Undo changes on a client device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9892000-B2
Application number	US-201414473931-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2014
Priority date	Aug 29, 2014
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

In some implementations, a user can be notified when a content item operation initiated by the user on a client device may render a shared or linked content item inaccessible to the user or others. The notification can give the user an option to undo the content item operation. In some implementations, movement of a content item from one directory location to another directory location can be recorded in entries of a local content journal. The local content journal entries can be shared with a content management system and other client devices so that the corresponding content items on the client devices can be moved without downloading additional copies of the content item to the client devices.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a client device, a move instruction for moving a local copy of a shared content item from a current location on the client device to a destination location, wherein the shared content item is shared between a first user account associated with the client device and one or more second user accounts associated with one or more client devices, the one or more client devices storing respective copies of the shared content item that are synchronized between the current location and respective locations on the one or more client devices;
in response to the move instruction, determining, based on synchronization data, that implementing the move instruction to move the local copy of the shared content item to the destination location causes the respective copies of the shared content item to be deleted from the respective locations on the one or more client devices and whereby the shared content item will become inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts;
in response to determining that moving the local copy to the destination location causes the respective copies to be deleted from the respective locations and the shared content item will become inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts, presenting, on a display of the client device, a prompt comprising:
a notification that moving the local copy of the shared content item from the current location to the destination location will cause the respective copies of the shared content item to be deleted from the respective locations and the shared content item will become inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts;
a first option to undo a move operation associated with the move instruction; and
a second option to accept the moving of the local copy of the shared content item from the current location to the destination location; and

in response to receiving a selection of the first option, undoing the move operation associated with the move instruction, wherein undoing the move operation comprises returning the copy of the shared content item to the current location at the client device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining metadata associated with the shared content item; and
determining, based on the metadata, that the shared content item is shared between the first user account and the one or more second user accounts.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the metadata includes a shared flag that indicates that the shared content item is shared.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the metadata includes a shared flag that indicates that a URL has been generated for the shared content item.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the move operation comprises moving the shared content item from the current location to the destination location, and wherein the move operation causes the shared content item to be deleted from the current location.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination location resides on the client device and is accessible to the first user account.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
before the move instruction, synchronizing the shared content item with a content management system;
before the move instruction, receiving an instruction to share the shared content item via using the content management system with the second one or more user accounts;
in response to the move instruction, determining that the move instruction will cause the shared content item to be removed from the content management system; and
determining that the shared content item will not be accessible to the second one or more user accounts based on the shared content item no longer being available on the content management system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the shared content item to the current location includes:
determining the current location of the shared content item by referencing a local content item journal, the local content item journal containing an entry for the move instruction; and
deleting the entry for the move instruction.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
detect a move operation for relocating a local copy of a shared content item from a current location on a client device to a destination location, wherein the shared content item is shared between a first user account associated with the client device and one or more second user accounts associated with one or more client devices, the one or more client devices storing respective copies of the shared content item that are synchronized between the current location and respective locations on the one or more client devices;
in response to detecting the move operation, determine, based on synchronization data, that the move operation for relocating the local copy of the shared content item to the destination location will cause the respective copies of the shared content item to be removed from the respective locations on the one or more client devices and the shared content item to be inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts;
in response to determining that relocating the local copy to the destination location will cause the respective copies to be removed from the respective locations and the shared content item to be inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts, present a prompt comprising:
a notification that relocating the local copy of the shared content item from the current location to the destination location will cause the respective copies of the shared content item to be removed from the respective locations and the shared content item to be inaccessible to the one or more second user accounts;
a first option to undo the move operation; and
a second option to accept the move operation for relocating the local copy of the shared content item from the current location to the destination location; and

in response to receiving a selection of the first option, undo the move operation to return the local copy of the shared content item to the current location.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein relocating the shared content item from the current location to the destination location causes the shared content item to be removed from the current location on the client device and the respective locations on the one or more client devices.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the current location has a shared setting providing the first user account and the one or more second user accounts shared access to the current location, wherein the destination location is outside of the current location and does not have the shared setting, and wherein relocating the local copy of the shared content item to the destination location outside of the current location causes deletion of a respective shared setting associated with the shared content item, and removes the respective copies of the shared content item from the one or more client devices.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , storing additional instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
in response to the move operation, adding an entry to a content journal stored on the client device, wherein the entry added to the content journal indicates that the shared content item has been removed from the current location.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , storing additional instructions which, when executed by one or more processors,

Assignees

• Dropbox Inc

Inventors

• Kapoor Shiv

Classifications

• G06F9/30032

  Movement instructions, e.g. MOVE, SHIFT, ROTATE, SHUFFLE · CPC title

• G06F16/162 Primary

  Delete operations (erasing in storage systems G06F3/0652) · CPC title

• G06F11/1446 Primary

  Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data · CPC title

• G06F17/30117

  Physics · mapped topic