Abstract: Volumes of a file system environment are taken offline when they require repair for confirmed corruptions. Applications utilize handles, both real and, in environments where proxy file systems are overlaid upon the real file system(s), proxy, to access objects stored on volumes of a file system environment. Real handles are closed when the volume storing the objects for the real handles is taken offline, terminating applications' access to the volume's objects. New real handles are automatically generated for those volume objects that had a real handle prior to the volume going offline for corruption correction processing and which were not altered during the corruption correction processing. Applications accessing these objects can continue to use their original proxy handle, which is subsequently correlated with an automatically established new real handle, to access the objects.

Abstract: Data structure errors, or corruptions, identified during, e.g., normal computing device system processing, file system processing or user access processing, are verified prior to the file system identifying the error for offline correction or notifying the user or system administrator a data structure error exists. Identified data structure corruptions are verified while the file system volumes are maintained online and otherwise accessible to other processing tasks and user access. Verified data structure corruptions are logged for further corrective processing. Data structure corruptions that cannot be verified, i.e., false positives, are not further processed and are not identified to file system administrators or users as corruptions, freeing the file system to concentrate on normal processing and true, verifiable errors.

Abstract: Processing for file system volume error detection and processing for resultant error correction are separated to support system availability and user satisfaction. File system volumes for storing data structures are proactively scanned while the volumes remain online to search for errors or corruptions thereon. Found errors are scheduled to be corrected, i.e., spot corrected, dependent on the severity of the identified errors, error correction scheduling and/or at the determination of a file system administrator and/or user, to assist in maintaining minimal user and file system impact. When spot correction is initialized, one file system volume at a time is taken offline for correction. Spot correction verifies prior logged corruptions for the offline volume, and if independently verified, attempts to correct the prior noted corruptions. Volumes are retained offline only for the time necessary to verify and attempt to correct prior noted volume corruptions.

Abstract: Perceived corruptions encountered on file system volumes, and which cannot be initially remedied online, are processed to verify whether they are true, existing volume data structure corruptions or, alternatively, false positives. Upon the verification of one or more of a volume's corruptions, error scanning is performed to check for, and attempt to remedy online, all the existing corruptions on the volume. Subsequent to error scanning processing, if one or more verified corruptions continue to exist on a file system volume, at file system boot up time spot corruption correction is performed to attempt to remedy the existing, verified corruptions on the volume. Spot corruption correction is performed to attempt to correct verified data structure corruptions on a volume of the file system while the volume is maintained offline for the time necessary to attempt to correct its prior identified corruptions.

Abstract: This document describes tools capable of enabling an entity requiring exclusive access to data and metadata of a volume to have that exclusive access while also permitting another entity to have access to data and metadata of that volume. The tools, for example, may permit a ChkDsk program to detect and correct data/metadata integrity errors while permitting users to maintain access to a live volume having that data and metadata. In one embodiment the tools create a copy of a logical volume, permit exclusive access to the copy while permitting access to the live volume, and, when the exclusive access is no longer needed, merge the copy and the live volume.

Abstract: Improved methods and systems for granular opportunistic locking mechanisms (oplocks) are provided for increasing file caching efficiency. Oplocks can be specified with a combination of three possible granular caching intentions: read, write, and/or handle. An oplock can be specified with an identifier that indicates a client/specific caller to avoid breaking the original oplock due to an incompatibility from other requests of the same client. An atomic oplock flag is added to create operations that allow callers to request an atomic open with an oplock with a given file.

Abstract: A file system which is enabled to use a Metadata Partition instead of VAT for write-once discs, is provided by a pseudo-overwrite method. On applying this invention to a drive apparatus which supports pseudo-overwrite media, the file system distinguishes data to overwrite from data to append. When the data is newly written to a logical sector, the drive apparatus writes the data to a physical sector to which the logical sector corresponds. When the logical sector is overwritten the data is written to another unrecorded physical sector in the volume space, and remapping information that specifies the original address, and the remapping address are stored in the remapping table.

Abstract: Improved methods and systems for granular opportunistic locking mechanisms (oplocks) are provided for increasing file caching efficiency. Oplocks can be specified with a combination of three possible granular caching intentions: read, write, and/or handle. An oplock can be specified with an identifier that indicates a client/specific caller to avoid breaking the original oplock due to an incompatibility from other requests of the same client. An atomic oplock flag is added to create operations that allow callers to request an atomic open with an oplock with a given file.

