Patent ID: 7788267

Claim:
A method for computing a total value of a data file stored in a database of computable readable medium using a computing device capable of executing a series of instructions to perform the following: detecting a plurality of indirect actions taken with respect to the data file at the time the indirect actions occur, automatically generating and storing as metadata in the data file each occurrence and at least one associated characteristic of each of a plurality of the plurality of indirect actions taken with respect to the data file, wherein the metadata is automatically generated at the time the plurality of indirect actions are detected; computing at least two input values, one for each of the plurality of indirect actions, each input value being computed for a particular indirect action as a function of at least one parameter; wherein the at least one parameter includes time since the data file was created, time since the last occurrence of a particular indirect action, number of occurrences of a particular indirect action within a unit time, and total number of occurrences for a particular indirect action; computing a total value for the data file based on the input values each time an indirect action is taken at the time the plurality of indirect actions are detected; and storing the total value for the data file in the metadata of the data file.