Patent ID: 7904447

Claim:
A method for directing data access in a local system, comprising: identifying, by a remote application, a remote access path of a shared data resource stored in the local system, wherein the remote access path is used to access the shared resource from outside the local system; obtaining, by the remote application and from the local system, sharing metadata associated with the remote access path, wherein the sharing metadata comprises a local access path of the shared data resource, wherein the local access path is used to access the shared data resource exclusively from within the local system; extracting, by the remote application, the local access path of the shared data resource from the sharing metadata; requesting, by the remote application, that a data access application on the local system perform a data operation on the shared data resource, wherein the remote application provides the local access path to the data access application; and receiving the result of the data operation from the data access application, wherein the data access application performs the data operation on the shared data resource using the local access path.