Abstract: A file system is enabled to use a Metadata Partition instead of VAT for write-once discs, and is provided by a pseudo-overwrite method with a plurality of tracks especially for metadata and file data. On applying this invention to a drive apparatus that supports pseudo-overwrite media, the file system distinguishes data to overwrite from data to append (S1701). When the data is newly written to a logical sector, the drive apparatus writes the data to a physical sector to which the logical sector corresponds (S1703). When the data being overwritten is data stored in the logical sector, the data is written to the other unrecorded physical sector in the volume space (S1704), and remapping information is written (S1705). The remapping information specifies the original address of the physical sector, and the remapping address of the physical sector in which the data is written.

Abstract: An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries. The directory entry types can define whether a cluster chain corresponding to a file can be contiguously allocated.

Abstract: An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries. The directory entry types can define whether a cluster chain corresponding to a file can be contiguously allocated.

Abstract: An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries. The directory entry types can define whether a cluster chain corresponding to a file can be contiguously allocated.

Abstract: An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries. The directory entry types can define whether a cluster chain corresponding to a file can be contiguously allocated.

Abstract: The recording method of the present invention includes the steps of: receiving a write instruction which specifies at least a logical sector in which data is to be written; determining whether the logical sector corresponds to a recorded physical sector or an unrecorded physical sector; when it is determined that the logical sector corresponds to an unrecorded physical sector, writing the data into the unrecorded physical sector, determining whether a verification of the data which has been written into a physical sector is successful, if the verification of the data that has been written is not successful, writing the data into an unrecorded physical sector, generating a remapping table including remapping information which remaps an original address of the physical sector corresponding to the logical sector to a remapping address of the selected physical sector, and writing the remapping table on the write-once disc.

Abstract: A recording method of the present invention includes the steps of: receiving a write instruction which specifies at least a logical sector in which data is to be written; determining whether the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to a recorded physical sector or an unrecorded physical sector (S1111); when it is determined that the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to an unrecorded physical sector, writing the data into the unrecorded physical sector (S1112); and when it is determined that the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to a recorded physical sector, writing the data into an unrecorded physical sector other than the recorded physical sector (S1113), generating a remapping table including remapping information which remaps an original address of the recorded physical sector to a remapping address of the selected physical sector, and writing the remapping table on the write-once disc (S1114).

Abstract: Improved methods and systems for granular opportunistic locking mechanisms (oplocks) are provided for increasing file caching efficiency. Oplocks can be specified with a combination of three possible granular caching intentions: read, write, and/or handle. An oplock can be specified with an identifier that indicates a client/specific caller to avoid breaking the original oplock due to an incompatibility from other requests of the same client. An atomic oplock flag is added to create operations that allow callers to request an atomic open with an oplock with a given file.

Abstract: An extensible file system format for portable storage media is provided. The extensible file system format includes the specification of primary and secondary directory entry types that may be custom defined. The primary and secondary directory entry types can be further classified as critical and benign directory entries.

Abstract: In accordance with one or more aspects of the application-managed file versioning, a request to store a new version of a file is received from an application, the request having been generated by the application. A filename for the new version of the file is generated, derived from a standardized naming convention. The filename includes a first portion having at least a portion of a name of the file, and a second portion having data indicating that the new version of the file is a version of the file. A set of application programming interfaces (APIs) can be exposed that allow the application to manage file versions, such as creating a new version of a file, identifying one or more versions of the file, listing one or more versions of the file, and deleting one or more versions of the file.

Abstract: This document describes tools capable of enabling an entity requiring exclusive access to data and metadata of a volume to have that exclusive access while also permitting another entity to have access to data and metadata of that volume. The tools, for example, may permit a ChkDsk program to detect and correct data/metadata integrity errors while permitting users to maintain access to a live volume having that data and metadata. In one embodiment the tools create a copy of a logical volume, permit exclusive access to the copy while permitting access to the live volume, and, when the exclusive access is no longer needed, merge the copy and the live volume.

Abstract: A recording method of the present invention includes the steps of: receiving a write instruction which specifies at least a logical sector in which data is to be written; determining whether the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to a recorded physical sector or an unrecorded physical sector (S1111); when it is determined that the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to an unrecorded physical sector, writing the data into the unrecorded physical sector (S1112); and when it is determined that the logical sector specified by the write instruction corresponds to a recorded physical sector, writing the data into an unrecorded physical sector other than the recorded physical sector (S1113), generating a remapping table including remapping information which remaps an original address of the recorded physical sector to a remapping address of the selected physical sector, and writing the remapping table on the write-once disc (S1114).