File system active symbolic link

摘要

Data stored on a storage medium can be referenced by multiple independently addressable active symbolic links, with each active symbolic link representing the data through a different transformation. The active symbolic links can be in the form of file system objects, such as files or directories. A single active symbolic link can reference the data stored in multiple collections, or, conversely, a subset of data from a single collection. Active symbolic links can be automatically created for common data transformations. Searching across active symbolic links referencing encrypted data can be performed by multiple protection-specific search engines, or a single search engine that can generate a protection-level aware search index.

主权项

1. One or more computer-readable memory comprising computer-executable instructions for implementing active symbolic links, the computer-executable instructions directed to steps comprising:
presenting a first file system object that represents a first set of data stored on a storage medium, the first file system object comprising a hard link to the first set of data; presenting a second file system object that represents a second set of data, the second file system object comprising an active symbolic link to the first set of data, the active symbolic link identifying transformation computer-executable instructions; receiving a selection of the presented second file system object; obtaining at least a portion of the first set of data from the storage medium; providing the obtained at least a portion of the first set of data to the transformation computer-executable instructions; and providing the second set of data in response to the selection of the presented second file system object; wherein the second set of data is an unencrypted file and the first set of data that is stored on the storage medium is an encrypted version of the unencrypted file.