Patent Grant
7509453
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer readable removable media management, and more particularly to automatic preparation of computer readable removable media for content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, computer readable removable media, such as floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs, requires preparation before being capable of storing data. This preparation generally takes the form of formatting the removable media. Broadly speaking, formatting organizes and divides the media into pieces that can be controlled for convenient storage and access. For example, a disk may be formatted into sectors, tracks, and clusters, which can be accessed via the operating system.
Although floppy disks generally are available preformatted, most other computer readable removable media, such as optical media, still require the user to perform a manual format. For example,
In operation 104, the user inserts the unformatted media into the appropriate drive. For example, when writing a large amount of data, a user can select a blank, unformatted CD and insert the unformatted CD into the CD drive. Upon closing the drive, and with appropriate CD management software installed, the computer system generally will recognize the CD is unformatted and prompt the user to format the CD.
In operation 106, the user selects a format type and manually formats the removable media. For example,
In another example, a user can select a format button on the main screen and be presented with a dialog box containing various formatting choices. The user then selects a format type, clicks the Start Format button, and formatting commences. After a period of time the CD formatting operation will be complete and the user will be informed of the format status in the information window 202.
Referring back to
Optionally, the operating system may allow the user to select how the data is written to the media. For example, the user may be able to select whether the data should be moved to the removable media (and erased from its current location) or only copied to the removable media. Post process operations are performed in operation 110. Post process operations can include updating directory viewing applications to show the newly copied data on the media, and other post process operations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Unfortunately, many new computer users are unfamiliar with formatting requirements. As such, users may have difficulty in selecting an appropriate type of format for a particular removable media, or may not format the media before attempting to write to the unformatted media. As a result, many users experience errors, data loss, and frustration when using unformatted computer readable removable media.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems and methods for allowing a user to utilize blank unformatted removable media without manually formatting the media. The methods should allow users to access and use removable media, such as CDs and DVDs, in a manner similar to using pre-formatted removable media, such as pre-formatted floppy disks.
Broadly speaking, embodiments of the present invention address these needs by providing a driver level automatic formatting technique for automatically preparing removable media for content. Embodiments of the present invention allow users to access and use unformatted removable media in a manner similar to that used when accessing and using pre-formatted removable media. In one embodiment a method is disclosed for automatically formatting removable media. A default media image is generated in computer memory and entering a pseudo-mount state in response to detecting unformatted removable media. Pseudo-data are returned in response to receiving a request to read the unformatted removable media. The unformatted removable media is automatically prepared for content in response to receiving a request to write information to the unformatted removable media. The information can be written to the media either after the default media image is committed to the media, or the default media image can be modified to include the information prior to being committed to the media. As will be seen subsequently, the media can be any form of removable media, such as a compact disc, a digital video disc, or a floppy disk.
A file system driver recorded on a computer readable medium for use in conjunction with an operating system is disclosed in an additional embodiment. The file system driver includes a code segment that, when executed by a computer, detects an unformatted removable media in a computer drive and in response to the detecting, generates a default media image in computer memory and enters the unformatted removable media into a pseudo-mount state. The file system driver also includes a code segment that, when executed by a computer, returns pseudo-data in response to receiving a request to read the media. In addition, the file system driver includes a code segment that, when executed by a computer, automatically prepares the unformatted removable media for content in response to receiving a request to write information to the unformatted removable media. As discussed previously, the information can be written to the media either after the default media image is committed to the media, or the default media image can be modified to include the information prior to being committed to the media.
Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention allow new unformatted media to be utilized in a manner similar to using preformatted media. That is, formatting is performed automatically, without user intervention, and generally without any indication to the user that the media is being formatted. Further, the embodiments of the present invention advantageously work regardless of the target file system for the media. For example embodiments of the present invention can be utilized when the target file system can be a universal disk format (UDF), an NT file system (NTFS), a file allocation table (FAT) based file system, or any other type of file system. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention can further be used with other background formatting methods, such as Mt. Rainier, DVD+RW, RWNow!, HP Fast Format, and other background formatting methods. Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.
The invention, together with further advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
An invention is disclosed for a driver level automatic formatting system for automatically preparing removable media for content. Embodiments of the present invention allow users to access and use unformatted removable media in a manner similar to that used when accessing and using pre-formatted removable media. Broadly speaking embodiments of the present invention create an image of a mounted media in memory. Information from this image is presented to the operating system. When a request to modify the media is received, the media is automatically formatted transparently, without user intervention, thus hiding the format operation from the user.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.
