Abstraction layer for online/offline resource access

A media processing unit, comprising:

• a computer-readable storage medium;
• and
• a processor responsive to the computer-readable storage medium and to a computer program, the computer program, when loaded into the processor, operable to perform a method comprising:
• accessing configuration information over a network, the configuration information being associated with the media presentation and including a virtual resource identifier and a virtual location identifier, the virtual resource identifier representing at least one resource usable in connection with rendering the media presentation and the virtual location identifier representing a location at which the at least one resource may be stored;
• identifying a particular resource usable in connection with rendering the media presentation;
• and
• using the configuration information to obtain a virtual location identifier for the particular resource so that the particular resource can be used by the client-side media processing unit to render the media presentation.

A computer readable storage medium encoded with computer executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, performs a method for rendering a media presentation using a media processing unit, comprising:

• accessing a configuration file associated with the media presentation, the configuration file including a virtual resource identifier and a virtual location identifier of a resource and a location, respectively, associated with the media presentation;
• identifying a particular resource usable in connection with rendering the media presentation;
• and
• based on data in the configuration file, obtaining a virtual location identifier for the particular resource so that the particular resource can be used by the media processing unit to render the media presentation.