Patent ID: 7689707

Claim:
A method of exchanging electronic files, comprising: providing a web server configured by a web application to serve hypertext markup language web pages through a hypertext transfer protocol data communication network to a sender client running a sender client web browser and a receiver client running a receiver client web browser; wherein, if the sender client and the receiver client are connected at the same time to the web server and an upload rate of the sender client is synchronous to a download rate of the receiver client, the web server is configured to transfer a plurality of successive fragments of a file concurrently with their receipt from a socket connection of the sender client web browser to a socket connection of the receiver client web browser without first uploading an entirety of the file to the web server and without storing the plurality of successive file fragments in a local file system of the web server; wherein the web server is configured by the web application to: provide a queuing system for file exchange messages received from the sender client and intended for the receiver client, the queuing system without access to the web server file system and comprising a sender client message queue and a receiver client message queue; upload and queue the plurality of successive file fragments received from the sender client web browser socket connection into the receiver client message queue; if both the sender client and the receiver client are online and upon request by the receiver client, cause each of the uploaded file fragments to be directly forwarded to the receiver client web socket concurrently with receipt from the sender client web browser socket; and if the receiver client is not online, fully upload a file comprising the plurality of successive file fragments, keep the uploaded file in the receiver client message queue without storing the uploaded file in the web server file system, and download the uploaded file to the receiver client web browser socket in response to a user log in and download request; wherein the receiver client web browser socket is enabled to download the uploaded file and the uploaded file fragments from the receiver client message queue without gaining access rights to the web server file system or to the sender client local file system and without requiring a defining of a common area in the sender client local file system, the receiver client local file system or the web server file system.