The majority of users of removable media generally do not have a preference as to the type of formatting performed on removable media they are using. For example, a typical user of a CD-R generally is not concerned with how the CD-R is formatted. This user typically wishes to write and read files to and from the CD-R, regardless of the manner in which the CD-R is prepared. Hence, embodiments of the present invention automatically prepare removable media for content. For example, using the embodiments of the present invention, a user can write to an unformatted CD-R without manually formatting the CD-R prior to writing to the disc. That is, the embodiments of the present invention automatically prepare the disc for content. In particular, embodiments of the present invention intelligently select an appropriate format type for removable media in a drive, and as the user attempts to save files to the media, embodiments of the preset invention automatically format the media prior to writing the data to the media.
At this point, embodiments of the present invention recognize the user is attempting to write to unformatted media, such as the unformatted CD-R. In response, the CD-R is formatted prior to performing the write operation. Advantageously, this format is performed automatically, without user intervention, and generally without any indication to the user that the CD is being formatted. Once the CD is formatted, the write operation is allowed to continue, and file 302′ is written to the CD.
It should be noted that the user can write content to media in several different manners. For example, in
When using a “Windows™ explorer” program, for example, the user generally selects a folder having the file 302 from a list of folders displayed in a left frame of the Windows™ explorer user interface. The contents of the selected folder are then displayed in a right frame of the Windows™ explorer user interface. The user can “drag” the icon representing the file 302 from the right frame to the desired media drive icon in the left frame to save the file 302.
When “dragging” the file to a drive icon, the user selects a file 302 to save to the media using the mouse cursor 306. Then, to save the file to the media, the user drags the icon representing the file 302 to the drive icon and releases the mouse button. Other techniques for writing a file to removable media exist and are dependent on the operating system environment utilized by the computer system. As such, it should be appreciated that the embodiments of the present can be utilized in conjunction with any technique utilized to interact with removable media.
As mentioned above, several different types of formatting may be possible with any particular removable media. For example, a CD-RW can be, for example, formatted using a quick format, a full format, or one of several other format types. To determine the type of format to utilize when automatically formatting the removable media, embodiments of the present invention examine the media type and state, and the corresponding drive.
In operation 404, the drive containing the removable media is analyzed to determine the drive type.
Different drive types can have different capabilities, and thus, may support varying format types. For example, specific drives manufactured by Hewlett-Packard allow a format type called “fastformat,” which provides fast formatting. Similarly, a Mount Rainier Drive, for example, allows Mount Rainier formatting, which performs an initial format then allows the user to interact with the drive while the remainder of the formatting continues. Other drive manufactures can support still further formatting types. Hence, the embodiments of the present invention examine the drive type to determine the format types supported by the drive.
Referring back to
Turning back to
In operation 604, the type and state of the removable media is detected. As mentioned above, embodiments of the present invention examine the media and the drive containing the media to determine format type. When examining the media, embodiments of the present invention determine the type of media and the state of the media. As mentioned previously, the type of media determines the format types that can be utilized to format the media. In addition, the state of the media can influence the format type selected for the media. For example, a previously formatted CD-RW can be formatted using a quick format or a full format. The quick format does not erase the entire disc, but allows it to be overwritten during use, while a full format erases the entire disc, but generally requires additional time to perform.
Based on the drive type, media type, and media state, a format type is determined for the removable media, in operation 606. As will be described subsequently, embodiments of the present invention can prepare media for receiving content in response to a user's attempt to write to such media. To reduce the amount of processing required at the time of formatting, embodiments of the present invention can determine the type of format that will be used for a particular unformatted media in a particular drive prior to receiving a request to access the media. In this manner, the format type will be previously determined when the actual format is performed, thus saving time during the format operation. However, it should be noted that embodiments of the present invention are not limited to determining the format type prior to receiving a user request to access the media, and can thus determine the format type at any time prior to actually formatting the media.
For example, tables 1-3 below show exemplary format type selections based on the type of media and the type of drive. In particular, table 1 illustrates exemplary format type selections for unformatted media when used with a standard drive, and a Mount Rainier Drive.
Table 2 illustrates exemplary format type selections for previously written media when the media is mounted using software known by the developer, and when used with a standard drive, and a Mount Rainier Drive, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Table 3, below, illustrates exemplary format type selections for previously written media when the media is mounted using software unknown by the developer, and when used with a standard drive, and a Mount Rainier Drive, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
In operation 608, a media access request from the user is detected. As mentioned previously, a user can request access to media using a plurality of different techniques. For example, the user can select a file to save to the media using the mouse cursor. Then, drag the icon representing the file to the window for the drive while keeping the mouse button depressed. Finally, the user releases the mouse button to save the file to the media. In addition, the user can select the icon representing the file and press the right mouse button. In this case, a menu will generally appear that allows the user to select from several different operations related to the selected file. One of these operations can be a “send to” operation, which allows a user to select a particular drive one which to write the selected file.
