System and method for administering a meta database as an integral component of an information server

In an information server that has access to a storage medium wherein information objects are stored according to a storage hierarchy and further has access to a database comprising a plurality of key locations that are arranged hierarchically and store metadata, a method for responding to a request from a client for retrieval of an information object, said method comprising the steps of:

• at said information server, receiving from said client said request for said information object, said request including a path name comprising a hierarchy of constituent names;
• resolving said path name into its constituent names;
• while proceeding from parent to child through the constituent names, performing the steps of:
• identifying a key location in said database that corresponds to one of the constituent names and retrieving metadata from said identified key location;
• identifying a storage location in the storage hierarchy of the storage medium that corresponds to another of the constituent names;
• and
• resolving a physical location of the information object at the storage medium by using said other of the constituent names and any children constituent names thereof;
• and
• retrieving the information object from the physical location.

In an information server that has access to a storage medium wherein information objects are stored according to a storage hierarchy and further has access to a database comprising a plurality of key locations that are arranged hierarchically and store metadata, a method for retrieving information objects and metadata associated with the information objects, said method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining a first path name comprising a first hierarchy of constituent names;
• obtaining a second path name comprising a second hierarchy of constituent names;
• resolving said first path name and said second path name into their constituent names;
• for each of the first path name and the second path name, while proceeding from parent to child through the constituent names of the particular path name, performing the steps of:
• identifying a key location in said database that corresponds to one of the constituent names of the particular path name and retrieving metadata from said identified key location;
• identifying a storage location in the storage hierarchy of the storage medium that corresponds to another of the constituent names of the particular path name;
• and
• resolving a physical location of the information object at the storage medium by using said other of the constituent names and any children constituent names thereof;
• and
• retrieving the information objects from the physical locations.

A computer system comprising:

• a database comprising a plurality of key locations arranged in a hierarchical relationship, said plurality of key locations representing storage locations where metadata may be stored;
• a plurality of information objects that can be accessed and returned to a requesting client;
• and
• a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions that include:
• means for receiving a path name comprising a hierarchy of constituent names from a client;
• means for resolving said path name into its constituent names;
• means for retrieving said metadata from said database using a first constituent name of the path name and for accessing and returning an information object using a second constituent name of the path name in response the path name being received from the client, said means for retrieving comprising means for interpreting properties included in the metadata retrieved from said database such that said means for retrieving can perform actions based on the properties;
• and
• means for providing a programmatic interface to said database such that access to said database in obtained through said programmatic interface.