Patent ID: 7539704

Claim:
A method in a computing system for browsing a database table, comprising: accessing a database table comprising a plurality of fields arranged into a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein each row of the plurality of rows is associated with an attached file, and a column of the plurality of columns comprises information about the attached files associated with the rows wherein the information comprises one of a directory name of the associated attached file in a filesystem relative to a root directory of the filesystem and a source file name; copying each attached file referenced in the database table from a file server providing the file system to a local storage unit, if, for each attached file, a corresponding defer indication is set to not defer a copy and a same version of the file is not already stored in the local storage unit; selecting a selected field of the plurality of fields, wherein the selected field comprises a reference to a selected attached file; and opening the selected attached file in response to said selecting if a copy of the selected attached file is stored in the local storage unit, wherein said opening is performed using the reference to the selected attached file.