Path-based active hydration of files with no placeholder on disk

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a file system filter, a first search request from a requesting application on a user device comprising query parameters for identifying relevant files stored on the user device or on a cloud file provider;
• searching, using a file provider client, for relevant files stored on the user device based on the query parameters to obtain first search results;
• submitting, using the file provider client, a second search request to the cloud file provider for relevant files stored on the cloud file provider;
• receiving second search results from the cloud file provider, the second search results including information identifying a plurality of files stored on the cloud file provider determined to be relevant based on the query parameters;
• determining, using the file system filter, that neither a copy nor a placeholder file associated with one or more files of the plurality of files stored on the cloud file provider are available on the user device;
• generating a placeholder file for the one or more files indicating where the one or more files can be obtained from the cloud file provider;
• wherein the placeholder file is generated without downloading file content of the one or more files;
• and
• providing the first search results and the second search results to the requesting application.

A data processing system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor alone or in combination with other processors to perform operations of:
• receiving, at a file system filter, a first request to generate content from a requesting application on a user device;
• generating a placeholder file for the content in memory of the user device;
• providing, using a file provider client, a second request to generate the content to a cloud file provider in response to receiving the first request;
• receiving file metadata from the cloud file provider indicating that the cloud file provider has created the content and stored the content in a file storage memory of the cloud file provider;
• updating the placeholder file on the user device based on the file metadata, the file metadata including information for obtaining the content from the cloud file provider;
• and
• providing an indication to the requesting application that the content has been created.