Patent ID: 7685186

Claim:
A method to be executed at least in part in a computing device for performing in-place data transformation in a file system, the method comprising: performing a first transfer operation by transferring data from a source file to a temporary file in individual data blocks in a back to front fashion such that the temporary file is expanded and the source file is truncated after transfer of each data block; if a last data block of the source file is a truncated block, inserting filler data into the last data block such that the last data block becomes the same size as remaining data blocks of the source file; deleting the source file upon completion of the first transfer operation; performing a second transfer operation by transferring data from the temporary file to a destination file in individual data blocks in a back to front fashion such that the destination file is expanded and the temporary file is truncated after transfer of each data block; and deleting the temporary file and removing the filler data from a last data block of the destination file upon completion of the second transfer operation, wherein the data is transformed during one of: the first transfer operation and the second transfer operation.