System, method, and computer program for enabling a user to access and edit via a virtual drive objects synchronized to a plurality of synchronization clients

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program for enabling a user to edit and access local and remote objects via a virtual drive, including objects synchronized to a plurality of synchronization clients. A virtual drive is displayed on the user's local client device with all objects, which a user has synchronized to a synchronization server. A user is able to access and edit any object displayed in the virtual drive. In response to detecting a change in an object in the virtual drive, the object is updated on the synchronization server. All remote clients of the user or of any other users who have access to the changed folder are identified and notified of the change. In response to the change being a change to content within the folder, the content of the folder is automatically updated on any identified remote clients that have a corresponding folder.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 generating a plurality of references associated with a plurality of content items stored at a content management system;   providing, to a first client device, the plurality of references, wherein providing the plurality of references causes the first client device to display graphical elements corresponding to the plurality of references;   receiving, from the first client device, an indication of one or more user interactions with a graphical element corresponding to a reference from the plurality of references; and   performing, at the content management system, an action with respect to a content item associated with the reference based on the one or more user interactions with the graphical element.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein a given reference of the plurality of references indicates a file system location within the content management system for a corresponding given content item of the plurality of content items. 
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing the action with respect to the content item by sharing the content item with a second client device. 
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , further comprising sharing the content item with the second client device by providing the second client device with an instance of the reference corresponding to the content item. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , further comprising sharing the content item with the second client device by providing the second client device with a copy of the content item. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein performing the action with respect to the content item comprises changing permission settings corresponding to the content item. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving an indication of the one or more user interactions with the graphical element corresponding to the reference comprises receiving metadata indicating an attribute change for the content item. 
     
     
         8 . A system, comprising:
 at least one processor; and   a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
 generate a plurality of references associated with a plurality of content items stored at a content management system; 
 provide, to a first client device, the plurality of references, wherein providing the plurality of references causes the first client device to display graphical elements corresponding to the plurality of references; 
 receive, from the first client device, an indication of one or more user interactions with a graphical element corresponding to a reference from the plurality of references; and 
 perform, at the content management system, an action with respect to a content item associated with the reference based on the one or more user interactions with the graphical element. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein providing the plurality of references to the first client device comprises providing metadata for each of the plurality of references, the metadata indicating attributes of the plurality of content items associated with the plurality of references. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein receiving the indication of the one or more user interactions with the graphical element corresponding to the reference comprises receiving a metadata update indicating an attribute change for the content item. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein performing the action with respect to the content item comprises sharing the content item with a second client device. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, wherein sharing the content item with the second client device comprises providing the second client device with an instance of the reference corresponding to the content item. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein sharing the content item with the second client device comprises providing the second client device with a copy of the content item. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to perform the action with respect to the content item by changing permission settings corresponding to the content item. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes a computing device to:
 receive, from a content management system, a plurality of references associated with a plurality of content items stored at a content management system;   provide for display graphical elements corresponding to the plurality of references;   receive an indication of one or more user interactions with a graphical element corresponding to a reference from the plurality of references; and   provide, to the content management system, instructions to perform an action with respect to a content item associated with the reference based on the one or more user interactions with the graphical element.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions to perform the action with respect to the content item comprise instructions to share the content item with another computing device. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions to perform the action with respect to the content item comprise instructions to change a permission setting for the content item. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions to perform the action with respect to the content item comprise instructions to change synchronization settings for the content item. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions to perform the action comprises metadata updates for the content item, the metadata updates changing attributes associated with the content item. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein receiving the indication of the one or more user interactions with the graphical element corresponding to the reference comprises detecting a right click with respect to the graphical element corresponding to the reference.