DATA SHARING AND SYNCHRONIZATION WITH RELAY ENDPOINT AND SYNC DATA ELEMENT

• US 20110119403A1
• Filed: 01/21/2011
• Published: 05/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Augustine, Matthew S., Ozzie, Jack E., Kirkpatrick, Robert G. III
• Application Number:
  US13/011,648
• Publication Number:
  US 20110119403A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/248
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

Systems and methods for sharing and synchronizing data using the addition of synchronization data to a feed that contains data items, and in some implementations, at least a node or endpoint that provides relay functionality or relay capabilities to one or more endpoints, are disclosed. Such systems and methods may also include the communication of information about the data that is synchronized, in addition to synchronization of the data itself.

Claims

1. A method for synchronizing data between a first endpoint and a foreign endpoint, the method comprising:

accessing, by the first endpoint operating on a computer, an updated feed generated by the foreign endpoint operating on another computer, wherein the updated feed includes a change to a foreign item that comprises a sync data element and an item data element;

creating, by the first endpoint if a data store of the first endpoint does not comprise a local item with a unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item that corresponds to the foreign item;

updating, by the first endpoint if the data store does comprise the local item with the unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item based on a precedence between the local item and the foreign item, wherein the precedence is based on at least one characteristic of the local item and the foreign item from a plurality of characteristics including version, modification time, and a modifying endpoint.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the foreign item is defined by the updated feed of the foreign endpoint but not by the first endpoint.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the foreign item is one of a plurality of foreign items of the updated feed, and wherein the accessing, the creating, and the updating is repeated for each of the plurality of foreign items.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the updating comprises selecting, based on the precedence, one of the local item or the foreign item to be a winning item.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the updating comprises comparing the version characteristics of the local item or the foreign item.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein each sync data element comprises the plurality of characteristics including the version, the modification time, and the modifying endpoint that correspond to the each sync data element.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the updating comprises copying information from the foreign item into a feed document maintained by the first endpoint.

8. At least one computer storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for synchronizing data between a first endpoint and a foreign endpoint, the method comprising:

accessing, by the first endpoint operating on the computer, an updated feed generated by the foreign endpoint operating on another computer, wherein the updated feed includes a change to a foreign item that comprises a sync data element and an item data element;

creating, by the first endpoint if a data store of the first endpoint does not comprise a local item with a unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item that corresponds to the foreign item;

updating, by the first endpoint if the data store does comprise the local item with the unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item based on a precedence between the local item and the foreign item, wherein the precedence is based on at least one characteristic of the local item and the foreign item from a plurality of characteristics including version, modification time, and a modifying endpoint.

9. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein the foreign item is defined by the updated feed of the foreign endpoint but not by the first endpoint.

10. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein the foreign item is one of a plurality of foreign items of the updated feed, and wherein the accessing, the creating, and the updating is repeated for each of the plurality of foreign items.

11. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein the updating comprises selecting, based on the precedence, one of the local item or the foreign item to be a winning item.

12. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein the updating comprises comparing the version characteristics of the local item or the foreign item.

13. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein each sync data element comprises the plurality of characteristics including the version, the modification time, and the modifying endpoint that correspond to the each sync data element.

14. The at least one computer storage medium of claim 8 wherein the updating comprises copying information from the foreign item into a feed document maintained by the first endpoint.

15. A system configured for synchronizing data between a first endpoint and a foreign endpoint, the method comprising:

a computer;

a first endpoint configured for operating on the computer and for accessing an updated feed generated by the foreign endpoint, wherein the updated feed includes a change to a foreign item that comprises a sync data element and an item data element;

the first endpoint further configured for creating, if a data store of the first endpoint does not comprise a local item with a unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item that corresponds to the foreign item;

the first endpoint further configured for updating, if the data store does comprise the local item with the unique identifier that matches that of the foreign item, the local item based on a precedence between the local item and the foreign item, wherein the precedence is based on at least one characteristic of the local item and the foreign item from a plurality of characteristics including version, modification time, and a modifying endpoint.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the foreign item is defined by the updated feed of the foreign endpoint but not by the first endpoint.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the foreign item is one of a plurality of foreign items of the updated feed, and wherein the accessing, the creating, and the updating is repeated for each of the plurality of foreign items.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the updating comprises selecting, based on the precedence, one of the local item or the foreign item to be a winning item.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein each sync data element comprises the plurality of characteristics including the version, the modification time, and the modifying endpoint that correspond to the each sync data element.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the updating comprises copying information from the foreign item into a feed document maintained by the first endpoint.