File sharing using remote applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016127447-A1
Application number	US-201414530618-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 31, 2014
Priority date	Oct 31, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed herein for file sharing using remote applications. One embodiment provides a computer-implemented method that includes receiving, at a computing device, a selection of a reference for accessing the file, where the reference includes a first identifier specifying the file stored on a host server remotely located with respect to the computing device and a second identifier specifying an application that is running on the host server and that is configured to open files of a same type as the file. The method further includes establishing a remote connection to the application specified by the second identifier, by connecting to the host server and causing the application to be launched on the host server. In addition, the method includes causing the application to open the file specified by the first identifier and the user interface of the application to be remoted to the computing device.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A method for sharing a file, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, a selection of a reference for accessing the file, wherein the reference includes a first identifier specifying the file stored on a host server remotely located with respect to the computing device and a second identifier specifying an application that is running on the host server and that is configured to open files of a same type as the file; establishing a remote connection to the application specified by the second identifier, by connecting to the host server and causing the application to be launched on the host server; and causing the application to open the file specified by the first identifier and the user interface of the application to be remoted to the computing device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
launching, in the computing device, a remote access client in response to receiving the selection of the reference, wherein the remote access client connects to the application that is operating on a virtualized workload container on the host server and causes the application to open the file.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference is a uniform resource indicator (URI), and wherein the reference is selected by clicking on the URI.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
authenticating the connection to the application, wherein the reference further includes one or more credentials or tokens used in the authentication.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more credentials or tokens include one-time authentication credentials which are invalidated by the host server after a single use.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference is generated in response to a user dragging the file to a predefined area of a window of a remote access client.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is remoted from the application running in a virtualized workload container on the host server by:
causing display information that is generated by the application to be transmitted from the host server to the computing device; rendering the display information on the computing device by a remote access client; receiving user input by the remote access client on the computing device; and transmitting the user input to the host server.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a server executing the application maintains a list of devices permitted to use the reference, and wherein the connection to the application specified by the second identifier is established in response to determining that a device making the connection is in the list of devices permitted to use the reference.

9 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program instructions for sharing a file, the computer program instructions implementing operations comprising:
receiving, at a computing device, a selection of a reference for accessing the file, wherein the reference includes a first identifier specifying the file stored on a host server remotely located with respect to the computing device and a second identifier specifying an application that is running on the host server and that is configured to open files of a same type as the file; establishing a remote connection to the application specified by the second identifier, by connecting to the host server and causing the application to be launched on the host server; and causing the application to open the file specified by the first identifier and the user interface of the application to be remoted to the computing device.

10 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
launching, in the computing device, a remote access client in response to receiving the selection of the reference, wherein the remote access client connects to the application that is operating on a virtualized workload container on the host server and causes the application to open the file.

11 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the reference is a uniform resource indicator (URI), and wherein the reference is selected by clicking on the URI.

12 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:
authenticating the connection to the application, wherein the reference further includes one or more credentials or tokens used in the authentication.

13 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the one or more credentials or tokens include one-time authentication credentials which are invalidated by the host server after a single use.

14 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the reference is generated in response to a user dragging the file to a predefined area of a window of a remote access client.

15 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the user interface is remoted from the application running in a virtualized workload container on the host server by:
causing display information that is generated by the application to be transmitted from the host server to the computing device; rendering the display information on the computing device by a remote access client; receiving user input by the remote access client on the computing device; and transmitting the user input to the host server.

16 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein a server executing the application maintains a list of devices permitted to use the reference, and wherein the connection to the application specified by the second identifier is established in response to determining that a device making the connection is in the list of devices permitted to use the reference.

17 . A system, comprising:
a processor; and a memory, wherein the memory includes a program for sharing a file, the program being configured to perform operations, comprising:
receiving a selection of a reference for accessing the file, wherein the reference includes a first identifier specifying the file stored on a host server remotely located with respect to the system and a second identifier specifying an application that is running on the host server and that is configured to open files of a same type as the file,
establishing a remote connection to the application specified by the second identifier, by connecting to the host server and causing the application to be launched on the host server, and
causing the application to open the file specified by the first identifier and the user interface of the application to be remoted to the system.

18 . The system of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
launching a remote access client in response to receiving the selection of the reference, wherein the remote access client connects to the application that is operating on a virtualized workload container on the host server and causes the application to open the file.

19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the reference is a uniform resource indicator (URI), and wherein the reference is selected by clicking on the URI or on a shortcut which includes the URI.

20 . The system of claim 17 , the operations further comprising:
authenticating the connection to the application, wherein the reference further includes one or more credentials or tokens used in the authentication.

Assignees

• Vmware Inc

Inventors

• Jiang hai ou
• Wang Dong
• Shi Kun
• Yu Jin
• Shao Wenlong
• Yan Feng

Classifications

• G06F3/038 Primary

  Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry · CPC title

• H04L67/06 Primary

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

• H04L67/42

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/01

  Protocols · CPC title

• G06F16/10

  File systems; File servers · CPC title