Deleting a file on reading of the file

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9251257-B2
Application number	US-91069910-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 22, 2010
Priority date	Oct 22, 2010
Publication date	Feb 2, 2016
Grant date	Feb 2, 2016

Abstract

A digital file may be stored on a storage device and deleted upon reading of the file. In one example, at least a portion of the stored file may be read, such as by a processor. In response to the reading of the stored file, at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read may be deleted. In further examples, the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file may be deleted progressively while the stored file is being read, after a triggering event, or after a delay in time. According to another example, a user may provide an indication representative of the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that is to be deleted after the at least a portion of the stored file is read.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
storing a digital file on a non-volatile storage device;
executing an extension for an application associated with the digital file stored on the non-volatile storage device, the extension being requested by a user and executed by the application using one or more of an open() flag and a an madvise() function call, the extension configured to:
instruct a user to provide input for an amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted and a triggering event before the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted, the input for the amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted comprising a percentage of a read portion of the stored file, the percentage of the read portion of the stored file being less than a total amount of the read portion of the stored file, the triggering event selected from the group consisting of: ending a current reading of the stored file and then resuming reading of the file, reading an additional digital file different from the stored digital file after reading the stored digital file, storing an additional digital file different from the stored digital file after reading the stored digital file, and determining that a system comprising the processor has powered off then powered on again, wherein the user selects the percentage of the read portion of the stored file to be deleted and the triggering event from a list of predefined percentages and triggering events presented to the user;
receive, from the user, input for an amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted and a triggering event before the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted;
read with a processor at least a portion of the stored file, in response to receiving the input;
monitor for the triggering event; and
in response to the reading of the stored file and detecting the triggering event, one of (1) delete, from the storage device, only the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read and (2) delete, from the storage device, at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read after a user-inputted delay period.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising receiving, from the user, input for a delay period before the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein reading at least a portion of the stored file includes reading only a portion of the stored file.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stored file comprises a set of data blocks, reading at least a portion of the stored file comprises reading one or more data blocks from the set of data blocks, and receiving input for an amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted comprises receiving a selection of a range of read data blocks to be deleted.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein reading with a processor at least a portion of the stored file comprises loading the at least a portion of the stored file into a cache memory, the cache memory being separate from the storage device, and deleting only the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file comprises deleting from the storage device the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file read into the cache memory.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether all of the stored file is read; and
deleting all of the stored file in response to detecting the triggering event and all of the stored file being read.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising a flag that indicates that data blocks that have been read into a cache for the non-volatile storage device are to be deleted.

8. A system comprising:
a processor;
a memory operatively coupled to the processor; and
a non-volatile storage device operatively coupled to the processor and storing a digital file,
the memory storing instructions that are executed by the processor to:
execute an extension for an application associated with the digital file stored on the non-volatile storage device, the extension being requested by a user and executed by the application using one or more of an open() flag and a an madvise() function call, the extension configured to:
instruct a user to provide input for at least one of (1) an amount of the at least a portion of stored file to be deleted, the input for the amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted comprising a percentage of a read portion of the stored file, the percentage of the read portion of the stored file being less than a total amount of the read portion of the stored file, and (2) triggering event before the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted, the triggering event selected from the group consisting of:
ending a current reading of the stored file and then resuming reading of the file, reading an additional digital file different from the stored digital file after reading the stored digital file, storing an additional digital file different from the stored digital file after reading the stored digital file, and determining that a system comprising the processor has powered off then powered on again, wherein the user selects the percentage of the read portion of the stored file to be deleted and the triggering event from a list of predefined percentages and triggering events presented to the user;

receive, from the user, input for at least one of (1) an amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted and (2) a triggering event before the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted;
read at least a portion of the stored file, in response to receiving the input;
monitor for the triggering event; and
in response to the reading of the stored file and detecting the triggering event, one of (1) delete only the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read and (2) delete at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read after a user-inputted delay period.

9. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that are executed by the processor to receive, from the user, input for a delay period before the at least part of the at least a portion of the stored file is deleted.

10. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the stored file comprises a set of data blocks, the instructions to read at least a portion of the stored file comprise instructions to read one or more data blocks from the set of data blocks, and the instructions to receive input for an amount of the at least a portion of the stored file to be deleted comprises instructions to receive a selection of a range of read data blocks to be deleted.

11. The system according to claim 8 , further comprising:
a cache memory operatively coupled to the processor and separate from the storage device, wherein the instructions to read least a portion of the stored file comprises instructions to read the at least a portion of the stored file into the cache memory and the instructions to delete only the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file that has been read comprises instructions to delete from the storage device the user-inputted amount of the at least a portion of the stored file read into the cache memory.

12. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that are executed by the processor to:
determine whether all of the stored file is read; and
delete all of the stored file in response to detecting the triggering event and all of

Assignees

• Johnson Alexander C
• Pulavarty Badari
• IBM

Inventors

• Johnson Alexander C
• Pulavarty Badari

Classifications

• G06F16/78 Primary

  Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually · CPC title

• H04N21/472

  End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content {(end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612)} · CPC title

• G11B27/105

  of operating discs · CPC title

• G11B27/034 Primary

  on discs (G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence) · CPC title

• G06F17/30817 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic