Patent ID: 7801922

Claim:
A method of processing an index comprising: receiving for a node in a file system hierarchy: (1) an index that includes one or more properties of data located at the node in the file system hierarchy and (2) a path, comprising one or more path elements in the file system hierarchy, at which the node is located within the file system hierarchy; and for each of the one or more path elements included in the received path: using a processor to determine whether a path element being processed has been encountered previously, including by accessing a directory tree in which previously encountered directories are stored; in the event it is determined that the path element being processed has not been encountered previously: using the processor to add the path element being processed to the directory tree; and assigning a unique identifier to the path element which has not been previously encountered, wherein the identifier assigned to the path element being processed includes an inode number; and in the event it is determined that the path element being processed has been encountered previously, using the processor to obtain a next path element in the received path without adding the path element being processed to the directory tree.