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A method for offline servicing of an image file by mapping the image to a directory using a file system mini-filter driver. The file system mini-filter driver maps the contents of the image to the directory and provides either read-only or read-write access to the contents of the image. The method further displays the contents of the image mapped to the directory for review by a user.

Inventor: Bangalore Guruprakash
Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
Current U.S. Classification: 1/1; 707/999.001; 707/E17.02

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Referenced by

Citing PatentFiling dateIssue dateOriginal AssigneeTitle
US8051111Jan 31, 2008Nov 1, 2011Prowess Consulting, LLCMethod and system for modularizing windows imaging format
US8112464Dec 23, 2008Feb 7, 2012Microsoft CorporationOn-demand access to container file directories

Claims

1. A method for servicing, by a computer, an image in an offline state, said image having a file-based image format, said method comprising:

mapping the contents of the image to a directory with a file system filter driver;

providing access to the contents of the image; and

displaying the contents of the image mapped to the directory for review by a user.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving edits to the contents of the image.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said receiving edits comprises receiving at least one of file additions to the image, file modifications to the image, and file deletions from the image.

4. The method of claim 2 further comprising modifying the image mapped to the directory to include the received edits.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said modifying comprises unmapping the contents of the image from the directory and applying said received edits to the unmapped image to create a modified file-based image format image.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising storing the received edits embodied in the modified image without recreating the image.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said storing the image comprises storing a Windows Imaging (WIM) image format image.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein said displaying the contents of the image further comprises displaying the received edits as part of the displayed image for review by the user.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said providing access further comprises providing access to the mapped image with a standard file accessing application.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said providing access further comprises accessing the mapped image with a Win32 application programming interface (API).

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said providing access further comprises accessing the mapped image with a file system explorer tool.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one of opening a file within the contents of the displayed image and executing an application within the contents of the displayed image.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said mapping the image comprises mapping the image with at least one of read-only access and read-write access.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said mapping the image comprises at least one of (i) mapping at least one image to one or more directories when said at least one image is mapped with read-only access, (ii) mapping each of at least two images to one or more directories when said at least two images are mapped with read-only access, (iii) mapping one image to one directory when said one image is mapped with read-write access, and (iv) mapping at least two images to at least two respective directories when said at least two images are mapped with read-write access.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said mapping further comprises mapping a first image to a first directory and mapping a second image to a second directory, said providing access further comprising comparing the first image with the second image.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for servicing an image in an offline state, said image having a file-based image format, said computer-readable medium comprising:

a kernel mode file system mini-filter driver;

an application programming interface (API) layer for communicating with the mini-filter driver;

a user mode tool for use by a user in communicating with the API layer according to a communication protocol providing a basis for interaction between the kernel mode file system mini-filter driver and the user mode tool, wherein the mini-filter driver is configured to map the contents of the image to a directory.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 further comprising a file system filter manager, said mini-filter driver monitoring all calls from the filter manager, wherein if a call is on any of the directory paths where the image is mapped, the mini-filter driver intercepts the call and handles the request that triggered the call, thereby providing a transparent user experience.

18. A method for servicing, by a computer, an image in an offline state, said image having a file-based image format, said method comprising:

mapping the contents of the image to a directory with a file system filter driver;

providing access to the contents of the image; and

receiving edits to the contents of the image.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising modifying the image mapped to the directory to include the received edits.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said modifying comprises unmapping the contents of the image from the directory and applying said received edits to the unmapped image to create a modified file-based image format image.

Drawings