Method and apparatus for recreating placeholders

A computer system comprising:

• a processor;
• a computer-readable medium, coupled to said processor;
• and
• instructions, encoded in said computer-readable medium, for recreating a placeholder for an archived object of information and configured to cause said processor to
• store at least one object of information, wherein
• the at least one object of information is configured to be selected for processing,
• determine a source location for the at least one object of information by accessing metadata, wherein
• the metadata is related to the at least one object of information,
• an original placeholder for the at least one object of information had been created and placed at the source location, when the at least one object of information was migrated into the archive,
• the original placeholder was a stub file that replaced the contents of the at least one object of information, and
• the original placeholder comprised at least
• an archive identifier,
• an item identifier, and
• a checksum, and
• recreate a placeholder for the at least one object of information, wherein
• the placeholder is recreated at the source location, and
• the instructions configured to cause said processor to recreate the placeholder are configured to use
• the metadata, and
• the at least one object of information.

An apparatus comprising:

• an archive, wherein
• the archive is located in a first computer, and
• the archive is configured to store at least one object of information that is selected for processing;
• and
• a placeholder recreation module, wherein
• the placeholder recreation module is located in a second computer,
• the first computer and second computer are coupled by a communications network, and
• the placeholder recreation module is configured to
• determine a source location for the at least one object of information by accessing metadata, wherein
• the metadata is related to the at least one object of information,
• an original placeholder for the at least one object of information had been created and placed at the source location, when the at least one object of information was migrated into the archive,
• the original placeholder was a stub file that replaced the contents of the at least one object of information, and
• the original placeholder comprised at least
• an archive identifier,
• an item identifier, and
• a checksum, and
• recreate a placeholder for the at least one object of information,
• the placeholder is recreated at the source location, and
• the placeholder recreation module is configured to recreate the placeholder using
• the metadata, and
• the at least one object of information.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

• selecting at least one object of information, wherein
• the at least one object of information is in an archive;
• determining a source location for the at least one object of information by accessing metadata, wherein
• the metadata is related to the at least one object of information,
• an original placeholder for the at least one object of information had been created and placed at the source location, when the at least one object of information was migrated into the archive,
• the original placeholder was a stub file that replaced the contents of the at least one object of information, and
• the original placeholder comprised at least
• an archive identifier,
• an item identifier, and
• a checksum;
• and
• recreating a placeholder for the at least one object of information, wherein
• the placeholder is recreated at the source location, and
• the placeholder is recreated using the metadata,
• the original placeholder is created when an object of information is migrated into the archive.