Method and apparatus for switching between multiple versions of a software program

• US 20070208667A1
• Filed: 03/01/2006
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boctor, Emad, Tang, Lui, Hilden, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 7,865,441 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for switching between multiple copies of a software program on a computer system are provided. The method includes detecting a plurality of copies of the software program on a computer system, receiving input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program to be a default copy, and determining whether the selected copy of the software program is a current default copy on the computer system. If the selected copy of the software program is not the current default copy on the computer system then, the method further includes demoting the current default copy to be an alternate copy, and promoting the selected copy of the software program to be a next current default copy.

Claims

1. A method for switching between multiple copies of a software program on a computer system, the method comprising:

detecting a plurality of copies of the software program on a computer system; and

receiving input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program to be a default copy on the computer system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the selected copy of the software program is a current default copy on the computer system, wherein if the selected copy of the software program is not the current default copy on the computer system then,

demoting the current default copy to be an alternate copy; and

promoting the selected copy of the software program to be a next current default copy.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the default copy is a single copy of the software program that presents itself to a user or another computer program as the only copy of the software program on the computer system at any given time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting a plurality of copies of the software program comprises looking up a number of versions of the software program that are registered within a registry, wherein each version of the software program corresponds to a copy of the software program.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program includes receiving user input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein demoting the current default copy includes determining one or more features of the current default copy, and ensuring that each of the one or more features no longer exhibits a default interface on the computer system.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein promoting the selected copy of the software program includes determining one or more features of selected copy of the software program, and ensuring that each of the one or more features exhibits a default interface on the computer system.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein demoting the current default copy further includes unregistering the current default copy from a registry, and promoting the selected copy of the software program further includes unregistering the selected copy of the software program in the registry.

9. A computer program product, comprising a computer-readable medium including instructions, for switching between multiple copies of a software program on a computer system, the instructions when executed on a programmable processor causes the programmable processor to:

detect a plurality of copies of the software program on a computer system; and

receive input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program to be a default copy on the computer system.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, further comprising instructions to cause the programmable processor to:

determine whether the selected copy of the software program is a current default copy on the computer system, wherein if the selected copy of the software program is not the current default copy on the computer system then the product further comprises instructions to,

demote the current default copy to be an alternate copy; and

promote the selected copy of the software program to be a next current default copy.

11. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the default copy is a single copy of the software application that presents itself to a user or another computer program as the only copy of the software program on the computer system at any given time.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the instructions to detect a plurality of copies of the software program include instructions to look up a number of versions of the software program that are registered within a registry, wherein each version of the software program corresponds to a copy of the software program.

13. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the instructions to receive input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program include instructions to receive user input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program.

14. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the instructions to demote the current default copy include instructions to determine one or more features of the current default copy, and ensure that each of the one or more features no longer exhibits a default interface on the computer system.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the instructions to promote the selected copy of the software program include instructions to determine one or more features of the selected copy of the software program, and ensure that each of the one or more features exhibits a default interface on the computer system.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the instructions to demote the current default copy further include instructions to unregister the current default copy from a registry, and the instructions to promote the selected copy of the software program further include instructions to unregister the selected copy of the software program in the registry.

17. A system for switching between multiple copies of a software program on a computer system, the system comprising:

a global switcher to detect a plurality of copies of the software program on a computer system, receive input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program to be a default copy, and determine whether the selected copy of the software program is a current default copy on the computer system,

wherein if the selected copy of the software program is not the current default copy on the computer system then the system further comprises,

a first local switcher to demote the current default copy to be an alternate copy, the first local switcher being associated with the current default copy; and

a second local switcher to promote the selected copy of the software program to be a next current default copy, the second local switcher being associated with the selected copy of the software program.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the default copy is a single copy of the software application that presents itself to a user or other software program as the only copy of the software program on the computer system at any given time.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the global switcher is operable to receive user input selecting one of the detected plurality of copies of the software program to be a default copy through a user interface, and each local switcher is responsible for promoting and demoting a corresponding copy of the software program independent of the global switcher.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein each of the plurality of copies of the software program represents a different version of the software program.