Patent ID: 7702693
Filing Date: 2010-04-20
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for controlling access to a resource of a plurality of resources, the method comprising the steps of: one or more processors creating and storing in a filesystem of an Operating System a plurality of files that each represents a different resource of the plurality of resources; the one or more processors assigning an access value to a file attribute of a file that represents the resource, wherein the file attribute is used by the Operating System to manage file access, wherein the access value corresponds to a combination of a particular role and the resource; the one or more processors receiving user-identifying information from a user requesting access to the resource, wherein the user-identifying information comprises a role associated with the user, wherein the role is determined from a user identifier uniquely associated with the user and from a group identifier associated with a group that includes the user; the one or more processors receiving a resource identifier associated with the resource; the one or more processors creating an access identifier based on the user-identifying information and the resource identifier, wherein the access identifier is formatted as a file attribute that is used by the Operating System to manage file access; wherein the step of creating an access identifier based on the user-identifying information and the resource identifier comprises formatting the access identifier as a group identifier file attribute; the one or more processors calling the Operating System to perform a file operation on the file, wherein calling the Operating System includes providing the access identifier to the Operating System; wherein the step of calling the Operating System to perform an operation on the file representing the resource comprises: the one or more processors granting the user access to the resource only when the Operating System call successfully performs the file operation, wherein the Operating System call successfully performs the file operation if the access identifier matches the access value; wherein the file operation on the file representing the resource is selected from a group consisting of opening the file, closing the file, deleting the file, reading from the file, writing to the file, executing the file, appending to the file, reading a file attribute, and writing a file attribute; reading a permission bit associated with the file representing the resource, wherein the permission bit corresponds to the operation performable on the file representing the resource; based on the operation on the file indicated by the permission bit, determining a resource operation that is performable on the resource; and granting the user the privilege of performing the resource operation on the resource only when the permission bit allows the operation to be performed on the file representing the resource.