Data management system and method

• US 20040243574A1
• Filed: 07/01/2004
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MEC Management, LLC (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota)
• Original Assignee: ServiceSwitch.com Inc.
• Inventors: Walsh, Sandy, Giroux, Philippe
• Granted Patent: US 7,796,640 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of replicating data on a source to a destination comprising the steps of: extracting data from a source via a user interface in a source format; converting the extracted data from the source'"'"'s format into a destination format; and uploading the converted data to said destination.

Claims

1. A method of relocating a personal account from a first location to a second location comprising the steps of:

opening a new account at said second location;

extracting data from said personal account at said first location via a user interface at said first location, emulating the interaction of a user with said user interface, said extracted data being in a first format;

converting said extracted data from said first format, into a second format; and

uploading said converted data in said second format, to said new account at said second location.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of extracting further comprises the steps of:

requesting logon information from said user; and

logging on to said personal account at said first location by transmitting said logon information to said first location.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said first location and said second location comprise web servers.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of querying said user for a URL to locate said personal account at said first location.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of presenting a form on a web site including fields for entry of a URL, an account identification and a password for said personal account at said first location.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of extracting is performed over a telecommunications network.

7. The method of claim 3 wherein said step of extracting is performed by a proxy server.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said personal account comprises an email account.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising the steps of:

extracting an email folder structure from said first location; and

replicating said email folder structure at said second location.

10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of autoforwarding email received at said first location after said step of extracting has been completed, to said second location.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said service is a wireless service.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of converting further comprises the step of parsing pertinent data from said extracted data.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said pertinent data includes personal data and organizational structure.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said step of parsing comprises the step of:

deriving relevant source data by use of a delta technique.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein step of parsing comprises the step of:

subtracting template information from the data and recognising the various types of data by positional information, tags or sequence.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein said step of parsing is performed on a separate server.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein step of parsing comprises the step of comparing a data file to a data template to extract non-template data.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein step of parsing comprises the step of extracting formatting code from a markup language data file to obtain data.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein said extracted data is in HTML format.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein step of converting comprises the steps of:

parsing pertinent data from HTML web page data and storing said pertinent data in an intermediate format; and

compiling said stored pertinent data into said second format.

21. The method of claim 3 wherein step of extracting comprises the steps of:

transmitting requests to said user interface of said first location; and

receiving web page data in said first format.

22. The method of claim 3 further comprising the step of logging on to said new account on said second location, via an Internet connection.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of recording details of said opening, extracting and uploading steps for billing purposes, to provide an audit trail, and to provide feedback to said user.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said first location comprises a web server offering a service selected from the group consisting of:

commercial or personal banking;

investment services such as stock portfolio tracking;

calendar/appointment books;

contact lists, address books;

mailing lists;

sports/news/entertainment/weather forecast preferences;

document storage, file backup services, distributed or shared files provider;

collaboration tools such as message boards;

sales automation applications;

folders;

project files;

enterprise resource planning (ERP) software;

entertainment services, such as networked games; and

office applications.

25. A computer readable memory medium for storing software code executable to relocate a personal account from a first location to a second location, said software code being executable to perform the steps of:

opening a new account at said second location;

extracting data from said personal account at said first location via a user interface at said first location, emulating the interaction of a user with said user interface, said extracted data being in a first format;

converting said extracted data from said first format, into a second format; and

uploading said converted data in said second format, to said new account at said second location.

26. A carrier signal incorporating software code executable to relocate a personal account from a first location to a second location, said software code being executable to perform the steps of:

opening a new account at said second location;

extracting data from said personal account at said first location via a user interface at said first location, emulating the interaction of a user with said user interface, said extracted data being in a first format;

converting said extracted data from said first format, into a second format; and

uploading said converted data in said second format, to said new account at said second location.