devices to access the content item on the content management system via the first sharing link without authenticating with the content management system according to the security policy.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, from a second client device, a content item request identifying a second sharing link, wherein the content item request is triggered by an activation of the second sharing link by the second client device;
searching the sharing index for the second sharing link;
identifying a second entry that identifies the second sharing link;
determining that the second entry is missing a second content path identifying a storage location of a second content item associated with the second sharing link; and
notifying the second client device that the second content item is not available.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
receiving from the first client device, the second content item and an indication of the second storage path;
storing the second content item at the storage location identified by the second content path;
updating the second entry to include the second content path for the second content item;
receiving, from the second client device, a second content item request identifying the second sharing link;
searching the sharing index for the second sharing link associated with the second content item request;
identifying the second entry identifying the second sharing link; and
returning, to the second client device, the second content item from the storage location associated with the second content path in the second entry.

7. A content management system comprising:
one or more processors; and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the content management system to:
generate one or more sharing links for sharing one or more content items;
prior to obtaining a respective content path for at least one of the one or more sharing links, create, for the one or more sharing links, respective entries in a sharing index at a content management system, each of the respective entries identifying a respective sharing link;
receive, from a first client device, a first content sharing request identifying a first sharing link in a respective entry from the sharing index, the first sharing link being associated with a respective content item associated with the first content sharing request, wherein the respective entry does not include a content path of the respective content item;
determine that the first content sharing request specifies the content path of the respective content item associated with the first content sharing request; and
in response to determining that the first content sharing request specifies the content path, update the respective entry in the sharing index to include the content path.

8. The content management system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more sharing links, when activated by a respective client device, cause the respective client device to send a respective sharing request to the content management system, wherein the first content sharing request is sent by the first client device upon the first client device activating the first sharing link.

9. The content management system of claim 7 , wherein the respective entry is generated by the content management system prior to receiving the respective content item or the content path of the respective content item, the at least one memory storing additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the content management system to:
after updating the respective entry to include the content path of the respective content item:
receive the respective content item;
in response to receiving the respective content item, identify the content path for the respective content item in the respective entry; and
store the respective content item at a location identified by the content path.

10. The content management system of claim 7 , the at least one memory storing additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the content management system to:
receive, from a second client device, a second request identifying the first sharing link;
search the sharing index for the first sharing link based on the second request;
identify the respective entry identifying the first sharing link;
retrieve the respective content item from the first content path in the respective entry; and
send the respective content item to the second client device.

11. The content management system of claim 7 , the at least one memory storing additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the content management system to:
generate a second sharing link configured to send a second content item request to the content management system;
create a second entry in the sharing index, the second entry identifying the second sharing link; and
send the second sharing link to one or more client devices.

12. The content management system of claim 7 , the at least one memory storing additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the content management system to:
receive, from a second client device, a content item request identifying a second sharing link, wherein the conte

Assignees

• Dropbox Inc

Inventors

• Litzenberger Dwayne
• Holden Matt
• Euresti David
• Larabie-Belanger Maxime
• Csaszar Ambrus
• Welinder Peter
• Jadot Bryan

Classifications

• G06F16/955

  using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL] · CPC title

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title

• H04L67/06 Primary

  specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP] · CPC title

• H04L67/146

  Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title