Providing partial file stream for generating thumbnail

摘要

A partial file stream is utilized to conserve resources and provide services when a file stream such as video file stream is requested for processing to generate a thumbnail. A file stream host provides a partial file stream generated from the beginning and end parts of the video file stream adjoined by a middle part. The partial file stream minimizes resource utilization. The partial file stream also enables access by external processes to generate the thumbnail and minimize exposure to security risks by stopping direct access to the file stream host.

主权项

1. A method executed on a computing device to provide a partial file stream for generating a thumbnail, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a file stream to generate the thumbnail; determining a beginning part of the file stream and an end part of the file stream; generating the partial file stream with attributes similar to the file stream, by preserving the beginning part of the file stream, inserting zeros in place of data in an empty middle part by employing a New Technology File System (NTFS) sparse file feature to preserve bandwidth resources, and preserving the end part of the file stream, wherein the beginning part and the end part of the file stream include metadata associated with the file stream; and transmitting the partial file stream to a sandbox for processing through a video codec, wherein the video codec is enabled to generate the thumbnail from the metadata to minimize decoding time of the file stream by decoding the beginning of the file stream in the sandbox and the end part of the file stream in the sandbox.