Other exemplary file writing techniques include using a “Windows™ explorer” program to transfer the file to the unformatted media, and “dragging” the file to a drive icon. As discussed previously, when using a “Windows™ explorer” program, for example, the user generally selects a folder having the file from a list of folders displayed in a left frame of the Windows™ explorer user interface. The contents of the selected folder are then displayed in a right frame of the Windows™ explorer user interface. The user can “drag” the icon representing the file from the right frame to the desired media drive icon in the left frame to save the file.
When “dragging” the file to a drive icon, the user selects a file to save to the media using the mouse cursor, and drags the icon representing the file to the drive icon. The user then releases the mouse button to save the file to the media. Other techniques for writing a file to removable media exist and are dependent on the operating system environment utilized by the computer system. As such, it should be appreciated that the embodiments of the present can be utilized in conjunction with any technique utilized to interact with removable-media.
Regardless of the technique the user utilizes to request access to the media, embodiments of the present invention can detect this request. For example, embodiments of the present invention can “listen” for an interrupt that indicates a user is trying to access the media. In a further embodiment, drive access requests can be intercepted. Regardless of the manner in which the access request is detected, embodiments of the present invention format the removable media in response to detecting the media access request, as described in operation 610.
In operation 610, the removable media is formatted using the format type determined in operation 606. As mentioned above, embodiments of the present invention can utilize several formatting types to format a particular removable media as described above, with reference to Tables 1-3. For example, to reduce the amount of time required to format CD-RWs, embodiments can format CD-RWs using several techniques that reduce the formatting time. In one embodiment, for example, a CD-RW can be formatted as a CD-R, by performing a sequential format. In this case, the formatting time for the CD-RW is about that of a CD-R. Although, the versatility of the CD-RW can be reduced when formatted in this manner, the timesavings can compensate the lost versatility for some users.
In operation 612, the user's request to access the media is allowed to continue. Once the media has been formatted, in operation 610, the media can accept content. Thus, the user's request to access the media is allowed to continue as originally requested. For example, when a user drags a file to an unformatted CD-RW, embodiments of the present invention first automatically format the CD-RW, then allow the file to be written to the newly formatted disc. In this manner, the user can utilize unformatted removable media in a manner similar to using previously prepared and formatted removable media.
Post process operations are performed in operation 614. Post process operations can include, for example; detecting new media in the drive, selecting a new format type, and other post process operations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a careful reading of the present disclosure. In addition to preparing media for content based on the drive type, media type, and media state, embodiments of the present invention can also base the format type on the type of content being written to the media.
Embodiments of the present invention utilize a file system driver to claim all blank media, or other compatible media, and treat the media as though it were already mounted. Upon receiving a request that will modify the media, such as a drag and drop, a volume label change, or creating a file, the file system driver will format the media automatically. Advantageously, the embodiments of the present invention work regardless of the target file system for the media, for example the target file system can be a universal disk format (UDF), an NT file system (NTFS), a file allocation table (FAT) based file system, or any other type of file system. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention can further be used with other background formatting methods, such as Mt. Rainier, DVD+RW, RWNow!, HP Fast Format, and other background formatting methods.
When removable media, such as an optical disc, is inserted into a removable media drive, the operating system 712 is notified. In response, the operating system 712 typically notifies applications residing in the application layer 702 that there is new removable media in a drive. Applications interested in such an event, for example a Windows™ shell application, query the operating system 712 for the details of the new media.
In response, the operating system 712 queries the file system drivers 704 and 706 for information on the new media. In particular, the operating system 712 generally queries the autoformat file system driver 704 first. The autoformat file system 704 will examine the new media's contents to see if it can mount the new media and return the requested information to the operating system 712. If the autoformat file system driver 704 does not provide the needed information, the operating system 712 continues by querying the remaining file system drivers 706. This process continues until a file system driver provides information on the new media, or the last file system driver 706 has been queried and cannot recognize the media. At this point, the operating system returns an error or other indication that the new media cannot be read. However, when a file system driver recognizes the new media as a file system that it can handle, the file system driver mounts the new media and provides information on the new media to the operating system.
