Methods, Systems, And Computer Program Products For Automatically Associating Data With A Resource As Metadata Based On A Characteristic Of The Resource

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for automatically associating data with a resource as metadata based on a characteristic of the resource are disclosed. According to one method, at least one metadata association rule is obtained for a metadata associator. Each metadata association rule specifies a data value to be associated with a resource as metadata based on a characteristic of the resource. A user interface is provided for associating at least one resource with a metadata associator. In response to a resource being associated with the metadata associator via the user interface, the data value is associated with the resource as metadata based on the metadata association rule. The specified data value may be defined independently of both the resource and a file system with which the resource is associated.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for automatically associating data with a resource as metadata, the method comprising:
 obtaining at least one metadata association rule for a metadata associator, each of the at least one metadata association rule specifying a data value to be associated with a resource as metadata based on a characteristic of the resource, the data value defined independently from a file system with which the resource is associated;   providing a user interface for associating at least one resource with the metadata associator; and   in response to the at least one resource being associated with the metadata associator via the user interface, determining, for each data value, whether a metadata field associated with the resource with which the data value is to be associated contains data that is equivalent to the data value and automatically associating the data value with the resource as metadata based on the metadata association rule only in response to determining that the metadata field does not contain data that is equivalent to the data value.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the metadata association rule specifies different data values to be associated with resources as metadata in response to the resources having different characteristics. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  comprising disassociating the metadata association rule from the metadata associator and, in response, automatically disassociating the data value from the resource. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  comprising disassociating the metadata association rule from the metadata associator, and, in response, maintaining the association between the data value and the resource. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  comprising associating the data value with resources associated with metadata associators that are associated with the metadata associator. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein associating the data value with the resource includes at least one of storing the data value within the resource and storing the data value separately from the resource in a location or data structure linked to the resource. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  comprising associating the resource with a plurality of metadata associators and associating corresponding data values with the resource as metadata based on metadata association rules defined for each of the metadata associators. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the data value to be associated with the resource comprises a user-defined data value. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the data value to be associated with the resource comprises an emotional indication of content of the at least one resource. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the metadata associator comprises a file folder. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the metadata associator comprises a smart folder. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the metadata associator comprises a database. 
     
     
         13 . A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing steps comprising:
 obtaining at least one metadata association rule for a metadata associator, each of the at least one metadata association rule specifying a data value to be associated with a resource as metadata based on a characteristic of the resource, the data value defined independently from a file system with which the resource is associated;   providing a user interface for associating at least one resource with the metadata associator; and   in response to the at least one resource being associated with the metadata associator via the user interface, determining, for each data value, whether a metadata field associated with the resource with which the data value is to be associated contains data that is equivalent to the data value and automatically associating the data value with the resource as metadata based on the metadata association rule only in response to determining that the metadata field does not contain data that is equivalent to the data value.   
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 13  wherein the metadata association rule specifies different data values to be associated with resources as metadata in response to the resources having different characteristics. 
     
     
         15 . The computer program product of  claim 13  comprising disassociating the metadata association rule from the metadata associator and, in response, automatically disassociating the data value from the resource. 
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 13  comprising disassociating the metadata association rule from the metadata associator, and, in response, maintaining the association between the data value and the resource. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 13  comprising associating the data value with resources that are associated with other metadata associators that are associated with the metadata associator. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 13  wherein associating the data value with the resource includes at least one of storing the data value within the resource and storing the data value separately from the resource in a location or data structure linked to the resource. 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 13  comprising associating the resource with a plurality of metadata associators and associating corresponding data values with the resource as metadata based on metadata association rules defined for each of the metadata associators. 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 13  wherein the data value to be associated with the resource comprises a user-defined data value. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 13  wherein the data value to be associated with the resource comprises an emotional indication of content of the at least one resource.