Systems and methods for sharing documents

Abstract

Methods and systems for sharing electronic documents are described herein. The example method includes storing the electronic documents in a relational database storage; storing entity identifiers in the relational database storage, each entity identifier representing an entity type; recording in a non-relational database storage associations between the electronic documents and at least one entity identifier, each association comprising a relationship between a set of electronic documents and the at least one entity identifier; associating a delegate account with the at least one entity identifier; and based on an association recorded in the non-relational database storage for the at least one entity identifier, granting the delegate account a subset of document management functions available for the set of documents.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method for sharing a plurality of electronic documents, the method comprising:
 providing a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of entity identifiers in a relational database storage, a selected identifier of the plurality of entity identifiers defining a category of users;   providing, in a non-relational database storage, at least one association between the plurality of electronic documents and the selected identifier, wherein the non-relational database storage has reduced computational limitations for performing queries relative to the relational database storage, the at least one association comprising a relationship between a set of electronic documents from the plurality of electronic documents and the selected identifier;   identifying a delegate account associated with the selected entity identifier; and   based on an association provided in the non-relational database storage for the selected identifier, granting the delegate account a subset of document management functions from a set of document management functions available for the set of documents.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein each association provided in the non-relational database storage comprises a definition of the subset of document management functions for the set of documents and the selected identifier. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the set of document management functions comprise at least one of a modification function, a download function and a share function. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the delegate account is associated with a first set of documents and a second set of documents that is different from the first set of documents, and
 granting the delegate account the subset of document management functions comprises:   determining a first association between the first set of electronic documents and the selected identifier;   determining a second association between the second set of electronic documents and the selected identifier; and   granting the delegate account a first subset of document management functions for the first set of electronic documents based on the first association, and a second subset of document management functions for the second set of documents based on the second association.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the first subset of electronic document management functions is different from the second subset of document management functions. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the subset of electronic document management functions comprises a conditional access to the set of documents, the conditional access indicating access to the set of documents is contingent on an occurrence of an event defined by an owner of the set of documents. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein, for the set of documents, the non-relational database storage comprises a first association and a second association that is different from the first association; and
 the method comprises associating a first delegate account with a first entity identifier in the first association and a second delegate account with a second entity identifier in the second association, the second delegate account being different from the first delegate account.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the plurality of entity identifiers is comprised of a plurality of entity types, and wherein the selected identifier belongs to an entity type that defines the category of users. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the relational database storage comprises one or more relational databases organized based on a relational model. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the non-relational database storage comprises one or more non-relational databases organized based on a non-relational model. 
     
     
         31 . A system for sharing a plurality of electronic documents, the system comprising:
 a relational database storage storing:
 the plurality of electronic documents; and 
 a plurality of entity identifiers comprising a selected identifier of the plurality of entity identifiers that defines a category of users; 
   a non-relational database storage that has reduced computational limitations for performing queries relative to the relational database storage, the non-relational database storing at least one association between the plurality of electronic documents and the selected identifier, the at least one association comprising a relationship between a set of documents from the plurality of electronic documents and the selected identifier; and   a processor communicatively coupled to the relational database storage and the non-relational database storage via a network, the processor configured to:
 identify a delegate account associated with the selected entity identifier; and 
 based on an association provided in the non-relational database storage for the selected identifier, grant the delegate account a subset of document management functions from a set of document management functions available for the set of documents. 
   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein each association provided in the non-relational database storage comprises a definition of the subset of document management functions for the set of documents and the selected identifier. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the set of document management functions comprise at least one of a modification function, a download function and a share function. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the delegate account is associated with a first set of documents and a second set of documents that is different from the first set of documents, and
 the processor is further configured to:   determine a first association between the first set of documents and the at least one entity identifier;   determine a second association between the second set of documents and the selected identifier; and   grant the delegate account a first subset of document management functions for the first set of documents based on the first association, and a second subset of document management functions for the second set of documents based on the second association.   
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the first subset of document management functions is different from the second subset of document management functions. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the subset of document management functions comprises a conditional access to the set of documents, the conditional access indicating access to the set of documents is contingent on an occurrence of an event defined by an owner of the set of documents. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein, for the set of documents, the non-relational database storage comprises a first association and a second association that is different from the first association; and
 the processor is configured to associate a first delegate account with a first entity identifier in the first association and a second delegate account with a second entity identifier in the second association, the second delegate account being different from the first delegate account.   
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the plurality of entity identifiers is comprised of a plurality of entity types, and wherein the selected identifier belongs to an entity type that defines the category of users. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the relational database storage comprises one or more relational databases organized based on a relational model. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the non-relational database storage comprises one or more non-relational databases organized based on a non-relational model.