Tracking, recording and organizing changes to data in computer systems
First Claim
1. A method for managing changes in a computer system comprising the steps of:
- selecting processes on the computer system in accordance with input specifications, detecting changes made by the selected processes to data items, and storing the detected changes as records in a database.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A change tracing system detects and records changes made to data items by processes in a computer system. Processes and changes are organized as change sessions in a change history database and tagged with user-provided reasons and other identification fields. A query module provides detailed access to change history and selection of specific changes and items in order to analyze effects of changes, diagnose problems caused by changes, compare changes and change history, rollback from changes to previous item contents or package sets of changes to be repeated. Linkage between data items is recorded in order to document the impact of changes affecting dependent data items. Alerts and copies of change sessions may be transmitted automatically to designated users. Communication between change tracing systems running on networked computers detects and records remotely caused changes on the system where the data item resides as well as the system originating the change.
328 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A method for managing changes in a computer system comprising the steps of:
selecting processes on the computer system in accordance with input specifications, detecting changes made by the selected processes to data items, and storing the detected changes as records in a database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer program product for managing changes in a computer system, comprising a computer program encoded on a computer-readable media and executable on a computer to:
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select processes on the computer system in accordance with input specifications, detect changes made by the selected processes to data items, and store the detected changes as change records in a database. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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- 64. A data structure for facilitating management of changes in a computer system, comprising a database stored on a computer-readable media, the database having a plurality of change records, wherein each change record corresponds to a change to a data item by a process, comprising information that refers to the identity of data item changed, the process or processes effecting the change, and the nature of the change.
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74. A computer program product for managing changes in a computer system, comprising a computer program encoded on a computer-readable media and executable on a computer to:
perform searches in a database containing historical information of changes made by processes within the computer system to data items or links to data items, and produce the results of said searches in a specified output format. - View Dependent Claims (75, 76)
Specification