Generally, when a prior art high level file system driver encounters unformatted media, the driver will not detect a recognizable file system on the media and thus will inform the operating system that the driver cannot mount the media. However, when the autoformat file system driver 704 of the embodiments of the present invention encounters unformatted media, the driver 704 operates as though it has mounted the new media. That is, when embodiments of the present invention encounter unformatted media, the autoformat file system driver 704 generates a media image in memory and provides data to the operating system using the media image, as shown in
The autoformat file system driver 704 examines the new media 500 in response to receiving the query from the operating system 712. As mentioned above, removable media 500 can be either formatted or unformatted. When the media 500 is formatted, the autoformat file system driver 704 analyses the media 500 to determine what file system is present on the media 500. As will be explained in greater detail subsequently, embodiments of the present invention examine potential anchor points at several different locations on the media to determine what, if any, file system is present on the media 500. Once the file system is determined, the autoformat file system driver 704 decides whether or not the file system present on the media is a file system that the autoformat file system driver 704 supports. If not, the autoformat file system driver 704 informs the operating system that the next file system driver should be examined to obtain information on the media 500. However, if the autoformat file system driver 704 supports the file system present on the media 500, the autoformat file system driver 704 mounts the media 500.
When the autoformat file system driver 704 of the embodiments of the present invention encounters unformatted media 500, the autoformat file system driver 704 behaves in a manner similar to mounting formatted media. In particular, when the autoformat file system driver 704 examines unformatted media 500, the autoformat file system driver 704 generates a media image 802 in memory.
As described in greater detail subsequently, embodiments of the present invention create a media image 802 in memory that includes default file system structures for the media. For example, when creating a UDF file system, the file system structures include volume descriptor sequences, volume integrity sequences, spare tables, spare locations, a space bitmap, a file set descriptor, and an entry for a root directory. At this point, none of the information is committed to the media 500, that is, the media image 802 is retained in memory.
As the operating system requests information regarding the new unformatted media 500, the autoformat file system driver 704 provides the requested data from the media image 802 to the operating system 712. In this manner, the operating system, and by extension application programs, can interact with the unformatted media in a manner similar to formatted media using the autoformat file system driver 704. However, when the operating system attempts to modify the unformatted media 500, the autoformat file system driver 704 formats the media and commits the media image 802 to the media 500. Once formatted, the autoformat file system driver 704 can modify the media 500 as the operating system 712 requested.
In operation 904, the user inserts the media into the drive. The media can be any removable media, such as a CD, DVD, floppy disk, or CD-R/RW. As mentioned previously, when removable media, such as an optical disc, is inserted into a removable media drive, the operating system is notified that new media is present in the drive. The operating system then typically notifies applications that there is new removable media in a drive. Applications interested in such an event, for example a Windows™ shell application, query the operating system for the details of the new media. In response, the operating system queries the high level drivers for information on the new media.
A decision is made as to whether the media is blank, in operation 906. Blank media refers to media that has not been written to and thus contains no block, track, or session structures. Hence, to determine whether the media is blank, the autoformat file system driver attempts to read the disc information from the disc. For example, the disc information for a blank CD-R/RW will indicate zero tracks and zero sessions. Generally, the “blank” description applies to all new media, except for new DVD-RAM. If the media is blank, the method 900 continues to operation 920. Otherwise, the method 900 branches to operation 908.
A decision is made, in operation 908, as to whether a recognized file system image is on the media. When the media is not blank, some type of data has been written to the media. To determine what, if any, file system is present on the media, the autoformat file system driver examines one or more potential anchor points on the media, as illustrated in
Each file system, such as UDF or ISO 9660, uses an anchor point 1002 located at a particular block on the media, which indicates the particular file system is present on the media. Each file system defines a particular data structure at its anchor point 1002 to allow file system drivers to recognize the file system. Thus, when a file system driver initially examines a disc, the file system driver examines the block corresponding to the particular file system associated with the driver. The driver then reads the data at the anchor point 1002 location and looks for the particular data structure corresponding the that file system. If the data structure read matches the particular data structure corresponding the file system, the driver will recognize the file system and mount the disc.
Embodiments of the present invention may support more than one file system. Hence, the autoformat file system driver of the embodiments of the present invention examines an anchor point 1002 block on the media for each file system supported by the driver. If a recognizable file system image data structure is discovered at an appropriate anchor point, the autoformat file system driver will recognize the file system on the disc. For example, when the autoformat file system driver supports a UDF file system, the autoformat file system driver will examine block 256 or block 512 and attempt to find the particular data structure that indicates a UDF file system.
