Indexing documents in a nested hierarchy of directories

Abstract

An online storage system receives a plurality of documents to be stored in a directory. The storage system stores document data from each document in a document database. The storage system generates an entry for each document in an entry table and indexes the documents stored in the directory. The storage system samples a subset of the plurality of documents assigned to the directory in a directory index to determine a sampled subset of the plurality of documents. The storage system indexes the sampled subset in a directory index. The storage system can receive a request, from a client device, to view the indexed documents in the directory. Responsive to the request, the storage system presents the indexed documents in the directory retrieved from the directory index.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of documents to be stored in a directory;   storing document data from each document of the plurality of documents in a document database;   sampling a subset of the plurality of documents assigned to the directory in a directory index to determine a sampled subset of the plurality of documents;   indexing each document of the sampled subset in a directory index;   using the directory index to process requests.