Patent ID: 7349913

Claim:
A storage platform implemented in a computer system for organizing, searching and sharing data, comprising: a database engine; a data store implemented on the database engine for storing data therein, wherein the data store implements a data model, supports organization, searching, sharing, synchronization, and security of data stored in the data store and wherein specific types of data are described in schemas, wherein the storage platform provides a mechanism to extend the schemas to define a new type of data, wherein the data store is configured to track changes to the data made by application programs; an application programming interface that enables application programs to access all of the services and capabilities of the storage platform and to access the data described in the schemas, and is configured to track to register specific application programs for notifications that indicate changes to specific data; and a set of schemas that define different types of items, elements, and relationships, wherein the application programming interface comprises a class for each of the different type of items, elements, and relationships defined in the set of schemas, wherein the storage platform supports interoperability with existing file systems, enables users and systems to synchronize data stored in different instances of the data store, wherein data in the data store is defined in terms of items, elements, and relationships, wherein each item is a unit of data storable in the data store and comprises one or more elements, an element is an instance of a type comprising one or more fields, and a relationship is a link between at least two items.