Internal folder sharing
A method and system of sharing a folder in a file system between an owner and a grantee is provided. An indication of a folder to share with a grantee may be received from the owner. The folder to share may be a subfolder within a parent folder, the parent folder not shared with the grantee. Then, sharing permissions indicating a level of access the grantee has to the folder may be stored with the folder. A virtual folder corresponding to the folder to share may be created on a device of the grantee. The virtual folder maps to all objects within the folder to share and may be stored at a level equal to parent folders of a file hierarchy on device of the grantee.
1. A method of sharing a folder in a file system between an owner and a grantee, the method comprising:
receiving an indication of a folder to share with a grantee from the owner, the folder to share being a subfolder within a parent folder, the parent folder not shared with the grantee;
storing, with the subfolder itself, sharing permissions indicating a level of access the grantee has to the subfolder;
creating a virtual folder corresponding to the subfolder on a device of the grantee, the virtual folder mapping to all objects within the subfolder and being stored at a level equal to parent folders of a file hierarchy on device of the grantee;
altering permissions of the parent folder to share the parent folder with the grantee; and
creating a virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder on the device of the grantee, the virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder mapping to all objects within the parent folder being stored at a level equal to subfolder on the device of the grantee, without deleting the subfolder on the device of the grantee.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sharing permissions indicate whether the grantee is permitted to modify contents of the folder or not.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein in response to a determination that the grantee is not permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, placing a copy of the object as modified in a folder on the device of the grantee without synchronizing the modification to the corresponding object in the folder.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the folder in which the copy of the object as modified is placed is a conflict folder separate from the virtual folder.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein in response to a determination that the grantee is permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, saving the modified object in the virtual folder and synchronizing the modified object with the folder.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising synchronizing the virtual folder with one or more additional virtual folders on other devices of the grantee and synchronizing the folder with one or more additional folders on other devices of the owner.
7. A system comprising: one or more processors; a memory configured to store a first instance of a file space; an item manager executable by the one or more processors and configured to:
receive an indication of a folder to share with a grantee from an owner, the folder to share being a subfolder within a parent folder, the parent folder not shared with the grantee;
store, with the subfolder, sharing permissions indicating a level of access the grantee has to the subfolder;
create a virtual folder corresponding to the subfolder in the first instance of the file space, the virtual folder mapping to all objects within the subfolder and being stored at a level equal to parent folders of a file hierarchy in the first instance of the file space;
wherein the item manager is further configured to alter permissions of the parent folder to share the parent folder with the grantee; and
create a virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder on the device of the grantee, the virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder mapping to all objects within the parent folder being stored at a level equal to the folder to share on the device of the grantee, without deleting the folder to share on the device of the grantee.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the item manager is further configured to, in response to a determination that the grantee is not permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, place a copy of the object as modified in a folder on the device of the grantee without synchronizing the modification to the corresponding object in the folder.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the folder in which the copy of the object as modified is placed is a conflict folder separate from the virtual folder.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the item manager is further configured to, in response to a determination that the grantee is permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, save the modified object in the virtual folder and synchronize the modified object with the folder.
11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the item manager is further configured to synchronize the virtual folder with one or more additional virtual folders on other devices of the grantee and synchronizing the folder with one or more additional folders on other devices of the owner.
12. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when implemented by one or more machines, cause the one or more machines to perform operations comprising: receiving an indication of a folder to share with a grantee from the owner, the folder to share being a subfolder within a parent folder, the parent folder not shared with the grantee; storing, with the folder, sharing permissions indicating a level of access the grantee has to the folder;
creating a virtual folder corresponding to the folder to share on a device of the grantee, the virtual folder mapping to all objects within the folder to share and being stored at a level equal to parent folders of a file hierarchy on device of the grantee;
wherein the operations further comprise: altering permissions of the parent folder to share the parent folder with the grantee; and
creating a virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder on the device of the grantee, the virtual folder corresponding to the parent folder mapping to all objects within the parent folder being stored at a level equal to the folder to share on the device of the grantee, without deleting the folder to share on the device of the grantee.
13. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the sharing permissions indicate whether the grantee is permitted to modify contents of the folder or not.
14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein in response to a determination that the grantee is not permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, placing a copy of the object as modified in a folder on the device of the grantee without synchronizing the modification to the corresponding object in the folder.
15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the folder in which the copy of the object as modified is placed is a conflict folder separate from the virtual folder.
16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein in response to a determination that the grantee is permitted to modify contents of the folder, and in response to an action by the grantee to modify an object of the folder, saving the modified object in the virtual folder and synchronizing the modified object with the folder.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise synchronizing the virtual folder with one or more additional virtual folders on other devices of the grantee and synchronizing the folder with one or more additional folders on other devices of the owner.