CONFIGURABLE OFFLINE DATA STORE

• US 20100257215A1
• Filed: 06/14/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Gaya, Bruce
• Granted Patent: US 8,352,520 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/812
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/00 Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications user-to-user messaging H04L51/00; network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a configurable offline data store are described herein. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a request for a first set of one or more records from a client application, wherein the first set is remotely stored. The method further includes determining a second set of one or more records that is associated with the first set, wherein the second set is remotely stored. The method further includes fetching over a network the first set and the second set from a server data store unit; storing the first set and the second set in a client data store unit and providing access to the first set and the second set when the network is not operational.

Claims

1. A method for retrieving records comprising:

receiving a request for a record from a client application, wherein the client application has access to a client data store unit and a server data store unit;

determining whether a first set of records in the client data store unit is valid;

upon determining the first set is valid, deleting those records of the first set that are outdated;

upon determining the first set is not valid, deleting the first set;

determining whether the record is in the client data store unit; and

upon determining the record is in the client data store, transmitting a version of the record to the client application.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

upon determining the record is not in the client data store unit, determining whether the record is in the server data store unit;

upon determining the record is in the server data store unit, storing a copy of the record in the client data store unit and granting the application access to the record; and

upon determining the record is not in the server data store unit, notifying the application that the record was not found.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first set is not valid because the first set has been modified by a server data store administration unit.

4. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit coupled to the processor;

a client data store unit to store a first set of records, the first set of records associated with a second set of records stored in a server data store; and

a client data store administration unit coupled to the client data store unit including,

a dependency schema to define relationships between primary record types and dependent record types.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the client data store administration unit further comprising:

a list of attributes for each record type;

a vector of data store identifiers; and

a vector of data store change identifiers.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first set is a copy of the second set.

7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the client data store administration unit is to fetch and store records based on the relationships.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the client data store administration unit uses the list of attributes to indicate those of the attributes of each record type that are to be stored in the client data store unit.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a dependency schema associated with record types;

receiving a list of attributes for each record type, wherein the list of attributes indicates which attributes are to be stored locally;

retrieving configuration records from remote data stores along a search path, wherein each configuration record includes a data store identifier and a data store change identifier;

creating a vector of data store identifiers based on the data store identifiers of the configuration records; and

creating a vector of data store change identifiers based on the data store change identifiers of the configuration records.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the dependency schema includes primary record types and secondary record types.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein data records of the secondary type are fetched when data records of the primary type are fetched.

12. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request for a record from a client application, wherein the client application has access to a client data store unit and a server data store unit;

determining whether a first set of records in the client data store unit is valid;

upon determining the first set is valid, deleting those records of the first set that are outdated;

upon determining the first set is not valid, deleting the first set;

determining whether the record is in the client data store unit; and

upon determining the record is in the client data store unit, transmitting a version of the record to the application.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 12 further comprising:

upon determining the record is not in the client data store unit, determining whether the record is in the server data store unit;

upon determining the record is in the server data store unit, storing a copy of the record in the client data store unit and transmitting a copy of the record to the application; and

upon determining the record is not in the server data store unit, notifying the application that the record was not found.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first set is not valid because the first set has been modified by a server data store administration unit.

15. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a dependency schema associated with record types;

receiving a list of attributes for each record type, wherein the list of attributes indicates which attributes are to be stored locally;

retrieving configuration records from remote data stores along a search path, wherein each configuration record includes a data store identifier and a data store change identifier;

creating a vector of data store identifiers based on the data store identifiers of the configuration records; and

creating a vector of data store change identifiers based on the data store change identifiers of the configuration records.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the dependency schema includes primary record types and secondary record types.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein data records of the secondary type are fetched when data records of the primary type are fetched.