Associating a file type with an application in a network storage service

A storage server operatively coupled to a communication network, the storage server comprising:

• a software application store comprising metadata about software applications, the metadata for each software application including, application identifier (app ID), application title, application description, and supported Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types, the software application being associated with either the storage service provider or a third-party developer;
• a data store comprising files associated with users, each file within the data store having a file identifier, a MIME-type identifier, and data binary encoded in accordance with a MIME-type,
• an installed applications list of app IDs identifying installed software applications from the software application store for a particular user;
• a user preferences store comprising app IDs of particular user installed software applications to be used by default to open files;
• a processor configured to:
• provide a user interface to a first user operating a computing device;
• receive a file identifier for a specific requested file at the storage service over the communication network from the computing device operated by the first user;
• obtain the MIME-type identifier from the data store for the file associated with the received file identifier;
• query the software application store with the installed applications list of app IDs and the obtained MIME-type identifier to select a list of app IDs for installed software applications that support the obtained MIME-type;
• determine a default application to open the specific requested file in response to matching an app ID contained in the user preferences store with the selected list of app IDs for
• installed software applications that support the MIME-type;
• and
• open the specific requested file from the data store utilizing the determined default application to open the specific requested file.

A method that facilitates opening, with a default software application, a specific requested file stored by a storage service operating on one or more servers, the method comprising:

• receiving a file identifier for the specific requested file at the storage service over a communication network from a computing device operated by a particular user;
• obtaining a MIME-type identifier from a data store hosted by the storage service for the specific requested file associated with the received file identifier;
• obtaining an installed applications list of application identifiers (app IDs) from an installed applications store hosted by the storage service, the installed applications list identifying software applications for the particular user which are installed in a web-based user storage environment hosted by the storage service for the particular user;
• querying a software application store with the installed applications list and the obtained MIME-type identifier to select a list of app IDs for installed software applications that support the obtained MIME-type, the software application store comprising metadata about software applications, the metadata for each software application including, app ID, application title, application description, and supported Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) types, the software application being associated with either the storage service provider or a third-party developer;
• determining a default application to open the specific requested file in response to matching an app ID from a user preferences store hosted by the storage service containing app IDs of particular user installed software applications to be used by default to open files with the selected list of app IDs for installed software applications that support the MIME-type;
• and
• opening the specific requested file from the data store utilizing the determined default application to open the specific requested file in the web-based user storage environment hosted by the storage service for the particular user.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by a computer server, causes the computer server to perform operations that facilitate opening, with a default software application, a specific requested file stored by a storage service operating on the server, the operations comprising:

• receiving a file identifier for the specific requested file at the storage service over a communication network from a computing device operated by a particular user;
• obtaining a file type identifier from a data store hosted by the storage service for the specific requested file associated with the received file identifier;
• obtaining an installed applications list of application identifiers (app IDs) from an installed applications store hosted by the storage service, the installed applications list identifying software applications for the particular user which are installed in a web-based user storage environment hosted by the storage service for the particular user;
• querying a software application store with the installed applications list and the obtained file type identifier to select a list of app IDs for installed software applications that support the obtained file type, the software application store comprising metadata about software applications, the metadata for each software application including, app ID, application title, application description, and supported file types, the software application being associated with either the storage service provider or a third-party developer;
• provide to a user a list of applications capable of opening the specific requested file;
• and
• opening the specific requested file from the data store utilizing the user-selected application.