Embodiments of the present invention can also be configured to recognize audio discs, which do not include an anchor point based file system. When the autoformat file system driver cannot find a recognizable data structure at the anchor points corresponding to the supported file systems, the driver examines other data blocks on the disc to determine whether data is present. If the autoformat file system driver discovers non-zero data on the disc, and no recognizable data structure has been found, embodiments of the present invention can assume the disc is an audio disc. In this case, the autoformat file system driver can handle the media as though a recognizable file system was found. Thus, referring back to operation 908 of
A determination is made, in operation 910, as to whether the file system image found at the anchor point indicates a file system that the autoformat file system driver can process. The developer of the autoformat file system driver determines which file systems will be supported by the autoformat file system driver. Thus, if the file system image indicates a file system that the current file system driver can process, the method 900 continues to operation 914. Otherwise, the method branches to operation 912, where the media is allowed to be mounted by another file system driver.
In operation 916, the block, track, and session structures on the media are analyzed to determine if the block, track, and session structures are compatible with the autoformat file system driver. In operation 916 the media has been determined not to be blank, however, a recognizable file system has not been discovered nor has the media been determined to be an audio disc. In this case, the media is analyzed to determine whether the autoformat file system driver can still treat the media as though it were blank. For example, in the case of CD-R, a desired format occurs when the disk contains an empty reserved track that is small enough so that block 512 is available for writing in the second track. In this case, the autoformat file system driver can still format the disc to a UDF file system. In another example, CD-RW media that has been completely filled with 0's in fixed packets of 32 blocks per packet can be in a desired format. These examples are representative of the set of possible media states that comprise media with compatible block, track, and session structures, and as such, are further processed in operation 920. Media without compatible structures generally are not managed, and are passed off to allow some error correction software to correct the media, in operation 918.
In operation 920, a default media image is created in memory and a pseudo-mount state is entered. In the pseudo-mount state, a set of default file system structures for the media is internally constructed, as illustrated in
Thus, referring back to
In operation 922, the user or operating system attempts to interact with the media. In response, a decision is made as to whether the access will modify the media in operation 924. If the access will modify the media, the method 900 proceeds to operation 928. Otherwise, the method 900 continues to operation 926.
In operation 926, pseudo-data from the default media image is returned. When the access will not modify the media, the access is a request to read information from the media. As this will not modify the media in any way, the default media image created in operation 920 is used to return data to the user. This gives the impression that the media is formatted and mounted so that neither the user nor the operating system will realize that the media is not mounted.
Thus, when the user or operating system requests information from the new unformatted media, the autoformat file system driver provides the requested data from the media image in memory. In this manner, the operating system and user can interact with the unformatted media in a manner similar to formatted media. Thereafter, the system awaits another access from the user or operating system in operation 922.
However, when the operating system attempts to modify the unformatted media, the user's modifications to the default media image are applied and the image is committed to the media, in operation 928. It should be noted that the user's modifications can be applied to the default image either before or after the image is committed to media. Exactly when the modifications take place depends on the nature of the modifications. Once the modifications are committed, the media contains an appropriate format and is mountable through the regular mount process. As such, the normal mounted state is entered in operation 914, and the user is allowed to continue interacting with the media the same as with any other piece of media.
Post process operations are performed in operation 930. Post process operations can include responding to additional new media, further processing of the removable media, and other post process operations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention allow new unformatted media to be utilized in a manner similar to using preformatted media. That is, formatting is performed automatically, without user intervention, and generally without any indication to the user that the media is being formatted. Further, the embodiments of the present invention advantageously work regardless of the target file system for the media. For example embodiments of the present invention can be utilized when the target file system can be a universal disk format (UDF), an NT file system (NTFS), a file allocation table (FAT) based file system, or any other type of file system. In addition, the embodiments of the present invention can further be used with other background formatting methods, such as Mt. Rainier, DVD+RW, RWNow!, HP Fast Format, and other background formatting methods.
The invention may employ various computer-implemented operations involving data stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiring physical manipulation of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms, such as producing, identifying, determining, or comparing.
Any of the operations described herein that form part of the invention are useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device or an apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may be a general purpose computer selectively activated or configured by a computer program stored in the computer. In particular, various general purpose machines may be used with computer programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the required operations.
The invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage device that can store data, which can thereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable medium include read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, magnetic tapes, and other optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.
Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and-not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/382,495, filed on May 21, 2002, entitled “Automatic Format of Removable Media,” which is incorporated herein by reference. This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/340,175, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,028, filed on Jan. 9, 2003, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/210,824, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,177,990, filed on Jul. 31, 2002, and entitled “Automatic Format of Removable Media,” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application is related to 1) U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 10/143,285, filed on May 9, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,292, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Formatting and Initialization of Rewritable Optical Media,” and 2) U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 10/193,422, filed Jul. 10, 2002, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Formatting and Initialization of Re-Writable Optical Media Using Multiple Tracks,” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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