Patent ID: 11947686
Assignee: nan
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A shim method that can intercept application file access requests, the shim method comprising:
a shim intercepting a first application open file request to an operating system to open a file with a name specified as a first application open file request parameter;
the shim invoking a second open file request to the operating system to open a metadata file with a different filename in order to obtain existing file encryption specifications for the file name specified as a first application open file request parameter;
responsive to the second open file request successfully opening an existing metadata file, the shim reading the metadata file to obtain file encryption specifications for the file specified as a first application open file request parameter, and retaining the metadata describing an encryption method and parameters for the file specified as a first application open file request parameter;
the shim reflecting the first application open file request to an operating system library support routine by using a third open file request that passes parameters associated with parameters specified in the first application open file request;
the shim receiving a standard file open request file pointer value or other identifier in response to the third open file request;
the shim retaining the file pointer value or identifier received in response to the third open file request;
the shim associating the file pointer value or identifier received in response to the third open file request with retained descriptive metadata describing the encryption method and parameters for the file specified as a first application open file request parameter; and
the shim returning the file pointer value or identifier received in response to the third open file request to the application.